2 JACK CRANGLE
Ireland’s Italian communities. What was the purpose of the group’s public displays
and what effect did fascism have on Italians in Northern Ireland? The purpose of the
article is to add to the debate surrounding Italian fascism in the UK while retaining an
emphasis on Northern Ireland.
Size and Membership Profile
The proportion of British-Italians who were fasci members is contested amongst
historians. Colpi (1991: 88) suggests that a large majority of Italians joined their local
branch and “embraced fascism in a whole-hearted manner”. Ugolini (2011: 66)
contests this, claiming that MI5 records prove that only a minority of Italians
participated. A significant proportion of Northern Ireland’s Italian population was
involved with fascism. A Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) report from 1926
established that Belfast's fascio had fifty members, all of whom were Italian nationals
(Royal Ulster Constabulary 1926). The lack of available census data renders it
difficult to establish the exact size of Belfast’s Italian community i n the mid-1920s.
However, Joseph Forte, leader of Belfast’s fascio, estimated that there were 300
Italians living in the city in 1935 (‘Italians protest’: 10). Fifty members therefore
represented a substantial portion of the community, especially given that only adult
males were eligible to join. Background information on fasci members is scarce,
although two members of the Belfast group’s governing body - Joseph Fusciardi and
Giovanni Magliocco - are recorded in the 1911 census. Both individuals owned icecream shops, the common occupation of Belfast’s Italians (Census of Ireland 1911).
More unusually, Fusciardi, Magliocco and their spouses could all read and write
(Census of Ireland 1911). Census data indicates that illiteracy was common amongst
Italians in Belfast, suggesting that fasci members were of above average social status
(Census of Ireland 1911). Membership was confined to men: the RUC (1926) report
stated that in order for an individual to be eligible “he” must be an Italian national,
implying the exclusion of women. The Fascist Party also served as a network for
small businessmen who used membership to bolster their contacts (Sponza in Ugolini
2011: 63).