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NEU Senior Regional Support Officer
Welsh folk singer slams far-right social media trolls
Welsh singer Dafydd Iwan performs with a choir at the Corniche Walk Park, Qatar, ahead of Wales' second Group B games at the Fifa World Cup 2022, November 25, 2022

WELSH folk singer Dafydd Iwan hit out today at far-right trolls using social media to attack him with “very personal” and “nasty” comments.

Mr Iwan became the target after he had urged organisers of a far-right anti-asylum protest at the weekend in Wrexham to stop using his song, Yma o Hyd.

The 40-year-old anthem celebrating Wales’ survival is sung at Welsh independence rallies and football internationals, but was used by the local anti-immigrant group Wrexham Unite in a social media video promoting an anti-immigration protest at the weekend.

Mr Iwan took to X to say he had not given the group permission to use his song and did not want it used in support of a “hate-driven campaign.”

Groups such as the neonazi Patriotic Alternative and the Voice of Wales organised the protest against housing up to 70 asylum-seekers at Plas yn Rhos, near Wrexham.

The Wrexham anti-fascists steering committee said the far-right has latched onto community issues around the locations of dispersal centres in and around Wrexham.

About 70 anti-fascists turned out to stand up to the anti-asylum protest and initially faced about 100, but the far-right numbers dwindled to about 70.

A spokesperson for the Wrexham anti-fascists said: “On Saturday, a group of people came together from all walks of life to stand up against racism and fascism.

“They stood together heroically to show that Wrexham is anti-fascist and will not tolerate this.

“This counter-demonstration was about highlighting the parasitic nature of groups such as Voice of Wales and Patriotic Alternative.

“They do not care about Wrexham, and they do not care about our local communities.”

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