PUBLISHED | 07.09.2023 |
READING TIME | 8 |
In early September 2019 information began to circulate in the rural community of Oughterard Co.Galway that an unoccupied local hotel was being refurbished to house 250 people seeking asylum. This was neither confirmed or denied officially and in the information vacuum created; rumours circulated, tensions mounted and a town hall meeting was called attended by approximately 700 people. In the weeks that followed a community campaign was organised with the goal of halting any plans to build a Direct Provision centre in Oughterard.
Following the intitial town hall meeting, smaller local meetings, mobilisations, 24 hour vigils and media engagements were organised in a short but very intensive campaign effort. The campaign changed name from ‘Stop Connemara Gateway Hotel Direct Provision Centre’ to ‘Oughterard Says No to Inhumane Direct Provision Centre’ which some have attributed to a rehabilitation effort after the town received a good deal of negative media attention.
The campaign does appear to have been infiltrated and influenced by members of the organised far right from the very beginning. In describing the events which followed and discerning any far right involvement there are some important contextual points. Timing is important; the community response to the proposed DP centre and reported activity of the organised far right was amongst one of the earlier instances in Ireland. Parallels have been drawn by some to a public meeting in Lismore earlier that year. These are amongst the first documented examples of local (and rural communities) becoming a flashpoint around immigration with involvement from the organised far right. The tactics and pattern of behaviour of the organised far right were less well known in communities.
Oughterard a small rural town with a population of around 1300 is often described as being a gateway to popular tourist destination Connemara. The disused hotel being repurposed for direct provision would have put an end to any hopes of it generating employment and supporting tourism in the near future. There was a distinct lack of community engagement or sharing of information regarding the planned Direct Provision centre between the Department and Oughterard. Oughterard couldn’t be characterised as socio economically disadvantaged. However, as is the case with many towns in rural Ireland there were concerns (which the far right exploited) about inadequate local services (including access to health care), local road and bridge works and school capacity.
Far right involvement
It would be inaccurate to say the far right organised Oughterard’s local campaign and unfair to characterise local participation as being grounded in anti immigration and racism. However it would be misleading to say this was a campaign wholly concerned with taking a moral stance in opposition to the abhorrent system of direct provision. What is irrefutable is that the organised far right were involved in Oughterard’s local response from the very beginning and this significantly impacted the campaign and had outcomes for the community.
- One of the main organisers and spokespeople for the campaign appeared to engage directly with far-right agitators in the earliest phase of the campaign.
- A Facebook page dedicated to the Direct Provision development was moderated by people with direct links to the organised far-right. It does appear that the page was hijacked by people with far right and anti immigrant views. It was subsequently made private but not before racist polarising and divisive language was used to describe people seeking asylum who might be coming to Oughterard.
- A public meeting attended by over 700 people had all the hallmarks of being infiltrated by the far right. Some of the organisers had associations with the far right. The meeting was live streamed and shared online (and in some known far right channels) by a recognisable far right agitator. This individual hails from Cork (not Galway) an important fact given this was a town hall meeting for locals.
- A full colour well-produced flyer or ‘fact’ leaflet was printed and distributed on the night. An interviewee described the leaflet; “given out at the meeting it warned people of the so-called dire consequences of letting a direct provision centre into the town. So I mean where did that come from? That was funded, you know…. “
The flyer was divisive, inaccurate and manipulative focusing on ‘dubious claims’ ‘failure to deport’ ‘single males’ and Oughterard’s ‘stretched resources’.
- The language on the night (from the floor and flyer) is the now recognisable language of the organised right. There was no mention whatsoever of the inhumanity of the Direct Provision system. Brian Healy writing about the infiltration of the right in Oughterard highlights an anecdote about a woman in the audience who “proceeded to read out a letter advising the people of Oughterard that the opening of a similar asylum centre in Norway had led to a spike in sex crimes there”. He clarifies how this was completely debunked by Irish journalists who contacted Norwegian sources. The damage had been done. “Im concerned about this I have daughters you know” said one local business owner and more generally “the fear of rape and sexual violence” were circulating in local conversations immediately after the meeting according to the people I interviewed. Also it transpired after the meeting that far right agitators were congratulating each other “on important work done tonight in Oughterard” on Facebook.
- Two mobilisations in the town were organised in September. An estimated 1500 marched in silence from the town centre to the former Connemara Gateway Hotel on Saturday the 28th where they lined up on both sides of the road before going home. A local interviewee wondered about the inflated numbers; “ Yeah, well I know that the population of Oughterard is somewhere about 12 to 1300. There were 1500 estimated on that march. So there were people bused in. Not everyone was a ‘concerned local’ “.
- Questions have been asked about the motivation behind asking everyone to wear Hi-Vis vests in an anonymous flyer that was circulated in the town. This would have been very unusual in any protest march in Ireland. We now know it’s a piece of clothing very much associated with ring wing movements across Europe.
- Some locals may have marched to show their opposition to an inhumane Direct Provision system. Indeed some placards read “people seeking asylum welcome, inhumane DP centre not”. However, well known far right agitators were also present . One leading figure posted videos online and we now know they they were seen by far-right counterparts across the world.
A community worker with the Community Work Ireland based in Galway observed the march (the organisation had started to support a number of local people considering organising a counter campaign). She tried to speak to people about why they were marching. Most “did not answer me. But those that did raised concerns about how they were going to manage this and the knock on effect for schools and local services”. Legitimate concerns but no one mentioned the inhumanity of the system itself.
Those I interviewed felt the renaming of the campaign to name DP as inhumane was disingenuous.
It basically advantaged those who were opposed to people seeking asylum coming into the area. That’s all. It’s easier to see the FR if you’re standing beside somebody going out, out, out at a Direct Provision Centre. Whereas this no to inhumane direct provision we’re all saying Yeah, of course no to inhumane DP. So they were smart. I think they were clever in terms of that”
How the community responded
For locals who were uncomfortable with the rhetoric or tactics of the local campaign it was impossible to counter the dominant narrative or pause the momentum of this campaign.
“ We [referring to a group of approximately 10-12 people living in the town who were opposed to the local campaign] just felt this was absolutely wrong but we were flailing. We just hated the carry on. We didn’t know what to do because we were scared. And there would have been conversations amongst twos and threes of us where we felt comfortable”.
A number of people reached out to each other after the public meeting via whats app or in private conversations expressing concern about the language, racism and hate circulating in the community. “We began to think and talk amongst ourselves about organising and presenting a different kind of, oh, I suppose a resistance (counter voice) in some way to what was going on. But we weren’t quite sure what that was.”
They started to pull together a list of people who were opposed to what was going on in the town and who “would be interested in presenting a different view from the community. And we had a meeting way out in Connemara. There were about 15 of us”. Here they freely shared their views on what was happening and talked through alternatives.
Some of the group met with experienced community workers with the support of Community Work Ireland. The purpose was to discuss their concerns about the campaign and explore advancing an alternative or counter argument. This included discussing alternatives to the Direct Provision system. “ We spent a bit of the meeting trying to think of alternatives to Direct Provision. We kind of went with the legitimate concerns that were expressed by the campaign. But this was an agenda set by the Far Right”.
Also under guarantee of anonymity some interviews were carried out with a number of journalists and media outlets. “We were trying to get a bit of the alternative view out there into the public”.
The ‘Oughterard Says No to Inhumane Direct Provision Centre’ campaign fizzled out before this potential counter group got any further off the ground. A final community meeting was called. The owner of the hotel had been put under huge pressure by the community and he withdrew the hotel from the Direct Provision process.
What hindered
There are many factors which hindered the kind of community based response which could successfully identify and tackle the far right organising and disentangle this from local legitimate concerns.
Far right got in early
People associated with the far right and the organised far right themselves were involved from the outset of the community’s response to the proposed DP centre. One person I spoke with had missed the meeting and the morning after the public meeting she vividly recalled how the language had taken hold in two exchanges with people she knew very well.
“And I’d asked her what she was talking about. And she was saying the people seeking asylum are coming and they will be all Syrian men, they are all men. They are all coming into the community and were going to be raped in our beds”.
Another person in a trusted leadership role within the community in speaking about the meeting spoke of ‘the horrendous news’.
“Now I thought that he was going to say you know that this racist stereotyping was horrendous. He wasn’t, he was saying ‘isn’t this horrendous that these people are coming into our community’ ”.
Toxic quickly
Interviewees described an environment that heated up very quickly to the point of becoming quite toxic. In referring to the local campaign
“ It had momentum. It expanded, it got worse. It became more extreme”.
“ I think speed was extraordinary. Yeah. I think it went from nought to a hundred, the heat that was applied and you know then turned up. I’ve never seen anything like it. As I said, I’m looking at this parade [referring to the march], I’m thinking this community is gone insane”
In reading back through her whats app at the time they recall the parish priest addressing the congregation and whilst he “acknowledged the pressure on resources direct provision may put the town under” he asked people “to look into their hearts and follow the message of Jesus and Pope Francis”. She remarked “that’ll tell you how bad things were. And then the bishop visited!”.
A 24 hour presence was maintained outside of the former hotel complete with night time bonfires and a coffee truck. Speaking of the 24 hour presence one interviewee admitted;
“ The hotel was the most terrifying thing to pass especially at night time when you come upon them 10, 12 o’clock at night and they had these braziers lighting and people marching up and down in Hi-Vis vests with flags and banners and everything”
Those not involved in the campaign observed an intensity and energy about its activities “ People were on a high about it. They were a community coming together to resist [governments plans]” .
Fear factor
Not participating in the campaign’s actions meant you were going against the tide locally. “ It was noticed when you didn’t sign up to the roster [for the picket]. You were asked when you were going up to do your shift up at the hotel”. This became uncomfortable and fear inducing. It was clear those not involved in the campaign felt unsafe and vulnerable during this intense time. “I think the fear definitely hindered us [from countering the campaign]. At no point did we feel we could directly challenge or come out against it locally”.
One interviewee got a phone call from her grown up children asking her not to get involved with a counter protest “ they said [parents name] stay outta this one. You live alone. We don’t want you getting involved. We know these people. We went to school with them, do not get involved”.
There were other developments that give an insight into the atmosphere at the time. For a short period a picket was organised outside of the home of the former hotel owner. A huge mound of boulders were illegally dumped outside the former hotel. And there were three incidents of assault on people working on the hotel renovation. The hotel owner said publicly “he could no longer guarantee the safety of his workers on the site”.
Political leadership
Interviewees described TD’s as being either “entirely absent from the local discussion” or in the situation of one local Deputy adding “really unwanted heat to the fire”. Several direct quotes from his contribution (courtesy of Brian Healy) at the townhall meeting give an insight into how political leadership derailed never mind hindered a response that could have tackled far right infiltration.
“These are people who are coming over here from Africa to, er, to sponge off the system here in Ireland”and to compound the stereotyping he induced fear by warning a DP centre would “destroy the fabric of Oughterard.”
Deputy Catherine Connolly was described as one of the few political representatives who showed leadership on the issue during this time. Referring to the town hall meeting, interviewees described her “as a counter voice. Probably, she was the only voice of reason and very courageously so at that meeting because she was the only one who actually stood up and said, you know, that this was racist”.
Absence of local organisational support
At the time local development organisations and community projects in the Oughterard area appeared to lack the capacity and confidence to take a stand. An understanding of the far right mobilising in communities and their tactics was far less known about in 2019. This hindered any counter community based response;
“ We didn’t have the consciousness, capacity and confidence that we talk about in community work to respond at that time, you know? The consciousness bit in terms of knowing exactly what we were talking about. Listen, this is them. This is their Tactics, here’s our counter Tactics, here’s how we do things”.
What helped
Whilst an organised counter effort never fully got off the group, a small group of local people did meet regularly developing an alternative analysis, engaging in some media work and seeking the support of external people and organisations.
- Meeting with allies and an organisation that shared similar values helped this small group feel like they were not alone. “We were beginning to find our voice. There was a kind of a sense of people who could support us. That meeting [names individuals] was a real turning point for us”
- Getting out of what sounded like a goldfish bowl seemed to also help those resisting the local campaign. The house meeting in Connemara was an important gathering; “There were about 15 of us. And we were just so grateful to have a space to be able to come out and talk and just articulate our feelings without fear of being attacked or without being put in fear of our lives you know? And that was something we probably needed”.
- Whilst it may not have had a significant impact on the direction of the local campaign interviewees felt the church attempted to play a leadership role. “That first march was started in the grounds of the church and subsequently the parish priest issued a statement saying, no March with that agenda would be allowed onto church grounds. I’m so delighted they actually issued that”.
Outcomes
There were immediate and longer term consequences from the local campaign against Direct Provision which dominated the community response at the time.
- Despite reference to DP being inhumane a clear message was sent out “ that people seeking asylum were not welcome in Oughterard”. A direct and negative outcome from the campaign according to one interviewee is that “ some services were withheld from Oughterard because of the stance it took. I know of an instance of organisation being told very explicitly they weren’t getting funding when it was expected prior to the campaign”
- In the aftermath of the campaign people I spoke with felt it impacted very negatively on the town.
“ It left a sour taste in everybody’s mouth. Coming back to where the community was left at the end of this. With relationships splintered. You have some friendships splintered, you have then an impact on your relationship locally to goods and services. So it’s hugely disruptive in a community. Has it healed? I don’t know”
- The organised far right had a victory that they could point to in Oughterard which gave them more confidence. “Well, I think an outcome is that the Far Right had a success story that they like to hold up and they do”.
- For those unable to counter the campaign at the time it has left them with some regrets and impacted on their own relationships in the community. “I think the community is deeply ashamed by what happened. And [naming a local person who was was put out front and centre in the campaign] they could hardly meet my eyes for quite a length where it’s only now we’re resuming some kind of normal conversation again”
- At the same time the experience has also made those who were opposed to the campaign more determined they won’t be silenced in the future and reaffirmed their own values around anti-racism and inclusivity. “ I do know this time that I’m far more likely to show up to have a counter voice than I was in Oughterard then. I was really frightened. And I don’t frighten easily”
- A longer term and important impact from Oughterard perhaps is learning for those interested in supporting communities to respond and tackle the far right organising locally. Those I interviewed had a rich and hard earned analysis around the far right and its insidious impact locally that is complex and important to hear.
* A sincere thank you to the three people interviewed for this case study.
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