THE FASCIST PARTY IN INTERWAR NORTHERN IRELAND 9
loyalty to the UK. Perceptions of the fasci’s function therefore differed between the
Italian Foreign Ministry and the Italian citizens who participated. To the Italian
regime - and latterly the British government - the fact that Italians felt empowered to
chant “Vive Il Duce [sic]” on the streets of Northern Ireland could be viewed as a
vindication of the policy of “fascistisation” and a guarantee of emigrants’ loyalty to
Mussolini. To Fascist Party members such actions simply constituted lively displays
of patriotism. Although shame and embarrassment may have caused Ugolini’s (2011:
64) oral history interviewees to downplay the political aspects of the fasci, there is no
reason to disbelieve respondents’ consistent as sertion that membership did not
constitute an endorsement of Mussolini’s politics. Despite intense historiographical
debate over the meaning of Italian fascism in the UK, both sides make valid points.
Few scholars could deny the political function of the Fascist Party in light of the
financial and organisational input of the Italian government. Yet, while the
propaganda dispensed by the group appears obvious today, anti-British subversion
was not the motivation for members in Northern Ireland. The dismayed reaction of
Italian fascists to their arrest in 1940 serves to emphasise that most perceived
themselves to be acting lawfully and very few were hostile to the UK.
Conclusion
The history of Italian fascism in Northern Ireland – and elsewhere in the UK –
requires a delicate interpretative balance. Overstating the political function of the
fasci risks depicting the Italians who participated as radical nationalists, committed to
upholding and spreading the political doctrine of Mussolini. The evidence fails to
support this portrayal. Displays of patriotism were celebratory rather than
provocative, especially when compared with the disorder which often accompanied
public demonstrations of national identity in Northern Ireland. The Fascist Party
aided Italians’ establishment as a legitimate immigrant community through
participation in events such as Armistice Day. It was also a hub for Northern Ireland’s
Italian communities, facilitating the development social and business networks. These
were the purposes of the Fascist Party. Admittedly, the Italian government exercised
significant control through propaganda, maintaining enthusiasm for the Duce despite
geographical separation; the political significance of the organisation therefore cannot