This is beyond the Pale

After the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, when the Protestant army of King William III beat the Catholic army of the deposed King James II, a Catholic soldier responded thus to the taunts of a Protestant soldier, "Change kings with us, and we'll fight you again".

I can't help feeling the same way about UKIP's recent victories over the British National Party. Not that I'd like to exchange Griffin for Farage, but that I'd like to exchange Griffin for any trustworthy and competent indigenous Briton who was also a genuine British ethno-nationalist, and had no holocaust-denying baggage.

The following is a recent article in the Sunday World, a popular Irish newspaper.

Far right nutters [sic] are going to war with each other after we revealed the BNP were supporting convicted Provo Gerry McGeough.

Civil Liberty - which is a BNP front group - sympathised with IRA gunman McGeough who was convicted recently of the attempted murder of former UDR soldier Sammy Brush.

The group is fronted by a BNP activist called Kevin Scott from the north east of England. But it's also supported by former NF mouthpiece and BNP [sic, Griffin] employee Patrick Harrington.

Civil Liberty were attracted to Gerry McGeough's ultra Catholic views of anti-immigration and anti-gay - which obviously sit well with the far right.

However the group scored a huge own goal by offering support for McGeough just weeks before the the party puts candidates up for election for the first time.

They will be hoping to win votes from disgruntled hard line loyalist areas but giving support to a dedicated IRA member and former Sinn Fein committee man has not gone down well in those areas.

After our story broke a "far-right" war of words broke out on the internet with many BNP members and supporters horrified by the revelations. They even turned on BNP leader Nick Griffin and former National Front buddy Patrick Harrington.

Afraid

One contributor to the British Democracy Forum wrote: "this is absolutely scandalous !!!!!!!!!!!!" while another added: "This is absolutely sickening, Griffin is a ****bag!"

And on Facebook one former BNP supporter wrote " I'm afraid Harrington and Griffin are taking the party back in time. I bet they have purchased a derelict lighthouse on Craggy Island".

Last night the white power group the National Front slammed the BNP for sympathising with the republican's plight.

In a statement to the Sunday World they said " So a convicted terrorist (in his own words) is being backed by the British National Party! Well fellow British Nationalists now is the time to say enough is enough and cut that membership card in two!

"Over 3000 British citizens were bombed and shot at over 30 years by these Marxist Terrorists, there were over 500 British soldiers killed during the "troubles" and it is in my opinion a slur and an insult to those killed and their families and friends too.

"How could any "British" political party show any support for him?"

Two weeks ago Gerry McGeough was convicted of the attempted murder of off-duty UDR soldier Sammy Brush in 1981.

Brush was shot and wounded but still managed to shoot McGeough and last week the DUP councillor described it as both his "best and worst" shot in his life.

Sunday World