Mick Barry: Protest can be step on road to the anti-racist movement we need

I look forward to today's national demonstration which can mark the first major step towards building the mass anti-racist  movement we need.

Mick Barry TD: 'Can a mass anti-racist campaign be built without the involvement of Government ministers? Of course, it can.'

Ireland's far-right has stepped from the shadows in recent times — and showed its true face.

They've mobilised outside refugee accomodation in Fermoy, Ballymun, and elsewhere screaming abuse at traumatised men, women, and children.

They have made false claims and organised rallies such as the one in Finglas where a platform speaker can make comments such as: "Burn them out of it. There is no point standing here ... you have to go to where these c**** are staying and burn them out of it."

Shockingly — but not surprisingly — we've seen a team of men with dogs and baseball bats attack a tented community of homeless migrant workers in Dublin.

Opposing racism and the anti-refugee protests, I made the following comments in a Dáil exchange with the Taoiseach on February 8: "We need a mass movement from below in Irish society on this issue. We need masses of ordinary people to rally against racism and fascism. This needs to be a demonstration which is not just anti-racist but anti-Government as well and calling for action on housing and the social crisis."

Days later, I opened my Irish Examiner over breakfast only to receive a belt of the crozier from columnist Mick Clifford who wrote: "This is confusing. Mick Barry and those of his political persuasion see themselves as the real bulwark against the far right. Yet in a national gathering to demonstrate solidarity with immigrants, he only wants those of a pure political persuasion, as he would see it, to attend... There is no room for Varadkar, the son of an Indian immigrant, to show his solidarity with immigrants and asylum seekers because he is of the wrong political persuasion."

I welcome Mick Clifford's challenge; it cuts to the heart of the issue of the kind of anti-racist movement that this country needs.

Government's stance

But, just before the publication of this article, the Taoiseach participated in an EU Summit which did anything but show solidarity with asylum seekers. Instead, EU leaders decided to strengthen the walls of Fortress Europe — a sobering thought given that nearly 25,000 men, women, and children have drowned in the Mediterranean in the last nine years trying to breach the fortress.

Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Andrews said the crackdown supported by the Taoiseach was based "solely on the narrative of the far right".

An effective antiracist campaign cannot be built if it includes politicians who sign up to this agenda and are preparing for mass deportations from this State.

Leo Varadkar was right, however, when he said that hardcore racists will attempt to spread a message of hate irrespective of the level of unemployment, homelessness, and gender-based violence in society.

What he ignored was the fact that racists need an active base and that the size of this base can be heavily influenced by these factors.

A cactus can grow in the desert but a rose will only bloom in the soil. The noxious weed of racism needs the right conditions in which to flourish and, unfortunately, this Government has provided them with it.

It is easier to protest providing accommodation to refugees when the country remains in a housing crisis with record numbers in emergency accommodation. The failure to tackle this is a gift to the far right. 

Conversely, an anti-racist movement must give priority to demanding real action on these issues both for the benefit of the victims of the housing crisis and for the benefit of the refugees alike.

Can a mass anti-racist campaign be built without the involvement of Government ministers? Of course, it can.

Trade unions and community organisations can potentially play an important role on the anti-racism front by mobilising some of their membership.

Opposition to capitalism is not a precondition for standing up to racism but the capitalist establishment creates the social conditions for racism to flourish and the Left should not be criticised for trying to unite the largest possible numbers in opposition to racism and those conditions.

I look forward to today's national anti-racism demonstration which can mark the first major step towards building the mass anti-racist and anti-fascist movement we need.

Mick Barry is a Socialist Party TD for Cork North-Central.