I went to bed early in Kaliningrad. I’d to get a bus to Gdansk at 6am so needed a bit of sleep before the trip. The news that greeted me on Friday morning was not one I was expecting. A part of Dublin, next to where I was born, near where I lived for a year, a place I walked down as recently as August - was in flames. Idiots protesting the horrific mass-stabbing incident on Parnell Square decided to loot shops, smash up a tram and burn a Garda (police) car. All of them seemed to be making videos and so how many not there were thrilled. The government could push through their horrendous ‘hate speech’ law - which actually isn’t needed - and genocidal freaks backing murder in Ukraine, Russia, Palestine and Israel were laughing at my homeland.
People I respected, I know, I like, I am close friends with called the rioters ‘vermin’. Vermin. Now, when did I last hear that word used in relation to humans? Oh, right - often since October 7th by Israeli murder lovers and their foreign backers. By Nazis, by Rwandan psychos, by Russian and Ukrainian half-wits. By British politicians about my own people. By anyone who wanted to degrade a part of society or humanity that they hate, despise and will support ANY plans to destroy. And then I got pushed fully into dreamland when I landed in Malmo.
I was in the Swedish port city for the annual European GAA convention and took a stroll about the place on Friday when I arrived. On Saturday there was a planned ‘Anti-Russia’ rally, at the same time (and nearby) a ‘Pro-Palestine’ rally. Apparently the hardcore Swedes hadn’t gotten the note from Poland that Ukraine was no longer a thing. Passing through Gdansk this time - not a single Ukrainian flag to be seen. Finally the bus and tram workers had been listened to. But Malmo, well, according to a local journalist I had coffee with:
NATO, EU and USAID money is here, the far right and left are coming together on this. There’s a thread in their narrative that Russia is pushing refugees into Europe, so they’re still on board. (And what about Palestine?) Listen to me, we have so many people here who are furious with the killing that you have, especially, immigrants and do gooders being loud. Plus some not very kind Muslim people who live their own lives here. It’s a sad thing because we’re not doing enough to help.
My contact is an old school socialist and we first met in Croatia when he was down for a UNHCR-funded conference. He spoke about using culture (theatre, music etc) to integrate newcomers. I went out Saturday early evening to meet again. We walked through streets that, at lunchtime, had thronged with protestors. A man, then woman, was hauled through the streets in a cage on wheels to highlight Gaza’s plight. The anti-Russia protestors were ”agressive and confrontational” to the pro-Palestine lot. There was pushing and shoving at 2 chokepoints, slurs thrown at the pro-Palestine group and Israeli flags suddenly appeared. It was covered, briefly, by local media and disappeared.
Apparently in Ireland, if you say - in order to visit Ireland and you’re not from a visa-free partner nation, you need a visa - you are a racist. If you say - to work in Ireland you need a visa, you are a racist. If you question - arriving without documents, throwing away your passport or hiding it - you are a racist. If you ask - how did the person get on a plane in a fellow EU nation, but then arrive document-free - you are a racist. Friends, since I’ve arrived home, have asked “Could you just land in Russia and throw away your passport and be put in a hotel?” I answer, you mean “seated accommodation” (the horrible term I heard used by Irish politicians) and I don’t know.
So I messaged a contact in the Russian Border Guards who works in one of Moscow’s airports. She told me that if I arrive on a plane, I must have had all my documents in order when boarding. That means I would be searched and my travel history etc gone into. A request would be made to the airport of origin for full details AND cctv footage at check-in, additionally footage from the departure gate. Unless my story was very, very good (or I’d sold my services to Moscow, Hi Edward!), I’d be jailed and deported. Russia has enough illegal immigration to deal with and even being lighter skinned, I’d be treated the same as a Tajik or Nigerian.
This brings me back to how Irish people are all racist, far-right thugs. Or that this has suddenly popped up, or is actually a thing. Personally, I believe there are people who carry far-right, neo-nazi beliefs in Ireland, who are racist, nasty and vile in their behaviour. We saw some head over to Ukraine, one in particular lauded by Irish state media. Yet their behaviour was identical to that of French protestors earlier this year, less destructive that that of the BLM protestors in 2020 (who continue in some US cities) and has been reported as less organised and more ad hoc. The list of those arrested appeared on Friday in Irish media, while the identity of the man who stabbed a child to death was witheld officially. We have been told it is to lessen the danger of violence and far-right activity.
Now, I’ve spoken with a Garda who was on the scene that Thursday night. He tells a very, very different story. A story of “opportunists”, “idiots who sit online”, “junkies and drug dealers”, “homeless persons who were in doorways nearby” and “young lads of every colour arriving for some action”. The arrest list bears this out. The photos and videos, bears this out. Yet we’re all racist now. Grifters will grift money from this and American “independent media” will use it to show how Europe is a shithole. When in fact anybody who has lived in Ireland, ever, will know that this happens and is rotten. It is not all about illegal immigrants, nor about unemployment, or underemployment, or cost of living, or paying $2,000 for a damp bedsit on the North Circular Road. Nor is it about our current government, or the EU, or Israel, Russia or Ukraine, or Trump or any single one thing. It is all of this, and media.
All of these things, and many more, and how they are fed to us in the media. I, 100%, believed that lockdowns were a good thing, despite misgivings. I did not believe in the vaccines being rushed out and the cancellation of people who didn’t want to be jabbed. In August 2021 I got a jab, because in Russia we had to have 60% of employees vaccinated and I took my medicine so that 2 others didn’t have to. It was jab or job, so I took it. A couple of months later and the vaccine mandate was found to be utter bullshit and….I ended up with a shoulder injury that lasted for over 6 months.
In all cases, the media have been playing games. Not just ‘mainstream media’, but the ‘independent media’. Every single one of them have an angle to push and money to make. Every single one of them is hungry for likes, clicks, shares and money. That sweet advertiser lolly that they all want to suck on. People will have their main news sources and they will buy it unquestioningly. There are so few actual reporters left working in media that just report and allow viewers/listeners/readers to make up their own minds. Most can’t and won’t because they won’t be employed anywhere. So before we start othering my country and labelling pro-Palestine, far-right, pro-Israel, anti-migrant and whatever else you want. Go speak with some people who actually live here and ASK them. Sit down over a tea or pint and ASK. But more importantly, do what Irish media and politicians refuse to do - LISTEN!