Derry People Before Profit Cllr Shaun Harkin said,
“People Before Profit add our voice to the rejection of racist, hateful and divisive abuse directed at Councillor Lilian Seenoi-Barr following her announcement as the next Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council.
We stand in full solidarity with Lilian and all black, refugee and minoritised communities across our society.
The vast majority of people across the island of Ireland want a diverse society that is welcoming and appreciative of the contribution made by all who make their home here.
Derry has often led the way in the struggle for social justice and civil rights for all. A first black Mayor for Derry is something we can celebrate and be proud of. As is the selection of the first openly gay Mayor of Belfast.
A minority of fascist agitators in Ireland and far-right media grifters as far away as the US, including Alex Jones, have attempted to stoke-up division by promoting a racist backlash against Lilian’s selection as the first black Mayor in Ireland.
Recent years have witnessed the dangerous rise of fascist-led movements scapegoating migrants, refugees and asylum seekers for problems created by governments fixated on facilitating profiteering for corporations, large developers, banks and the arms industry.
In the South of Ireland racist agitators have led violent attacks in Dublin’s city centre, at accommodation sites for asylum seekers and targeted migrant families in the street.
Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Ireland’s golden circle of billionaires and the super-wealthy are the architects of the housing crisis, deprivation and declining social services butfascists organisations and their far-right social media accomplices have intentionally redirected blame away from those in power and towards refugees, migrants and asylum seekers.
The response to Lilian’s announcement as Mayor is another example of how divisive scapegoating has made traction in the North.
We also want to make clear People Before Profit is not engaging in commentary about internal SDLP decision making mechanisms. Nor is this an endorsement of the notion the SDLP has become a progressive party.
The SDLP backed the vicious PSNI crackdown on Black Lives Matter protests in Derry and Belfast, the very protests Lilian helped lead. Instead of challenging PSNI arrests, prosecution threats and harassment of Black Lives Matter campaigners, the SDLP along with its then Executive partners voted in the Stormont Assembly to rubber stamp the racist crackdown.
As recently as 2021 the SDLP joined with the DUP to lay the basis for the criminalisation of Palestine solidarity campaigners by voting in favour of the IHRA’s definition of antisemitism.
Furthermore, the SDLP alliance with Fianna Fáil and its outlandish praise for the former Fine Gael Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and his replacement Simon Harris, shows how out of touch the party’s leadership is with the deep grievances held by all those who haven’t benefited from Ireland’s corrupt tax haven economy and the deep desire for fundamental change that exists from Dublin to Donegal.
People Before Profit believe building a principled all-Ireland movement uniting all communities to challenge those in power to address the housing crisis, the hospital waiting list crisis, the mental health crisis, the low-pay crisis and entrenched deprivation is an urgent task.
We urge everyone to reject the toxic lies directed at refugees, migrants and asylum seekers, and, to join in building a bottom-up people power movement for a fundamental redistribution of wealth and power.”