Tory-aligned toilet paper The Spectator has published a column from long-time anti-Irish bigot Julie Burchill, in which she characterises the country as a backwater populated by the “simple-minded”, Nazi sympathisers and antisemites.
The column’s main thrust is a vacuous interest in celebrity attachment to Ireland. Burchill expresses amazement at the likes of Steve Coogan and Daniel Day-Lewis embracing their Irish heritage. Coogan points out that:
…if I get captured by ISIS, I’m less likely to get my head chopped off with an Irish passport than a British one.
An Irish passport does indeed make you safer in many parts of the world compared to a British one. This is because — unlike the British — the Irish didn’t have an empire that went round conducting horrifying acts of mass murder and robbery across the world. Burchill doesn’t seem inclined to reflect that, in a Britain veering towards colonial nostalgia, this might make Ireland a more attractive place to identify with.
Confusing anti-Zionism and antisemitism
As for Day-Lewis, Burchill is especially shocked, pondering why a man “of Jewish origin” would have any attachment to the still British-occupied island. While Burchill seems to be aware of the actor having a Jewish mother, she apparently doesn’t know about his Irish father, which makes his time spent in Ireland less of a mystery.
In further ‘help’ Jewish people likely don’t need or want, Burchill goes on to incorrectly characterise the word ‘diaspora’ as “traditionally Jewish” despite it being of Greek origin. She bemoans “every Tom, Dick and Paddy” now supposedly using the term. ‘Paddy’ is typically considered a slur when used to reference Irish people in general.
She compounds this by conflating antisemitism and anti-Zionism, quoting “great investigative reporter David Collier” who says:
The spread of anti-Semitism throughout the Irish mainstream is clearly worse than in almost any other Western nation.
Collier reveals his real concern, bemoaning an obsession with “attacking Israel and Zionism”. No actual evidence of antisemitism is provided by Burchill.
She goes on to claim — again without supporting material — that:
The Irish establishment – including the artistic establishment like Kneecap – have always had a thing about the Jews.
Placing Hezbollah-flag-waving Kneecap among the genocide-backing Irish establishment is an interesting analysis, but not a very accurate one. The only recent case of antisemitism in the Irish ruling class is the endorsement of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, though this is something the likes of Burchill have typically backed. Its problematic character lies in suggesting criticism of ‘Israel’ is antisemitic, thereby tying Jewish people in general to a genocidal land theft project.
Full-throated embrace of classic anti-Irish bigotry
Burchill really enters full-on racist mode shortly afterwards, characterising her targets as “simple-minded”. Racist notions of Irish stupidity are the archetypal form of anti-Irish bigotry, perhaps alongside smears about fighting and drinking. The column doubles down on this by classing musician Ed Sheeran as “half half-wit and quarter cretin” for identifying “culturally as Irish”.
Burchill has previous for this sort of shite, when in 2002 a social worker at the London Irish Centre reported her to police for incitement to racial hatred following a Guardian column. In that instance, the bile-filled writer again didn’t seem capable of differentiating between Irish people in general and the nation’s religious and political ruling class, as she railed against:
…compulsory child molestation by the national church, total discrimination against women who wish to be priests, aiding and abetting Herr Hitler in his hour of need, and outlawing abortion and divorce.
She went on to rant about the:
…Hitler-licking, altarboy-molesting, abortion-banning Irish tricolour
Going even further back, there’s evidence that this is all motivated by sectarianism. In 1984, the vile witch declared:
I hate the Irish, I think they’re appalling, I like the Northern Irish Protestants because they’re so brave. I know they’re ugly, but that’s not their fault. I hate the IRA, they’re morons their methods have much more in common with the death squads than with genuine liberation armies like the Basques.
If there’s one thing the world doesn’t need it’s another Catholic country. Catholic countries are so stupid and ignorant.
The Spectator has done this before
The Spectator has a history of publishing grotesque columns, famously including one entitled “In praise of the Wehrmacht” on D-Day in 2018. The hateful hack haven has a long history of Islamophobia, especially from Rod Liddle. He has described Islam as “liberal, vindictive and frankly fascistic”. As the Conservatives were being accused of harbouring anti-Islam attitudes, he said:
My own view is that there is not nearly enough Islamophobia within the Tory party.
That Burchill’s column can be published in the Spectator in 2026 shows that, alongside Islamophobia, anti-Irish bigotry remains an acceptable form of prejudice in Britain. While a younger generation looks critically at the country’s past and embraces the radical messaging coming from the likes of Kneecap, the slow demise of those who live forever in 1943 and long for old racial hierarchies prevents genuine national renewal.
Britain no longer has a fraction of its former power. Rather than a return to former ‘glories’, the continued embrace of old racist notions simply increases the chances of old colonial injustices being revisited upon the metropole.
Featured image via Twitter
This post was originally published on Canary.