Attempts by the far-right and the ‘fake left’ to embolden anti-migrant feeling condemned

Workers Party President Councillor Ted Tynan

Workers Party President Cllr. Ted Tynan has reiterated the Party’s complete opposition to far-right attempts to whip up hysteria surrounding migration into Ireland.

He also  condemned the ongoing arson campaign by racists, and has called on the Gardaí to make finding those responsible and stopping this campaign a priority. 

Far right conspiracy theories

“A dangerous development has been taking place in the Republic”, the Party President said “Those motivated by far-right conspiracy theories and so-called culture war talking points about refugees, migrants, housing, public services, trans rights, education, crime and other issues have been able to gain a foothold and mobilise a worrying level of support”

“Giving ground to racism is not the way to address it. Right-wing politicians in Ireland and elsewhere easily play to the racist gallery, seeking to co-opt them to bolster their own support.” said Cllr Tynan.

“We see the consequences around us. We have also seen elsewhere the consequences of those historically or ostensibly on the left beginning to speak about “legitimate concerns” and other such coded language”.

Socialism Weakened

“The far right is emboldened, they have succeed in shifting mainstream political discourse in their favour, and support for socialism is weakened. We are witnessing the early beginnings of this process in Ireland. 

“It is a fantasy to imagine that by co-opting far-right talking points, those who support them can be won to the left.” Cllr Tynan explained

“What actually happens, and what we can see happening around us, is that in the pursuit of this illusionary goal, the poison of reactionary nationalism spreads into the workers’ movement and among socialists to their cost. Division is spread among the working class, class consciousness is weakened, and far-right forces are presented with an opportunity to grow”, he said

Migrants not at fault

“The victims of wars, imperialist interventions and reactionary regimes have the right to seek a safer life. The problems of homelessness, unaffordable rents and homes, public services in crisis and poverty are not the fault of migrants. They are the inevitable consequence of the capitalist system. The solution can only be found in a struggle to overthrow the system that creates wars, poverty and refugees. Socialists cannot allow themselves to be diverted from these facts”.

“Socialism is based upon a simple principle – workers of the world, unite. Failing to uphold this basic principle is a flight from socialism, a betrayal of it. The politics of the Workers Party were built upon the principles of internationalism, opposing the damaging consequences of nationalism and capitalism for workers’ lives and material interests, and our politics have always foregrounded the unity of all workers”. 

Solidarity

The Workers Party expresses its solidarity with migrant workers, their families and refugees. We continue to do so, uncompromisingly and wholeheartedly,” Cllr Tynan concluded

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Criminal Hate Fest

Yesterday’s appalling events in Dublin can scarcely come as a surprise. People were, of course, shocked at the horrific knife attack on innocent school children and their teachers , but this was not the reason for the orgy of reactionary violence in which workers were attacked, shops looted and public services and their workers, including first responders, targeted and abused.

The violence did not arise out of concern for the children or their teachers. The threats to nearby hospitals and schools bear testament to that. This was a criminal hate-fest orchestrated by rightist and fascist forces and demonstrated their ability to provoke street violence through online networks and social media. It is necessary to expose and condemn the social media fuelled false speculation, racist reactions and vigilantism.

In essence, this was a racist and anti-worker attack by criminal, racist, supremacist elements fired up by reactionary forces exploiting economic and social grievances to advance their own poisonous agendas by attempting to place the blame for their situation on innocent people, including Irish citizens, from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, and on migrant workers and refugees, instead of placing the blame where it properly lies, on the capitalist system that exploits workers and their families and the government and parties which support it. Migrant workers provide vital support to our education, health, social care and transport systems and to retail and hospitality.

The lame protests by the bourgeois and social democratic parties about anti-social behaviour belies their lack of understanding of the underlying issues and their failure to recognise the growing threat across Europe manifested in recent elections.

The growing threat of fascism and right extremism across Europe requires a response. Fascism does not exist in isolation from capitalism, it is a particular manifestation of modern monopoly capitalism under certain conditions. It is created by and is a product of capitalism. These events are taking place when there is increasing labour and trade union militancy and resistance to the conditions imposed by the capitalist crisis.  

Posing as “radicals” and “patriots” these rightist and fascist elements seek to use the toxic narrative of nationalism to divide workers, to block and impede the action of those who are struggling under conditions of crisis for a transformation of the social system. It does not aim at replacing capitalism but seeks to preserve the social order based on exploitation.

These forces cannot be defeated by simple denunciations or calls for better policing, although the question of public security needs to be urgently addressed The problem must be tackled at its root. Racism, fascism, nationalism, religious sectarianism, communalism and reaction must be called out and confronted in the workplace, local communities and throughout society and through active solidarity and support for all workers and their families, including migrants and refugees. There can be no hiding place for the purveyors of hate.

However, these venomous ideas and actions, can only be resisted and defeated by the united actions of a strong working-class advancing towards the goal of creating a new society; a socialist society which ensures workers’ power, equality and social progress.   

The Far-Right, Immigration and Capitalism’s Crises

Across Europe right wing populist parties and openly fascist organisations, deploying extreme nationalist rhetoric, are on the rise.

This is no coincidence. It reflects the social discontent generated by the capitalist crisis. Cuts in public expenditure, a gross lack of public housing and the exploitation of workers through precarious employment, low pay and rising prices, provides the far-right merchants of hate with the opportunity to indulge in simplistic solutions which falsely point the finger of blame at immigrants, asylum seekers and ethnic minorities.

Some in disadvantaged and disenfranchised working-class communities are prey to the callous and misguided right which refuses to recognise that the problems faced by working people are caused by the social system, not by fellow workers from elsewhere. 

This crisis has been caused by capitalism, it has been aggravated by imperialist aggression, poverty and war which forces people to flee their homes. 

We have witnessed before the horrors of fascism. Fascism is a particular manifestation of monopoly capitalism under certain conditions.  It must be opposed at every opportunity.

Ted Tynan

Workers Party

President

Racism can never be right

Recent anti-immigrant protests, threats and demonstrations have shown a thoroughly shameful aspect of Irish society.

Refugees and asylum seekers, or international protection applicants as they are now known, should and must be welcomed into this country. Many have been forced to leave their home countries as a direct result of EU, NATO and United States military aggression. Asylum is a human right. Ireland must re-assert that right and be seen to do so.

For a country whose economic migrants and despairing masses have settled in almost every country on earth, the recent racist rallies and attacks are as vexing and incongruous as they are abhorrent.

Unco-ordinated, chaotic and mis-managed

Government immigration policy presents as chaotic and offers little or no comfort to those people forced flee through fear of death, persecution or economic desperation.

The planning and resourcing of the refugee programme is a national scandal. It is uncoordinated, haphazard and mismanaged. There is no strategic coordination, consultation or cooperation.

Woefully inadequate

The infrastructure and support services from housing to education, health and welfare are woefully inadequate. Central government is abdicating its responsibilities leaving under-funded, ill prepared and already stretched local councils to deal with the difficulties, challenges and problems which result.

This of course has been the hall mark of successive administrations as crises in health, housing, education, the economy and public services testify.

Vile, vicious and abhorrent

In these circumstances some people are seeking to justify, excuse and explain away the vile, vicious and abhorrent behaviour witnessed on our streets in recent months. 

No amount of dancing on the head of a pin, scoring smart debating points or effectively giving cover to the odious campaigns of groups like the National Party and their far-right European allies, can disguise the simple fact that racism is wrong – morally, ethically and politically.

Racism can never be justified; it can never be acceptable and it must never be excused. If we need to seek confirmation of that we need look no further than James Connolly who, in 1908, said,

“Let no Irishman throw a stone at a foreigner; he may hit his own clansman”.

How right he was. Workers’ unity and solidarity is a precondition for confronting this menace.