‘Get them Out’, or in its more violent version ‘Burn them Out’, has been shouted at several direct centres holding refugees. Those orchestrating this sloganeering are fascists and part of the broader far-right.
The roots of far-right in Ireland go back to an embittered element who lost the referendums on Repeal, Marriage Equality and Divorce. They denounced the Irish population as ‘murderers’ or accomplices to murder because we voted to give women a limited right to abortion. Afterwards, they searched desperately for a theme to whip up a conservative reaction.
Just look at the record.
Justin Barrett, the current leader of the Nazi National Party was a founder of Youth Defence who physically attacked those who wanted a woman’s right to choose.
Hermann Kelly, from the Irish Freedom Party, was a former editor of the Irish Catholic.
Gript, the ‘respectable front’ for the far right, is funded by those who were defeated in the Repeal referendum.
Racism has become their calling card but it is covered in talk about ‘unvetted males’ who are a danger to women. This is a lie on many different levels.
Firstly, ‘vetting’ is a process that only applies to those working with children. Teachers and childcare workers must seek Garda vetting before they can take up employment. There is no requirement for ‘vetting’ to live anywhere.
Second, asylum seekers are assessed under the Second Generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) — described as “the largest information system for public security in Europe”. Their identities are established and the police are alerted to any criminal record.
Third, it is claimed that about 5,000 asylum seekers arrived without documentation. This is a small fraction of the overall group. But how would someone running from a repressive regime get passports? How could Jews fleeing Nazi Germany get documentation from their oppressors?
Finally, it is claimed that asylum seekers are a threat to women. Not a shred of evidence is produced to show that – because none exists. Most physical and sexual attacks on women are caused by someone they know. When Justin Barrett campaigned against divorce he was often telling women to stay in violent marriages.
Racism flourishes in conditions of despair when people feel their government will not provide them with housing and health care. It draws on tropes and images that permeate Western culture as it was partially forged in an era of slavery and imperialism.
The government is directly responsible for creating favourable conditions for the far-right. They have left people to rot on housing lists for decades. They do not provide proper health care for the poor. Their only interest lies in looking after the privileged.
They directly aided the far-right by being the first to proclaim ‘Ireland is full’. When Gorman, Varadkar or Martin utter these words, they meant it as a cover for their failed policy on housing. The far-right have turned it into a mantra.
In opposing racism, People Before Profit will also be tackling the conditions that breed it – a government of the elite for the elite.