Not much that can drag me from my home on the same day as a showcase Liverpool game, but this seemed worth it. And both events would be over by the time the match kicked off.
The fascists had assembled across the Dublin Road, their number including children - one of whom looked to be barely into her teens if at all. At one point she was handed the megaphone. What pearl of wisdom she had been prompted to impart didn’t carry across the road, her voice too light, the traffic too heavy, the noise level on our side with its preponderance of numbers simply didn’t allow for a squeak to become a squawk.
One of the banners in the fascist camp seemed to be advertising the virtues of alcohol. Ireland Is full it proclaimed. It might be once Patrick’s Day arrives, but we are not quite there yet. St Patrick’s status as a myth confirmed as we gazed across the road in the knowledge that he hadn't really driven the snakes from Ireland.
Prior to that, at the vigil, I chatted with Ged Nash from Labour and James Byrne from Fianna Fail. I also noticed another representative from a major party, Fine Gael's Fergus O’Dowd. I was a bit perturbed that no Sinn Fein politicians were there. They had put several shifts in on the same street in defence of Gaza when Israel invaded it. Their absence today was as noticeable as the presence of the other main parties.
As a tune bathed our ears from the talented duo of Grow Music, the Ukrainian citizens stood in a line across the steps of the church while the eighty or so who turned up in solidarity formed a crescent in front of them. I commented to Ged Nash that the symbolism in that moment was of a protective arc. We would soon be staring into the face of hate that refugees need protection from.
The distance from Russian aggressive war to fascism is but a puddle hop. That seems evident from the support Russia gets from the far right which it in turn invests in promoting. For that reason, it seemed so natural for the people supporting Ukraine’s right to be free from Russia’s war to make a similar short step from West Street to the Dublin Road to face down the other cheek of the same backside.
The first was in West Street in solidarity with Ukraine which has been on the receiving end of Russia’s war of unbridled aggression for just over a year. This was immediately followed by a hastily arranged counter demo to one staged by racists at the local bus station. The racists can claim to be more reliable than the bus company they stood outside, managing to at least turn up.
My wife and her friend helped organise both events. Me, I just sat on my hoop at home and tagged along when the time came. Considerably empathetic to the citizens of Ukraine, I don't much favour counter demos to the far right, but have opted to turn out when they occur in solidarity with my wife. That is why I didn’t hold a placard or join in the chanting when the time came to face down the fascists. I wasn’t there to counter protest but to back my wife. I have the last word in this house – yes, love. More joyously, every cloud has a silver lining, and bearing in mind what Woody Allen said about 80% of success lying in just showing up, my silent presence alone seems to have annoyed the Fantasy Fuhrer.
My wife and her friend helped organise both events. Me, I just sat on my hoop at home and tagged along when the time came. Considerably empathetic to the citizens of Ukraine, I don't much favour counter demos to the far right, but have opted to turn out when they occur in solidarity with my wife. That is why I didn’t hold a placard or join in the chanting when the time came to face down the fascists. I wasn’t there to counter protest but to back my wife. I have the last word in this house – yes, love. More joyously, every cloud has a silver lining, and bearing in mind what Woody Allen said about 80% of success lying in just showing up, my silent presence alone seems to have annoyed the Fantasy Fuhrer.
The fascists had assembled across the Dublin Road, their number including children - one of whom looked to be barely into her teens if at all. At one point she was handed the megaphone. What pearl of wisdom she had been prompted to impart didn’t carry across the road, her voice too light, the traffic too heavy, the noise level on our side with its preponderance of numbers simply didn’t allow for a squeak to become a squawk.
One of the banners in the fascist camp seemed to be advertising the virtues of alcohol. Ireland Is full it proclaimed. It might be once Patrick’s Day arrives, but we are not quite there yet. St Patrick’s status as a myth confirmed as we gazed across the road in the knowledge that he hadn't really driven the snakes from Ireland.
Prior to that, at the vigil, I chatted with Ged Nash from Labour and James Byrne from Fianna Fail. I also noticed another representative from a major party, Fine Gael's Fergus O’Dowd. I was a bit perturbed that no Sinn Fein politicians were there. They had put several shifts in on the same street in defence of Gaza when Israel invaded it. Their absence today was as noticeable as the presence of the other main parties.
As a tune bathed our ears from the talented duo of Grow Music, the Ukrainian citizens stood in a line across the steps of the church while the eighty or so who turned up in solidarity formed a crescent in front of them. I commented to Ged Nash that the symbolism in that moment was of a protective arc. We would soon be staring into the face of hate that refugees need protection from.
The distance from Russian aggressive war to fascism is but a puddle hop. That seems evident from the support Russia gets from the far right which it in turn invests in promoting. For that reason, it seemed so natural for the people supporting Ukraine’s right to be free from Russia’s war to make a similar short step from West Street to the Dublin Road to face down the other cheek of the same backside.
⏩ Follow on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre.
It's particularly sad to see Kelly and his like to be welcome in the locality. Sadly I recognise some of the people on the Ireland is full side as I live in the locality and while I could say they are harmless that would be to excuse the harm they are doing which I can not. Some of them spent two years saying they opposed discrimination. Now they propose it. While I often try to understand what leads people into these things, it cannot be excused. There can be no truck with fascists who only breed hate. Well done Carrie. We must oppose All discrimination all the time. Where is this great Ireland they wish to bring us to? is it the one which buries babies in tanks in tuam or hides clerical abuse or political corruption?
ReplyDeletePaddy, it is important never to conflate genuine concerns with hate ideology. Your efforts in this field are commendable. Fascism is like Christian nationalism - it is a perpetual sponsor of hate. You are right in trying to understand why people who were once opposed to discrimination now favour it. Ignoring the reasons for that hardly enhances understanding and denies those opposed to fascism a better grasp of what it takes to thwart it. Still, if people want to stand with fascists, they will render themselves indistinguishable from fascists. Those people who have genuine concerns need to be heard and understood but they are not going to achieve that while being voiced over by some hateologue screaming "get them out."
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