Tackling Hate & Violent Extremism – What Works?

In the face of rising racism, hate and organised demonstrations against migrants across Ireland and the UK, Social Change Initiative (SCI) hosted a seminar in Belfast on 17th September to highlight effective responses. At this critical time practitioners, researchers, funders and community leaders gathered together to listen and learn from some of those at the forefront of tackling the rise in hate and intolerance.

Hearing from the Ground
A panel, moderated by Sipho Sibanda, heard the lived experiences of Beverly Simpson, Makhosi Sigabade, Naomi Green and Suleiman Abdelahi. They described what people from a range of minority ethnic communities are feeling. We heard stories of fear and frustration, concern about the safety of family members and friends, but also remarkable resilience. Importantly, they pointed to initiatives already making a difference in communities: youth-led social action projects, inter-community engagement that breaks down fear of the “unknown,” and grassroots organising that gives people their own voice rather than relying on others to speak for them. Education, difficult conversations, and investing in young people were repeatedly emphasised as ways to build confidence, challenge misinformation, and create spaces of belonging. The message was clear: "stop calling established communities "newcomers" and invest genuinely in young people rather than offering tokenism.”

What Works
Drawing on conversations with 135 people from across Northern Ireland Katy Allen from Act Now NI shared insights on how issues of immigration and race were being experienced in local neighbourhoods. Already disadvantaged communities were described as being at breaking point over a lack of practical support and services in respect of housing, healthcare and basic needs. Act Now adopted a trauma-informed approach to navigating difficult conversations – but these need to be able to hear local concerns alongside engaging in dialogue about diversity.

Joe Mulhall from the London-based HOPE Not Hate (UK) recognised the deep sense of hopelessness many communities are expressing. The cry that “Nobody listens to us” is heard across Britain and Ireland. His response was Hope Not Hate’s “wedge strategy,” which aims to marginalise hardened extremists while engaging with the much larger group who feel angry or abandoned but remain open to influence. “Our job is to engage with the communities that are susceptible to the politics of the far right, and stop them moving over,” he said.

Hope Not Hate’s research shows that the most effective way to do this is through long-term local engagement and tailored messaging on issues people care about – such as workers’ rights, the NHS and the cost of living – rather than broad anti-racism campaigns which may not connect as well with some groups.

Edel McGinley from Hope and Courage Collective Ireland, described how inclusive community organising can work to counter anti-immigrant protests. Working with over 123 different local responses across Ireland, their approach supports communities to mobilise around shared concerns such as safety, housing, and local pride.

She highlighted the power of local leadership in shifting narratives and reducing extremism. “Our community response model is about bringing groups together who haven’t worked together before, de-escalating tensions, and activating progressive voices,” she explained.

Examples include Basin Lane in Dublin, where youth groups, community groups, and local councillors collaborated to reduce tensions around a proposed IPAS centre, and initiatives like Newbridge for All and Tipperary Welcomes, which united local communities in response to anti-migrant activity. Their work has shown measurable positive shifts in public sentiment, supporting migrants, recognising structural inequalities, and promoting inclusion.

Group Discussions and Response
The convening participants considered the points made in a series of table conversations. Questions posed included - How do we respond rapidly whilst building long-term strategies? How do we access better data to understand the "persuadable middle"? How do we build counter-narratives that actually resonate with people?

Edel, Joe and Sipho returned to emphasise the importance of gearing up to both firefight in urgent situations while still sustaining long-term community presence. They stressed that although the far-right is vocal (particularly on social media), they remain a minority. The majority who agree with inclusive values simply need support to organise effectively.

Key takeaways

• Start from community expressed need - address housing, healthcare, childcare in an inclusive manner, rather than only concentrating on anti-racism
• Go local - people care about their postcode, their bus route, their bins
• Invest in relationships - extremism struggles in connected communities where people know their neighbours
• Challenge the powerful - hold politicians accountable, don't just expect communities to deal with extremists
• Tell different stories - reclaim narratives of safety, belonging, and local pride
• Think long-term - this is a marathon requiring sustained community presence
• Expand uncomfortable conversations - build capacity across different contexts, from rural communities to inner city Belfast
• Focus on the persuadable middle - not everyone can be reached, but strategic targeting matters and many people do not hold fixed views

The Path Forward
Addressing next steps, Avila Kilmurray from SCI, highlighted the need for better data in Northern Ireland to understand our "persuadable middle" so that appropriate messaging can be crafted. She also noted the importance of having credible messengers who people will relate to and listen to. It was also urgent, she suggested, that there should be stronger collaboration between existing organisations, to allow effective reactive and proactive strategies to be put in place. Having a finger on the pulse within communities is vital if dangerous rumours are to be identified before they escalate.

The need for structural change was also referred to. This includes a range of issues - from modernising hate crime legislation to addressing the shocking underrepresentation in our police force (60 minority ethnic officers out of 6,500). Alongside this, the importance of training teachers to handle racist incidents properly cannot be overstated, particularly given recent challenges in schools.

Finally, while it is important to facilitate people to have "difficult conversations", we need to recognise that many neighbourhoods are experiencing real deprivation after years of underinvestment. The far-right offers simple answers to complex problems. Our response must address root causes whilst building genuine alternative visions that can be communicated in a simple manner.

The silent majority isn't actually silent - they're overwhelmed, under-resourced, and need practical support to organise effectively. But when they do mobilise around shared interests, extremist narratives lose their power to polarise and demonise.

The challenges described over the course of the morning are formidable, but participants expressed the view that they were leaving hopeful. The sharing of information across these islands gave an insight into both solutions and the number of dedicated people that are committed to doing the hard, local work of building inclusive communities. They're not just opposing hate - they're creating solidarity for progressive change.

In Conversation with Joe Mulhall
Following the seminar, we had a quick chat with Joe Mulhall where he shared some of his impressions and key takeaways from meeting with local NI activists and the work that Hope Not Hate is doing. You can watch the full conversation here:

Keeping the Conversation Going
SCI is committed to maintaining the momentum from this event. In December, we'll be hosting a follow-up seminar with Eric K. Ward, an inspiring speaker and practitioner on "Tackling Polarisation, Racism, Extremism: the US Perspective". Watch this space for more details.

You can download the full presentations by clicking the link on the side. Thanks to all our speakers and the 60+ participants who made this such a valuable learning experience. Special thanks to Kind Economy for providing lunch and to UNISON NI for hosting us.