Merseyside PCC hate crime initiative ignores Irish community.

Cairde na hEireann Liverpool welcomes Jane Kennedy, Merseyside’s Police and Crime Commissioner’s latest initiative to gain the views of victims of hate crime across Merseyside (http://www.merseysidepcc.info/home/get-involved/puttingvictimsfirst.aspx) #puttingvictimsfirst.

However, several members of the Irish community on Merseyside have now contacted us to highlight that when completing the online ‘victims experience questionairre’ https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3FSHPMD the recording of a persons ethnicity does not include an ‘Irish’ or an ‘Irish Traveller’ category.

This ommision will mean that an Irish dimension to the experience of hate crime will be lost to the PCC. Cairde na hEireann Liverpool reiterates that any initiatives to ameliorate discrimination and hate must include all sections of Merseyside’s communities. It is simply not good enough that a major initiative led by the PCC should exclude the Irish experience of hate crime given the recent history of a resurgance in anti-Irish racism in Liverpool since 2012 Under Pressure Report. We call on the PCC to ensure that all future initiatives do not ignore the Irish experience on Merseyside and the lumping of Irish and Irish Traveller communities under a ‘white’ category serves the interests of no one except racists and bigots.

Striking Miners Proudly Remembered at Liverpool James Larkin March

Striking Miners Proudly Remembered at Liverpool James Larkin March

Sunday 20th July 2014.

The 30th Anniversary of the 1984 Miners Strike was rembembed in Liverpool today by the annual James Larkin March & Rally which celebrates the life and work of the Liverpool-born Irish Trade Unionist and Socialist. 

Led by the Orgreave Justice Campaign banner and the Liverpool Irish Patriots Flute Band, a crowd of 400 people marched from Larkin’s birthplace on Combermere Street, Liverpool 8 to Liverpool’s Pier Head. The march was strongly supported by members of the Irish community, local trade unionists, community groups and public representatives.

Thought provoking speeches were delivered at the rally by Paul Jenkins Unite Against Fascism, John Cunningham Orgreave Truth & Justice Campaign, Dave Douglas ex miner, writer and NUM branch Rep Hatfield Main Colliery, Steve Higginson Unite The Union Communities and Sean Oliver Sinn Fein Rep for England, Scotland & Wales.

Annual James Larkin Society March & Rally 2014

Annual James Larkin Society March & Rally 2014

The Annual James Larkin Society March & Rally this year takes place on Sunday 20th July. The march will assemble at 1pm on Combermere Street (Larkin’s birthplace), off Park Road, Liverpool 8. It will then take a route through the city centre, and finish with a Rally at the Pier Head.

The James Larkin Society was formed in 2002, to promote the memory and legacy of Liverpool-born Irish Trade Union Leader and Socialist Republican, James Larkin. The James Larkin Society is Non-Sectarian and actively Anti-Fascist.

Each July the Society holds an event themed around remembering Larkin and marking significant events in working-class history, both in Ireland and England. The main theme for this year’s March & Rally is to mark the 30th anniversary of The Miners’ Strike on 1984, for Jobs, Justice and Dignity. 

Speakers at the Rally on 20th July will include:

John Cunningham of the Orgreave Truth & Justice Campaign – Which seeks truth and justice for the Miners who were victimised and falsely arrested by Police from many different forces during the picketing of Orgreave Coking Plant, South Yorshire in June 1984.

David Hopper, Durham & North-East General Secretary of the NUM (National Union of Mineworkers).

Dave Douglas, who worked as a Miner in the coalfields of Durham and South Yorkshire, and was NUM Branch Secretary at Hatfield Main Colliery. Dave is a political activist, historian and writer. He is the author of a new book entitled ‘’The Liverpool Waterfront 1850-1890 – The Struggle for Organisation’’.

The James Larkin Society welcomes all Trade Unionists, community activists, progressive campaign groups and their families, to attend the event on 20th July.   

The Irish Community on Merseyside and Elections 2014

This Thursday 22nd May 2014 see’s voting in Local Authority and European Parliament elections across the Merseyside boroughs of Liverpool, Sefton, Wirral and Knowsley. Irish people across Merseyside will have a chance to vote for local candidates from a broad range of political parties.

Cairde na Eireann Liverpool has a simple message for the Irish Community: Dont vote for racists and fascist political parties or their candidates. Political parties such as the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), British National Party (BNP), National Front (NF) and the English Democrats , have in recent years on Merseyside fermented anti-Irish sentiment through their active support for street based fascist politics and at times supported direct attacks against Irish community parades in Liverpool.

Cairde na hEireann Liverpool urges a strong message be sent to these parties on election day that their message of hate and division is not something the Irish community supports and will be rejected. The Irish on Merseyside have a strong history of confronting and fighting fascism and racism. Please use your vote to send the racists and bigots packing, reject sectarianism and racism; promote diversity and tolerance.

Liverpool Irish community group welcomes convictions

Cairde na hEireann Liverpool welcomes today’s convictions at Liverpool Magistrates Court of 5 individuals convicted for falling to comply with a Public Order notice Liverpool Echo Newspaper 27th November 2013. The convictions were in relation to the annual James Larkin March & Rally held during July 2013 when individuals with associations to both Loyalist and Fascist groups in Liverpool attempted to disrupt the event as it marched through Liverpool city centre.

The convictions represent a clear statement that intolerance and hate have no place on the streets of Liverpool. Since 2012, Cairde na hEireann Liverpool has worked tirelessly with both police and civic authorities to highlight ongoing attacks by both right wing extremists and loyalists aimed at Irish related parades and marches in Liverpool which have been both racist and sectarian in nature. These attacks have been fully detailed in Cairde na hEireann Liverpool’s 2013 report entitled ‘Under Pressure: A Report Into Far-Right and Loyalist Attacks Against Irish Community Parades/Marches in Liverpool During 2012’. Cairde na hEireann Liverpool regard today’s convictions as vindication of our view that a small group of racists and haters had made it their business to continually try to disrupt and harass members of the Irish community from organising peaceful, dignified and lawful public events. Their aim was to attempt to drive the Irish community off the streets of Liverpool, maintain loyalist and right-wing supremacy of civic spaces and in this they have failed utterly.

Cairde na hEireann Liverpool will continue to work positively to promote a positive sense of identity for the Irish community in Liverpool through promotion of work and events that seek to celebrate Liverpool Irishness, history and remembrance. Cairde na hEireann Liverpool also reasserts it’s commitment to working collaboratively with all statutory and non-statutory bodies to promote tolerance and anti-racist practice.

Cairde na hEireann Liverpool urges Irish support for Liverpool March Against Fascism.

Saturday 12th October sees the Unite the Union organised ‘March Against Fascism’ in Liverpool. Speakers at the rally include – Salma Yaqoob, Colette Williams (BARAC/Chair of Unite Community), Len McCluskey (Unite), Billy Hayes (CWU), Bob Crow (RMT), Paul Nowak (TUC), Christine Blower (NUT), Dave Prentis (Unison) and Weyman Bennett (UAF) and Joe Anderson (Mayor of Liverpool).

We in Cairde na hEireann Liverpool urge Irish community support for this important event that aims to send a message out to the haters that Liverpool is One Community and to reject the message of hate sent out by various fascist groups and individuals. The Irish community, more than any other community in Liverpool during the past 2 years, has faced an onslaught of attacks, threats and intimidation from far-right groups aimed at driving Irish community events/parades of the streets of Liverpool. These attacks were fully documented in our February 2013 launched document Under Pressure:  A Report Into Far-right And Loyalist Attacks Against Irish Community Parades/Marches in Liverpool During 2012.

Cairde na hEireann Liverpool urges members of the Irish community to join in with the Irish contingent on next week’s march and send a clear message that we as a community will not be cowered by the behaviour and threats of fascists and to remember with pride the very real anti-fascist tradition inherent within the Liverpool Irish history and identity.

Irish rally passes off peacefully

Irish rally passes off peacefully.

Irish Citizen Army 100th Anniversary Proudly Remembered in Liverpool

On Saturday 7th September 2013, Liverpool’s Irish community remembered the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Irish Citizen Army (ICA). Led by 7 Republican flute marching bands from Liverpool, Scotland and Ireland, the march followed a city centre route through Liverpool with an outdoor rally in the Holy Cross area.

In this Decade of Centenaries, the formation of the ICA of trained trade unionist volunteers by Liverpool-born Irish Trade Unionist James Larkin and Jack White was established in response to attacks by Police and gangs in pay of the employers during the Dublin Lockout of 1913. Other prominent members included James Connolly, Seán O’Casey, Constance Markievicz, Francis Sheehy-Skeffington. In 1916, it took part in the Easter Rising – an armed insurrection aimed at ending British rule in Ireland.

The rally was addressed by both Steve Higginson, Secretary of the Liverpool-based James Larkin Society and Sinn Fein Councillor Micheal Mac Donncha of Dublin City Council. Clr Mac Donncha is author/editor of the recently published book ‘Lockout 1913 – Austerity 2013’. In his speech to the rally Clr MacDonncha made linked the current economic climate to the conditions faced by the Dublin working class of the early 20th century and the need for the formation of the ICA as a way of defending striking workers from both Police and Scab labour. Clr Mac Donncha also highlighted the fact that the irish in Liverpool are the first community/city to recognise the ICA and the positive role in Irish community life Cairde na hEierann Liverpool plays as it remembers the decade of centenaries.

Liverpool Remembers Irish Citizen Army – 100th Anniversary March and Rally

Cairde na hEireann Liverpool are proud to announce details of our next event commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the formation of the Irish Citizen Army (ICA). In this Decade of Centenaries, the formation of the ICA of trained trade unionist volunteers by Liverpool-born Irish Trade Unionist James Larkin and Jack White was established in response to attacks by Police and gangs in pay of the employers during the Dublin Lockout of 1913. Other prominent members included James Connolly, Seán O’Casey, Constance Markievicz, Francis Sheehy-Skeffington. In 1916, it took part in the Easter Rising – an armed insurrection aimed at ending British rule in Ireland.

The sacrifice of the women and men volunteers of the ICA will be remembered with pride and dignity, as will their struggle for workers rights and the women and men of no property. It is right that we remember them and that they inspire us all to this day.

The Liverpool Irish Community and a Decade of Centenaries.

Cairde na hEireann Liverpool wishes to state its commitment to ensuring that the Liverpool Irish community plays its role in remembering historic events associated with the ‘Decade of Centenaries’.

Ireland 1912-1922 experienced a huge political upheaval associated with the ending of British rule in a majority of the counties of Ireland and foundation of an independent 26 county Irish state. Important events being commemorated during this period include the Centenary of the Ulster Covenant, the foundation of the Irish Volunteers, Irish Citizen Army, the Home Rule and Land Bills, the 1913 Lockout, the 1916 Easter Rising and many anniversaries relating to World War One including the Gallipoli landings, the Somme offensive and the battle of Messines Ridge. Also of note will be the Literary Revival, the suffrage movement, the struggle for workers’ rights and many other key events and themes of the period.

Liverpool and the Liverpool Irish community played its part in the events associated with the Decade of Centenaries as witnessed by Irish National Party support in Liverpool for the Home Rule Bill, support for the 1913 Dublin Lockout, formation of the Irish Volunteers in Liverpool and participation in the Easter Rising, and Irish Republican Army in Liverpool 1919-1921.

Cairde na hEireann Liverpool believes that the Irish community in Liverpool has a right to commemorate these important events in the spirit of historical accuracy, mutual respect, inclusiveness and reconciliation. The Irish community in Liverpool should be rightly proud of its support for Irish independence, workers rights and equality during this period in Irish history and it is right that its commemorations remember the individual women and men who’s histories often remain unwritten and forgotten. As stated previously, Cairde na hEireann Liverpool aims to remember these individuals and organisations during the coming years and that their sacrifices for Irish freedom and equality are justly remembered.