THE FASCIST PARTY IN INTERWAR NORTHERN IRELAND 3
In Londonderry there are fewer membership details, although press reports give an
indication of the group’s prominence within the community. When, in 1933, an
Italian air armada made a ceremonial visit to the city, fascist leaders were seen as the
natural representatives to greet visiting Italian officials. The Irish Press reported that
the Fascist Party’s chairman, Signor Fiorentini, was invited to a garden party as a
representative of the city’s Italian population (‘Derry Fascisti to welcome fliers’
1933: 7). The conflation of the Fascist Party with the wider Italian community in
Londonderry supports Ugolini’s (2011: 73) argument that organised fascism became
the “public face” of Italian migrants in the UK. The activities of the Fascist Party
were co-ordinated to cultivate an image of Italians as loyal and respectable citizens.
An underlying tenet of fascism amongst Italian migrants was to abstain from
involvement in the adopted country’s politics. In 1925, a visiting dignitary named
Signor Romano spoke in Belfast, declaring that Italian fascists were “strictly
forbidden from interfering in the politics of any country in which they lived” (‘New
flag blessed’ 1925: 10). Italians in Northern Ireland subscribed to this principle
wholeheartedly. In 1935, Joseph Forte declared that “as Italian Fascists we strictly
obey this neutrality” (‘Italians protest’ 1935: 10). The Fascist Party sought to enhance
the reputation of UK-Italians by participating in important ceremonial occasions,
particularly on Armistice Day. Press reports indicate that Italian fascists were a
common feature of remembrance celebrations in both Belfast and Londonderry,
where they paid tribute to fallen soldiers and laid wreaths (‘The ceremony in Belfast’
1926: 8; ‘Armistice Day observance’ 1936: 9). In prior decades Italians had suffered
from a poor reputation as shady characters, associated with violence, deceit and
criminality (Homes 1988: 76). As Baldoli (2003: 1-2) argues, the purpose of fascist
involvement in events such as Armistice Day was to refute this stereotype, thus
remoulding popular conceptions of Italians in the UK.
Fascism and Irish-Italian Identity
Despite performing gestures which would usually be associated with Northern
Ireland’s Protestant community, the Fascist Party operated in harmony with the
Catholic Church. In 1925 the organisation’s flag received a Catholic blessing,
symbolising the close and friendly relationship between the Church and Italian