Tomás Ó Flatharta

Looking at Things from the Left

Archive for the ‘Racism’ Category

Campism and Its Contradictions – Prime Example is British “Stop the War” Coalition – they have Irish imitators

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2026 begins with very bad news from Venezuela.

Simon Pearson notes :

Stop the War’s Venezuela statement reveals what their Ukraine position should have been.

Stop the War Coalition responded within hours. Their statement, written by convenor Lindsey German, left no room for doubt:

“Trump’s bombing attack on Venezuela must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. The apparent forced removal and kidnapping of its president Maduro is a war crime.”

The statement continued:

“Only the peoples of Latin America can decide their own fate and choose their own government and should be able to do so without interference. There can be no support for US imperialism in Latin America or for the crimes of Trump.”

I agree with every word.

Some Similar Reactions :

“all those who vociferously condemn the US actions, and who protest against it, should be equally vociferous in their condemnation of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Unfortunately far too many on the left don’t apply that logical consistency” Gregor Kerr

“Marco Rubio (US Secretary of State) is reportedly saying Maduro will stand trial in US courts.

Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.” Link :

Marco Rubio is reportedly saying Maduro will stand trial in US courts.Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.

James Ball (@jamesrball.com) 2026-01-03T10:52:15.199Z

“Remember this today tankies and campists, as you scramble to virtue signal opposition to what’s happening in Venezeula:

If you’ve offered justifications for Vladimir Putin invading Ukraine, you’ve created justifications for Donald Trump to invade Venezuela.” James Doyle

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“We join with President Catherine Connolly in welcoming President Zelenskyy to Ireland today”

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President Volodymyr Zelensky is visiting Ireland on December 2 and 3 2025.

Irish Left With Ukraine stated :

We join with President Catherine Connolly in welcoming President Zelenskyy to Ireland today – Irish Left With Ukraine

This approach is shared by the leader of the Irish Labour party, Ivana Bacik :

” It will be an honour to stand with my Labour colleagues later today and welcome President Zelensky, and his wife Olena, to our national parliament.

In the face of ongoing aggression by Russia, the Ukrainian people continue to display immense bravery and resilience. We are now nearly four years into this war, a war that has shattered lives, displaced families and fundamentally changed the political landscape in Europe.The Ukrainian cause and the Ukrainian people cannot be abandoned. Labour will continue to voice our support for a free, sovereign and democratic Ukraine, taking its rightful place in the European Union. Like with Palestine, the history books will remember those who stood on the right side of history in this conflict, those who supported the Ukrainian people.”

Welcoming a leader of an oppressed invaded nation does not mean agreement with that leader’s policies. This is a no-brainer.

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Man charged over a child-rape, CityWest racist riots; Despicable commentary by government and Sinn Féin representatives, echoed by irresponsible journalists

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Man charged over a child-rape, CityWest racist riots; Despicable commentary by government and Sinn Féin representatives, echoed by irresponsible journalists

Sinn Féin has a lot of influence, and is playing the racist card.

Listen to Matt Carthy TD, SF, Cavan-Monaghan.

Well-spotted by Saoirse McHugh; and well spoken by Eimer McAuley, a journalist.

Politicians defending despicable “legitimate concerns” protests have carried the ball up the pitch for the riots at CityWest

Politicians defending these despicable "legitimate concerns" protests have carried the ball up the pitch for the riots at citywest.Thank God Eimer is there cause none of these people, TDs included, seem to give a shit when it's a white Irish man brutalizing, abusing, or murdering women or children

Saoirse McHugh (@saoirsemc.bsky.social) 2025-10-23T06:48:13.676Z

Saoirse McHugh :

” Politicians defending these despicable “legitimate concerns” protests have carried the ball up the pitch for the riots at citywest. Thank God Eimer is there cause none of these people, TDs included, seem to give a shit when it ‘ s a white Irish man brutalizing, abusing, or murdering women or children”

Cedar Lounge Revolution :
Spot On, Cedar Lounge Revolution

The same message is promoted by irresponsible RTÉ journalists and government politicians such as Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan on news programmes and RTÉ’s Prime Time referencing “legitimate” concerns expressed by residents, contributing to a “consensus” that immigrants are the problem, and tougher deportation policies are needed.

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Dark Comedy Show : Will Maria Steen be a Far-Right Frankenstein Candidate on the Irish Presidential ballot? – It is odds-on, a racing certainty

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Let’s have a little fun regarding the nomination campaign of the conservative far-right, anti-choice and racist candidate Maria Steen; Steen is a veteran or Ireland’s anti-choice movement; readers can stay up-to-date here :

“Independent Ireland is expected to make a decision tomorrow or Wednesday morning.

Their decision could influence whether other TDs or senators – rumoured to include a small number on the conservative wing of Fianna Fáil – would lend her their vote before the presidential nomination deadline of noon on Wednesday.” (RTÉ News Report).

The entire Fianna Fáil organisation is conservative – although occasionally it makes gestures towards the left. Between 2011 and 2018 the party leadership realised it had to dump a too close association with Catholic Church anti-feminism and the vile crime of institutional child abuse. It is continuing this tactic by nominating the high-profile Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) figure Jim Gavin to be President of Ireland. Gavin states he is pro-choice, pro same-sex marriage, and voted to lift the constitutional ban on abortion in 2018. These statements make him totally unacceptable to the Irish far-right, which includes Maria Steen and the Aontú party led by ex Sinn Féin TD Peader Tóibín, who is in charge of the Maria Steen bingo card. It is a racing certainty Steen will be on the presidential ballot – she has the nominations of 13 or 14 Oireachtas members plus 4 from the Irish Independent party.

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“Approximately 100,000 on a far right march in London. A grim new milestone in post-war political history” – Great Article by A Very Public Sociologist

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The writer angrily says “This is the culmination of Keir Starmer’s rancid approach to immigration” – and he is spot on. We have problems confronting a growing racist right in Ireland also, and can learn a very important lesson : Dog-Whistling and Pandering to racists creates a catastrophe.

Link :
Grim Political Milestone in London 13.11.2025 – A Very Public Sociologist

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Epping Forest Asylum Hotel Case Judge Mr Stephen Eyre has right-wing form in the 6 County bit of Ireland

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We are used to NIMBY (Not in my back-yard) racists in Ireland attacking asylum-seekers and refugees in vulnerable accommodation. This political plague is currently sweeping across the British State. An Epping Forest Judge, Mr Stephen Eyre, has political form in the six-county bit of Ireland


Judge in Epping Forest asylum hotel case ran for Tories in NI poll

Liam Tunney, Belfast Telegraph, August 22nd, 2025

A judge behind a landmark ruling on hotels accommodating asylum seekers in the UK once stood for election in Northern Ireland.

Stephen Eyre’s ruling on the legality of The Bell Hotel’s eligibility to house asylum seekers has sparked a wave of complaints to local authorities across the UK, including three councils in Northern Ireland.

The action, taken by Epping Forest District Council against Somani Hotels, alleged the group had not notified the local planning authority of a change of use for the premises.

Mr Eyre is a former election candidate for the Conservative Party, standing in Birmingham Hodge Hill in 1987, Stourbridge in 2001 and again in a 2004 by-election in Birmingham Hodge Hill.

In the 1992 General Election, he stood in Strangford as the Conservatives attempted to gain a foothold in Northern Ireland.

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European Law might overrule bigoted British Supreme Court Anti-Transgender ruling in 6 County bit of Ireland – since Brexit, the north is different from Great Britain

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Voters in the 6 County bit of Ireland rejected Brexit in the 2016 British State referendum by a large margin : 55 to 45 per cent. This was a unique political event – opposition to Brexit broke down the normal sectarian divide on an important constitutional development in the north of Ireland : Almost all nationalists voted against Brexit, and they were joined by a significant number of Unionist (perhaps ex-Unionist) voters.

Afterwards a decision was needed : would a new European Union (EU) – Britain border divide the 6 and 26 county bits of Ireland – or would a new border emerge, dividing the island of Great Britain from all of Ireland?

Everybody knew a new Brexit border could not be imposed on Ireland. The British government needed window-dressing for its Unionist allies : the “Windsor Framework” was unveiled with a walk-on part for the reluctant British monarch King Charles.

This rickety constitutional construction kicked a sleeping dog. The 1998 Good Friday Agreement. copperfastened an imperialist crime – the 1922  partition of Ireland.  A promise that partition could be ended through an internal 6 county referendum is part of the GFA – but this was never meant to happen. The architects of the GFA reasoned, correctly in 1998, that an anti-partition majority in the north of Ireland was extremely unlikely. The Unionist Veto was safe. After Brexit, not any more.

The former Fine Gael leader and taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, is saying out loud what many people know is true but do not want to hear :

A Nigel Farage-led UK goverment could herald a united Ireland – Varadkar

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1. Six-County Cops – Softly, Softly Against Racists 2. Twenty Six County Cops – target non-whites crossing Ireland’s “open(ish)” border

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The two reports below tell us that policies operated by police forces operation in the two partitioned bits of Ireland – the Gardaí Síochána (Guardians of the Peace) and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) [a child of the hated Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC)] are racist-friendly.

The news reports are related :

Claire Mullaly, a spokesperson for End Deportations Now Belfast told The Irish News that gardaí boarded the bus and began asking passengers for identification.
She said they specifically removed non-white passengers who could not produce documents while allowing white passengers in the same predicament to remain on board. She branded the incident as “disgraceful” in light of the anti-immigrant violence that took place in Northern Ireland in recent days.

Both reports come from the Belfast Irish News.

PSNI officers told not to intervene during race riots unless life at risk

Connla Young, Crime and Security Correspondent, Irish News, June 17th, 2025

DETAILS OF INSTRUCTION SENT IN EMAIL

PSNI officers were told not to interfere with violent mobs during last week’s race riots unless life was at risk.

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County Meath Group Delivers 107th Vehicle to Ukraine for humanitarian use : Trim (Ireland) to Lviv (Ukraine)

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This report, written by Tim O’Brien, comes from the Irish Times, May 16 2025

Meath-based Ukraine support group passes milestone of 100 vehicles delivered

‘Lviv is a very strange place now with almost no men, just women and young women tending the graves’

Link :
Meath Based Ukraine Support Group Delivers 107th Vehicle to Ukraine for humanitarian use

The latest convoy of vehicles left Trim on May 3rd with 16 vehicles and 31 drivers taking turns to drive through France, the Netherlands, Poland and on to Lviv in western Ukraine

A Co Meath-based group has just returned from Ukraine where they delivered their 107th vehicle to the war-torn country for humanitarian use.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine the group has delivered four-wheel drive vehicles, ambulances, buses and vans, most of them filled with medical supplies.

The vehicles are used by the army mainly in ferrying injured soldiers and civilians to hospital from either the front line or from Russian drone attacks.

The latest convoy of vehicles left Trim on May 3rd with 16 vehicles and 31 drivers taking turns to drive through France, the Netherlands, Poland and on to Lviv in western Ukraine.

Volunteer driver David Duignan of Dunderry, who has been on a number of such trips said the experience was emotional, having visited a cemetery in Lviv where more than 1,000 new graves of Ukrainian soldiers, added since the war broke out, are accompanied by images of the young men who died.

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Fascism in Ireland 1922 – 2025

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Compared with most wealthy capitalist countries (for example Russia, the United States of America, Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands) far-right racist politics have been late taking off in the two bits of Ireland in the early part of the 21st century. The article below – Irish Politics Affected by Fascism Since Partition in 1922 – provides useful context.

In my opinion it overlooks a critical reason for the relative weakness of racist poison in the 26 county bit of Ireland : the rise of a mass women’s liberation movement in Ireland since the 1960’s; collapse of the Catholic Church’s prestige and moral authority – especially since the early 1990’s – because of its criminal opposition to abortion, divorce, contraception, equal pay – and the institution’s role in systematic torture of women and babies in “homes”.

The 6 county bit of Ireland was not, strictly speaking, fascist – but this Orange State was “A Protestant State for a Protestant People” – and extreme right unionist parties have always shared racist and imperialist politics promoted by the British far-right.

Before the November 2025 Irish General Election far-right racist candidates hoped to build on a relatively significant breakthrough in the June 2025 European and Local Elections. However, a hero of Irish women, Nikita Hand, took a legal case, alleging violent rape, against the prominent kick-boxer racist Conor McGregor in October and November 2025.

More details here :

During the election campaign a woman called Nikita Hand took a legal civil action, alleging rape, against an international celebrity, the kick-boxing superstar Conor McGregor. McGregor is closely associated with a number of mini-Hitler racists, some of whom were elected to Dublin council seats in June 2024. These included Philip Sutcliffe (Dublin South-Central) and Paddy Holohan (Dublin South-West). Most rape trials in Ireland are held behind closed doors, and the details are not widely broadcast.

Link :

Irish General Election November 29 2024 – Return of a Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael Coalition – Setback for the Left

John Meehan April 28 2025


Irish Politics Affected by Fascism Since Partition in 1922

The Dublin riots, which caused an estimated €20 million worth of damage in November 2023, the violence that surrounded some of the protests in July last year and the week-long rioting in Belfast following the Southport stabbings shocked the political establishment in Ireland and the wider world. For decades there has been a political myth that Ireland is one of the few countries to have escaped the influence of fascist and far-right politics. The reality is that Ireland and Irish politics have been affected by fascism since the ideology first emerged a century ago.

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