On the verge of a General Election which is sure to return Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to power, continuing their century of unbroken rule, it is crystal clear that two years of agitation over asylum seekers and immigration has done absolutely nothing to bring about badly needed change in Ireland or to improve the lives of working people. Real wealth remains in the hands of a tiny number of people while large sections of the population struggle to make ends meet, state funds are recklessly squandered while communities are left without the facilities and resources they need, the eternal housing crisis continues with young people left to the mercy of landlords or living in their childhood bedroom and the health service remains a mess while the immigrants who form it's backbone are increasingly fearful and questioning of their place in Ireland today. The racists agitators claim their success has been in moving the government parties to the right but this is like puppets claiming to control the puppet master. The government parties have never needed any pressure to move to the right, they will always freely do as the needs of those they represent require. And the working people of Ireland have experienced enough to know that whatever policies Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael (and their mudguard parties) implement one can be sure it will ultimately be in the interest of the rich, native and foreign.
Over the last two years the parties of government have played a blinder in preserving their dominance, pretending to abhor racism while benefiting hugely from the anti-refugee agitation they have significantly stoked with racist dog whistling and a two-tier refugee policy that saw white Ukrainians promoted as superior to non-white refugees. At the same time, their openly racist counterparts on the ground have relentless attacked as “traitors” left parties and Sinn Fein, the only party that was in a position to lead an alternative government, driving down its standing in working class communities. The government parties of the rich and the racist agitators on the ground are but two sides of the same coin. Now Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael will return to power for yet another five years, wealth will continue to flow upward, people will continue to struggle with accommodation and bills, and no progress will be made on ending the partition of the country.
What has been achieved in two years of anti-refugee hysteria has not been a pretty sight. The political sphere has been entirely coarsened with politicians (particularly opposition politicians) subjected to continuous threats and abuse, both online and while canvassing; everyday violence in the society has been normalised with regular attacks on asylum seekers (now extended to all homeless people and, no doubt, soon to the gay community); arson has become commonplace and carried out with impunity; we have witnessed reprehensible riots in Coolock and Dublin, with more arson and looting; while our modern “patriots” have travelled to the six counties to stand proudly alongside loyalist death squads. The implications of continuing on this trajectory do not bear thinking about.
Over the next few weeks politically organised racists will be knocking on doors saying, “vote for us and we will make Ireland a better place”. No one should buy the snake oil. These one-trick ponies have no policies other than to blame migrants for all the problems in the country, problems that have existed for generations. And a look behind their racist rhetoric reveals a cesspool of thinking that is repugnant to most Irish people; opposition to a woman's right to choose, hatred of gays and trans, anti-vaccination, and every sort of outlandish conspiracy theory. And while they call themselves patriots their entire world outlook has been imported from abroad, mainly the US and UK. They have strong links with loyalist drug dealers in the six counties (in turn linked to British intelligence services) and receive significant funding from abroad, particularly American right wing Christian fundamentalists. Many are in it only for the money, particularly those monetising social media “content”.
Ireland desperately needs change. But no change will be provided by purveyors of ignorance and hatred who fully support the socio-economic system that enriches a few at the expense of the many. They have no solutions to anything.
Ireland is not unique in the challenges it faces today. A darkness is descending on Europe that is entirely reminiscent of the 1930s when a minority was again scapegoated for the problems of the society. Ireland, mainly through the strenuous efforts of working-class republicans of the time, did not succumb to this plague and (while enduring our own particular darkness) avoided ending up like fascist Spain or Portugal or worse. We call on everyone to stand by this heritage and to refuse to let our good name of a kind and generous people who have always stood in solidarity with the oppressed be besmirched in the eyes of the world by those who seek to pit ordinary people against each other in the interests of the rich.
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