The mask comes off

The shadowy links between far-right instigators of racist violence in Dublin and loyalist paramilitaries in the north of Ireland was on display in Belfast city centre last Saturday when a fascist mob marched through the city and carried out a wave of attacks on Muslim-owned businesses.

At a rally outside Belfast City Hall, an Irish tricolour and a Four Provinces flag were flown in a shameless attempt to mimic the Irish freedom struggle and displace it with an imported white nationalism.

The bizarre attempt to spoof support for a bogus “cross-community” racist movement was quickly dismissed as a stunt.

Among those who travelled to Belfast were an alleged arsonist and a known paedophile. They joined up with notorious UDA paramilitary figures, including Glen Kane, who was part of a gang that battered an innocent Catholic to death in 1992.

The thugs also caused outrage by holding a ‘Coolock says No’ banner and claiming to represent the people of Coolock in Dublin, where protests over accommodation plans for asylum seekers have been hijacked by the instigators of violence.

Belfast-based photographer Brendan Harkin described how he was repeatedly instructed to get photos of the Irish nationalist and loyalist flags together.

‘It was a completely transparent gimmick. The only unity they had was in white supremacism,” he said.

Some of the far-right loyalists were filmed giving Nazi salutes, while others were waving the flag of Israel.

An illegal march of racists, some hooded, some carrying missiles, then shockingly took place down through south central Belfast, startling middle-class foodies as they dined at bijou cafes.

Several businesses around Botanic Avenue were targeted. Windows were smashed and furniture broken at the Sahara shisha cafe. Its owner Rahmi, who has been in Belfast for 35 years, said he did not “know how to explain” what happened to his children.

Thugs also smashed windows at the Holiday Inn and Dukes at Queen’s Hotel on University Street. At one stage the demonstrators appeared to get lost in the maze of streets around the university area as they tried to find the Islamic Centre.

They had been forced to turn back when nationalist residents on the Ormeau Road confronted them. Gerard Rice, formerly of the Lower Ormeau Concerned Citizens group, was seen confronting the mob which was being followed around by riot police.

Ultimately, by Saturday evening, cars and bins were being torched in the Sandy Row/Donegall Road area.

There were five arson attacks, including a bin being set on fire, youths throwing petrol bombs and fire damage to business premises in the Donegall Road area. Businesses, including a cafe and supermarket owned by Muslims were being deliberately attacked.

Afterwards, the far-right instigators from Dublin spent the night drinking alongside UDA figures in a loyalist bar in Belfast, under signs and symbols celebrating loyalist atrocities.

It followed a day of bizarre ‘united against immigrants’ posts on social media using AI-generated images to create a very false sense of cross-community Irish/British support for racist violence.

Notorious English fascist Tommy Robinson wrote warmly of civil conflict in Belfast – from a luxury hotel in Cyprus.

“British and Irish nationalists standing side by side in Belfast. Tricolour and the Union flag on one side, rainbow flags and Antifa flags on the other. It’s happening,” he wrote.

Jim Dowson - the anti-Irish founder of Britain First and a staunch supporter of the unionist paramilitary death squads, absurdly wrote: “God is good. No more Brother wars”, adding “No Surrender / TAL [Tiocfaidh Ár Lá].”

Disturbingly, some have been fooled into believing the flag-waving racists are republicans, including prominent English academic, Peter Shirlow of the University of Liverpool.

But there were angry scenes when the ‘Coolock says No’ banner turned up at an anti-immigration event in Dublin on Monday. Some residents tried to drag the banner from those holding it as Gardaí looked on, telling the group to “get out of here” before the protest petered out.

Taoiseach Simon Harris spoke with Sinn Fein’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill and later voiced his own disgust at “those flying the Irish tricolour whilst attacking police and spouting racism”.

“There can be no place for racism, hatred, discrimination and intimidation anywhere in our society,” added Michelle O’Neill.

SDLP South Belfast MLA Matthew O’Toole summed it up: “To see far right thugs - many of whom had no connection to the area - rampage through Botanic Avenue and the Holyland, areas proud of their diversity, was appalling.

“There was nothing legitimate about their actions. They had no cause other than hate and no agenda other than destruction.”

But behind the scenes, there had been a coordinated plan for violence in tandem with far-right and extreme pro-Israeli groups in England, where scores of riotous gatherings have been taking place.

The government-funded South Belfast UDA, known for its racist views, has been linked to the anti-immigrant violence, and was seen to use the opportunity to engage in the most provocative sectarianism.

As it attempted to walk down the Ormeau Road, one of the mob was seen making a five-fingered salute – an infamous gesture to celebrate the murders of five innocent Catholics in a loyalist attack on the street in 1992.

It is believed one of the loyalists involved in the march has previously been arrested in connection with the massacre.

Trouble again erupted in the Sandy Row area on Monday, when a small crowd of rioters again attacked Muslim-owned businesses. A man in his 50s was seriously injured when loyalists were seen by the PSNI to be stamping on his head, while members of the public were forced to intervene.

Extensive damage was again caused, with windows being broken and damage also caused to vehicles parked in the local community — some of which were burnt out.

Disturbances continued on a smaller scale throughout the week. On Tuesday evening, a car was rammed into a north Belfast estate agents.

But support for anti-racist counter-protests has been growing. Republicans of all hues have been been coming together and leading the way.

In a post on social media, Sinn Fein’s Daithi Doolan said it is “hugely important” that the far-right is challenged “north and south”.

“Racism, sectarianism and bigotry doesn’t start or finish at the border. We want a new, united Ireland that cherishes all the children of the nation equally. We want strong, safe, welcoming communities for all,” he said.

In a statement, Anti-Imperialist Action said that for years, republicans have been highlighting the links between the tiny 26 County fascists and pro-British loyalism. Now the “truth was laid bare”, it said.

“These people are not patriots. They are traitors plain and simple and should be Pariahs. Fascists and the far right have nothing to offer the Irish Working Class and must be driven out of our communities.”

A spokesperson for Republican Sinn Fein condemned the “poisonous” far-right in Ireland “whether it be loyalists from Sandy Row or fascists from Coolock, Dublin.”

“This group of people have nothing to offer the working class people of Ireland. They only spew hate and add division to an already separated community.”

Hundreds of republicans, socialists and anti-Fascists took part in a counter demonstration in Dundalk on Sunday. In a city frequently targeted by loyalist paramilitaries in the past, the republican support vastly outnumbered the fascists and resulted in them being turned back for a third week in a row.

Incredibly, some anti-racist activists were later subjected to a stop and search by undercover members of the Gardai Special Detective Unit as they returned home.

“No doubt very few fascists would have been subjected to this type of treatment today, which speaks volumes,” Saoradh said.

Urgent Appeal