RACISM AND FAR RIGHT UNIONISM IN DONEGALL PASS BELFAST. Communities need to say NO to paramilitaries
Today we’re having another look at one of Belfast’s traditional working class communities. Donegall Pass, a small inner-city community of about 1000 residents. It’s part of the Shaftsbury ward along with Lower Donegal Road, The Markets and Sandy Row (a community I looked at in a previous film). This ward is one of the 10% most deprived wards not just in Belfast, but in N. Ireland. A lot of work goes into these videos as you can well see! You can now buy me a pint as a means of appreciation for my work on Naked Ireland, no obligation, obviously – only if you can afford it… I appreciate it. Cheers. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/nakedireland You’ll notice the large number of Chinese restaurants and businesses in the area. There was some hope at one point that this road might become Belfast’s China Town, but embarrasingly events were to unfold that were to make that difficult. Back in 2004, a letter was circulated to local residents which said as follows: “The influx of yellow people into Donegall Pass has done more damage than 35 years of the IRA’s recent campaign of republican propaganda and violence waged against the Protestant community of Donegall Pass. It is eroding the Britishness and the Ulster Protestant culture and heritage from our area more than the IRA could ever have hoped to do. These foreign immigrants have no sense of Christian values or decency and have no respect at all for our community. Rid our community of these Chinese immigrants and clear the way for Protestant families to move in and our young people to remain and contribute in helping to make our community a better place to live.” Now I’m sure we’ll all agree that this statement is not only a disgusting piece of racism that perhaps we shouldn’t even comment further on, but ironically it sought to drive out the very people who were investing in the future of the area. To some extent, as in The Village area that we looked at, as people move out, so new communities move in. That’s inevitable – nothing stays the same in this world. But the opposition to ethnic diversity here has been strong – but undoubtedly its coming from the paramilitary leadership. I’m certainly not criticising the ordinary local people. We pass the old School of Music, built in 1936 by the Belfast Corporation as a primary School. It became the City of Belfast School of Music in 1964 after the primary school closed and existed in that capacity until 2009, when the school of Music moved out into the Northern suburbs of the city. This building while functioning as a music school was responsible for educating thousands of young classical musicians, many of whom have gone on to become professional musicians and music teachers themselves. But it’s real legacy perhaps is as a musical hub that welcomed young people from all backgrounds and both sides of the religious divide to develop their potential together. And this all happened during the worst period of the Troubles in the city. Racism has always been a bigger issue in Protestant areas than in Catholic parts of Belfast (and that’s not to say that Catholic areas are totally immune), but the Loyalist paramilitarie’s links to British far right movements has always caused greater antagonism towards ethnic minorities. As we approach Pine Street, we can see another mural, this time celebrating the UVF or Ulster Volunteer Force, one of the paramilitaries I’ve discussed. Then we have this message on the wall opposite. According to an Educational Equality Summary Report, young Protestant boys from working class areas are consistently falling behind their working-class counterparts in Catholic areas. This statistic obviously is a factor in terms of ongoing issues with racism in these areas. So the message to improve educational attainment is a positive one. But not all messages here are as positive. . We approach an old stone church on the right, which in recent years has hosted a Chinese Restaurant and then a Community Centre for the Belfast Multi-Cultural Association. Unfortunately, it has been attacked constantly and more recently burnt down. Controversially, a recent Spotlight television programme, highlighted that in the wake of the attacks the police advised the Multi cultural association to reassure the local community that it wasn’t building a mosque. This suggests that community policing of this area has perhaps not been what it should have been. So the burning of this building, breaking of car windows, threats to life and property have caused reduced investment in this area and ensured its economic and social stagnation. The Multicultural association is a charity – it was approached by the paramilitaries for protection money. The Chairman of the Charity, Muhammad Atif told the Spotlight TV programme, “We’re a charity for God’s sake, if Charities have to give protection Money what world are we living in”. Credit to : Naked Ireland