The purpose of them coming together was to express solidarity with people being subjected to hatred and intimidation from the far right. The timing of the gathering coincided with a hate rally where speakers from the Irish Freedom Party and the Irish People's Party were billed to speak.
If people want to live in an inclusive peaceful society then it is important that they find their voice when it comes to calling out the language of hatred which the Irish Freedom Party and its associates are exceptionally fluent in. Last year Robert Jones, founder of the Public Religion Research Institute, hit out against the the language of hatred, claiming that "the dehumanization of political opponents are the bricks that pave the road to political violence."
Fortunately, very few turned up for the hate rally, hopefully a sign that very few in Drogheda actually do hate. Certainly the miniscule number of votes accrued by Derek McElearney of the Irish People's Party, one of the main speakers at the hate rally, would suggest as much. One candidate who had earlier withdrawn from the election still managed to get a higher vote tally than Mr McElearney. Even the Monster Raving Looney Party would consider it a bad election day if their candidate was to win only 81 votes. From where I stood it seemed that there was about a maximum of 15 people compared to the sixty or so at the solidarity vigil. Mr McElearney must have been seriously disappointed that while his vote was paltry, his listeners on the Quays amounted to less than a fifth of that.
The Monster Raving Looney Party as well as getting more votes also has has more savvy when it comes to PR, as a Drogheda Life reporter discovered when he invited a comment from those who had gathered to listen to McElearney: “Fuck off out of here or you’ll be digging that camera out of your arse.” Better than digging a priest out of it I suppose. But priestcraft has recently found a new audience amongst those seeking to dupe the public into buying the bull that one of their major concerns is the threat posed to Irish children from so called lecherous immigrants. In Belfast yesterday a cross criminal gathering, masquerading as cross community, had as its core theme the protection of Christian values. No hate like Christian love, as they say.
One group’s message was of peace and love for visitors to our town including those who have fled violence and political upheaval in other countries and are currently seeking protection in Ireland.
The other was made up of people from various right wing parties and ideologies who have been touring the country to demonstrate at locations where refugees are being housed or at buildings which they think are being prepared to house asylum seekers.
Far from love and hope, their message was one of hatred and intolerance. Instead of embracing a multi-cultural society and learning from the traditions of other cultures, they have chosen the supremacist attitude of closing their hearts and minds against anyone that is different to them.
Instead of aiming their anger at the Irish Government for their inept handling of both the housing and refugee crises, they have chosen to blame the asylum seekers.
Society needs to be vigilant towards the hate vendors in its midst. Fortunately, in Ireland, the leaders of the far right have not a patch on their counterparts in France. No one amongst them exudes the charisma of Jordan Bardella nor comes equipped with the intellect of Éric Zemmour. Fluent in hate certainly, but equally as fluent in gibberish, the words of Isaac Azimov describe them well: violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. It is not their ability to persuade that is dangerous but their inability to participate on a human level with those they oppose, preferring instead the fever of fascism.Not for them the wisdom or compassion of Dom Helder Camara, the late Brazilian Archbishop of Olinda and Recife:
Keep your language. Love its sounds, its modulation, its rhythm. But try to march together with men of different languages, remote from your own, who wish like you for a more just and human world.
Camara knew a thing or two about far right repressive regimes, having faced down the Brazilian military dictatorship. I can abide by his Christian love, but not the Christian hate that plagues society and stalks its streets.
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While violence is to be abhorred particularly against the vulnerable, there's a problem North and South.
ReplyDeleteSpoke to several old friends who were born and raised in an area and who then tried to buy/rent a house in the same area only to be knocked back for immigrants to be given priority. This is making people very angry.
Perhaps new housing stock should be built by the Governments to accommodate? Just to be clear I view immigration as a net positive but the locals are not of the same opinion.
@ Steve R
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be a housing shortage across the western world at the moment. I think the role that immigration actually plays in it is debateable. People are living longer, and more likely to live alone. At the same time, the desire to own a property is ever-increasing, and eye-watering sums being paid for what are in many cases fairly unremarkable homes. This is particularly acute in London, Dublin, and Edinburgh.
No statutory agency will have a policy of prioritising immigrants, it will be done on a points based system for social housing. The alternative is to literally have a system with an in-built component for racial prejudice.
Having said all of that, perception is everything. I know and love people who are steadfast in their belief that immigrants are "given" homes, vehicles, oodles of money. Challenging these assumptions with logic and knowledge can be pointless. I've pointed out that the first wave of immigrants out of a country are invariably the best resourced in terms of wealth and employability and entrepreneurship, and that neither the UK government or Stormont have the mechanisms, let alone the will, to give "handouts" to immigrants that are not available to natives. Sometimes I see a flicker of sense, but usually they just return to their cul-de-sac. It's dispiriting. The people I refer to, btw, are most certainly not members of the PUL community.
But to go back to your point, I think it would be much better if people just owned and named how they felt. Someone growing up in a tightknit area for 60 or 70 years is entitled to feel uneasy when people who look completely different and have different customs arrive as neighbours. This is particularly acute in Belfast. People do not like being "done to." But, except for an incorrigible minority, people can and do just get on with other people.
The housing shortage is so acute and disempowering that radical action is needed. A government programme to build social housing could contribute towards a solution, but similar programmes have been disastrous in the past. I think rent controls are needed, and a government with ambition and decision is needed to bring them in and keep them at a reasonable rate. I think the current system is madness - rocketing rents which are usually funded by the state (in the UK anyway, through housing benefit) the beneficiaries of which generally don't pay much tax.
Immigrants and immigration have been tabloid scapegoats for generations now. Successive UK governments make a show of treating it like a problem, whilst at the same time embracing is fully knowing that without it, the economy would suffer. Honesty is needed about this.
I'm working on a piece critiquing Edwin Poots' statement about the disorder.
Thanks Brandon and I agree with your synopsis. A friend made an interesting comment yesterday were he expressed belief that all this influx of migrants into communities is done on purpose by the Governments to keep the working class fighting among themselves, and not point the finger directly at the bastards in charge. Feeds in to my earlier point that this is the unrestrained capitalists dream of a cheap, ununionized pool of labour that would not dare complain.
DeleteAnd fuck Poots, the man believes the Earth is 6000 years old so anything he says can be instantly dismissed.
@ Steve R
ReplyDeleteI think the points you mention probably feature in overall analysis of why successive governments continue with policies allowing/encouraging immigration, despite it being extremely unpopular with a substantial section of the electorate. But mainly I think, as AM once pointed out, complicated international treaties made immigration possible. As an example, I was talking to a cabbie in Leicester (one of a number of interesting conversations with Leicester cabbies), and he was from a part of India originally which had been colonised by Portugal. Portugese citizenship was (possibly still is) available to people from this part of India, and through access to that passport came access to the EU.
If I was a politician devoted to stopping immigration, I would design a manifesto that was explicitly against immigration, but was robustly and demonstrably committed to looking after the rights and wellbeing of existing immigrants. Such a manifesto, with a generally centre-left political outlook would be very popular in my opinion. As it is, the general unpleasantness and delusion omnipotent among many opposed to immigration discredits the politics they espouse.
SP,
DeleteIt's not a simple fix I think we can all agree on that. Some immigrants are refugees fleeing persecution and by all means they should be allowed safety in the country. The problem is that there's a perception that a large part of the influx are just "economic migrants" who've illegally moved in to take advantage of the generous welfare state. Not saying this is true and I know in large part it's not- well aware of several families who just live and work peacefully in my old neighbourhood-but this feeds in to the local frustration.
Listened to John Kyle on the BelTel podcast and he made the astute observation that the working class Loyalist communities have been left behind in terms of socio-economic outlook. Abandoned by Unionist politicians for years save when they wanted their vote ( by way of scare tactics-The Union is in Peril), the once guaranteed work in the shipyard is long gone. When I was a wean going to University was never even discussed, it was simply given that I'd be away for a trade. Higher education was always seen to be for the rich or themmuns.
For the PUL community in disadvantaged areas seeing immigrants coming in, and crucially working, is just another kick in the teeth, and utterly regrettably we see that sort of asinine behaviour of late in these areas as a consequence.
Without addressing the underlying issues it's only going to get worse I fear, and suspect the Government knows this and simply does not care.
I find the whole immigration debate so frustrating. It seems that no-one wants to put all the facts on the table and present solutions, which just makes the people angry. If you look at demographics and birth rates then we need immigration. There are loads of jobs that Brits won't do, especially care homes and NHS. But surely there should be limits and targets and all the necessary accommodation and services in place, i.e. schools, GP services etc. We can't just keep adding half a million people every year, a city bigger than Belfast every 12 months is unsustainable. Big corporations want cheap labour so I suspect they are behind the shut down on debate along with the PC brigade who scream "racist" at anyone who dares question immigration.
ReplyDeleteAlso, we need to talk about integration. 90% of Pakistani women are on benefits and a large number can't or won't speak English. It is clear that Somali and Pakistani communities are less integrated. Ghettos are unacceptable for social cohesion and it is not islamaphobic to say it. The politicians have failed us and left a void willingly filled by the far right idiots.
Intelligent comments on the matter are always welcome.
DeleteI can live with people having concern about immigration but will not abide those motivated by bigoted or ideological hatred of immigrants.
If the type of points you raise are shouted down as racist then all that is being offered as a solution to a problem is to pretend it does not exist.
Something that troubles me is the prospect of AI reducing the number of available jobs. A divided society with ever reducing job opportunities is not an enticing prospect.
ReplyDeleteThe far-right looks like they are unfortunately here to stay for the foreseeable. "The centre" has mostly held so far, but surely it's just a matter of time before they make a breakthrough in the UK, France, Germany or whatever. That's a pretty bleak thought, particularly when it's unlikely that they'd ever be able to enact the policies on immigration that they'd like to, thus kicking off dangerous "betrayal" myths.
This is a depressing interview: https://x.com/StephenNolan/status/1820740890152907239
This guy has terrible cases of aggrieved entitlement, status anxiety, and a pair of remarkably rose-tinted glasses. One thing I find curious about this mindset is the idea of Sandy Row being "his" area. He may rent, or even own, a home there, but Sandy Row is an idea in his head that he owns rather than a physical thing. That idea has no place for anyone, I would suspect, who isn't a member of his tiny little tribe.
Brandon,
Delete" One thing I find curious about this mindset is the idea of Sandy Row being "his" area. He may rent, or even own, a home there, but Sandy Row is an idea in his head that he owns rather than a physical thing. That idea has no place for anyone, I would suspect, who isn't a member of his tiny little tribe."
You're conflating two things here:
- the notion of an area/community
- small mindedness
There are an awful lot of people who are deeply attached to their areas and the people around them. There's a big difference between those people and far-right morons who don't want a foreigner living next door to them.
Much of the rancour about immigration in the UK arises from the conflation between "economic migration", asylum and freedom of movement within the EU; the latter was arguably the biggest driver of Leave sentiment in the Brexit referendum and now that Brexit is "done" is now a redundant factor. The animus around "small boats" and the housing of migrants in hotels at taxpayers' expense is an outcome of the absence of legal safe routes to the UK and the appalling backlog in the processing of asylum applications. It was back in the mid noughties that a former Home Secretary, John Reid, described the Home Office Asylum & Immigration Section as "not fit for purpose". It is fair to state that the sudden rather than phased introduction of free movement in 2004 in both the UK and ROI for the accession countries from Eastern Europe did cause localised job losses in the construction industry and localised anxieties about demographic changes in some neighbourhoods. What is poetic justice for Brexiteers is that their pet project took away the option of returning refugees back to France or any other EU member state.
ReplyDeleteI have previously written in TPQ about the history of racialised discourses around immigration from the Know Nothing Nativists in mid 19th C America who feared the dilution of WASP stock from poor Irish and European Catholic immigrants, to the anti-Jewish UK Aliens Act of 1905 and the specific distinction made between New and Old Commonwealth immigrants in the Commonwealth Immigration Acts of 1968 and 1971. The othering of Polish and other East European migrants during the Brexit referendum campaign and the moral panics about the supposed influx of young, single men of "military age" are more contemporary iterations of that theme.
I would recommend Hein de Mas "How Migration Really Works" which unpicks many of the most cherished myths around migration held by both opponents and proponents. For example, international migration remains low and stable and that most migrants travel short distances.
https://unherd.com/newsroom/labour-risks-further-unrest-with-asylum-seeker-decision/
ReplyDeleteDouglas Murray has an interesting take on immigration, employment, and the riots: https://archive.is/KEk9F
ReplyDelete