“There is a “permacrisis” of recurring race attacks in Northern Ireland. Scores of families have already had to flee their homes. Anti-immigrant riots in England in July spread to East Belfast where mobs targeted foreign-owned businesses”
By Geoff Bell, Labour Movement for Irish Unity
To coincide with Keir Starmer’s speech at the Labour conference delegates had union jacks placed on their seats. The leader urged his audience to wave them with pride. Such advice would have welcome in that part of the misdescribed “United Kingdom” where union jack waving has been an obsession for decades.
That is the (shrinking) part of northeast Ireland where the Union is an article of faith, the union jack is flown from house to house and street to street, and where non-adherents are given short shrift. That means Catholics, but also British politicians accused of selling out unionism, and those from within the Protestant community who have stood side by side with Catholics in trade union struggles or joined, even lead the struggle for Irish self-determination.
Today, there are more targets. In September, Northern Ireland’s football team played in Luxembourg. Their travelling fans encountered a pro-Gaza demonstration. They chanted, “You can shove Palestine up your hole. You can shove Palestine up your hole.”
This was a variation for the loyalist/unionist/Protestant supporters who dominate Northern Ireland’s soccer followers. Back home, they chant, “You can shove Casement Park up your hole.” This is a Gaelic games venue in Belfast.
But still the enemies multiply. A recent report based on official documents reveal that there is a “permacrisis” of recurring race attacks in Northern Ireland. Scores of families have already had to flee their homes. Anti-immigrant riots in England in July spread to East Belfast where mobs targeted foreign-owned businesses, but even before that, in the unionist stronghold of Ballymena, mobs attacked homes of Roma families and immigrants. When those affected were housed in a leisure centre in nearby Larne that was set alight. There are widespread reports of vigilante groups in East Belfast challenging any non-white males they come across. Homes there are visited by paramilitaries with demands that union jacks be displayed.
The intolerance was on horrific show when a model boat with refugees was depicted and placed on top of a bonfire celebrating the traditional Orange day 12th of July celebrations. The old enemy remains -most recently loyalist paramilitaries have threatened to set fire to Belfast council vehicles displaying the Irish language.
As that and much more shows it is loyalist/unionist/Protestant communities and paramilitary organisations who are overwhelming responsible for the current racism, although there have been occasions when Irish flags were waved during anti-immigrant protests. But it is the loyalists who dominate. The extent of their participation is what has now led to the official racist “permacrisis.”
It has all happened before. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century loyalist mobs expelled Catholics from their workplaces and killed hundreds, some of whom had moved from other parts of Ireland looking for work. At the start of the Troubles, Catholic areas in Belfast were invaded by a mixture of loyalist mobs and the sectarian police who set fire to their victims’ homes. Many fled across the border.
There is an obvious explanation for all of this. Like other settler communities, from South Africa to Isreal, the Protestants of what became Northern Ireland brought with them a belief in their own superiority, in their case over the “native” Irish. This has been an enduring constant and consistent message both from British and Northern Irish elites and pro-Union politicians.
It not going away. Latest opinion polls in Northern Ireland show a rise in support for the most sectarian and right-wing party, Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV), now just four percentage points behind the Democratic Unionist Party who are returning to their own sectarian traditions to try and outflank the TUV. The border neutral Alliance Party, which was increasingly attracting more middle class and non-sectarian Protestants, now trails TUV, although only by a single point. Thankfully, Sinn Fein is well, ahead in the polls, although the joint Irish nationalist and unionist votes are neck and neck. Not that the loyalist ultras should be over-stated. The TUV vote at 13 percent is less than half of Reform’s percentage in Britain.
Nevertheless, the left in Britain needs to take note, and the best way to do so is to actively disassociate themselves from all forms of unionism, including the Starmer brand. His waving the union flag not only fosters dangerous fantasies about the superiority of “Great” Britain, but it also encourages the sectarians in the North of Ireland to maintain their own unionism; believing that they have friends and allies in Britain. If the alternative message of we do not want you or your bigotry, just as we do not want racists and racism in Britain, is broadcast wide and loud then the confidence and determination of unionists in the north of Ireland can drain away.
Recently, the far right in Britain has started painting pavements red, white, and blue: those involved said they were copying loyalists in the North of Ireland. By your friends you shall know them. Campaigning for a united Ireland is fighting the pavement painters on both sides of the Irish Sea.
- Geoff Bell’s latest book is The Twilight of Unionism (Verso). He is on the executive of Labour Movement for Irish Unity.
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