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South: Government policies a boon to the repulsive & dangerous agenda of the far right
camp in Sandwith Street, Dublin, on the back of a small anti-migrant protest that included local residents. Nobody was injured on the day of this disgusting event, but as Socialist Party TD Mick Barry pointed out in the Dáil, “it is only a matter of time before the far-right claims its first killing.”

Govt’s actions fueling the fire
The government can't absolve itself of its own responsibility for the protests. The state is copper-fastening institutional racism in the here and now. The government announced back in January that it would no longer provide shelter for non-Ukrainian refugees seeking international protection. This has led to a surge in on-street homelessness with 500 asylum seekers having no access to state accommodation.
By James McCabe
NOFEWER than 125 antirefugee protests have occurred in Dublin alone this year. Asylum seekers in Clare have been subject to organised intimidation, while a proposed refugee centre in Donegal was set on fire. Farright groups are ratcheting up tensions in communities with racist tropes about supposedly “unvetted males” posing a danger to women and children.
Although small in numbers, Irish farright activists have had some success in spreading their toxic, racist and transphobic narratives through online activity and the organisation of small protests. Their xenophobic campaign took a dangerous turn when they torched a refugee
Unlike other refugees, Ukrainian migrants are being given the same access to healthcare, education and social welfare services as Irish citizens, although most are living in the same awful conditions as the 12,000+ people living in emergency accommodation. By discriminating against migrants from other parts of the world, the state is fostering the idea of deserving vs undeserving refugees, as they literally tell mainly black and brown people seeking shelter that they must fend for themselves.
Oppose “divide & rule” narrative
Working-class and poor people are at the sharp edge of the housing crisis. Most people have internalised the narrative pushed by the media and the state for years that there is a scarcity of resources in Irish society. We should make short shrift of any arguments that frame the situation as a competition between working-class and poor people, Irish or non-Irish, settled or Traveller etc.
The mainstream narrative is of an inevitable competition between all people, which conveniently papers over the obscene amount of wealth being hoarded by Ireland’s super rich and big business. Well over €1 billion of public money will be deposited into the bank accounts of landlords and hoteliers this year. An Irish Times report found that major hotel groups have parent companies in Malta, Luxembourg and the Isle of Mann (for the purposes of tax evasion), and they are not required to publish financial reports that disclose their profit margins.
To add insult to injury, many of these large hoteliers are ending their contracts with the state this month in preparation for the tourist season taking off, resulting in what amounts to 1,300 evictions of poor people.
Strategy to defeat far right
The far-right is on the same side as property developers and hoteliers. They actually supported the lifting of the eviction ban. They have also harassed library workers in Cork and Dublin for providing LGBTQ-friendly books.
We need an active, multi-racial movement in schools, colleges, workplaces and communities to fight the far right's campaigns of harassment, bigotry and lies. There are half a million trade union members in Ireland. The union movement must mobilise its power to demand the building of public homes for all and to combat all vestiges of racism.
Tens of thousands took to the streets in February for the #IrelandForAll anti-racist protest in response to the activity of the far right. More recently, socialist and anti-racist activists in Cork distributed thousands of leaflets in working-class communities that included quotes from vaccination centre workers and library workers denouncing the far right. The leaflets also put forward demands for public housing, and dispelled racist and transphobic myths.
Our slogan in the fight against the right must be “an injury to one is an injury to all!”