10th June 2026
Fascist Scum Off Our Streets!
One year after the pogroms that previously took place in Ballymena and Belfast, a new round of racist riots have taken place across the north of Ireland. Using the pretext of an attempted murder in north Belfast, gangs of violent loyalists have sought to enact a new pogrom, expelling migrant families from their homes while the RUC/PSNI watch on as their colleagues in masks burn down houses, cars and public transport.
One wonders where this outburst was when Amy Doherty was brutally stabbed to death in Derry by her white partner in March, as the north of Ireland continues to have one of the highest femicide rates in Europe. These riots in Belfast were not motivated by any desire to protect our communities but out of sheer racism and bigotry, serving only to instil fear into the entire city. They had nothing to do with the attack on Monday night, but were driven purely by hatred of different skin colours.
After their recent performance at Scarva, openly supporting the Zionist entity's genocide in Palestine, these groups have made explicitly clear they have no qualms with overwhelming acts of violence. As a reactionary, colonial ideology rooted in the displacement and subjugation of oppressed peoples, loyalism is the source of more violence on this island than any other group of people, having been responsible for several pogroms since the foundation of the northern statelet, in the 1920s, 1930s, 1960s and now in recent years.They are certainly no stranger to savage stabbing attacks, with the Shankill Butchers and the UVF's campaign of terror involving countless Catholics being kidnapped, tortured and murdered. Next month, as thousands of Orange settlers mobilise for the Twelfth, these acts will be commemorated and celebrated by the very same people.
The events of last night bear a stark resemblance to the burning of Catholic streets in 1969, carried out by the same groups and the same ideology.
While imperialism ravages countries throughout the Global South, destroying homes and forcing families to flee abroad, they are terrorised here by the very same system of oppression which seeks to exploit them for their labour while at the same time using them as a scapegoat for every failure of capitalism.
Racism is not merely the result of ignorance or "false consciousness", but is a crucial part of this imperialist system, serving as the ideological justification for imperialism and national oppression and is explicitly reinforced through the mass media, elected representatives, and so-called 'community leaders', who all trip over themselves in demonising immigrants.
So-called "nationalists" from the Free State on social media who seek to ally themselves with loyalist death squads and British intelligence are no more than quislings and will be treated as such. Republicans must ally themselves with migrant communities in the struggle against racism, fascism and British imperialism on this island.
We stand by all the victims of this pogrom, as well as with the victim of the attack on Monday night and his family. We commit ourselves to defending migrant communities from these vicious assaults and driving these fascists from our streets.