No Pasarán! Stop the far-right in Belfast – Declan Kearly MLA
By Declan Kearney MLA
While the calls to bring people onto the streets for anti-immigrant demonstrations in recent days at various locations across the north, including Antrim Town, failed as effective mobilisations, the seriousness of their underlying racist motivation should not be underestimated.
The attempt to stage an anti-immigrant march in Antrim Town may have received limited support, but it represents the latest in a series of attempts by racist and sectarian extremists to stir up tensions. For over two months now, a systematic campaign of racist and sectarian intimidation has been conducted in the town itself and surrounding area.
This began with the placing of racist posters in the greater Ballycraigy neighbourhood. That was quickly followed by the erection of flags and painting of graffiti in a still unoccupied social housing development. As a result, some of those due to be housed there were too frightened to take up occupancy.
Elsewhere, international health workers were intimidated from their homes and have since left employment in the Northern Trust. The attacks on homes and property belonging to these workers is outrageous. The subsequent erection of flags, painting of kerbstones and vandalising of homes is part of an orchestrated campaign to impose sectarian and racial segregation.
A gang of self-styled paramilitary criminals are trying to control and coerce the Ballycraigy neighbourhood. For decades, they have been involved in drug crime and other forms of criminality, including serious sectarian violence. They are sectarian, racist, criminal extremists. This gang is now trying to destroy the good community and multicultural relations enjoyed in Antrim Town.
At the end of June, flags were festooned in shared communal areas such as the vicinity of St Comgall’s Church, the Chapel Corner, and Tesco shopping complex. Almost six weeks later these flags remain in place. Subsequently, neo-Nazi and fascist graffiti appeared in other shared space areas across Antrim. A minority of bigots deliberately sought to whip up sectarian and racial tensions in the lead up to the 12th July. This culminated in the construction of illegal bonfires, with toxic and flammable materials again on land owned by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and Choice Housing Association.
At these locations and other bonfire sites in Ballycraigy, and also in Randalstown (the latter being supported by the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council (ANBC) Bonfire Management Programme) Irish and Palestinian national flags, cultural emblems and in the case of Mallusk Gardens, Sinn Féin election posters, were burned. The burning of materials in Neillsbrook and Ballycraigy was a clear breach of the ANBC protocols, and for the second consecutive year.
All this behaviour happens in violation of the rule of law and total disrespect for good relations. Despite repeated representations by Sinn Féin and the best endeavours of the PSNI, other public bodies failed again to prevent illegal bonfires and resultant acts of racist and sectarian hatred from occurring. Persistent inaction by public bodies empowers the small number of criminals to act with impunity. What happened on the ‘11th night’ cannot be dissociated from the preceding weeks of intimidation.
A line now needs to be drawn. Those who caused this racist and sectarian hatred are beyond the pale. We as a community must support the police to put the criminals responsible before the courts. However, the failure of public bodies to discharge their powers and work together to take effective enforcement action is unacceptable.
The Flags, Identity, Culture and Traditions (FICT) report sought to address many of these issues. It is not a panacea, but it does provide a road map to address causes of division. An action plan for it now needs to be published. The power sharing Executive’s Racial Equality Strategy needs additional resourcing and political support to more effectively tackle racial prejudice and inequalities in the north. Robust resolutions to the scourge of sectarian and racist hate crime will only be achieved with categoric legal authority and proper enforcement.
The people of Antrim, and Sinn Féin are focused on building a better, brighter future for all our people. We will reject the efforts of sectarian and racist extremists to stop us from moving forward. This is Antrim 2024, not Alabama 1964. Political, community, and trade union activists must continue to provide the leadership which is needed. On Saturday Sinn Féin activists and local people in South Belfast demonstrated exemplary community based action against these bigots.
Our collective priority must be on promoting an inclusive, welcoming, multicultural society, with anti-sectarianism and anti-racism at its core. That is the message which must be heard and fearlessly delivered, not only in Antrim Town and Belfast, but throughout Ireland, north and south.
No Pasarán!
- Declan Kearney is an MLA for South Antrim and National Chair of Sinn Féin. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram.
- This was originally published in the August 2024 Sinn Féin Bulletin.
Darren Ferguson of organisation Beyond Skin
The founder of a multi-cultural peacebuilding organisation in Belfast said he has “never seen this level of fear” when it comes to racism and hate crimes in Northern Ireland
Darren Ferguson set up Beyond Skin 20 years ago. Now a fully fledged charity, it uses music, arts and new media as a tool for cultural education and exchange in an aim to address issues of racism and sectarianism.
Beyond Skin was created in 2004, when NI had hit the headlines for being described by leading European publications as the “racist capital of Europe”.
While Mr Ferguson believes the majority of people here have come a long way from that, he said: “Belfast has always been two steps forward, one step back.
“What we’ve seen recently is incredibly worrying and sad for our city,” he continued.
“Everybody is terrified. I was brought to tears when I was listening to a mother today — she’s lived here all her life, she’s from the black community, and her children are scared to go out on the street and play with other children now. It’s a level of fear which I have never seen before, and I’ve lived here all my life.
“This does not represent Northern Ireland at all, but the problem is this minority is armed and causing violence and that fear is hard to counteract. People have hammers in their hands; they want to hurt people and that’s what is causing fear.”
Read more
We shouldn't fear an immigration debate... but let's tackle some myths first
Claims that loyalist pipe bomb pastor linked to race-hate social media posts
Another man in court tomorrow as rival protests pass off peacefully in Belfast
Beyond Skin often works with asylum seekers, particularly from the Middle East and African regions.
Mr Ferguson said many of their stories are “horrific” already, without having to now face hatred in a country in which they often have no family or friends to rely on.
“Every single one of them seeking safety has the most horrific story and I don’t think we have a clue about how that feels. You are here in a country which does not have your first language.
“For example, Afghan women coming here — the Taliban are vicious and threatening, they’ve had to flee from that. And then they are facing this level of hatred.
“We have quite a number of people in Northern Ireland who served in Afghanistan, protecting girls going to school, so why would you not protect them here on your own shores? That doesn’t match up for me at all.”
PSNI given ‘special powers’ while Belfast businesses to close early as city gears up for potential disorder
The PSNI has said that there is “no doubt” that there was loyalist paramilitary involvement in recent rioting in Belfast. Mr Ferguson believes it is also important to be “sensitive” when generalising one community as a whole.
“We are one of the very few organisations that bring together people of ethnic minorities, people seeking refuge, and people from the loyalist community, making music. That’s ongoing and we have always embraced different communities and they've always worked together, through the arts.
“There are really high-calibre artists and musicians who have arrived, who want to contribute to our creative economies. I am just back from Peter Gabriel’s WOMAD Festival in England with two Afghan girls.
“We’ve got to be clear that these are not anti-immigration protests; it’s racist hate violence we are seeing on the streets now. This is sheer racism.
“Paramilitaries and the far-right are very blurred, and Northern Ireland has a history of violence and intimidation from white paramilitaries. That’s the people we don’t want here. Everybody else is welcome. That distortion is crazy.
“I think we have to be really careful about how we tar communities with one brush. We’ve been working extensively with the loyalist community, which is very diverse like any community. There’s a few bad eggs in there, but a lot of good people, who have helped us out and offered homes for refugees.”
No comments:
Post a Comment