A NOTORIOUS American race-hate group has been forced to abandon its recruitment drive in the republic because the Irish are not fascist enough.

The Neo-Nazi National Alliance, also known as NSRUS, adopted the motto ‘No to a Black Ireland’ in an attempt to spread a race-hate message here. But it enlisted just a small band of ‘racial patriots’ and last week decided to shut down its Irish operation.

Al Byrne, the New York-based head of the organisation, said: “The primary intention of NSRUS was to build a professional activist organisation to deliver the message of racial integrity and independence to the residents of Ireland. Tens of thousands of stickers and leaflets were distributed to achieve this modest ambition; however the response was pitiful.

“After a couple of visits, it was my conclusion we were wasting our time. The people seem blind to the alien invasion.”

Despite intensive efforts to boost its ranks over two years, membership of the Irish branch of the group remained below 30 — a harvest regarded as modest by NSRUS organisers. Since its arrival in Ireland, the group has been involved in a series of death-threat campaigns and at least one assault against anti-racism campaigners in Dublin and Limerick.

People contacting the group were given leaflets outlining the value of the ‘Christian identity’ as well as the anti-Semitic views of William Pierce, its founder. They were also issued with stickers sporting white power symbols and hooded armed men.

The National Alliance was founded in the 1980s and has since been implicated in race-hate crimes across America, with many of its members serving time in jail.

The group was inspired by Pierce’s 1976 race-hate novel, the Turner Diaries. It centres on a race war which results in the overthrow of the American government and the systematic killing of Jews and non-whites followed by the establishment of an “Aryan” world.

The FBI describes the book, which inspired Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma bomber, as the “bible of the racist right”. The National Alliance has 2,000 members, organised in 35 cells across America, and its members have been implicated in a number of murders. Three members of the group were convicted of the murder of a black man, who was tied by a rope to the back of a truck and dragged to his death in 1998 in Jasper, Texas.

Its activities are largely organised online. Among other things, it sells a computer game through the internet called Ethnic Cleansing, in which “sub-humans” are killed.

Sergeant Dave McInerney, of the Garda Racial and Intercultural Office, welcomed the departure of the group. He said: “They first came to our attention in 2001 with their website which unfortunately could not be prosecuted due to it being based in the US.

“Since then, they have been involved in some attempts at harassment and the dissemination of race-hate material but thankfully it never developed into a big problem.”

Rosanna Flynn, chairwoman of the Residents Against Racism group, said: “I was a target of death threats by phone and mail from persons claiming to be associated with this group. Initially, I was not concerned but as the threats became more specific about my activities, I contacted the police.

“It is to be welcomed that these people recognise that, at least in this part of the country, they will never be more than a lunatic fringe.”

In Northern Ireland, fascist groups have had more success. The White Nationalist Party has attracted significant support, notably from disaffected members of the loyalist community. They helped distribute leaflets opposing the building of a mosque in Ballymena, while the group held its first open meeting in Antrim last week which was attended by activists from across Northern Ireland.

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