by Mike Murphy
Racism has been an issue on these islands for a long time. You don’t need to go far into British history to stumble upon the National Front in the 1970s, the Mosleyite fascists in the 1930s and the British Nation Party in the 2000s.
On this island, racism hasn’t been so obvious because there were very few minority communities. We’ve had plenty of mistreatment of minorities, particularly the Travelling community, but little active and overt racism, and we had a reputation of being very accepting. That reputation is long gone.
Since there has been an increase in migration to the South, we’ve seen a change in attitudes and in government policy and rhetoric. A punitive asylum system, Direct Provision, deportations, and the citizenship referendum were all milestones on the road to where we are now. The experience in Northern Ireland was similar – for a long time, ethnic minorities were small in number and overt racism was not much in evidence.
Where we are now in late 2025 is qualitatively different. We’ve moved sharply to the racist threat being physical, being violent, being aggressively on the streets.
In the North, the recent racist violence has gotten headlines internationally. Two boys from migrant background were charged in Ballymena with sexual assault. Cue an orgy of violence and destruction targeting migrants’ homes. Homes of migrants were deliberately targeted and attacked, a leisure centre was set ablaze with people inside, migrants reported fearing for their lives.
Capitalist Failure
In the South, the racist riots in 2023 and 2024 saw arson, looting and fascist mobilization. More recently, an Indian man was attacked, stripped and savagely beaten in Dublin; there are many more examples we could give. Fascistic elements are organizing ‘street patrols’ targeting ethnic minorities. Thousands-strong anti-migrant demonstrations are stoking this atmosphere of hate, and encouraging the thugs.
How the hell did we get here? A major factor is the failure of the capitalist system to provide the basics of life – as underlined in a recent ESRI report. Both North and South are experiencing housing crises. Both are suffering the effects of dysfunctional healthcare systems. Lives are being destroyed and people are scared and angry. Into this polycrisis marches the far right; they used their anti-vax foothold to turn people’s anger against the most vulnerable and most visibly different – and away from the economic system.
Establishment Fans the Flames of Racism and Hate
The establishment, seeing a chance to deflect blame, jumped on this bandwagon. spouting anti-migrant sentiment. This became the media story, and suddenly it became accepted wisdom. Add lies about a sexual threat and the pot boils while fascists feel emboldened.
We see similar phenomena in Britain, with Reform, the largest party in polls, tipped to win almost all seats in Birmingham at the next general election, after yet another Labour Party sellout and the disgraceful betrayal of the Birmingham bin workers. BBC now reports an explosion of school student suspensions for racist behaviour.
This isn’t Germany in the early 30s, but there are echoes. We don’t face a fascist takeover of the state, but we do have vigilantes and racist violence. We don’t have concentration camps, but we do have direct provision centres. We need to organize in opposition to this dangerous shift. We can’t rely on the state. As always, it’s up to ordinary people to fight back.
Decisive Socialist and Trade Union Action Needed
Socialist activists need to unite their forces under a common anti-fascist banner and programme, with full freedom to maintain their own identities and political position. The trade-union-organized demonstrations against the violence in Ballymena, the left-wing united front Cork Communities United – in both of which Militant Left are active – point the way forward. We need such initiatives nationwide, and an organized national network. In this way we can build the socialist alternative to most effectively oppose this surge of racist filth and violence.
This article was first published in the latest edition of Militant Left. To subscribe go to militant-left.org/subscribe/
