British Nationalism In Ireland – Racism And Sectarianism As The Orange Order Identifies With The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) – One Reflection Of British Anti-Irishness
Quick post to highlight an article by Brian Whelan in the Irish Times on the persistent and enduring nature of anti-Irish racism in Britain:
“Last week saw the announcement of an “anti-IRA” march in Liverpool by hardline English Defence League splinter group the North West Infidels (NWI), a far-right street protest movement. The march is an anachronism, a feeble attempt by the far-right to relive past ‘glories’ – but if you scratch beneath the surface of English society anti-Irish prejudice still lurks.
Thousands of Irish people have emigrated to England over the last three years. They’ve arrived in the country with over 600,000 Irish born citizens, but are quite often completely unaware of the difficulties past generations faced moving here.
For me the soft face of anti-Irish sentiment first hit home when people began to leave comments under articles I’ve written suggesting it’s time for me to move home and hand my job and house over to a British person. I felt it was my own fault for venturing below the line.
It turns out I’m not alone. British-born journalist Brendan O’Neill regularly receives “Paddy-bashing’” abuse for simply having an Irish surname and occasionally speaking out against “Catholic-bashing”.
Last February, in scenes unseen since the ‘80s, hardline British nationalists stopped a march commemorating Liverpool-born Republican Sean Phelan and racially abused marchers.
The NWI, usually dedicated to harassing the Muslim community under the pretence of protesting “extremism”, have openly expanded their remit to include targeting Irish families.
The rhetoric of groups like the English Defence League is just the recycled racism of the 1980s when the National Front and British Movement would stage “anti-IRA” marches as an excuse to attack and intimidate Irish immigrants.
The unspoken rule seems to be that Irish people are white, so discriminating against them can’t be racist. When BBC3 screened RTE’s documentary about Irish rappers last week the soft face of anti-Irish prejudice quickly surfaced on Twitter:
“You should be Happy They Spitting Bars and Not Blowing up Sh*t#IRA”
“Irish rappers on bbc three!? Give it a rest, f**k off back to the fiddle and flute you potato eating chumps!“
“Irish rappers!!…potato famine has resulted in some damage chromosomes me thinks”
Similar Tweets about any other nationality could potentially get the person arrested or fired from their job, but when the jokes are aimed at the Irish it is written off as “banter”.
A fractured Irish community with no connection between the old generation and the new arrivals can make an easy target. Without a sense of our own history anti-Irish sentiment might seem like something that doesn’t affect you, but if left unchecked it could come marching down your street next.”
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- Gay Rights And Gael Rights. Facing Down The Bigots (ansionnachfionn.com)
- So You Think You Know What It Means To Be Irish? Think Again… (ansionnachfionn.com)
- The Irish Unarmed Struggle (ansionnachfionn.com)
- Burning The Village To Save The Villlage (ansionnachfionn.com)
- Ardoyne Residents Respond To Orange Order Intimidation (ansionnachfionn.com)
Reblogged this on Fiannaiochta.
It’s not just the Irish that get it; the Scots get it too. I’ve lived in England for over 30 years now and there hasn’t been a year gone by when I’m not subject to some form of ‘racial’ abuse.
Something I’ve heard from many other Scots. In fact I think my Welsh friends are the ones who report the worse cases of abuse and prejudice. It’s almost built into English national culture, and cuts across the Left-Right divide. Even the most liberal and open-minded English people can be incredibly bigoted in their attitudes towards Wales.