Point of pride: Irish far right is insignificant.

[Lucan Lefty]

A few have run on the anti-immigrant platform. We had one in my constituency and he got a derisory vote.

One ran in DSCin the 2002 GE, Aine ???

[Catalpa]

First we had the large influx of workers from many different countries. Then, we had this god-awful economic crisis which has pushed unemployment into double digits. This, combined with a electoral system that makes a virtue of ensuring parliamentary representation for small parties surely made it a perfect recipe for a surge in far right support.

Yet, it didn't happen and shows no sign of happening. So, while support for extreme right parties surges across Europe, Irish people sensibly eschew this end of the politicial spectrum. Why is this? Are we just more tolerant?

Believe you me there is resentment out there about what has happened.

The problem for out of touch Ivory Tower types like yourself is that you confuse the fact that most resentment of immigration comes from the working class urban dwellers and not from the Right Wing areas like D4 etc

Indeed the fact that you are incapable of understanding that Mass Immigration is a direct result of Right Wing policies being pursued by the FF/PD Government

- in order to drive down the cost of labour and expand the internal consumer market

- shows how ignorant you are of the causes of the greatest internal migration ever seen in Modern Times outside of War and Famine conditions.

Mass Immigration was caused by Right Wing economic policies

- how the hell then can it be 'extreme Right Wing' to oppose it?

[Lucan Lefty]

Ireland would rather get screwed it seems. What fun awaits

Go on i'm listening.

[TradCat]

The guy we had even finished behind the PDs. That must have hurt.

[slx]

I think it's quite positive though that Irish symbols are generally held as positive things i.e. the flag, the green colour, the shamrocks, the harps etc. We kinda use them in a 'fun' and inclusive way. If you want to embrace being Irish, in general I think most Irish people are very welcoming.

The culture is very open, and it's quite attractive and positive. This contrasts sharply with countries like England, Spain or France where immigrant groups often have terrible histories of oppression / colonialism. This means that they have a very odd relationship with the place they live. Our relationship with the people who live here is pretty neutral, untainted and I think we have a good understanding of what it's like to have to emigrate. We also tend to have been the underdogs ourselves historically, so in general I think we've a much more understanding approach to people from other places i.e. we tend not to have a superiority complex and just take people at face value.

A friend of mine from France was pretty amazed to see how immigrant groups were out in Cork City on Patrick's day marching in the parade and showing off their own ethnic identity while absolutely reveling in being Irish and being part of the whole thing. There was nothing particularly PC or artificial about it either. The parade isn't that well organised

It's a good sign and it's something that I think some commentators can overlook by focusing on the very small minority of negative issues while ignoring the overall experience which is very positive.

Of course there are problems, but I just think that, in general, Ireland's got its head screwed-on when it comes to almost all of these issues.

If we could only figure out how to manage banks and deal with political corruption, we'd be sorted!!

[Catalpa]

I honestly think we are a bit more tolerant than quite a lot of Europe. Irish politics also doesn't have a history of being polarised along the lines of right-left.

Also, our sense of national identity tends to be based around Republican ideals and separatism from the UK, rather than on ethnic identity / racial lines as it can be in other European countries. Parties like Sinn Fein are left leaning and are certainly not xenophobic, they just oppose British rule in Ireland.

I just think Ireland has a bigger, more positive sense of 'self' than just narrowly defined ethnic identity.

If anything, it looks like in our current economic mess we're leaning towards the left / centre left and away from neoliberalism i.e. there's a surge for Labour.

they just oppose British rule in Ireland.

Come off it mate - they are part and parcel of the political establishment up there now.

[Catalpa]

A small section see todays Sunday World.

I honestly think that we really do not give a flying one if your black, white, green, orange, pink if your just fine and not a pig.

A small section see todays Sunday World.

You read that thing?

I honestly think that we really do not give a flying one if your black, white, green, orange, pink if your just fine and not a pig

Which one are you then?

[ibis]

The guy we had even finished behind the PDs. That must have hurt.

Yeah - we get a lot of guff from certain posters about the "silent majority" and so on, but it doesn't seem to ever turn into votes. FT and Catalpa, amongst others, have claimed at every election that immigration will be the big issue - which reminds me that I haven't checked recently how the ethnic cleansing of Blachardstown is going.

[slx]

Yeah - we get a lot of guff from certain posters about the "silent majority" and so on, but it doesn't seem to ever turn into votes. FT and Catalpa, amongst others, have claimed at every election that immigration will be the big issue - which reminds me that I haven't checked recently how the ethnic cleansing of Blachardstown is going.

From what I can see, the silent majority are just not racist.

There's a very vocal very small minority who are.

[Catalpa]

Yeah - we get a lot of guff from certain posters about the "silent majority" and so on, but it doesn't seem to ever turn into votes. FT and Catalpa, amongst others, have claimed at every election that immigration will be the big issue - which reminds me that I haven't checked recently how the ethnic cleansing of Blachardstown is going.

Check out the remarks of Kieran Denison FG in Dublin West at the last Locals then

- it won him the seat!