People Before Profit Councillor Shaun Harkin has condemned a planned far-right demonstration due to take place in Portrush. Councillor Harkin claims the organisers do not represent the area:
“On what should be one of the busiest days of the year in Portrush, families will have to listen to those intent on inciting hatred and division. It's no secret the hate march is organised and led by open neo-nazis and bigots who have been pandered to by the leadership of the Causeway Coast and Glens Council.
The Parades Commission greenlighted this hate march without a concern. We are relentlessly told by so-called respectable political representatives that the thugs behind these hate protests have legitimate concerns. These rallies have preceded racist pogroms with families burnt out of their homes, people attacked on the street and healthcare workers facing threats. Those in the Stormont political establishment or outside it who blame immigrants for our social ills are doing the work of the billionaires, landlords, warmongers and all the exploitive forces keeping working-class communities down.
We need to focus legitimate anger at housing scarcity, rental costs, poverty and hospital waiting lists at those responsible for it in Stormont, Westminster and corporate boardrooms.
People Before Profit stand with those opposing fascist and racist thugs, and with people having a well deserved break on the coast. We need working-class unity, not division, if we want to change government priorities."