They hold an ideology which is sick to any sane person. We must not make the mistakes of the KPD (Communist Party of Germany) and SPD (Social Democratic Party of Germany) during 1920s Germany. It was the failure of these groups to unite in an anti-Nazi front which allowed Hitler's SA thugs to control the streets. The KPD received orders from Stalin in Moscow ‘no alliance with reactionaries of the SPD’ (Social Democrats). Such orders were music to Hitler's ears because they divided the left-wing opposition which he would, on coming to power, eradicate one by one starting with the communists. Such divisions within the anti-fascists must not be allowed to happen again, learn the lessons of the past, or suffer the same fate! The fates of the KPD and SPD were final and fatal resulting in many of these groups being gassed in the murder chambers of Auschwitz, Treblinka, Sobibor or any other of the Nazi death camps. Alternatively the former political activists of the left could be worked to death on one of Nazi Germany’s bizarre projects. Either way the end was not pleasant. Across Europe such groups masquerading as political parties are on the march again, not as large as the 1930s yet but nevertheless present. In Ireland we have our share of embryonic fascist groups in the ascendancy.
As with their predecessors these groups are praying on the political ignorance and fears of local people who feel under threat from ‘asylum seekers’ and ‘refugees’ most of whom are ‘International Protection Applicants’ and have a legal right to seek protection from persecution and even death in their native countries. It is true the situation has been handled so badly by the government, I often wonder to create a backlash situation if not on purpose. Very little or no consultation has been afforded local people in the areas where these ‘refugees’ are to be accommodated which was wrong and an insult to local people. That said the groups who have latched on to these protests by local people are no more interested in these people’s concerns than I have of becoming the next Pope. People like Malachy Steenson, once in the opposite political camp in the Workers Party who espoused the absolute opposite of what he spouts now, are opportunists. Unable to be accepted in Sinn Fein/Workers Party – later just the Workers Party – or any other groups on the republican left-wing Steenson has found a home with the politics of the far-right. The politics of the groups he was formerly associated with and those he preaches now are poles apart. Why the shift, Malachy? Steenson is not alone, merely perhaps the highest profile.
Other more dangerous groups are present in Ireland and are openly Nazi such as Justin Barret and his
Clann Éireann movement. In 2024 Barrett hailed Hitler as “the greatest leader of all time” and has publicly quoted ‘Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf, performed Nazi salutes, and engaged in Holocaust denial.’ At the 102nd anniversary of the assassination of Michael Collins at Beal na Blath Barrett announced his Sciath Naisuinta organisation, the paramilitary Nazi wing of his Clann Éireann movement, so the Nazis are now reportedly armed it appears. He has also reportedly said ‘he would strip the Irish citizenship rights of local government politician Hazel Chu’. This is in spite of the fact that Hazel was born in Ireland and spent her entire life here. Hazel also served as Lord Mayor of Dublin and is well respected. It would be fair to say Barrett is a very dangerous man complemented, either directly or indirectly, accidently or otherwise, by the policies advocated by the likes of Malachy Steenson and his cohorts. These people prey on the fears of locals, many of these fears being justified, though unfounded, and exploit these fears for their own political ends. Right-wing populism espoused by former left-wing advocates is uncommon but not unknown. Oswald Moseley crossed the floor from the Labour Party to the Conservatives and kept walking in this right-wing direction, forming the British Union of Fascists (BUF) in 1932 ending up interned during the Second World War as he was deemed a supporter of the Nazis. I would suggest these people many who hitherto have not being involved in politics who are following these far-right groups think very hard. Many of these Irish groups have contacts with British far-right and fascist organisations who, it should be remembered, are linked to loyalists in the north so when they are preaching their shite, remember this. Also, I would suggest, that reactionary people like Malachy Steenson, who I do not believe is yet a fascist, read about the Night of the Long Knives which took place in Nazi Germany between 30th June and 2nd July 1934. Here people like Steenson, having been used, were murdered by the SS on the orders of Adolf Hitler, the man who Barret claims is “the greatest leader of all time”. If these people, using the fears of the good people of East Wall in Dublin for example, ever achieve their aims on the backs of people’s ignorance imagine what may well happen. Stop these gangs and stop them now
How do we deal with this fascist threat? History teaches us they must be stopped in the early days. Failure to do this could result in Ireland becoming a fascist 26-County state, or even a 32-County state bearing two flags! Back in the eighties groups like Anti-Fascist Action (AFA) confronted the fascists off the streets of London, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow. This approach of meeting violence with street resistance worked but, supported by ideological polemics, worked all the better. Supporting the street resistance, ideological debates and polemics must take place because beating the far-right ideologically is as important, if not more so in many respects, as is the confrontations on the streets. AFA is active in Ireland, and all groups, I would suggest, should join or affiliate to this broad-church anti-fascist group. Back in the 1930s republicans openly engaged and fought the fascist Blue Shirts in Ireland so we do have a tradition of anti-fascism.
The Israeli historian of the Holocaust, Yehuda Bauer, a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause and a two-state solution with a Palestinian nation state alongside Israel, had, regarding the Holocaust, three commandments:
1) “There should be no victims”.
2) “There should be no perpetrators”
3) “There should be no bystanders”
Put bluntly such horrors as the Holocaust should not happen ever again yet we see groups, such as those led by the likes of Justin Barrett, openly advocating the policies of the Nazi Third Reich for Ireland! The Nazi Holocaust was a huge iceberg which the far-right across Ireland and the rest of Europe represent only the tip of. Do the people, initially under genuine concerns over lack of consultation regarding International Protection Seekers, who are following these groups realise what they really stand for? Do they realise if such ideologies ever come to fruition in Ireland or anywhere else in the world that today’s followers could well be tomorrow’s victims? Today in Ireland we have many non-fascists, that is those who would not support fascism but neither would they fight it either on the streets or ideologically. These would loosely be classed in today’s world as Bauers “bystanders”. Some see anti-fascists as being too communist led and, not understanding communism apart from what they read in the media, want nothing to do with anti-fascist groups. It is true groups such as AFA do contain Socialists, Communists, and Anarchists but they also have within their ranks many non-communists, even liberals, who are equally anti-fascist. This is a single-issue task and all other ideologies, apart from combatting fascism, goes out of the window otherwise we will lose the fight. Learn the lessons of history: the failure of the KPD and SPD in Germany to unite allowed Hitler's Nazis to control the streets. A similar situation arose during the Spanish Civil War near Barcelona when the Stalinists and the Syndicalists opened fire on each other. This incident which turned into a battle between the two ideological opponents was music to Franco and the fascists ears.
In the 26-Counties members of Sinn Fein, Labour, People Before Profit/Solidarity, and the Social Democrats hold anti-fascist views along with organisations outside Dail Eireann such as the IRSP. Any anti-fascist movement will be broad churched and, for example, younger members of street fighting age from Sinn Fein, may be standing alongside rival republican organisations like the IRSP. Any ideological infighting should be parked for the purposes of fighting fascism. This does not mean any political party’s ideology should be forgotten, merely parked up for ad hoc anti-fascist reasons. The time for action against the far-right is now, not when they have half the Dail filled with TDs and local authorities are bursting at the seams with them. Do not allow what happened in Germany during the late 1920s and early 1930s to happen here. At the moment the fascists control the streets. This must stop. Only on these streets can younger able bodied anti-fascists stop them. In the debating chambers is where the political-ideological debates and even polemics begin and are won! AFA appear to be the major anti-fascist organisation in Ireland. and the larger and more influential they become the better, at least in theory, but beware of infiltration something which is always a problem. Remember these far-right groups do not have the long-term interests of those who naively follow them now at heart. Those who are encouraged to burn refugees out of their temporary accommodation are being used by a faceless leadership who are often under the control of fascist and right-wing groups in Britain.
The recent electoral success in England of the Reform UK Party, led by Nigel Farage, is concerning. Reform UK do not tell us their long-term plans regarding the Six-Counties and the Good Friday Agreement. They wish to renegotiate the GFA along unionist lines even more so than the present unionist weighted version. Longer-term, they allegedly have ideas to reunite Ireland under the union flag with the British Monarch as head of state. The far-right in Ireland are merely tools in a far bigger toolbox so, to those who follow these, in many cases, pawns to the British far-right, think again. To those good folk on Dublin’s East Wall, who claim the tradition of James Connolly and the Irish Citizen Army, remember this; it was Connolly who welcomed Jewish people into Ireland, even having his 1903 Wood Quay election manifesto translated and written in Hebrew so that the Jewish population could understand. It was James Connolly who while in the USA argued vehemently with Irish American workers against racism and their harassment of Italian, Chinese, and Polish workers. It was the same James Connolly who remonstrated with the descendants of George Washington over their treatment of black people. This is the tradition you belong to, not this neo-Nazi front you have been led down the garden path with.
Stop The Fascists And Stop Them Now!
As with their predecessors these groups are praying on the political ignorance and fears of local people who feel under threat from ‘asylum seekers’ and ‘refugees’ most of whom are ‘International Protection Applicants’ and have a legal right to seek protection from persecution and even death in their native countries. It is true the situation has been handled so badly by the government, I often wonder to create a backlash situation if not on purpose. Very little or no consultation has been afforded local people in the areas where these ‘refugees’ are to be accommodated which was wrong and an insult to local people. That said the groups who have latched on to these protests by local people are no more interested in these people’s concerns than I have of becoming the next Pope. People like Malachy Steenson, once in the opposite political camp in the Workers Party who espoused the absolute opposite of what he spouts now, are opportunists. Unable to be accepted in Sinn Fein/Workers Party – later just the Workers Party – or any other groups on the republican left-wing Steenson has found a home with the politics of the far-right. The politics of the groups he was formerly associated with and those he preaches now are poles apart. Why the shift, Malachy? Steenson is not alone, merely perhaps the highest profile.
Other more dangerous groups are present in Ireland and are openly Nazi such as Justin Barret and his
Clann Éireann movement. In 2024 Barrett hailed Hitler as “the greatest leader of all time” and has publicly quoted ‘Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf, performed Nazi salutes, and engaged in Holocaust denial.’ At the 102nd anniversary of the assassination of Michael Collins at Beal na Blath Barrett announced his Sciath Naisuinta organisation, the paramilitary Nazi wing of his Clann Éireann movement, so the Nazis are now reportedly armed it appears. He has also reportedly said ‘he would strip the Irish citizenship rights of local government politician Hazel Chu’. This is in spite of the fact that Hazel was born in Ireland and spent her entire life here. Hazel also served as Lord Mayor of Dublin and is well respected. It would be fair to say Barrett is a very dangerous man complemented, either directly or indirectly, accidently or otherwise, by the policies advocated by the likes of Malachy Steenson and his cohorts. These people prey on the fears of locals, many of these fears being justified, though unfounded, and exploit these fears for their own political ends. Right-wing populism espoused by former left-wing advocates is uncommon but not unknown. Oswald Moseley crossed the floor from the Labour Party to the Conservatives and kept walking in this right-wing direction, forming the British Union of Fascists (BUF) in 1932 ending up interned during the Second World War as he was deemed a supporter of the Nazis. I would suggest these people many who hitherto have not being involved in politics who are following these far-right groups think very hard. Many of these Irish groups have contacts with British far-right and fascist organisations who, it should be remembered, are linked to loyalists in the north so when they are preaching their shite, remember this. Also, I would suggest, that reactionary people like Malachy Steenson, who I do not believe is yet a fascist, read about the Night of the Long Knives which took place in Nazi Germany between 30th June and 2nd July 1934. Here people like Steenson, having been used, were murdered by the SS on the orders of Adolf Hitler, the man who Barret claims is “the greatest leader of all time”. If these people, using the fears of the good people of East Wall in Dublin for example, ever achieve their aims on the backs of people’s ignorance imagine what may well happen. Stop these gangs and stop them now
How do we deal with this fascist threat? History teaches us they must be stopped in the early days. Failure to do this could result in Ireland becoming a fascist 26-County state, or even a 32-County state bearing two flags! Back in the eighties groups like Anti-Fascist Action (AFA) confronted the fascists off the streets of London, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow. This approach of meeting violence with street resistance worked but, supported by ideological polemics, worked all the better. Supporting the street resistance, ideological debates and polemics must take place because beating the far-right ideologically is as important, if not more so in many respects, as is the confrontations on the streets. AFA is active in Ireland, and all groups, I would suggest, should join or affiliate to this broad-church anti-fascist group. Back in the 1930s republicans openly engaged and fought the fascist Blue Shirts in Ireland so we do have a tradition of anti-fascism.
The Israeli historian of the Holocaust, Yehuda Bauer, a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause and a two-state solution with a Palestinian nation state alongside Israel, had, regarding the Holocaust, three commandments:
1) “There should be no victims”.
2) “There should be no perpetrators”
3) “There should be no bystanders”
Put bluntly such horrors as the Holocaust should not happen ever again yet we see groups, such as those led by the likes of Justin Barrett, openly advocating the policies of the Nazi Third Reich for Ireland! The Nazi Holocaust was a huge iceberg which the far-right across Ireland and the rest of Europe represent only the tip of. Do the people, initially under genuine concerns over lack of consultation regarding International Protection Seekers, who are following these groups realise what they really stand for? Do they realise if such ideologies ever come to fruition in Ireland or anywhere else in the world that today’s followers could well be tomorrow’s victims? Today in Ireland we have many non-fascists, that is those who would not support fascism but neither would they fight it either on the streets or ideologically. These would loosely be classed in today’s world as Bauers “bystanders”. Some see anti-fascists as being too communist led and, not understanding communism apart from what they read in the media, want nothing to do with anti-fascist groups. It is true groups such as AFA do contain Socialists, Communists, and Anarchists but they also have within their ranks many non-communists, even liberals, who are equally anti-fascist. This is a single-issue task and all other ideologies, apart from combatting fascism, goes out of the window otherwise we will lose the fight. Learn the lessons of history: the failure of the KPD and SPD in Germany to unite allowed Hitler's Nazis to control the streets. A similar situation arose during the Spanish Civil War near Barcelona when the Stalinists and the Syndicalists opened fire on each other. This incident which turned into a battle between the two ideological opponents was music to Franco and the fascists ears.
In the 26-Counties members of Sinn Fein, Labour, People Before Profit/Solidarity, and the Social Democrats hold anti-fascist views along with organisations outside Dail Eireann such as the IRSP. Any anti-fascist movement will be broad churched and, for example, younger members of street fighting age from Sinn Fein, may be standing alongside rival republican organisations like the IRSP. Any ideological infighting should be parked for the purposes of fighting fascism. This does not mean any political party’s ideology should be forgotten, merely parked up for ad hoc anti-fascist reasons. The time for action against the far-right is now, not when they have half the Dail filled with TDs and local authorities are bursting at the seams with them. Do not allow what happened in Germany during the late 1920s and early 1930s to happen here. At the moment the fascists control the streets. This must stop. Only on these streets can younger able bodied anti-fascists stop them. In the debating chambers is where the political-ideological debates and even polemics begin and are won! AFA appear to be the major anti-fascist organisation in Ireland. and the larger and more influential they become the better, at least in theory, but beware of infiltration something which is always a problem. Remember these far-right groups do not have the long-term interests of those who naively follow them now at heart. Those who are encouraged to burn refugees out of their temporary accommodation are being used by a faceless leadership who are often under the control of fascist and right-wing groups in Britain.
The recent electoral success in England of the Reform UK Party, led by Nigel Farage, is concerning. Reform UK do not tell us their long-term plans regarding the Six-Counties and the Good Friday Agreement. They wish to renegotiate the GFA along unionist lines even more so than the present unionist weighted version. Longer-term, they allegedly have ideas to reunite Ireland under the union flag with the British Monarch as head of state. The far-right in Ireland are merely tools in a far bigger toolbox so, to those who follow these, in many cases, pawns to the British far-right, think again. To those good folk on Dublin’s East Wall, who claim the tradition of James Connolly and the Irish Citizen Army, remember this; it was Connolly who welcomed Jewish people into Ireland, even having his 1903 Wood Quay election manifesto translated and written in Hebrew so that the Jewish population could understand. It was James Connolly who while in the USA argued vehemently with Irish American workers against racism and their harassment of Italian, Chinese, and Polish workers. It was the same James Connolly who remonstrated with the descendants of George Washington over their treatment of black people. This is the tradition you belong to, not this neo-Nazi front you have been led down the garden path with.
Stop The Fascists And Stop Them Now!
 |
| Caoimhin O’Muraile is Independent Socialist Republican and Marxist. |
Well I'm a lefty Loyalist so "remember that". Stop using broad strokes in castigation of your perceived enemy Caomihin, we have far more in common than divides us.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe we are of very different points of view on this. All people should be treated with compassion, but when exactly did the South or the UK agree to the unfettered migration of unchecked migrants? Neither State is set up to accommodate this. I cannot be the only person who has a tale to tell regards family not being able to get a Doctors appointment due to an overstretched Health Service? People who I grew up with not able to get homes in the areas they grew up in but yet people from "El Salvador, Romania and Albania" have been allocated housing there?
There is an issue to be addressed and slinging the "-ist" shite isn't a part of the solution. Regards to Islam I defer to a far greater intellect than I.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EYg8Tgrh0o
Steve - I think Caoimhin avoids reducing it to fascism. In fact he avoids calling Malachy Steenson a fascist and is attuned to the concerns of communities which he does not label racist. At the same time we should be under no illusion about the fascist element at play. I know he is a figure of fun that even some on the far right ridicule but there seems little wrong in characterising Justin Barrett as a fascist.
DeleteThis unfettered migration of unchecked immigrants seems to be be groundless. Ireland does not have an open borders policy.
Is immigration a problem? Of course it is. Anything that puts strain on a societal infrastructure has to be considered a problem. If a table isn't big enough to seat everyone it is counterintuitive to call for more people. But we can either blame the people seeking food or build a bigger table if the resources are there to do it.
While we have nation states where the task of national governments is to build infrastructure fit for purpose there will always be a built-in tension between that infrastructure and immigration. Pretending otherwise is as useful as praying.
One challenge to the left is is that it has a strategy for immigration but no strategy other than waffle and sloganising for the consequence of immigration which is immigration is an organising principle for the far right. Screaming fascist at everybody who has concerns will most likely see those labelled migrate towards the fascist camp. I have heard people labelled fascist because they do not agree with abortion. That is a Catholic perspective not a fascist one.
On Islam - Hitchens was right about how Islamophobia was going to become a weapon to muzzle dissent. I don't want to see religious interference of any hue in the sphere of public policy. If a person is oppose to abortion or same sex marriage they should never be forced into them. At the same time they should not have the ability to coerce those who want same sex marriage or abortion out of availing of them. It is the coercive element that adds the fascistic colouring.
AM, you refer to strain on infrastructure and such like.
DeleteWhat about the transformative impact of migration on culture and politics? The last mass inward demographic movement of people resulted in hundreds of years of conflict - the legacy of which we live with to the present. This is not simply a question of resources but by sheer weight of numbers a question as to whether the Irish will survive beyond this century. It might even cost us a 'yes' result in a border poll before then.
Given current demographic trends, the Irish may become a minority in their homeland within a few decades. Is this what Kevin and the left support? Because that's what's going to happen.
ReplyDeleteThat is nonsense, the same arguments the fascist groups, BNP, NF, BM and other Hitlerite groups in Britain advocate. The claim, as do you regards the Irish in Ireland, that British people will become a "minority" in their "own country". Every year thousands of Irish emmigrate perhaps you should stop people leaving Ireland as well as preventing folk coming in? These arguments about "becoming a minority" in their own country is as old as the hills and twice as boring.
ReplyDeleteCaoimhin O'Muraile