Black Lives Matter supporter Gerry Carroll MLA of the Irish party People Before Profit says the slogan 'Irish Lives Matter' is 'racist poison'

The West Belfast MLA for cross-border party People Before Profit issued a statement this morning condemning graffiti which he says has been spray-painted onto the Kennedy Centre, a shopping complex off the Falls Road.

He also said “signs were erected in the Suffolk area calling for immigrants not to be housed there”.

Mr Carroll has been a supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement.

In the wide-ranging statement today in response to the graffiti and signs cited above he condemned “the rich”, “imperialism”, “far-right thugs”, and Israeli actions in Gaza.

“There is no place in our society for this kind of racist poison,” said Mr Carroll.

“Nefarious and far-right elements are seeking to blame migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees for the problems caused by the rich and governments who protect and bolster corporate profits at all costs.

"Minorities also face real problems of state racism that need to be combated...

“We are under no illusions that ‘Irish Lives Matter’ is a racist slogan which is directly counterposed to movements against the oppression faced [by] black people and other ethnic minorities.

"Ironically, the far-right thugs who raise such slogans are nowhere to be found when campaigns emerge to address the hardships people face here.

“In recent days we have seen the chilling effect that the growth and intervention of far-right forces in the South can have on communities who are marginalised.

"We urgently need to call out and challenge those seeking to stoke hate, division, and racism.

“We need to build a movement that fights for the rights of all people, including migrants and refugees who should be welcomed with open arms.

"We need to simultaneously challenge imperialist government policy that fuels war and creates refugees in places like Palestine and elsewhere.”

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In 2020, in the middle of tight Covid lockdown measures, Black Lives Matter rallies were staged in Belfast and Londonderry to protest over the death of George Floyd in Minnesota, USA.

Among those supporting the rallies was People Before Profit.

The PSNI – along with the health minister, justice minister, and others – had pleaded with organisers to call off the protests, warning that fines and prosecutions could follow if they went ahead.

In the event, the PSNI did hand out on-the-spot fines to protestors, and 14 people were reported to the PPS for prosecution.

The North West Migrants Forum (whose director of programmes at the time was Lilian Seenoi-Barr, now an SDLP councillor) responded that “we as a community demand answers and an apology as to why they chose to conduct themselves in this manner” and called upon “all political leaders… to condemn the PSNI”.

All the fines were refunded, all the prosecutions were dropped, and the PSNI issued an apology to all concerned.

A Police Ombudsman inquiry was also set up, which found that there had been a comparatively lax police response to a smaller ‘Protect our Monuments’ protest in Belfast about a week after the Black Lives Matter ones.

At the time People Before Profit issued a number of statements in the name of Gerry Carroll, including one saying: “All fines must be dropped and there should be no recriminations for those who took part in these peaceful and righteous protests.

"We must keep up the pressure to stand by our BAME community.

"Black Lives Matter."