A plan from far-right anti-immigration protesters to “block” Northern Ireland’s main airports next month was scrapped less than an hour after being reported to the PSNI.
A wave of protests against what organisers refer to as “illegal immigration” have sparked across the north in recent months, including 15 small protests with total numbers of around 200 dubbed “Operation Shutdown” taking place last Thursday.
A follow-up “Operation Airplanes” was announced by a group known as the Official Protestant Coalition on social media on Saturday. The group has links to those who organised flag protests in Belfast in 2012 following a decision to fly the Union flag on selected days at Belfast City Hall.
The group advertised a two-day protest beginning on October 17 which included instructions to “block” both Belfast International and Belfast City Airport.
Instructions to followers said that it expected the airports to be blocked for precisely “1 hour and 23 minutes”.
Plans also included “blocking” Larne harbour overnight between 2am and 6am.
Protesters aimed to “target freight trucks delivering to specific supermarkets to maximise disruption”.
Anti Immigration protest at Carrickfergus roundabout earlier this month. PICTURE Pacemaker
(Andrew McCarroll/Andrew McCarroll/ Pacemaker Pres)
The organisers said everyone was welcome to participate in the blocking of the airports, “no matter your race, creed or colour”.
However, shortly after “Operation Airplanes” was announced, the group faced an online backlash from other prominent anti-immigration groups while the PSNI were also informed of the plans.
It’s understood the PSNI received a complaint shortly after 5pm regarding the operation, with detectives making enquiries over the next hour.
A public post from the Official Protestant Coalition announced the Operation had been cancelled less than an hour later.
All posts providing details on the botched plans were later removed from social media.
The Irish News asked the PSNI what, if any, engagement it had with the organisers of the protest in the time between it being publicly announced and subsequently cancelled.
Thursday’s protests saw a number of buses diverted due to protests at 15 locations across the north after a sustained effort was made in order to drum up support for the protests.
Organisers had calledfor roads to be blocked in effort to “take our country back” and highlight the consequences of “mass migration”.
One group representing migrants advised its members to avoid a long list of locations across the north where it was believed protests were going to take place, while the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust issued advice to pregnant mothers who may have been fearful of attending hospital due to the protests.