The far-right British National Party is planning its first electoral assault on Northern Ireland, it emerged yesterday.
At least five candidates will run in the North's next local government elections as part of a campaign to try to halt a mass influx of immigrants, BNP leader Mr Nick Griffin said.
As he met strategists in east Belfast, Mr Griffin also claimed his party, widely regarded as neo-Nazi racists, had attracted significant support among the security forces in Northern Ireland.
Mr Griffin (44) argued that Northern Ireland could soon be overrun by immigrants. "Once the physical and psychological barrier presented by the Troubles is lifted, this place is going to play catch-up double quick."
Membership has swollen from 1,300 to 7,000 since Mr Griffin, a Cambridge law graduate and one-time National Front activist, took charge in 1999. His sights are on next year's European and local government elections in Britain.
Ulster Unionist MLA and policing board member Mr Fred Cobain said: "With the BNP's record, I would be horrified if anybody voted for them."
The National Front, with its links to loyalist paramilitaries, brought him into contact with UDA commanders . - (PA)
Dan Keenan, Northern News Editor, adds:
The Alliance Party expressed concern that the BNP would contest Northern elections. Ms Naomi Long, newly elected Assembly woman for East Belfast, forecast: "I have no doubt their negative agenda will be rejected."
She added: "I take great exception to their comments about immigration, which are utterly disgraceful. The reality is that immigration enriches our society and many of our key services could not be provided without it."
The chairman of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body, Mr Brendan Smith, said it was encouraging that both nationalist and unionist politicians were reacting with horror.