THE decision by political unionism to become Mini MAGAS to regain the position of First Minister is a tactic that requires our attention and determination.
There are pivot points we can identify that brought us to this point. Being bullies picking on victims of the conflict, if they are the wrong type of victims, is not new, but there is undoubtedly a fresh assault on them. When the survivors and bereaved of the Ormeau Road Bookmakers atrocity were treated with contempt by members of the PSNI in 2021 there was understandable outrage. Very quickly that became a unionist online campaign which pitched bereaved relatives against the individual cops involved as though they were the victims. Social media and a certain morning show took what was a test for “new policing” which it failed, and reversed into the cul de sac of defence of RUC tactics.
These families and other families across the north subsequently received findings from the Police Ombudsman, Marie Anderson, that there had been RUC collusion involved in the killings of their loved ones. Rather than focus on the abhorrent and pernicious relationships between the state and loyalism, and ask questions about the evident policy that destroyed so many families, unionism focused on whether the definition of collusion has a legal basis, and subsequently the character of Marie Anderson herself. The treatment of Marie Anderson and the trailing of her personal character through the same social media by the same voices of unionism that have portrayed RUC actors as victims and bereaved relatives as suspect, cannot be divorced from the record of Mrs Anderson publishing significant reports regarding the collusive behaviours of the RUC, nor can it be divorced from her being a solicitor from Andersonstown.
Once unionism got away with this, they have decided to continue their behaviours on seemingly every issue, gaslighting and impervious to facts.
With a heavy dose of misogyny, bad manners and snarling attacks, there is a public arena being created where legitimate public scrutiny is becoming a preplanned circus, designed only for clicks on the social media platforms of choice. This is debasing public commentary, and confidence in the future of the institutions.
Just as in the United States and Europe, when the far right begin these tactics, it is very difficult of match it or combat it, as it is akin to joining pigs in a pig sty, where everyone gets covered in muck. However, unlike in those regions, there has been little acknowledgement that this is what is happening.
Republicanism is a proud and legitimate tradition, deserving of respect, equal under the law, and in its modern form led by women. There is a concerted far right misogynistic campaign to delegitimise every female republican voice in the public sphere. Pay attention to the particular commentary received by Caoimhe Archibald or Liz Kimmins, it is different, concerted and deliberate.
The commentary will portray them as inadequate, and at the same time challenge their fresh approaches and innovation. The incompatibility of that is irrelevant in the assault.
Engaging with this at their level is counterproductive, but calling it out as it happens is vital. We need to work together to ensure communities, and those most vulnerable, are protected, because history tells us – once they get away with dehumanising, belittling and delegitimising the public face of our communities, they will absolutely come for our communities.
