Press Release: Anti-Fascist group removes racist posters

national | miscellaneous | news report

Friday October 18, 2002 13:08

by AFA - Anti Fascist Action

afa at ireland dot com

C/o PO Box 3355, Dublin 7

Press Release from AFA. Got an 10 minute interview on Newstalk 106 last night about it.

An Anti-Fascist group has announced that it is removing all referendum posters erected by the racist group ‘Immigration Control Platform’. For the past three days Anti-Fascist Action (AFA) members have been removing ICP posters in the Dublin area. These posters call for people to Vote ‘No’ as they claim that Nice will lead to more immigration.

Joanne Tobin, an AFA spokesperson said: "We have been active for years in countering the racist propaganda of the ICP and we would encourage other groups and individuals to remove their posters too. The ICP is determined to place its extreme anti-immigrant views within the political
mainstream. AFA is determined to prevent this happening. With the Nice referendum, as with the last General Election, we see the ICP using the electoral process for it’s own ends. Namely to
spread racial hate in our communities."

The AFA group has been active since 1997 in strongly opposing the ICP, when anti-fascists stopped the ICP launch meeting in Ennis, Co.
Clare. In the election last May AFA conducted a campaign in Dublin South Central, where 20,000 leaflets were distributed opposing Aine Ni Chonaill as a candidate. In the last Nice referendum AFA removed posters in Dublin which had been put up by the shadowy ‘Irish Peoples Party’.

Ms Tobin concluded:
"The ICP sees each vote as an excuse to spread its views. This time the immigration issue has been quite prominent in the Nice debate. Both the National Platform and the ‘No to Nice’ group have used fears about foreigners coming here as a motive for people to vote ‘No’. The main ‘No To Nice’ campaign speaker, Justin Barrett, has been exposed as having pro-Nazi links. It is clear that
some people regard xenophobia as a legitimate tactic, with little concern for the immigrants
and refugees who will bear the physical brunt of such verbal attacks."

[ENDS]
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NOTE:

If people feel inclined to yap on about 'censorship' and their liberal sensibilites, etc this has already taken place here http://www.indymedia.ie/cgi-bin/newswire.cgi?id=14815&start=40&sid=45189

Many thanks to the people who took the time to mail AFA about posters and stickers they have seen.