The attack was encouraged by posts on social media after the sexual assault on a 10-year-old girl allegedly by one of these applicants and such an assault must be condemned unreservedly.
Local residents who had been ‘peacefully’ protesting throughout the summer against this hotel being used for the purposes of housing these people, many fleeing for their lives, called another protest against the residents apparently blaming every applicant for this sickening assault. So much for ‘Cead Mile Failte’ (one hundred thousand welcomes) which obviously does not apply to the not so good people of City West who certainly are not making these people from foreign lands welcome.
Initially their protests were no doubt well intended but appear to have been hijacked by far-right elements. The protest planned by these locals, unsavoury as it was, intended to be peaceful but once social media had done its work all kinds of less peaceful elements turned up, involving some surprise packages including one-time revolutionary socialists apparently turned racists!
It is not the first time in history individuals and organisations have switched sides, perhaps the most famous individual would be Benito Mussolini who shifted from a revolutionary syndicalist position to extreme right-wing fascism in Italy. Oswald Mosely was another who moved from left to a far-right position. A one-time Labour MP he crossed the floor to the Conservatives then went further to form the British Union of Fascists (BUF). This does not excuse ‘political treachery’ and to use the excuse in a statement of “standing with the Irish working-class” in explaining their presence these individuals exposed themselves for what they have unfortunately become. Others who would be more expected to fuel the flames of racism in Ireland are the likes of Hermann Kelly and Luke O’Connor of the Irish Freedom Party, Patrick Quinlan of the National Party who once stated to Fingal County Council; “the only reason Fingal County Council is increasing social housing rents is to accommodate for the plantation of this country”. He went on to rant against mass immigration claiming it is having a “disastrous” effect on “Irish families.” How exactly is a little unclear.
The City West incident which involved petrol bombs, not dissimilar to the Kristallnacht in Germany 1938, is not the only racist protest in this state. The far-right have been furrowing away at people’s fears turning them into a kind of paranoia against the ‘foreigner’. This is just the same way Hitler began his crusade against Jewish people in Nazi Germany. Justin Barret of the National Party, the same organisation as Patrick Quinlan, is a self-confessed neo-Nazi and admirer of Adolf Hitler. Though no evidence is present linking any of these to the City West atrocities they have all been active on social media at some point throwing petrol on the fires of people’s fears, fuelling into an inferno of racism.
The City West incident which involved petrol bombs, not dissimilar to the Kristallnacht in Germany 1938, is not the only racist protest in this state. The far-right have been furrowing away at people’s fears turning them into a kind of paranoia against the ‘foreigner’. This is just the same way Hitler began his crusade against Jewish people in Nazi Germany. Justin Barret of the National Party, the same organisation as Patrick Quinlan, is a self-confessed neo-Nazi and admirer of Adolf Hitler. Though no evidence is present linking any of these to the City West atrocities they have all been active on social media at some point throwing petrol on the fires of people’s fears, fuelling into an inferno of racism.
Historically the Nazis in Germany gained power firstly by controlling the streets as the left opposition was fractured. The Social Democrats and the German Communist Party, the KPD, refused to unite their forces against Hitler’s thugs and the net result was both organisations were kicked off the streets. Soviet Union leader, Joe Stalin, issued a directive to German communists not to work with the Social Democrats who he claimed were the “real enemy” and not the Nazis. Stalin was no socialist and certainly not an internationalist, and he set the socialist cause back decades if not irreversibly. The opposition to the Nazi surge was weak, at best non-existent, at worst during those years of the Nazi ascendancy. We must learn the lessons of the past here in Ireland right across the 32 counties as this far-right neo fascist/racist* trend affects both jurisdictions on the island of Ireland.
What has been notable on our streets is the lack of any meaningful anti-fascist/anti-racist opposition. A broad front anti-fascist/anti-racist movement should be built as a matter of urgency. The racists have already gained much control on the streets, as did the Nazis in Germany. Their next move will be controlling the elected chambers then we really do have problems. Once this, if ever, is achieved those people who through their once peaceful legitimate protests, hijacked by the thugs of fascism, who got these neo-fascists to power will be discarded like a piece of unwanted trash. The ‘Night of the Long Knives’ springs to mind again in Nazi Germany when Hitler had the leaders of the Brown Shirts or SA’s (Sturmabteilung or Storm Division), the thugs which were instrumental getting the Nazis to power, liquidated. If all anti-fascists/anti-racists are to put up a credible opposition it will mean for many parking their individual political ideologies and working on an ad-hoc basis with each other. It will mean Marxists working with people from Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Sinn Fein, the Irish Labour Party and other constitutionalist parties and individuals who are anti-fascist in a unified front opposing the far right both ideologically and physically. This for the purpose of opposing the far-right should be the only policy up for discussion, not the economy or the rights and wrongs of capitalism, just anti-fascism. For those of us who oppose capitalism this may be problematic but essential, ideology cannot get in the way of stopping the far-right before it really is too late.
Huge mobilisations against the fascists have been massed before. In London, 1936, Cable Street, 3,000 of Mosley’s fascists were determined to march through the East End and had 7,000 policemen, some sympathetic to Moseley, to protect them. Over 50,000 anti-fascists many from the East End turned out to stop the BUF from marching and despite the police’s best efforts were successful, the fascists did not pass. Under the motto ‘they shall not pass’ (No Pasaran, a motto adopted by Spanish republicans opposing Franco’s fascists during the Spanish Civil War) Mosley was prevented by people from the Communist Party, various socialist organisations, Syndicalists, the Labour Party, even some liberals turned out to stop them. It was a very broad-churched mobilisation. Fast forward to the 1970s and the temporary rise of the National Front (NF) in Britain. The Socialist Workers Party (SWP) formed the Anti-Nazi League (ANL) which, like in 1936, consisted of a number of ideologies with the sole aim of stopping Martin Webster, John Tyndal and the NF. Once again huge numbers were involved in the ANL and the fascists were beaten off the streets. These are the kind of movements Anti-Fascist Action (AFA) and other likeminded organisations should be trying to forge in Ireland today before it’s too late!
Have the fascist leaderships, such as they are, managed yet to completely hijack these protests turning those taking part into raving Nazis? No, not yet they haven’t, and must be prevented from doing so. Anti-fascists have been absent not only on the streets but also the public meetings about ‘refugee accommodation’ in residential areas where far-right speakers have been threading in their hate on the backs of people’s concerns. Their arguments are not difficult to beat and it must be conceded the government have handled the entire refugee project very, very badly. At City West TUSLA the child and family agency handled the assault on the 10-year-old girl badly and left themselves wide open to criticism from those on the far-right and their new allies.
What has been notable on our streets is the lack of any meaningful anti-fascist/anti-racist opposition. A broad front anti-fascist/anti-racist movement should be built as a matter of urgency. The racists have already gained much control on the streets, as did the Nazis in Germany. Their next move will be controlling the elected chambers then we really do have problems. Once this, if ever, is achieved those people who through their once peaceful legitimate protests, hijacked by the thugs of fascism, who got these neo-fascists to power will be discarded like a piece of unwanted trash. The ‘Night of the Long Knives’ springs to mind again in Nazi Germany when Hitler had the leaders of the Brown Shirts or SA’s (Sturmabteilung or Storm Division), the thugs which were instrumental getting the Nazis to power, liquidated. If all anti-fascists/anti-racists are to put up a credible opposition it will mean for many parking their individual political ideologies and working on an ad-hoc basis with each other. It will mean Marxists working with people from Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Sinn Fein, the Irish Labour Party and other constitutionalist parties and individuals who are anti-fascist in a unified front opposing the far right both ideologically and physically. This for the purpose of opposing the far-right should be the only policy up for discussion, not the economy or the rights and wrongs of capitalism, just anti-fascism. For those of us who oppose capitalism this may be problematic but essential, ideology cannot get in the way of stopping the far-right before it really is too late.
Huge mobilisations against the fascists have been massed before. In London, 1936, Cable Street, 3,000 of Mosley’s fascists were determined to march through the East End and had 7,000 policemen, some sympathetic to Moseley, to protect them. Over 50,000 anti-fascists many from the East End turned out to stop the BUF from marching and despite the police’s best efforts were successful, the fascists did not pass. Under the motto ‘they shall not pass’ (No Pasaran, a motto adopted by Spanish republicans opposing Franco’s fascists during the Spanish Civil War) Mosley was prevented by people from the Communist Party, various socialist organisations, Syndicalists, the Labour Party, even some liberals turned out to stop them. It was a very broad-churched mobilisation. Fast forward to the 1970s and the temporary rise of the National Front (NF) in Britain. The Socialist Workers Party (SWP) formed the Anti-Nazi League (ANL) which, like in 1936, consisted of a number of ideologies with the sole aim of stopping Martin Webster, John Tyndal and the NF. Once again huge numbers were involved in the ANL and the fascists were beaten off the streets. These are the kind of movements Anti-Fascist Action (AFA) and other likeminded organisations should be trying to forge in Ireland today before it’s too late!
Have the fascist leaderships, such as they are, managed yet to completely hijack these protests turning those taking part into raving Nazis? No, not yet they haven’t, and must be prevented from doing so. Anti-fascists have been absent not only on the streets but also the public meetings about ‘refugee accommodation’ in residential areas where far-right speakers have been threading in their hate on the backs of people’s concerns. Their arguments are not difficult to beat and it must be conceded the government have handled the entire refugee project very, very badly. At City West TUSLA the child and family agency handled the assault on the 10-year-old girl badly and left themselves wide open to criticism from those on the far-right and their new allies.
Is Ireland ready for fascism? No, the conditions both north and south usually associated with the rise of far-right organisations do not exist. The bourgeoisie are not in crisis and the economies in both jurisdictions are not in trouble. Yes, in the Six Counties the Legislative Assembly at Stormont want more investment from the British Government but this is always the case and always will be so long as they are dependent on such a foreign government. The mistakes of Italy and Germany during the late 1920s and early 1930s must not be repeated today in Ireland. To make those errors would be unforgivable because, unlike the anti-Nazis in Germany, we have their experiences as a blue print of what not to do. Learn from the past do not repeat it!
*Neo-fascism, unlike orthodox fascist movements of the 1920s and 30s, not including the Nazis, has race, racism and immigration as a central component factor of their makeup. Race was not initially central to Mussolini’s fascist party in Italy, differing from Hitlers Nazis on this point, but in neo-fascism it is central to most movements. Neo-fascist groups are an updated version of the orthodox movements adding race and immigration as leading components to their agenda.
*Neo-fascism, unlike orthodox fascist movements of the 1920s and 30s, not including the Nazis, has race, racism and immigration as a central component factor of their makeup. Race was not initially central to Mussolini’s fascist party in Italy, differing from Hitlers Nazis on this point, but in neo-fascism it is central to most movements. Neo-fascist groups are an updated version of the orthodox movements adding race and immigration as leading components to their agenda.
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| Caoimhin O’Muraile is Independent Socialist Republican and Marxist. |
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