Newry Stands Against Racist Hate

On Monday, 23rd June, a group of Far-Right racists, sorry, "concerned citizens," marched through the city of Newry. The city has seen an uptick in race hate this past year. In the wake of the Ballymena pogroms and with Newry set to join the 'City of Sanctuary' network, a group, "Newry Says No," marched out with a hundred supporters parroting the same scare tactics of similar groups. Opposing them was a small crowd from Unite the Community and the Workers Party, who weathered racist, sectarian and homophobic abuse.

What happened to Newy's legacy of Civil Rights and its radical politics? It organised and came out swinging on Sunday, 6th July.

The 'Newry Against Racism' rally drew a crowd of five hundred, one of the largest civic gatherings the city has seen in recent years, out in solidarity. Organised by the People Before Profit Newry & Armagh branch, the rally saw local IWW members, LGBTQ+ groups, Republicans, Socialists, and representatives from the district's entire Trade Union movement standing up against the Far Right with the message that they will never divide our communities.

Across a host of speakers, clear messages came through. The Far-Right are not on the side of the Working Class; they were not there when the people of Newry fought for better wages and to defend public services. That the Far-Right are getting fat off the back of the growing public misery, as our political and economic systems betray us. That the Far-Right are a threat across the whole of Ireland, that they are being funded and organised by powerful people to distract and terrorise working peoples. And that it will be a united Workers’ Movement that will be the steadfast defender of our communities, not our governmental or public bodies, and not the Far-Right, who will be driven back into the shadows.

To fight the Far-Right, we need to organise, self-defend our neighbourhoods and show that we can provide a genuine alternative to this rotting system that mobilises hate to divide Fellow Workers and protect the wealthy.

IWW Newry