Pro Life Pro Mass Murder? - arrested for protesting fascist
on 'Rally for Life' march
Date: Mon, 2012-07-09
Saturday's Youth Defense march in Belfast saw a WSM member
arrested for protesting the presence of Michael Quinn, the fascist who told the
Sunday World that he would "he would have "no problem" with
an Anders Breivik style-massacre" in Ireland. When Quinn was pointed
out to stewards on the so called 'Rally for Life' they protected him and
allowed him to continue on the march. On Sunday Youth Defence deleted posts of
the picture of Quinn on the demonstration from their Facebook page and banned
people who posted the
picture or demanded to know why they had allowed Quinn to march.
One woman described how "I posted up a picture of
Micheal Quinn from the Belfast rally on the Youth Defence page. One person
replied going something like 'that is a massive generalisation' and before I
could reply, by posting up the youtube of his racist rant my post was removed
and I was banned from posting on their page. They seem to be particularly
sensitive about people revealing Quinn's presence as I had previously posted a
link to the Danish survey on mental health and abortion which was not removed
and is still rumbling away according to my alerts."
A member of Anti-Fascist Action Ireland, who has been
following Michael Quinn's entry into far-right politics since 2010, posted the
same image to the Youth Defence page and was also then banned. "I
wanted to alert their supporters that long-term YD activist Michael Quinn is
now a self-confessed and active White Nationalist and has been building links
with Irish neo-Nazis, formerly of the group Celtic Wolves, and Greek fascists
from Golden Dawn. For my trouble, my post was deleted and I was banned from the
page."
Other people also contacted us to tell us their posts on the
same topic had also been deleted from the page. So what are Youth Defence
trying to hide and what does it tell of the real nature of the 'Rally for
Life'?
Quinn's links with those around Youth Defence go back a long
way. On July
11th 2000 the Independent described him as a member of Youth Defence
after a court appearance with five other Youth Defence members. The others
listed included Justin Barrett and Maurice Colgan. Barrett's link with the far
right have already been broadly exposed in the mainstream press but AFA told us
that "The former National Organiser of Youth Defence, Maurice Colgan,
shared a flat with Anthony Barnes, lead singer of Dublin neo-Nazi bonehead band
‘Celtic Dawn”, in the late 1980s/early 1990s. Colgan was seen at least once, at
a YD leafleting session, wearing a Celtic Dawn t-shirt. His friend Barnes was
later convicted for assault, slicing a political opponents neck with a beer
bottle." (as reported in the Dublin Tribune, Nov 15 1990)
(Read more )
The Sunday World
article revealed that "As the news of the sickening Norwegian
terror attack broke last week, DRM chief Quinn (51) took to the web to
broadcast his sickening support for the murders." The article then
went on to point out that "Fascist Quinn ran for election in Dun
Laoghaire in 1992 as an 'Independent pro-life' candidate but failed to gain
popular support. He went on to become a supporter of Justin Barrett, the
anti-Nice treaty campaigner disgraced over alleged links to European neo-nazis
. Barrett and Quinn were arrested at a violent anti-abortion picket of a Dublin
hospital in 1999 but the charges were later dropped." Another
Sunday World article sub headed "Sick Irish thugs'
recruitment drive with members of racist BNP group" published April
29 2012 revealed that Quinn had previously travelled to Belfast to meet with
the far right British National Party and loyalists.
There was also controversy over Quinn's presence on
last years anti-choice march in Dublin - in short there is no excuse for
claiming not to know who and what he is. Quinn is certainly a nut, but after
the Breivik massacre in which 76 people were killed, many of them teenagers,
nuts cannot be simply dismissed as harmless. The fact that Quinn was not only
tolerated but protected by stewards exposes the lie that is the entire
'Pro-Life' label. Those on the pro-choice counter rally were chanting"Pro
Life, that's a lie, they don't care of women die" as the march
passed. The continued toleration and protection of Quinn reveal that the
fundamental truth of that slogan is much deeper than many of those chanting it
probably realized. (Watch
a copy of Quinn's post massacre youtube video)
The "Rally for Life' was otherwise the standard march
of the religious far right determined to continue the regime which makes it possible
to criminalize Irish women and doctors. The organizers pulled their usual
branding routine of having young women carry the front banner but apart from
this banner and a couple of other 'created to be photographed' clumps the march
was overwhelmingly composed of religious fundamentalists, men, women over 50
and young children. In other words almost no one on the march was someone who
might find themselves pregnant in the near future yet all were determined that
a women with a crisis pregnancy should not be allowed to decide themselves
whether or not to continue with it. Many of those marching thrust rosary
beads into the faces of those on the counter protest or waved religious
placards. Many of the older men were either wearing priests collars or were
wearing the standard priest black shirt with the collar removed. (Facebook
album of photos from the march).
The anti-choice march seemed quite a bit smaller than last
years march, despite the massive amount spent promoting it and running coaches
to it from all over the island. On the other hand the 'organised on a
shoestring' counter rally had grown in numbers in comparison with that last
year with as many as 300 taking part.
Those attending included a coach load of pro-choice
campaigners from Dublin who had been moved to action by the shocking
Youth Defence billboard campaign aimed at traumatizing the tens of
thousands of Irish women who have had abortions abroad. As we previously
reported women outraged at these bill boards have torn many of them down,
splashed them with paint or covered them with counter slogans.
All this in the context in the south where the Labour Party
seems so scared of Youth Defence that rather than legislate for abortion in the
very limited circumstances of the
X-Case judgement they voted down a Dail bill to do just this and are
hiding behind seeking a report from yet another committee. This 20 years after
the X-case and after all previous governments have either tried and failed to
overturn this judgment in referenda or also hidden behind getting reports from
committees. This pathetic situation has gone on far too long, every day women
are forced to make the difficult and often expensive trip aboard for an
abortion or risk using medication ordered off the internet to self-induce an
abortion at home.
Youth Defence have been crowing about their success in
stopping legislation being passed under the weird '100,000 babies saved'
slogan. Weird because in reality about that number of women in Ireland have
obtained an abortion since 1992 through travel or self inducement. Women have
not been prevented exercising choice by Youth Defence, its just been made much
more difficult for them. It's time Youth Defence were stood up to, their
constant campaigns of shaming and traumatizing women ended and abortion made
available, free and on demand as part of the Irish health services north and
south.
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