Refugees among Ardee community to rally against racist graffiti in town

A group of local volunteers removed the racist graffiti that was daubed across areas of the Riverside Walk in Ardee overnight on Tuesday, in a bid to show that community spirit would always win through against hatred in the mid-Louth town.

Among the slogans discovered by locals on Wednesday – down the steps and by the riverside of the Dee – were ‘Ireland Belongs To The Irish’, ‘No To Commies’, ‘Free Ur Parents from EU UN Death’ and ‘Commie Scum Off Are [sic] Streets’.

The latest incident was reported to both An Garda Siochana and Louth County Council on Wednesday. Enda Murray, chairman of Ardee Tidy Towns group, hit out at the latest incident on Wednesday, labelled the graffiti as “disgusting.”

Enda was joined by volunteers Louise Nolan and Tommy McConnon and his son, as well as two residents of the Direct Provision emergency accommodation at Setanta B&B in the town – Rafael and Wiseman – on Thursday morning in a clean up effort. The team set about cleaning up the graffiti by

Enda assembled the team on Wednesday after discovering the latest instance of the graffiti and the team spent two hours at the popular walkway, scrubbing down the walls and other affected areas.

They used wire brushes and buckets of soapy water, to remove the graffiti. “It was so old school,” he told LouthNow.ie. “It was just a bit of elbow grease.

Enda said he was thrilled that different elements of the community were willing to come together and offer their time to help the community.

“It was brilliant. The two lads have asked a few times about helping out. They’re joining the Ardee Litter Watch group as well. They’re lovely lads. They wanted to get involved in the community. It’s really great to see.

“It’s the same one person that has been doing it by the Railway Line,” Enda reckoned. “There were more people willing to come but couldn’t with work.”

The latest incident follows a recent trend in the town which has been seen racist and fascist slogans daubed on walls in public areas in the centre of the town.

A much talked about and long anticipated new community based CCTV scheme along the Riverside Walk is currently being examined by Louth County Council in conjunction with local Gardai. It is hoped that it will help monitor and deter such acts in the future.