By Mic Craig, Labour Party NI (expelled)
“Checks on animal and food products at Larne and Belfast ports have been suspended amid concerns for staff safety”, the BBC reported this morning. The reason for the suspension is due to “security concerns” according to Mid and East Antrim Council, which has withdrawn their employees from Brexit inspection duties at the two ports.
These ‘security concerns’ have arisen because of Loyalist graffiti which appears to target the inspection staff. In a statement, the council said there had been an “upsurge in sinister behaviour” in recent weeks, including graffiti describing port staff as “targets”, and what appeared to be attempts to gather the personal information of workers, including vehicle registration plates.
Weaking the NI-British link
These Loyalists, mostly from the working class, see the Brexit Protocol as weakening the UK, the historic link between Northern Ireland and Britain being more important to them than having employment, housing or decent public services.
We know from history that these groups have had no qualms about murdering anyone and everyone who gets in the way of their British nationalist ideals. But thankfully, for the moment, the Loyalist paramilitaries have been largely isolated and don’t hold anything like the same sway they did during the conflict here.
The DUP leaders have distanced themselves from these threats. With a chorus of condemnation against such paramilitary activity, they have said that any resistance against the Protocol should be through ‘constitutional politics’. But where have we heard this before? In The early 1960s, a certain Presbyterian minister decided that Northern Ireland’s Prime Minister was becoming too friendly with his counterpart in the Republic, and that this could lead to a weakening of the bond between the North and Britain.
Ian Paisley’s suggestion then was that ‘Ulster was being put up for sale’ and his watchword was ‘No Surrender’. He was among those who fostered out-and-out sectarianism and it ended up creating the necessary bogeyman to instil fear in the minds of the Unionist population, the IRA. In fact, in the 1960s, this organisation had all but ceased to exist after being roundly defeated in its last campaign in 1962. Regardless, Paisley spent years going around Northern Ireland preaching about this ‘threat’ and stirring up distrust and hatred against the Catholic minority population, claiming that all Catholics supported the violent overthrow of the Northern statelet.
Paramilitary bombing campaign
At the same time, loyalist paramilitaries, with which Paisley was associated, carried out a bombing campaign which they could blame on the IRA. These tactics had the desired result and more. The result was that loyalist mobs attacked Catholic areas and burned whole streets to the ground. The political position was changed, ending cross-border cooperation between the governments of Stormont and Dublin. Paisley’s popularity grew. It was on the back of this increased support that Paisley founded the DUP in 1972 and only out of expediency did he distance himself from loyalist paramilitary activity. In other words, he had entered ‘constitutional politics’.
Meanwhile, back to the present, and the same DUP helped fund the Brexit Campaign in Britain, only getting away with it by the skin of its teeth, because when new legislation was brought in to compel political parties to open their books, it included an amendment with a cut-off date, before which nothing had to be declared. Had this backdating been extended by even one year, the DUP’s spending on the Brexit Campaign would have been exposed. So not only did the DUP and its supporters vote to leave the EU (while the majority in Northern Ireland voted to remain) but they also funded the Leave campaign.
Creating another bogeyman
During the past few years, the DUP have been busy creating another bogeyman, to cite a threat to the Union. However, this time around there are many differences.
Firstly, the Union isn’t as important to them as holding onto their power base and lucrative positions, keeping their assembly members living in comfort. The DUP know that a break with Britain could be a reality in the future, but it has to find a way of keeping power in the North under whatever all-Ireland constitutional arrangement comes about.
Secondly, there is no longer a united unionist/loyalist front because many Protestants are not as averse to the idea of Irish unity as they once were. Crossing backwards and forwards over the border and forty years of having an open, virtually ‘invisible’ border have left their mark on politics, economics and social life. And lastly, the DUP no longer has its own police force, since the RUC, which was riddled with sectarian bigots, was disbanded 20 years ago. Unlike the RUC, the PSNI is unlikely to turn the same blind eye to attacks being carried out by loyalists against department officials/ public sector workers. The threat against border inspectors in Larne and Belfast is something on which the labour and trade union movement must express its outrage. It is a baleful side-effect of the ramshackle and rushed Brexit policy pursued by the Johnson government. But it is also an echo of a sectarian past and a warning about the future, to which the labour movement must take heed.
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