Those lads felt free to talk like that because they were already hearing the same kind of talk from the party itself. They were listening to the same poison dressed up as “concern about immigration” or “protecting Irish values.” They didn’t invent it. They just took the mask off.
Aontú can pretend to be shocked all they like, but anyone paying attention could see this coming a mile off. When a party spends years blaming migrants for housing and health problems, when they cosy up to the conservative right and pander to the same kind of people who wave Trump flags and talk about “our culture being under threat,” it’s no surprise their youth start flirting with fascist groups. That’s what happens when you feed people hate and call it patriotism.
These lads in Aontú didn’t think they were saying anything out of line. They thought they were being clever, being “hard men” standing up for Ireland. But all they were doing was copying the far-right crowd, spouting racist slurs and conspiracy rubbish about Jews and migrants. They were acting like online fascists, not republicans. And let’s be honest, this isn’t Irish republicanism in any shape or form. It’s imported American nonsense, full of hate and lies, with a tricolour slapped on top.
Aontú can sack them all, but that doesn’t wash the party’s hands clean. You can’t build your politics on fear and division and then act surprised when your own members start saying the quiet part out loud. If you lie down with the conservative right, you get up with fascists. That’s exactly what’s happened here.
Real Irish republicanism has nothing to do with this. James Connolly and the lads who fought for the Republic stood for the unity of all working people, no matter their colour, religion, or where they were born. Connolly stood with Jewish workers, dockers from all over the world, and anyone who was treated as less than human. That’s the real Irish tradition, solidarity, not hate.
Racism and antisemitism are a disgrace to that tradition and to this country. Anyone who spreads that kind of poison isn’t standing up for Ireland; they’re betraying her. The true republic belongs to everyone who lives and works here. It’s built on equality, not on who you can exclude.
Aontú can keep pretending it’s just a few bad apples, but until they stop playing footsie with the far right and take a stand against the hate they’ve helped to grow, nothing will change. Their youth didn’t misunderstand the party’s message; they understood it perfectly.
Ireland has no room for fascists and no place for racism. Working people in this country have enough to fight without being turned against each other. The fight is for housing, for fair pay, for dignity, not for hate.
⏩Pádraig Drummond is an anti-racism activist.
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