LAST week's protest at Causeway Coast and Glens Council over the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the area was as predictable as it was depressing.
Led by - who else? - a man who describes himself as the former leader of neo-Nazi group the National Front in Northern Ireland, a very small group of anoraked protesters shuffled towards the council offices in Coleraine, Co Derry, to complain about asylum seekers being homed in the borough.
Protest leader Mark Brown, an aficionado of face tattoos who had recently been convicted of a "vile" racist attack on a taxi driver, claimed that "worry has now soared within the borough with regards to the notion to resettle refugees from Syria".
Worry had "soared" so much that literally a handful of people turned up to show their outrage.
PUP councillor Russell Watton condemned the "serious neo-Nazi element" of the protest but slightly undermined his own argument by saying he would not support asylum seekers receiving public housing before 'locals'.
"When I am working with people every day who can't get homes, then how can I support the Housing Executive giving houses to people ahead of locals?" he said.
The difficulty with that argument is that no housing list will ever be clear.
The demand for social homes will always be greater than the supply. And housing a few refugee families will do little to change that.
Of course protests like these are not confined to the north.
Over recent months, several properties earmarked to house asylum seekers in the Republic have been targeted in arson attacks.
A disused hotel in Rooskey, Co Leitrim, was attacked twice in two months. A hotel in Moville, Co Donegal, which was set to house 100 asylum seekers was also torched.
It is hard to fathom the mentality behind these attacks. What exactly are the people responsible afraid of?
Could it be that what they actually fear is being shown up by the strength and tenacity of refugees who have battled incredible challenges in order to reach this country?
Last week I went to a 'Living Book' project, hosted by Belfast City Council, as part of the Imagine! politics and ideas festival.
The project pairs a participant with 'books' - people from different races and backgrounds with fascinating stories to tell.
Feeling a little battered and confused by the Gordian Knot of the Brexit negotiations, I thought that chatting to a few people with hugely different experiences would be a welcome distraction.
Instead, the event was a moving and genuinely life-affirming experience.
The handful of people I spoke to - all women, all born in different countries - demonstrated a warmth, humanity and openness which seemed seriously lacking in those who protested outside Causeway council last week.
Somali refugee Maryama Yuusuf , a mother-of-nine, described how she had fled the civil war which has been raging since 1991.
Captured by militias, then beaten and repeatedly raped, she spoke no English when she first arrived in Dublin.
For 14 years, through serious trauma and depression, she fought to be granted asylum - first in the Republic and then in the north. She only found out last month that she has been given leave to stay.
Maryama is not allowed to work but has spent years volunteering for different projects, including cooking for homeless people in a shelter.
I don't know about you, but a courageous, resilient woman who is desperate to give back to the community which has helped her rebuild her life is the kind of person I'd like as a neighbour - not any of the men who shuffled into a council office to complain about 'themmuns'.
Look at murder victim Hazem Ahmed Ghreir, who left the war in Syria to seek a new life in the north only to be stabbed to death after he attempted to stop his killer from tampering with someone else's bike.
His brother Rhami, who lived with Hazem in Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, could be forgiven for railing against the injustice of his brother's brutal death.
Instead, he graciously praised the judge for handing the killer a life sentence.
"I believe now everything my father told me about the law in the UK." he said.
"The investigation team did their best to bring the evidence and everything to make a solution for the court."
The refugees who have made the north their home are the same as any other human being - flawed but also capable of great things.
Instead of falling on tired, weaponised stereotypes, Brown and his small group of acolytes might want to educate themselves on the real meaning of being a useful citizen - and it isn't based on someone's nationality or creed.
