Protestant Coalition
The Protestant Coalition is a far right Protestant supremacist party created in April 2013. Its website states it is an "anti-politics, political party" whose priority is "the empowerment of the PUL (Protestant Unionist Loyalist) community".[1]
On its launch the party leader was James Dowson a former British National Party fundraiser.[1] Dowson was reportedly removed from the party in September 2013.[2]
Contents
Social media
In August 2013 the Protestant Coalition Facebook page was 'completely removed after being suspended on previous occasions'.[3] Willie Frazer 'last night told the Belfast Telegraph that his social media sites have suffered repeated suspensions over the last 10 days.'[3]
The party then travelled to Dublin to picket Facebook HQ and attempted to hand in a letter of protest:
- Facebook yesterday refused to accept a hand-delivered letter from the Protestant Coalition. Founder member Willie Frazer and two other members of the organisation had travelled to the social media giant's headquarters in Dublin to protest at the removal of its Facebook website page last Saturday. On Monday a spokesman for Facebook said the page had been removed "in error" and it has since been restored. But Mr Frazer made the trip regardless because, he claimed, the Protestant Coalition's page is continuously subject to suspensions, in what he has described as a "vendetta" against it.[4]
In January 2014 it was reported that Willie Frazer of the Protestant Coalition had suggested relatives of two IRA men shot dead by the SAS should be 'charged for the rounds the soldiers used'.[5]:
- Colm McGirr (23) and Brian Campbell (19) died in a field on Cloghog Road near Coalisland where an arms dump had been found in December 1983. The Irish News this week revealed that a report for the police Historical Enquiries Team had found that the Provisional IRA members were shot in the back. Their families now plan to sue the British government over the findings, which appear to contradict accounts given by the undercover soldiers who said the men were shot dead while pointing weapons at them.
- Leading flag protester Willie Frazer (53) posted a picture of the article on the Protestant Coalition Facebook page. An accompanying message read: 'The family's (sic) of these terrorist scum say they will sue the government, because the SAS shot them. I say charge the family for the rounds the soldiers used on the tramps. Or at lest they need to say sorry to the innocent victims. If they like to make a check (sic) payable to William Frazer to show remorse for what the two scum did i will past it on to the innocent victims. And i think the SAS men should get a medal for the good work they did.'[5]
People
Founder members
Jim Dowson | Alice Dowson | Willie Frazer | Davy Nicholl | Robert Magee | Bill Hill[6]
Resources, Contact, Notes
Resources
BBC News Northern Ireland Protestant Coalition emerges as NI's newest political party 24 April 2013 Last updated at 11:37.
Contact
- Facebook protestantcoalition.co.uk
- Twitter: protestantNI
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 BBC News Northern Ireland Protestant Coalition emerges as NI's newest political party 24 April 2013 Last updated at 11:37.
- ↑ Dowson dumped, Hope Not Hate, 6 September 2013.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Claire McNeilly 'Loyalist group hits out over removal of its social network pages' Belfast Telegraph August 5, 2013 Monday Edition 1; Pg. 6,7.
- ↑ Frazer's protest letter snubbed at Facebook HQ; Belfast Telegraph August 7, 2013 Wednesday Edition 1; Pg. 24.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Brendan Hughes, 'Frazer: IRA men's families should pay for bullets used to kill them', The Irish News January 2, 2014 Thursday Pg. 5.
- ↑ Allison Morris, 'Cracks appearing in Protestant Coalition' The Irish News, June 1, 2013 Saturday Pg. 6.
