Fingal County Council has passed a motion to condemn racism and violence against refugees.
September’s meeting of Fingal County Council was the first meeting to be held since a string of violent anti-immigrant protests which took place in Coolock in July.
The council passed a motion which “condemns unequivocally violence directed against refugees, racially motivated attacks, and destruction of property and violence against Gardaí.”
Mayor of Fingal County Council Brian McDonagh said “I think this motion is pretty straightforward; it’s the kind of motion you’d hope was taken as agiven, but unfortunately it has become the kind of thing we need to reassert.”
“I have been a migrant, been a migrant worker, friends who are migrants from everywhere, and my life has been saved by people who migrated to Ireland. I have family who have migrated to, from and back to Ireland.”
Solidarity John Burtchaell told the meeting “one of our members is involved in this type of activity outside Thornton Hall specifically. They’ve been generating hostility towards migrant, putting it on their social media feeds, and that councillor and the far-right should understand that their problems are not caused by migrants.”
“Collapsing public services, poverty and the housing crisis are caused by the policies and ideology of our political establishment.”
“We’ve seen the rise of the far-right across the EU for the same reason,” pointing to far-right electoral success in France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.
He added “capitalism needs to find a scapegoat, and the far-right points the finger at migrants, the LGBTQ+ community and other vulnerable minorities.”
“It is very important to call out racism, but it is also equally important to call out why it is happening; it is because capitalism is in crisis.”
Despite not being named directly by Burtchaell, National Party councillor Patrick Quinlan said he objected to his comments and said he was in breach of council rules.
“You said that I am involved in these types of things, I would like to request a redaction for the councillor’s comments. Trying to ascertain or assert that I am in any way shape or form that I am involved in any form of criminal activity.”
After being accused by Quinlan of being in breach of Fingal County Council’s standing orders regarding councillor behaviour, Burtchaell was given the opportunity to defend or retract his remarks.
“I didn’t identify anyone, chair,” he said.
“Councillor Quinlan identified himself there. If something is going to be redacted I would like him to redact his videos from Thornton Hall and elsewhere. I am not in breach of that standing order because I didn’t identify anybody.”
Social Democrats councillor Joan Hopkins recalled living in London following the Canary Wharf bombing in 1996 and said that people were “less than nice” to her because she was Irish.
“Councillor Burchaell is right in saying that we have a lot of problems in this country with regards to our health services, homelessness and the housing crisis but they have not been caused by immigration; in fact, those problems can be solved by immigration.”
“I lost my father recently and he was cared for, and loved, in the medical profession in this country by people who came here from other countries,” she said.
“In the last four years on this council we have disagreed about a lot of things but I’ve never contoured racism. In Fingal County Council we support people who come into this country.”
McDonagh’s Labour colleague John Walsh told the meeting “I fully respect the right to protest, people have every right to protest – the burning of property is not protest. Violent attacks against vulnerable individuals are not a protest. And physical attacks on Gardaí are not protests.”
Drawing on Ireland’s heritage and deep roots within American history, he pointed to the formation of a political party in the 1800s known as the American Party.
The party was later known as the Know-Nothings, stemming from people claiming to “know nothing” when Irish immigrants or other refugees asked for help or directions.
“They were known for their anti-immigrant, anti-catholic, and anti-Irish positions. They were designed to maintain the status and power of traditional Anglo-Saxon Americans and we have some Know-Nothings in Ireland today.”
“We need to disassociate ourselves from them and say they do not represent the Irish people,” Walsh said, who initially drafted the motion as a Labour motion before it was upgraded to a Mayor’s Business which allowed members of all parties to contribute.
Fellow Castleknock councillor Ted Leddy backed the motion.
“In my observations of the debate around this whole issue, the biggest myth out there is that somehow people of colour or people of a non-traditional Irish background somehow get prioritised on the housing list. That is a total invention, there is no cirumcstnaes in which that ever happens and I think the Fingal housing department are in a good position to dispel that myth.”
The Fine Gael councillor said “extremists on the right don’t need any excuse to blame migrants, they will blame migrants no matter what. We have a housing crisis at the moment, but if we didn’t have one, they would be blaming migrants for something else. We have to be mindful not to fall into any traps of the far-right.”
“They don’t need excuses, so don’t give them one.”
Fianna Fáil councillor JK Onwumereh shared his own experiences with racism.
The Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart councillor told the meeting “it would be remiss of me not to mention it was a very important motion.”
“I’ve been the subject of racism. I have young children who would go out, and come back home having experienced racism.”
“They would be very anxious about what they want to do next. It’s a very peaceful and wonderful community but in recent times we have all observed these incidents.”
“It has been sneaking in and for me, this motion goes a long way to show that the representatives of this community stand shoulder-to-shoulder and challenge and object to these kinds of incidents happening.”
Mayor McDonagh said he was “moved” by Onwumereh’s story, noting he also has personal experience of people he has known for 20 years being the subject of racial abuse on a train.
“What they do or why the came here is immaterial. If you’re sitting on a train you shouldn’t be subject to racist abuse.”
“There are vicious lies that are no different to what was being spread in the 1930s, lies that are funded by bad actors in other countries to sow division and hate. They unfortunately are pushing things we are pushing back on.”
The motion was unanimously passed by Fingal County Council.