Battle of Lime Street success but the fascists haven’t gone away ye know…

Some thoughts after last Saturdays disaster for the racists and fascists of National Action and North West Infidels . Firstly, they were defeated by the combined effort of anarchists, socialists, footie lads, black community, Irish community, elderly, young people, trade unionists and ordinary joe public. Both the counter demos organised by the UAF and AFN were effective and done the job to varying degrees of success. In the end, the fascists were out numbered by the people of Liverpool and were soundly defeated.

Local loyalists and Orange Order members didnt turn out to support the racists but either did they turn out to oppose them. Their simple hatred of the Left and Irish community wouldn’t allow them to do so and as seen in the recent past, they will need to co-operate with the racists at some point in the future to attack Irish community public events in Liverpool. Its a symbiotic relationship that needs each other in order to achieve potentional success, in a shared hatred of anything that promotes Irish community growth.

Loyalism and Orangeism is a strange entity in Liverpool. Contrary to popular belief, Loyalism/Orangeism is not linked to protestant Irish immigration to Liverpool. It is purely English in its historical nature and its goal has always been to thwart the progress of the Irish catholic community in Liverpool, servile adherance to British imperialism and support the maintenace of the protestant British royal family.

If there is one thing to certainly wind up a Liverpool loyalist or Orange Order member is to ask the simple question, when was the last time Queen Eliabeth II ever attended an Orange parade? The simple answer is never. The English Queen won’t touch them with a barge pole, which certainly is an inconvinient truth for the loyal people of Liverpool’s Orange community despite their loyalty to the British crown and all of its successors.

While Elisabeth Windsor has given the Orange Order a massive swerve, she has however laid a wreath in memory of all those who fought for Irish freedom and the formation of an independent Irish state. This happened in 2010 and forms another inconvinient truth for loyalism and Orangeism in Liverpool. It really is a good example of unrequinted love by Liverpool’s Loyal servants.

So back to the fascists. They will be back. They have an existant partnership with Liverpool Loyalism and Orangeism, and what better way to get back on the ground in Liverpool than to target the next major Irish street-based event. I kid you not. The battle against intolerance is not over. A simple call to arms by either Fascists or Loyalists to oppose the non-existent IRA in Liverpool would suffice and in the past provided us with bizarre images of a  Black woman (below) shouting abuse behind a line of NF poster carriers back in 2012 in Liverpool, when CNE Liverpool commemorated the Liverpool Irish who fought against fascism in Spain.

Finally, Mayor Joe Anderson’s assertion that HE should have the right to decide on who does and who doesnt march in Liverpool is worrying. Joe can’t be trusted. In 2013, in response to another threatened mobilisation by Fascists, Loyalists and Orangeism, against the annual James Larkin March and Rally, Joe made headlines in the Liverpool Echo that he would ban all contencious marches in Liverpool. Joe is not only a threat to Fascists but also a threat to other communities and the broader Left.

They haven’t gone away ye know, so it will be time to unite against the racists and fascists in the very near future I would say…. so No Pasaran!

Ex-military fascists and bigots making their mark in Liverpool’s World War One commemorations.

Interesting reading this week from the Liverpool Echo newspaper when it ran several pages on plans to commemorate World War 1 in Liverpool from this year onwards. Most people focussed on the return of the giant puppets which proved such a success for the city the last time they were here. However, what caught my eye was the decision of Liverpool City Council (LCC) to work in partnership during the planned celebrations with a variety of community groups which included the Liverpool Kings Regiment Association (The Kingo’s) and Liverpool Pals Memorial Fund.

On the face of it It would seem reasonable for LCC to be working in partnership with an ex-servicemans group (Kingo’s) and a group set up to commemorate Liverpool soldiers of WW1 via a permanent artistic display (Liverpool Pals). However, my concern here is that individuals associated with both organisations have been involved in the systematic targetting of Irish community parades in Liverpool for the past two years and have been seen to be openly co-operating with both Loyalist and far right groups in the city.

This blog has documented the relationships between both loyalist and fascist groups in Liverpool for the past two years starting with their attack on the Sean Phelan Commemoration in Liverpool during February 2012. It was at this event which was organised by Cairde na hEireann Liverpool, that first attracted a disperate group of ex servicemen, loyalists, fascists when they prevented a parade entering Liverpool city centre from the Scotland Rd area of Liverpool. Sean Phelan was being commemorated due to the fact that he was Irish and born in Liverpool, but instead of joining Britain’s army he chose to fight for Irish freedom by joining the IRA and fighting in the Irish War of Independence. He was subsequently killed in an ambush by British soldiers at Upton in Co. Cork in 1921. In a very real sense, Sean Phelan represented all that was good within the Irish community in Liverpool. By choosing to fight British imperialism and fight for the freedom of small nations Sean Phelan represented the radical face of Liverpool Irishness since seen in likes of John Lennon etc.

The Sean Phelan parade was meant to finish in Derby square but as you can see from these pictures it would have been met by a motley crew of ex Kingo’s, known fascists and loyalists.

Since that time other posts from this blog have noted the growing relationships between local nazi’s, loyalists and even ex-servicemen who are members of the ex-Kingo’s and the Liverpool Pals Memorial Fund, all with aim of confronting and attacking Irish community marches in Liverpool. Take for instance, Roy Mitchell below.

Mitchell is a former soldier of the Kings Regiment. At present he is a long standing committee member of the Liverpool Kings Regiment Association, involved with the Independent Kings Regiment Association based in the loyalist Derry Club in Everton and also a trustee of the Liverpool Pals Memorial Fund (below).

Since the Sean Phelan march of February 2012 Mitchell’s relationships with both loyalist and far right groups such as Combined ex-Forces and the North West Infidels has grown to the extent that before the July 2013 James Larkin March to remember the 100th Anniversary of the 1913 Dublin Lockout, he was part of a ‘delegation’ that met with Merseyside Police at police headquarters in an attempt to stop the ‘IRA’ marching in Liverpool. Below is a photo of Mitchell along with other known fascists such a Paul James of CXF (2nd from right) inside Police Headquarters before their meeting.

In response to the increasing threats in the run up to the James Larkin march, Merseyside Police issued public order notices to known individuals who had threatened the march in previous years. The public order notices ordered these individuals to protest in a designated area and not approach the march at any other point along its route. However, this didn’t prevent Mitchell turning up at the assembly point of the march on Park Road, gesticulsting and shouting abuse toward the assembled marchers and then finding himself being detained by police and issued with a Section 14 Public Order notice to leave the area. There were subsequently 5 individuals convicted for not adhereing to the public order notices but Mitchell wasnt one of them Irish community group welcomes convictions.

Mitchell is one of a growing number of individuals that straddle both fascist and loyalist circles. Facebook gives one a real glimpse into the murky world of these hate groups by looking at who is friends with who. One facebook page continually called for attacks on Irish parades in Liverpool and as you can see it is littered with the comments of ex-kingo’s, loyalists and fascists kingos against the IRA

As i said earlier, LCC’s decision to work closely with the above groups appears appropriate. But when the mask slips there are real life individuals who are haters, racists, sectarian bigots, fascists and right wing torys who will be involved in Liverpool’s commemorations of a world war that was literally no more than a human meat grinder for Europe’s working classes.

Finally, the evidence that the IRA are marching in Liverpool this Saturday!!

The fascists are not anti-Irish, it’s official??

I now feel reassured by yesterday’s postings on facebook from Liverpool fascists of all shades of nazism that their protest against the James Larkin March will not be racist against the Irish community in Liverpool. To be honest,  its a big weight off my mind and feel much more safer knowing that anti-Irish or anti-Catholic sentiment does not exist within the ranks of  far right master race (below).

However, these screen shots from their various facebook pages recently tell another story of anti-Irish comments, love for the avidly sectarian  anti-catholic Orange Order and special love for Loyalist paramilitaries. I know its hard to believe that fascists and loyalists tell lies but im sorry they do and sorry again to burst your bubble…….

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Why we should support the Liverpool Irish community and this year’s James Larkin March #larkinmarch13

It’s almost a year on since last years James Larkin march in Liverpool. A march organised by the south Liverpool based James Larkin Society and run on an annual basis to remember the  Liverpool-born Irish Trade Unionist. Larkin is one of Liverpool’s most famous son’s and on a par with Liverpool’s other famous Irish son’s like John Lennon, Paul McCartney and even John Aldridge! It is right that Liverpool and especially it’s Irish community honour the great trade unionist that done so much to organise the working classes of Liverpool, Belfast and Dublin. Larkin’s legacy remains to this day in the form of the UNITE trade union and a body of working class writing and political activism that inspires activists worldwide.

Last year, this long running annual event that started off on Combermere Steet in South Liverpool and marched to Liverpool city centre, became the target for far-right racists and fascists supported by members of Liverpool’s Orange Order. I’ve detailed last year’s events in previous blogs, but suffice to say that the march came under a sustained attack of racist and sectarian abuse, threats and intimidation. In essence, the Irish community in Liverpool were targeted by groups such as the North West Infidels, Combined -Exforces, English Defence League and Loyalists. Fascists and racists presented the march as an ‘IRA’ march, as they do for almost all Irish community parades in the city to garner support.

Work has been done on the ground since to ensure that a correct view on the events of that day and the proper context given to explain why the Liverpool Irish had become a target by the far right and loyalists. This has been properly set out in Cairde na hEireann Liverpool’s Under Pressure report.

This year’s James Larkin March will be held on Saturday 20th July and it is more important than ever that anyone with any sense of a social conscience come out and support the march. It really is time that the racists, fascists and bigots are faced down. It really is time that Liverpool as city joins with one voice and denounces hate, especially the hate espoused by far right extremist groups. Not to actively support the march emboldens racists and fascists. Other communities will be next if racists and fascists manage to drive the Liverpool Irish off the streets. The far right have already targeted trade unionists in Liverpool and continue to make threats against our Black and Asian neighbours and anything they view as being ‘unBritish’.

The racists and fascists attacking the Liverpool Irish are the same ones who daily espouse their hate through attacks against shop owners,demonise the Irish community by associating it with the IRA and who attempted to hijack for political purposes the recent death of Drummer Lee Rigby. They offer Liverpool no future except Nazi dogma based around Aryan white supremacist ideology  and the deportation of anyone with slightly darkened skin or non-christian beliefs.

We should unite and face down the racists and fascists. The James Larkin March can and should become a rallying point for us all against hate and intolerance. We know that the racists, fascists and loyalists will again attempt to prevent the James Larkin March from reaching Liverpool city centre and its up to ourselves and people of goodwill to face them down, support the Liverpool Irish and ensure that hate and bigotry is thrown into the dustbin of history. We rightly remember and are proud of our fathers and forefathers who fought against fascism in Spain in the 1930’s and then against Hitler’s Germany. Let us face down Liverpool’s fascists once and for all and restore Liverpool’s streets as a shared space for all communities.

Eliminating communism & the IRA at Liverpool FC…fascists next mission..

The loons at ‘Liverpool nationalists’ will be exposing the links between Liverpool Footbal Club, communism and the IRA shortly…seriously, just what the hell are they on????

Burning the Irish Tricolour flag. Liverpool Orange Order members reach new low…

Members of the Orange Order in Liverpool reached a new low when they burned the Irish Tricolour flag on the grounds of the Provincial Orange Hall on Everton Road last weekend. This was preceded by a march by the Apprentice Boys of Derry through Liverpool city centre earlier……

Using the ‘IRA’ to demonise the Irish in Liverpool, a favourite past time for Liverpool Loyalists and Fascists…..

There has never been an ‘IRA’ parade in Liverpool as far as I can remember. I myself have never been on a parade that supported the ‘IRA’ either. The Provisional IRA ceasefired during 1998 and decommissioned its weapons during 2005 and is now defunt. There does exist small micro republican groups still intent on war but who have no support from Irish people in Liverpool. It’s a simple fact and reality. But Liverpool loyalists and fascists would have you think otherwise. It’s seems that any form of Irishness expressed on the streets is somehow ‘IRA’ and of course, there is a reason for this in my view. Loyalists and fascists see themselves in a war against anything they view as being un-British. Irish people who express themselves either politically, socially or culturally are seen as un-British and are therefore fair game for attack and slander. Cairde na hEireann’s recently published report shows the extent to which Liverpool loyalism and far-right racist groups have targeted Irish community events.

Loyalist/fascist attacks have been multi-pronged involving physical confrontation to parades, misrepresentation of Irishness through their social media outlets and in their contacts either my email or through face to face contact with Police and other public bodies and representatives. They feed off the historical pains associated with the war that came to an end during the end of the 1990’s for their own racist agenda of driving the Irish community off the streets. Images of the two children killed in the Warrington bombing 1993 abound, as do references to other deaths caused by the IRA in England and the north of Ireland  Of course, the irony that is often lost on the public is that the Liverpool loyalists and fascists who now appear to be acting as our moral guardians, have been and are themselves supportive of loyalist paramilitary organisations both in the north of Ireland and in England. They are also supportive of British Army Regiments associated with civilian killings in Ireland during the ‘Troubles’.

I’ve already highlighted in a previous post how the UVF had been operating out of the Derry Club on Everton Brow Liverpool and were it not for an investigation by Manchester Police (not Merseyside Police???) we would never have known about Liverpool UVF members posing with AK47’s in a specially made up room in the club itself, along with paramilitary uniforms, flags and emblems. These are the same people, associated with the Derry Club either through flute bands based there or through their connection with being ex-Kingo’s (King Liverpool Regiment, British Army), who now lead an often racist campaign against Irish parades in Liverpool organised by either Cairde na hEireann Liverpool or the James Larkin Society, who incidently have been highly supportive of the Irish peace process, supported the need to end conflict and division and form positive relationships between Britain and Ireland. There is an irony and hypocracy here that is often lost on others not least to the loyalist and fascists themselves.

The short lived union flag protests in Liverpool again showed the high levels of co-operation that now exist between Liverpool Loyalists and members of racist and fascist organisations such as North West Infidels, Combined Ex-Forces, English Defence League, National Front and the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP). Well known fascists pictured themselves amongst all of the protests.

I do know that Liverpool Mayor, Joe Anderson met with these disparate groups/individuals following on from his meeting with Cairde na hEireann representatives during February. I can only imagine that the Mayor was subject to the same ‘concerns’ being expressed by loyalists and fascists as highlighted above. It would be wrong for any representative of a public body or police force to propagate the attitudes of loyalists and fascists in their dealings with Irish groups in Liverpool in the future. It would be wrong to pander to the racist and stereotypical views that these groups/individuals hold about the Irish community in Liverpool, specifically about ‘IRA’ parades and ‘IRA’ flags.

The issue of flags is actually laughable to say the least. Loyalist/fascists seem to have a problem with the ‘Starry Plough’ and the ‘Fenian Sunburst’ as these are ‘IRA’ flags. These flags are often flown by Irish flute bands in parades in Liverpool and have been for nearly 20 years. A quick look at Wikipedia will find that the Starry Plough is the flag of the Irish Labour movement including today’s Irish Labour Party and a long list of paramilitary organisations throughout the decades. The Starry Plough is flown in Liverpool to show support for the Irish/Liverpool working classes and always has and will be. The Sunburst was founded by the Irish Republican Brotherhood in 1858 and is actually the flag of the Irish language organisation, Conradh na Gaeilge. Both these flags do not show support for the ‘IRA’ and is a myth propagated by loyalist/fascists in their continued attacks against the Irish in Liverpool and any expression of Irishness they find offensive. In the end, the mere presence of assertive and confident Irish groups/organisations in Liverpool such as Cairde na hEireann and the James Larkin Society mean that loyalist and fascist organisations will forever express these ‘concerns’,  as its in their DNA to do so. Any form of appeasement to loyalists and fascists is futile and will only lead to further illogical demands down the road.

Of course, the list of things for Irish people in Liverpool to be unhappy about is limitless when one thinks of loyalist and orange parades on Merseyside including paramilitary uniforms, sectarian chanting, paramilitary flags of loyalist organisations including the UVF, and of course the open carrying of firearms as seen during this parade in Liverpool October 2012:

It really is not in the blood of Irish people to adopt the ways of loyalist and fascists with their attacks and continued harassment of Irish community parades in Liverpool, either through physical confrontation or the constant moaning to Merseyside Police and Civic leaders etc. I do realise that loyalists and fascists would relish such a move as the reality is that it is they who are ‘conflict junkies, it is they that have not embraced the peace process and it is they that wish for some form of inter-communal violence and tension in Liverpool.

Ten things Loyalists and fascists in Liverpool believe about the Irish….

1. Every Irish pub in Liverpool is a hot bed of ‘fenian’ activity and are IRA pubs and raising funds for the IRA…

2. During world war 2, the Irish government deliberately kept the lights of Dublin on at night in order to assist the Luftwaffe target Liverpool more easily..must have been because of the IRA in the Irish goverment at the time…

3. Every Irish march and parade in Liverpool somehow shows support for IRA…which IRA I really dont know. Flute bands named after dead republicans of any era or century show that the parade is an IRA parade……

4. The Irish tri-colour is the flag of the IRA, as is the Starry Plough and Fenian Sunburst..they’re IRA flags too…

5. When complaining to the media, Mayor or Police about Irish parades,  loyalists and fascists will highlight their own ‘Irish heritage’ in an attempt to sound reasonable…much like “I’m not racist but…”…..but they are not in the IRA i have you know….

6. The Irish are not a race or black so they dont suffer racism…much like the IRA i suppose?

7. We have no problem with Irish cultural parades, as long as we can dictate what Irish people in Liverpool can and cannot commemorate..and as long as its not the IRA but leprechauns and shamrocks…

8. St Patricks Day parades are inherrently republican and as such, support the IRA. In fact in loyalist/fascist thinking merely being republican or nationalist minded is a crime and means you are in the IRA…

9. Loyalists/fascists puposefully ignore the history of the Irish in Liverpool….cause its IRA history, end of…

10. Joe Anderson, Mayor of Liverpool, supports the IRA…i kid you not….

IRA supporter Queen Elizabeth II, laying a wreath in Dublin 2010 in honour of the IRA volunteers of the Irish War of Independence...which include Vol. Sean Phelan of Kirkdale...

UKIP join latest Liverpool Loyalist/fascist flag demo…but swastika’s left at home…

Hello all and happy New Year to you all……

Our Loyalist and fascist friends in Liverpool have started the new year the same way they left the last one……struggling to find some purpose in the civic life of Liverpool and still supporting rioters in Belfast. Last Friday evening they held another joint protest outside St Georges Hall, Liverpool in support of Loyalists rioting against the democratic vote to reduce the number of days the Union flag flies on Belfast City Hall.

Again we saw Loyalists with links to paramilitary groups such as the UVF,  joining with far right/fascist groups such as the North West Infidels (NWI), National Front (NF) and Combined Ex-Forces (CXF) in the Liverpool protest, but just so everyone was on message for the demo, NWI reminded us the day before that Swastika’s should definitely be left at home for this demo….I kid you not….

If that wasn’t bad enough we had a re-emergence into the Loyalist/Fascist love-in that has developed over the past 12 months as a result of attacks against Irish community parades, of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP). This party on a national basis has seen a growth of support in recent polls, but now it seems the mask is slipping for UKIP and underneath we see fascist and racist views by its representatives in Liverpool with its recent statement in support of the Liverpool flag demo and again an attempt at linking Irish community parades/marches with the IRA:

UKIP have been informed that there is to be a peaceful protest in support of the Union flag flying from Belfast city hall, tonight at 6pm-7pm on St George’s plateau, Liverpool. Here is an official statement from Liverpool branch chairman, sent out earlier to BBC, ITV, and Liverpool Echo.

UK Independence Party (Liverpool)

Statement 11/01/13

The UK Independence Party, Liverpool branch, supports the right of Unionists to peaceful protest at the removal of the Union flag from Belfast City Hall.

This is more than just about a flag. It is about the continual cultural attacks against Britishness in Northern Ireland. Apart from ethnic cleansing, Sinn Fein/IRA is engaged in cultural cleansing, so much for a shared future.

• We call upon IRA/Sinn Fein to reinstate the flying of the Union flag on 365 days of the year as it has done for 106 years.

• We also call for Sinn Fein/IRA to stop stoking up tensions in Liverpool by glorifying terrorism in the form of IRA parades.

We are pleased that people in Liverpool still remember the sacrifice paid by the people of Ulster in defence of our freedoms in two world wars against German fascism, and UKIP is pleased to support this peaceful Union flag demonstration against Irish Republican fascism tonight.

End of Statement

Neil Miney
Chairman,
UK Independence Party (Liverpool branch)

(ukipliverpool@live.co.uk)

Mobile 07787 527752

Ironically, while UKIP call Irish republicans ‘fascists’ and attempt to demonise legitimate, peaceful and legal Irish community parades/marches in Liverpool, they now seem to have no problems with lining up with Loyalist anti-democratic sectarian bigots and the fascists and racists of the NWI, NF and CFX. It seems that the support of the Alliance Party in passing the vote to reduce the number of days the Union flag is flown was suitably lost on Neil Miney, as were the notions of equality and shared spaces…..It really is a shameful statement and could be seen as incitement to racial hatred against individual members of the Irish community on parades in the city, could it not?????