Independent Ireland has said it sees no need for election candidates to sign up to an ‘anti-racism’ protocol which is being promoted in County Wicklow by groups such as Bray for Love, African Irish Society of Co. Wicklow, and United Against Racism Wicklow.
The protocol asks election candidates to pledge to uphold a series of actions including the inclusion of images in their election material “that reflects the diversity of our society” and to “send a consistent and clear message” to their constituents that they “reject racism and all forms of discrimination and hate speech”.
It also states that any contribution made by the candidate to discussions regarding groups such as asylum seekers, Muslims, Travellers, Roma, etc. must be conducted in a “responsible way” and show “respect for the dignity and rights” of those groups.
Assignees of the protocol also pledge to inform their potential constituents that they have signed it.
On the 21st of March last candidates standing for election for Wicklow County Council were asked to sign up to the protocol which was formulated by Irish Network Against Racism, INAR.
RTÉ presenter and activist Emer O’Neill said that during the upcoming election campaign there was concern that “immigration might become a central talking point and overshadow many real issues of housing, local facilities, health and transport.”
She added that it was “important to raise these issues respectfully” without “scapegoating minority groups”.
O’Neill said election candidates were being called on to keep the election “clean” and to sign up to the Irish Network Against Racism’s Election Protocol adding that a public event would be held in April to sign up to the document.
Independent Ireland Party Leader Michael Collins said that while there is no place for racism in Irish society today he disagreed with calls for candidates to sign what he called an “NGO created “Anti Racism” document saying this only causes “further division around the issue”.
Collins stressed that while the party denounces racism unequivocally, it refuses to sign a protocol that, it says, suggests the Irish population is racist.
“Independent Ireland’s position is that there is no place for racism in Irish society. Signing a document formulated by an NGO that seems to believe that we are an inherently racist country is not something we would be encouraging our candidates to do.” he said.
“Some of the people driving this ideology try to instil the belief in such ideas as ‘White Privilege’,” he said adding that, “They take the assumption that immutable characteristics such as the colour of your skin make you privileged in order to promote the idea.”
He continued that, “To agree to be an ‘anti-racist’ means you must take the position that Irish society and the people of Ireland are inherently racist. That is not something we subscribe to or believe.”
“We are a warm, welcoming and friendly society as we have been for generations and we don’t subscribe to the belief that entire societies can be racist.” he said.
Regarding what he called the potential for election candidates to feel pressured into signing up to the document he asked if it would be “the stance of these organisations that if you do not sign this ‘protocol,’ you are a racist candidate?”
He added that Independent Ireland is of the view that “if there is any protocol that should be signed, it should be one based on listening to the concerns of the electorate, helping to improve their lives, helping people with the cost of living, housing, healthcare and listening to and addressing their concerns on immigration, along with a plethora of other issues.”
Collins underlined the party’s commitment to addressing the issues affecting communities, stating, “Ultimately it will be down to each individual candidate whether they decide to partake in this pact, but we would rather our candidates focus on dealing with the issues at the heart of their communities and working to listen and help the people they represent. If racism is something that individual constituents face, our candidates will condemn it and work to support the people affected”
Independent Ireland said it “firmly stands against racism while rejecting divisive ideologies that may harm societal cohesion.” and that the party “remains dedicated to serving the interests and needs of all Irish citizens.”
Loading ...
Any truly irish candidate standing should tell those ngos what to do with themselves. I look forward to the removal of their funding after the next ge.
Why are they even funded at all ?
Surely taxpayers have more pressing concerns like housing shortages and HSE ?
They are funded to the tune of 6 billion a year. All 35 thousand of them.
To give support and credibility to the government for what they government seeks to do. The Government are hardly going to fund an NGO that was going to lobby/influence opposition to what the government wants to bring in that might otherwise be difficult for them to do so.
Funds to 20% of public donations.
And watch what happens!
No more NGOs.
They are funded by $0r0$
Not all, but INAR and Co
Good on them. The people elect the leaders. That’s democracy. But these people decide they are the boss and get to decide what the leaders can and can’t say. That is an attack on democracy. And well done on Collins for making such a coherent point about their assumptions about inherent racism being destructive of cohesion
Michael Collins has backbone
Woke red guard ideologues know the hate speech bill is dead so will try it by another means. Defund the unelected no mandate unrepresentative fascists. If they want to stand put their name on the ballot.
If NGO’s were successful in their cause, be it Environment, Race, Immigration, Gender, etc. etc. They would be out of work. Fact is they will never be finished. They are a self absorbed, self promoting entity. It is in their own interest to promote and spread the very cause they proport to eradicate. Everything is a crisis with them an all problems can be sorted when they get funding. Ridiculous situation.
A pure gravy train just like Free Legal Aid, many of the academia appointed to teach “social awareness” type degrees and a lot of the climate change hysteria… defunding is the only answer!!
See Dead Aid by Dambisa Moyo.
Hope they publish the names of any signees they get – a handy list of who not to vote for.
Bray for Love (so long as they don’t move any more here +send them to Tallaght instead)….. African Bogus-Asylum-Seeking-Squatters-of-Wicklow….
Every one of these organisations can really go fuck themselves, and I’ll be talking about the issues surrounding these migrants any way I wish.
Wicklow imo has some of the worst politicians..,Harris Donnelly Whitmore. My personal opinion
So now if you don’t say that the Roma aren’t the most hard working, honest decent educated cleanest people that ever entered our country, you’re a racist, Father?
Just thinking. Is this protocol lawful? Is it interference with the democratic process?
Now there’s a real man !!!! Well said Dep. Collins !!! No racism in Ireland ’til inar & its crony ngo cabal tried to MAKE IT an issue….which it still isn’t !!
Soros, keep out of Orosh politics!!
So in a democracy,a minority ngo body dictates terms and conditions to a potentially strong democratic political party……I must check the dictionary again “Democracy” & eh “Dictator”
Something definitely gone askew in “modern” Ireland.
Silicon Docklands Eu UN
Disband all NGO’s as soon as possible. Poison puppets of the (as none have a majority ) a self elected government.
This should be a point politicians target as an election promise.
If candidates sign up to this agreement, and then say something deemed “racist”, what happens then? Are the removed from ballots?
Let tgem get a kick in the ballots
My thinking is, could this be used to stop certain people from running?
The sooner all these NGOs are defunded the better. Who the hell do they think they are? Parasites without a mandate.
FDI Foreign Democracy Interference
Such NGOs got away with demanding self-censorship in previous elections.
I think they were able to because immigration was coming in low on people’s polled concerns, for whatever reason.
But now what dishonest arrogance.
To demand that candidates not discuss the issue that is named as No 1 or No 2 over the past months!
The director of the Irish Network against racism (INAR) Mr Shane O’Curry was a prominant member of the ‘Workers Solidarity Movement’ WSM – a self described “Anarcho-Communist” organisation.
Another prominant member of the WSM was Mark Malone who also worked at INAR for a while and is heavily involved in the NGO sector through his work at comhlamh.org which organises the voluntary sector around global issues. He is a member of the “far-right observatory” which supposedly monitors far-right activities in Ireland and has addressed the oireachtas on such matters.
During the black lives matter demos, Mark Malone shared a post on Twitter about “abolishing whiteness”, The post stated that – “white people themselves must become ‘self abolitionists'” . These are the kind of people who claim to be about anti-racism but are actually just using it as a front to achieve something much different.
Shouldn’t Mark Malone have just ‘topped’ himself then?
Obviously not dedicated to ‘the cause’.
Racist against their own. It is well worth looking at these circle within circle, Venn Diagram Ngos
Why do people coming to Ireland from third world countries that are in a terrible mess, with no “diversity” feel themselves obliged to educate the Irish on racism and diversity?
Defund all NGOs now. No more pandering to Marxists anarchists.
How dare these parasitic taxpayer funded anti democratic , anti Irish nobodies try to gag & muzzle those seeking election in our republic!
Let’s stop the 6bn funding to this sector now, they don’t serve the taxpayer , they serve foreign masters that seek to subjugate us.
If they want their views represented on the national stage they need to go about it fairly & seek election based on a manifesto like everyone else.
How dare they try to influence & control our government & election candidates in such an anti democratic way all the while funded by the Irish taxpayer that they hate .
Self perpetuating NGOS have to see racism everywhere to justify their existence. They will find it anywhere and will claim that it is on the rise and will need more funding.
If they were disbanded, racism would suddenly dissappear.
They are devisive and disgusting parasites and are the worst racists because under their righteous cloak they just hate white people.
I think reasonable people universally agree that racism is wrong. It’s like trying to get into a passionate debate addressing the virtues of murder. But a pledge is just stupid.
The red guard rallying cry was – destroy the “four olds”: ideas, customs, habits, and culture. Then imprison and execute those that persist in defending them. This is the definition of the woke red guard ideologues. Defund them.