Socialist Party replies to attacks in The Irish News

antrim | worker & community struggles and protests | other press Thursday June 18, 2009 12:37 by Gary Mulcahy - Socialist Party socialistpartyni at btconnect dot com 02890232962

Letter below sent to The Irish News today

Dear Editor,
Fionnuala O’Connor and Newton Emerson (The Irish News, 18th June 2009) would be better off checking their facts before attacking people for standing up to racist attacks.

Fionnuala O’Connor obviously did not care to read the joint Socialist Party / Socialist Youth leaflet distributed to protestors on the Lisburn Rd on Monday 15th June. If she had, she would have seen that nowhere on the leaflet did it state the protest was a ‘Socialist Party NI demonstration’. The leaflet was a message of support to local residents who had turned out to take a stand against racists thugs.

Newton Emerson should be ashamed of himself for accusing members of the Socialist Party of being involved in a ‘sinister’ conspiracy for political gain. If it was not for the action of several members of the Socialist Party living on the Lisburn Rd, who played an excellent role in organising local residents to provide defence of the Romanian families, the lives of babies and innocent people would have been put in jeopardy. No attacks occurred on these families after defence was organised by local residents, a minority of whom were Socialist Party members.

It is regretful that some sections of the media have attempted to discredit local residents and the Socialist Party for standing up to thugs who have carried out vicious assaults and attacks, putting peoples lives in danger.

The Socialist Party will not be distracted however by cynical journalists who stand on the sidelines and choose to attack anti-racists and anti-fascists from a comfortable distance while families are being attacked by fascist groups.

The Socialist Party believes it is necessary to combat those who are attempting to build fascist organisations in Northern Ireland and who scapegoat migrant workers for the economic and social problems working class people face. Like Hitler in the 1930’s, these thugs are attempting to whip up racism against a vulnerable minority in order to promote their agenda which is to remove all democratic rights. The key to defeating this small minority of thugs is to mobilise local communities which is what the Socialist Party is currently engaged in.
Yours truly,
Gary Mulcahy,
Socialist Party