In recent weeks, a new political campaign, the “Waterford Coalition Against Fascism”, has been circulating leaflets and advertisement material both in Waterford City and online. This material calls for a counter-demonstration to be held on the 15th and announces the formation of the WCAF, an alliance of “local community and union organisers” and “political parties that value our diverse community”. They have set up a social media page hosted by Waterford For All, a local group which has hosted demonstrations attended by Socialist Republicans in the past.
As shown in the WCAF’s promotional material, the coalition’s membership includes a number of organisations and political parties which Socialist Republicans and genuine anti-fascists can have no truck with. The most objectionable of these is the Green Party, one of the ruling semi-colonial parties of the Free State, who have overseen and rubber-stamped the vicious crackdowns against republican organisations and activists through the Offences Against the State Act and various other tools of state repression. The Blueshirt government has no interest in fighting fascism, but rather facilitates its growth with comparative impunity.
Given that the Green Party has also administered the Direct Provision system, it is shameful that they would be invited into this coalition on behalf of the refugees and vulnerable people which they torment. Anti-Imperialist Action Ireland condemns the presence of the Green Party, among others, in the Waterford Coalition Against Fascism and re-iterate that we have no connection with their campaign. The genuine interests of locals who have mobilised to stand up to bussed-in fascist agitators will be terribly misrepresented by the WCAF’s line-up, which is a pitiful attempt to reconcile the Free State with the anti-fascist cause.
Anti-Imperialist Action Waterford remains committed to anti-fascism. We are always open to working with others in order to combat common enemies. The Free State administration is an enemy of our people and we will never stand with such parties. We call on the WCAF to expel the Green Party immediately. Considering that several groups involved have protested the shameful actions of the Green Party in the past, they should already know that they cannot pretend to remain on the side of our communities in their company. Reformists with little prior interest in anti-fascism have no right to drag its name through the mud.