Nestled to the east of Dublin city centre, East Wall was built to house the families of dockers, street traders and crafts people, who had previously been shoved into tenements and inadequate flat complexes.

Many East Wall residents people lived their lives on boats in one way or another, whether unloading the big tankers, working on the ferries exporting our youngest and brightest to Britain, or just messing around. Indeed East Wall is what should be called a coastal community, but isn’t because it is working class and urban to the fingertips.

However, in the so-called economic miracle times, the Tiger, post-Tiger and neo-liberal modern times, this community has borne the brunt of successive southern government policies.

The people of East Wall were always neglected by social policies, so they fended for themselves. The children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of the Tan War, this is a republican constituency. It had a H-Block and Armagh Committee when the prisons protests began and flew black flags for every hunger striker as they died. There were Irish republican political prisoners from East Wall throughout the recent conflict.

When Ireland was bankrupt East Wall looked after its sons and daughters, fought the scourge of drugs and stood proud as it defined community development.

However, in the so-called economic miracle times, the Tiger, post-Tiger and neo-liberal modern times, this community has borne the brunt of successive southern government policies. The area has seen huge changes over the last few decades, with massive developments of office blocks, fancy apartments and conference centres springing up on banks of the Liffey almost engulfing the small two-up two-down Corporation estate in a huge concrete jungle. Where once there was blue sky stretching into Dublin Bay, now there is suffocating steel and glass.

There has been unprecedented neglect that has taken its toll in terms of drug abuse issues, poor housing conditions and other associated social problems. Today it is impossible for young couples to even rent a home in East Wall, let alone buy one. The vulture funds with their billions have forced the cost of housing way out of the reach of locals, causing huge resentment and anger. Many are living in cramped houses, adult children with partners and their own kids still live with their parents.

For the first time in all of those years, those decades, the media descended on East Wall last week as the right wing chanced their arm in taking advantage of genuine and reasonable concerns in that community. The decision to suddenly and without dialogue  find money and accommodation for hundreds of refugees while local lads live in tents was unprecedented and that was food for the right-wing racists who took all of the frustrations and fears of good people and heaped them on to, not the policy makers, but the poor souls seeking refuge in Dublin.  

The subsequent right wing racist protests have not served the people of East Wall well. They deserve community-centred policy development, based on universal human rights law. However, these protests, if anything, have further marginalised the community.

For those of us looking on, rather than knee-jerk to judgement, the scenes should give us all pause for thought. As housing, health and education policies and resources become more and more strained, the right wing will try to blame the vulnerable rather than the policy choices. They need to be faced down with responsive, community-centred, compassionate policy and campaigning. There can be no space given to these fascists.