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Showing posts with label East Wall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label East Wall. Show all posts
Matt Treacy ✒ Former world UFC Champion Conor McGregor has tweeted support for the people of East Wall who are continuing to protest against the placing of a migrant accommodation centre in the area.


I stand with the people of East Wall. And no I do not want to be a politician. Just that they have to answer to me. https://t.co/AGHSBrrrPi

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) December 17, 2022

His declaration of support for his fellow Dubs has garnered a considerable, and climbing, number of likes and the many comments on the post are overwhelmingly supportive. One of the responses led to his informally throwing his hat into the ring as a possible successor to President Michael D. Higgins who must depart Áras an Uachtaráin in 2025 unless the NGOs stage a coup and reinstall him as President for life.

Having cast my eye on any of the other likely contenders, if the bould Conor does manage to secure a nomination, and his support for East Wall will not have boosted his chances within the Party – apologies, the parties because of course they all differ fundamentally on, em,…. – then he may have the tentative vote of growing numbers of people who feel increasingly unrepresented by their TDs.

I’d fancy my chances of correcting that. https://t.co/oTqQJQPWss

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) December 17, 2022

Meanwhile the protests have continued, with another successful blockade of the Port tunnel having taken place on Friday evening during rush hour traffic, against leading to considerable traffic disruption across the city centre and approaches.

The resilience of the protestors over the past weeks has led to evident unease among the political establishment.


This week a report in the Phoenix which regularly publishes stories that seem to reflect the internal views of senior Sinn Féin figures commented on the fact that some of the party’s “less sophisticated support base … may be susceptible to crude nationalism.” Pretty pathetic given where Sinn Féin are coming from historically, but reflective of the disjunct between the left liberal staffers and leadership and many of their traditional voters in Dublin and elsewhere.

Meanwhile, one of the participants in the East Wall protests has challenged Conor McGregor to put his money where his mouth is.

Well if u stand with us here in East Wall come down and stand with us on the cold night's on the streets


Matt Treacy is the author of Houses Of Pain

Conor McGregor Stands With East Wall As Protests Continue

Caoimhin O’Muraile ☭ It was with a certain amount of sorrow and a hell of a lot of anger that I felt when I heard of the residents of the East Wall area of North Inner-City Dublin protesting against asylum seekers being housed in their area in an old disused ESB building.

It certainly came as no surprise these protests were taking place over the 26 county governments plans to house 380 asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Nigeria and other countries where terror appears to be part of these unfortunate’s everyday lives. 

What the government had not done, which was why the protests were called in the first place was hold consultation and dialogue with the residents over this mass movement of people under one roof into their area. It is not like getting new neighbours living next door: we are talking about a lot of people who the community knew nothing of. Parents are, rightly so, concerned about their children’s safety among other issues which were raising questions. Some legitimate, others perhaps being born out of fear and media propaganda. Either way surely the government had a responsibility to at least consult the residents about this migration of people into their area. Remember, consultation does not equal the same as negotiation, it does not mean the residents could veto the plan which they were not asking for, just to be kept in the loop so to speak. Instead, they felt were being rode roughshod over with no concern for them, the residents, from the government. This was the initial reason for the protest, lack of consultation and dialogue. They were not about “sending them back” which is something which has been imported in by far-right wing elements, fascist right, like the so-called Irish Freedom Party. It was only a matter of time before the far right made their move and this proved to be a pivotal point which had the government used a little common sense could have been avoided.

Now we have slogans like “send them back” and “get them out” all crap used by the fascists and hitherto not used by the residents, most of whom so far, do not want these fascist groups involved. I say most because a small element of locals would appear to be taking on board this Hitlerite rubbish, rubbish yes but dangerous rubbish all the same. Spokespersons for the resident have been on the news stating these calls by fringe groups coming in are “not what the protests are about” and that these organisations are not wanted here. 

However, and I am speaking from experience, what starts off as peaceful quite legitimate concerns and protest can, and all too often do, turn into a campaign against asylum seekers and immigration as a whole. The people of East Wall are not, to my knowledge and I live not far away, racist generally speaking any more than the rest of Irish society. Not racist Yet, because once these leeches from fascist groups like the IFP pedal their filth, not in the old skinhead street fighting way, but by seen as respectable and using what sounds like common sense talk. Even though it is Nazi propaganda dressed up, they can be and are very persuasive. People will listen to this trash unless a counter argument can be put forward, supporting the legitimate right to protest while at the same time countering these right-wing lies propagated by the far-right. 

All this because the government did not have the foresight, the foresight of a reasonably adjusted ten-year-old, to ask about the concerns of local people. The word “veto” has been used by Leo Varadkar on the news when he comes out with such statements as, “no residents can be allowed to veto these plans.” Well Leo, you less than intelligent man, nobody hitherto was asking for this right. It is you who has introduced this non-existent fear. Now why would you do that? Could it be, it would be in your cobbled together government’s interests to have a far-right backlash to divert attention from the mess you have made not only of the asylum seekers and refugees' situation but the provision of goods and services, from health to housing as a whole, to divert people’s attention from your own abysmal record? Could this be why you are introducing straw men, Leo? Only you know the answer and if it is true, you and your fellow TDs will never admit it. 

My advice to you, for what it’s worth, is do not do it because you could release a whirlwind of reaction which this country has no experience of handling! Take from that what you wish. By introducing the word “veto”, albeit in its pejorative sense Varadkar has used IFP language hidden in concern for the asylum seekers. When groups like the Irish Freedom Party talk of “veto” they’re referring to vetoing before expulsion. Varadkar did not mean it, I doubt, in that sense but nevertheless he has now introduced it into the discourse. During the 1980s Margaret Thatcher stole some of the fascist National Front’s clothing to wear under her own. This became a regular tactic of hers while at the same time claiming to “find the policies of the National Front abhorrent” while enacting some of these “abhorrent” policies herself.

The government minister responsible for this avoidable mess, and potential fascist recruiting ground is Roderic O’Gorman, 26 county Minister for Children, Integration, Disability, and Youth, has had leaflets delivered to the residents of East Wall and surrounding areas. They do address some of the residents' concerns and could be used in a positive way to benefit residents of the area, old and new. By new I mean the asylum seekers. The issue here is all this should have been done before the new arrivals were bussed in and a potential problem could have been avoided. Let us hope this is not a question of too little, too late! If the racists and fascists have already got their teeth into the community, I fear that could be the case.

I have seen this happen before in London’s East End when the Thatcher Government purposely did not engage with locals over the number of immigrants which were to be moved into their area. Areas like Tower Hamlets, Barking, and Dagenham did not know of the numbers and became a hotbed for the British National Party for a time. This was done deliberately by Thatcher, herself holding private fascist sympathies, to allow racial discontent and suspicion allowing hatreds to fester. I do not put Varadkar in her league, far from it, but he and the 26 county administration should learn from other countries experiences with this kind of thing. London’s East End had, have a proud history of left-wing fighting back against the establishment dating back to the Poplar Rent Revolt in 1921, the no pasaran campaign which in 1936 and led by Jewish and Irish groups along with socialists, communists, trade unionists and even some liberals stopped Mosley’s Hitlerite Blackshirt British Union of Fascists (BUF) at Cable Street. Suddenly those same areas became a hotbed for the fascists of the eighties for a time. Attitudes, irrespective of tradition can change, as happened in the East End.

East Wall also has a tradition of fighting back from a left-wing angle dating back to the 1913/14 Dublin Lockout and the 1916 Easter Rising. Christina Caffrey was born and reared at 17 Abercorn Street, East Wall. Christina was a confidant of James Connolly; she was heavily involved in the lockout and the soup kitchens along with other women like Helena Moloney, Rossie Hacket and many others. Christina was also a volunteer in the Irish Citizen Army and fought with the ICA in the Easter Rising. Her sister, Elizabeth, was a founding member of the Irish Women Workers Union along with Delia Larkin, the sister of “Big Jim” the ITGWU leader. 

So, like the East End of London, the East Wall has a left-wing tradition, a revolutionary history so do not allow these fascist interlopers, who care nothing for the residents of the area apart from using them as cannon fodder to promote their racist policies to stain that tradition, as the BNP did to the East End. They will hijack the campaign, if they already have not done so, for their own ends. They care no more for the residents than they do for the asylum seekers they are trying to deport. Countering the IFP is very important and do it quickly. Stop the fascists and stop them now is my advice based on experience. Concentrate on dialogue with the government, late in the day as it may be. 

Anti-fascists should be involved in the area supporting the residents demands for dialogue and consultation while at the same time countering the crap spewed out by the IFP. Unfortunately, I have already heard language used by the fascists, like “fuck them out”, and “send them back” and these are probably some more moderate orations used. This situation is potentially dangerous for both residents and asylum seekers alike, some who have already said the protests intimidate them. 

Get the fascist scum out of your areas, do not allow them to hijack your campaign and demands to be consulted. Failure to do so could be disastrous and everybody may live to regret it.

Caoimhin O’Muraile is Independent 
Socialist Republican and Marxist

East Wall Protests

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