A ‘Nightmare’ in Belfast

Andy Frain: Psychotic thug on the loose in Belfast

Today is the most important day in the calendar of the Orange Lodge, the Irish institution for protestants who like to march with flute bands and celebrate the victory by the protestant King William of Orange over the Catholic King James at Boyne in 1690.

It’s fair to say, that although that was a fairly rudimentary description, things haven’t particularly run smoothly in Ireland ever since.

Traditionally, British fascists have themselves struggled with the tricky Irish question. From Lord Haw Haw to Oswald Mosley to even dear old Stephen Lennon (who described the formation of the EDL as his own “Bloody Sunday moment”) there has been great sympathy with Irish nationalism and then, there has even been the children of Irish immigrants going as far as to mix themselves up with Loyalist paramilitaries, such are the bloody ties of history, conflict and friendship between Britain and Ireland.

Then we had Combat 18, the wannabe nazi terror group who themselves fancied themselves as an outreach of Loyalist gangsterism, but instead got themselves weighed in and down with drugs and grassing up their ‘heroes’ for shorter prison sentences of their own.

Of late, British fascists have done their upmost to antagonise the current situation in the six counties, perhaps none more so than Jim Dowson of Britain First who was allegedly behind the organisation of months of rioting over a flag being removed from Belfast City Hall.

Well, brace yourself Belfast. Fresh out of prison (again) is Andy Frain who arrived on your doorstep yesterday with a host of others looking for a riot. It’s understood that Frain and a dozen others are hoping to kick off some trouble at the flashpoint in Ardoyne where there has been a year long stand off at Twaddell Avenue between marchers, police and residents.

Frain is nicknamed the “nightmare” for his obsessive and racist activities as the leader of the Chelsea Headhunters football gang. Among his many prison sentences was one conviction for slashing the throat of an off duty police officer. His other convictions include blackmail as well as a string of non-pleasantries. It was Frain’s associates who organised the terrible riot at an England football match in Dublin in 1995.

He truly is a living and walking nightmare.

Last night, people across all of Ireland, both protestant and catholic, were horrified to see on one traditional 11th night bonfire, an effigy of a catholic swinging from one bonfire.

These are difficult times in Northern Ireland. The overwhelming majority of people just want peace. This will no doubt include a large proportion of those marching today and also protesting at Twaddell Avenue, no matter how people may view their historic ties and actions.

Let us hope that those marshalling the Twaddell Avenue protest, deal with Frain and his friends appropriately and stick him back on the boat from which he staggered.

Bonfire: What does burning flags have to do with culture?