The Irish Government and Gombeenish Elected Representatives are igniting their own bonfire by conceding to racist protests
We owe the headline to an excellent Justine McCarthy column in the January 12 2024 edition of the Irish Times :
Recent migrants found locked in a ship at Rosslare were Kurds and Vietnamese, people on the sharp end of global warming. This trend will only increase
This article, very commendably, gives us all stark truth. Here is a key extract :
When anti-migrant protesters set up their camps outside buildings designated – or rumoured to be designated – for asylum seekers, they drive to and fro, light fires and eat takeaway food, adding to the pollution that is making other people’s homeplaces in faraway lands uninhabitable. If they want less immigration, they should go home, switch off their clothes dryers, fix their leaking fridges, cancel their foreign holiday flights, eat less meat and, generally, reduce their carbon footprint.
But they won’t do that. Why would they, when they know the Government is willing to bow to their pressure? First, it caved in to protesters ensconced outside the former JJ Gannon’s Hotel in Ballinrobe, where 50 men seeking international protection had been due to reside in its 12 bedrooms. On Monday, it emerged that the Department of Integration has changed its plan and, now, the building is to accommodate families. Tánaiste Micheál Martin denied this represented a U-turn.
Two days later, there was a second Government change of heart with the announcement that 50 male asylum seekers – the same 50 men? – due to move into an old friary in Carlow town were, once again, being replaced by families. The news followed a protest outside the building.
These capitulations have sent a clear signal to protesters – and the unadulterated racists out there too – that the Government is for turning. With council elections approaching, politics is acutely local. Now is the time to turn the heat up on councillors and political parties looking for votes. Fifty men rendered roofless are reckoned to be a small price for a council seat or two. There are already more than 100 male asylum applicants with no place to stay in Ireland and no imminent prospect of finding a bed because political parties know there are no votes to be gained from that, either in the summer’s local and European elections or the looming general election.
The Government has lit a dynamite taper by rolling over for the protesters. Other communities have every reason now to expect that, if they shout “No”, the gates to their towns will be locked against people whom they deem undesirable to live among them.
The latest anti immigrant protest is happening in the Tipperary town of Roscrea and was the subject of a 24 minute RTÉ radio discussion on the January 12 2024 Today with Clare Byrne Show.
Panellists :
https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22342364/
Listen yourself – a lot of the content is awful. The political drivel spoken by the Sinn Féin TD Sorca Clarke is shameful.
Some representative quotations :
Tom MacEnaney (Effective Aid Ukraine) points us in the right direction :
There is always going to be a group of people – and I am not just talking about the far right – who are going to be against refugees coming into a particular area – it does not matter whether they are men or small families – we have to put people where the accommodation is – and I think most people in Ireland realise this.
In relation to Ukrainian refugees we have seen a hardening of the position across the political spectrum since the riots in Dublin. The leader of Sinn Féin has said only Ukrainians in essential jobs can stay.
Then Sorca Clarke TD tells listeners :
We need an immigration system that works…..Government needs to say that protection ends in March 2025…..Ukrainians should have no automatic right to stay here
Tom MacEnaney replies
Even though their children have been going to Irish schools for years, the children will in many cases have made friends in Ireland – Even though they will have strong links with the local communities, will have been playing on local GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) teams. Even though there is that level of integration they should still be treated in the same way as somebody who has just arrived on our doorstep.
There is more – along the same lines – in the discussion.
By contrast :
Paul Murphy TD (People Before Profit, Dublin South-West) is a contributor to the January 13 2024 Saturday With Colm Ó Mongáin RTÉ Radio 1 programme about racism and “consulting” communities; also on the panel are Senator Barry Ward (FG) and Verona Murphy TD (Wexford ultra-right Gombeen, ex FG). The editorial line is excellent – description of men fleeing war and famine; an interview with a refugee living in Ireland. Paul Murphy attacks the racists, and makes good political points very similar to Tom MacEnaney.
https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/saturday-with-colm-o-mongain/
A scandalous update. Three Tipperary TD’s spoke at a Roscrea Gombeenish Racist Protest on Saturday January 13. No surprise that two of them were the corrupt Michael Lowry TD (ex Fine Gael) and the far-right friend Mattie McGrath (ex Fianna Fáil). The other member of the gombeenish trio was the Sinn Féin TD Michael Browne.
Connections : Growing Racism in Ireland, Genocidal Wars in Palestine and Ukraine
That said, I have not heard any People Before Profit representative move beyond whataboutery in relation to Russian genocide in Ukraine, and Israeli genocide in Palestine.
By contrast the policies of Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats, and the Labour Party on the war in Ukraine are far better than the muffled words of the PBP.
It is not enough to say that the Irish government supports taking the Russian government to The Hague International Court of Justice (ICJ) – “what about” the South Africa genocide against Israel – Double Standards they cry!
It is necessary to support taking Russia to the ICJ over genocide in Ukraine.
The writer Fred Leplat offers excellent wording :
Like Israel in Gaza, Russia is systematically destroying the basic infrastructure of the country, killing civilians, and abducting children. The difference is that Ukraine is able to defend itself because it has an army with tanks, artillery, and air defence systems, so the scale of the genocide is not as great as it is in Gaza. Link :
Ukraine: Russian Troops Out – Stop the Genocide
The grim reality of the Russian assault on Ukraine is graphically described in this Appeal issued by the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine (KVPU).
APPEAL
of the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine
to the Trade Unions, Parliaments, and Governments of Democratic Countries,
International Partners, and International Organizations
The new year of 2024 in Ukraine began with horrific massive Russian missile attacks
on the sleeping, peaceful cities of Ukraine. In total, only during the holidays from December
29, 2023, to January 2, 2024, Russian forces killed 90 civilians during the missile attacks. In
only 5 days, Russia launched 500 missiles and UAVs at residential areas, businesses,
hospitals, educational institutions, and cultural heritage sites in Ukraine. Every day, residents
of our peaceful cities die at the hands of Russia, with hundreds of people injured and
acquiring disabilities. We are forced to live and work in a state of permanent stress and
anxiety. Today, Ukrainians are paying a high price for freedom and for peace in Europe.
The Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine, as the voice of Ukrainian workers
– miners, metallurgists, energy workers, teachers, doctors, entrepreneurs, and others –
draws attention to the need to take decisive measures to protect Ukraine and to deter the
intentions of the aggressor country Russia from rewriting international law and redrawing the
map of modern Europe.
We appeal to the governments of countries and the international community to
speed up the provision of military aid to our country, including the provision of additional air
defense systems, long-range missiles, drones, etc. International partners, by providing
weapons, save thousands of lives during missile attacks by Russian troops.
We also call on international partners:
- To continue providing economic and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
- To strengthen sanctions against the terrorist regime of Russia, as this can
significantly limit the financial resources and export of technology necessary for the
continuation of the bloody war. - To ensure the possibility of using frozen Russian assets to direct them to help
Ukraine. - To isolate and remove from work in international organizations Russian political,
public, and trade union figures, as representatives of a country that carries out
terrorist activities against sovereign, independent Ukraine and its citizens.
We call on representatives of the international and European trade union
community to call the governments of your countries to continue providing humanitarian
aid and military aid to Ukraine.
We would like to thank everyone who supports and provides assistance to Ukraine in
this difficult time for the Ukrainian people.
We believe that joint efforts will help stop Russian aggression, which is not only
destroying Ukraine, but also undermining economic, energy, ecological, and food stability
both in Europe and around the world.
Mykhailo Volynets,
Chairperson of the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine Link :
Irish Gombeen Politicians
The current Dublin government (Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Greens [FFFGGG]) needs the support of about 15 “independent” TD’s, most of whom are former members of FF or FG, and are best collectively described as gombeens. Here is a good definition :
More generally, “gombeen” is now an adjective referring to all kinds of underhand or corrupt activities and to the mindset possessed by those engaged in such activities. In Irish politics, it is used to condemn an opponent for dishonesty or corruption, although its definition has become less precise with time and usage and it can also imply pettiness and close-mindedness. Alternative modern parlance for a gombeen man is someone “on the make”. It is also used to describe certain Independent politicians who are seen to prioritize their constituents needs, no matter how trivial, over national interests. Source: Wikipedia
Gombeen Politicians
John Meehan January 13 2024
Tomás Ó Flatharta 
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