General election candidate faces anti-Catholic abuse

AN Alba candidate at the General Election has opened up about the sectarian abuse he endured during the campaign, describing himself as “benumbed” to anti-Catholic bigotry.

Chris McEleny, who unsuccessfully contested the Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West seat, revealed that he received one of his campaign leaflets back with a note that read: “Here’s your leaflet back. I don’t vote for Fenians who promote rebel music. You’ll be doing well if you get 30 votes.”

The term “Fenian” is a derogatory slur for Catholics and Irish nationalists, derived from the Irish Republican Brotherhood, a group that attempted an unsuccessful revolt against British rule in 1867.

McEleny emphasised the visibility of Scotland’s sectarianism problem, telling pro-independence newspaper The National: “I muted ‘Fenian’ years ago on Twitter which certainly helped. I’ve probably been called one pejoratively, directly, over a hundred times. It gets to the point that over the years you become so benumbed to it you forget how depressing it is that someone goes to the effort to actually post you that sort of nonsense. One of our staff members in the office – who’s not from the West of Scotland – saw it and they thought it was outrageous, you forget that’s the rational view of it when you’re so used to it.”

He called for action to address Scotland’s ongoing sectarianism issue. The Scottish Government’s Hate Crime Act, which Alba opposed, introduced specific measures to criminalize stirring up hatred on religious grounds.

He has previously told the Scottish Catholic Guardian: “Anti-Catholic hate crimes are unacceptable and too little has been done in Scotland to stop Catholics being subjected to such sectarian behaviour.”

“Police Scotland failed to address the issue with the legislation they had at their disposal previously, so Catholics would be right to be sceptical that the new hate crime laws will make any difference.

“Part of the new law provides over 100 third party reporting centres. Not one relates to Scotland’s Catholic community. That tells you just how seriously the Scottish government treats anti-Catholic hate crime.”