Far-right professor Dolores Cahill is no longer employed at University College Dublin (UCD).
Cahill is no longer listed as a staff member on UCD’s website and The Journal have reported that she is no longer an employee of the institution. She was a professor attached to the UCD School of Medicine.
Cahill has become a controversial figure in recent times with her strong anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown stances. In August a UK arrest warrant was issued for Chaill after she “failed to answer bail”.
The charges related to Cahill’s participation in the conspiracist “Resist and Act for Freedom” rally in Trafalgar Square, London on 19 September 2020. She was charged with participating in a gathering of more than 30 people in contravention of emergency regulations and participating in a gathering of more than six people.
Cahill was a tenured professor at UCD. She holds a doctorate in immunology. She previously served as chair of the far-right Irish Freedom Party (IFP) and has become known for spreading false information relating to Covid-19 and vaccination.
Some of Professor Cahill’s false claims have included that children who wear face coverings will suffer from lower IQs, that asymptomatic cases “do not exist”, and that the disease can be prevented by taking multivitamins. She has also said that “Covid terrorists need to be jailed” and that people who give vaccinations are guilty of “attempted murder”.
She has spoken at numerous conspiracy theorist-led rallies in Ireland, including ones featuring the far-right movement QAnon and open calls for violence as a response to vaccination programmes. Cahill was also a speaker at an August 2020 rally outside Dublin’s Customs House at which balaclava-wearing attendees attacked counter-demonstrators with batons and planks of wood.
Cahill’s employment by UCD over the last year has caused significant controversy. Last year, 133 medical students sent a 15,000-word letter to UCD authorities detailing the false claims Cahill had been spreading.
University College Dublin Students’ Union (UCDSU) called for a disciplinary investigation after she attended a rally in March.
Professor Cahill was removed from a lecturing role after said rally but remained employed by the university. UCD had attempted to distance itself from her views, saying they “do not reflect the position of the school, college, institute or university”, and citing academic freedom as their reason for her remaining on staff.
The college did, however, feature her as a speaker at its International Women’s Day 2020 event while she was serving as chair of the IFP. The party is known for its anti-immigrant views, and the public espousal of white nationalist “great replacement” conspiracy theories by its high-ranking members.
In a tweet made in response to the news of the arrest warrant, UCDSU said that the union “reiterates our position that Prof Cahill’s actions to date constitute gross misconduct”.
“She should be removed from her position. This has gone on for too long.”
Cahill served as chair of the IFP until being asked to step down, also after the March rally, reportedly because her conspiracist public statements “[drew] the credibility of the party into disrepute”. Despite this, the party regularly shares false information relating to Covid-19 on official party media channels.
Additional reporting by Jack Kennedy.
