From Unity, 24 September 2005

“Love Ulster” and be “unashamedly patriotic”

by W. Owl
The front page of Unity, 3 September, described the publication of a special edition of the Shankill Mirror and the accompanying “Love Ulster” campaign as “sinister.”
     The whole publication was certainly designed to whip up feeling amongst some sections of the unionist and loyalist community; and if the events of the last few days are anything to go by, it succeeded. The whole edition is made up of a catalogue of IRA bombings and shootings over the years, which nobody would deny were dreadful, alongside a number of articles written by various individuals.
     Just to give you an insight into the level of these articles I will quote you the following paragraph under the headline “We are all victims”: “Just as the story of the Holocaust in Europe during the Second World War has been remembered, we must never forget the genocide and war crimes that were committed by Irish Republican terrorists.”
     My dictionary’s definition of “genocide” is “extermination of a whole race.” To use that word, and mixing it with the Holocaust, is stretching a point, even by the standards of extreme unionism.
     In the next paragraph the writer quotes from the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, just to further the previous point.
     In a more mild statement, the writer claims that the promotion of fair employment has often been to the detriment of “traditional Protestant businesses.” No example is given.
     On the same page, though, there is an assurance given when it states that “some readers from the Roman Catholic community perusing the contributions within these pages, might misinterpret them as evidence of ‘intransigent unionism rearing its head yet again’.” You are allowed to have a little chuckle at that one!
     The Secretary of State, Peter Hain, is dealt with under the heading “The real Peter Hain.” Of course his time in the Troops Out Movement is brought up; but one thing they do refer to is that “in 1976 he was tried for, and acquitted of a 1974 bank robbery.” Even the dogs in the street know it was a frame-up, but the author of the article conveniently leaves that out. At least they can’t refer to him as being “English.”
     Not to miss out on things, Robert S. Saulters, the Grand Master of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland (yes, Ireland—the whole of it), claims that in 2004 the Twelfth Day celebrations brought in £6.3 million to the Northern Ireland economy. This came from a survey carried out by the Grand Order, so it must be right.
     He claims that “Roman Catholic business people and businesses benefit.” He also claims that “Scottish and English people formed the largest influx of visitors.” I wonder how many Combat 18 members were amongst that lot?
     I could just see Saulters presenting a Northern Ireland version of “Wish you were here!”
     We then get the usual “fascism and republicanism have a lot in common” point, stating that “fascists have always physically attacked and intimidated their political opponents.” I think many people would have an opinion on that one, as they would on the comment that there is no place for the “Orange tradition” in republicanism’s “new world” and that “Protestants will be accepted, but only if they keep their heads down.” Some people would argue that that was the situation facing Catholics with the establishment of a “Protestant state for a Protestant people” in 1921.
     In an article under the title “Unashamedly patriotic” someone called Tim Anderson starts off by quoting from the American Declaration of Independence, claiming it was written by “the hand of a great Ulsterman, signed by several other Ulstermen and finally printed by another.”
     Ray Raphael, author of a book entitled The American Revolution: A People’s History, refers to the declaration and its “anti-Indian rhetoric,” in which he quotes the following: “the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.” Was this the work of a “great Ulsterman”?
     Anderson only quotes that part of the declaration that refers to “all men being created equal”—a bit cynical when you consider that some of the signatories were slave-owners.
     One paragraph states: “It’s a sad but true fact that the biggest enemy the Protestant population in Northern Ireland has is the current British Government.” (I bet Republicans heaved a sigh of relief at that one.) “A government that doesn’t understand us, that doesn’t care what we think, a government which genuinely believes that we live in Ireland, therefore we are Irish, not British.”
     He puts this down to the fact that “Tony Blair, and more importantly his wife Sherrie [sic], know very little about Ulster . . .” As regards the “Irish” bit he does concede that “unfortunately many around the world hold this view and it’s all down to lack of understanding and twisted versions of history.”
     No, it’s not! It’s because many Protestants class themselves as Irish, it’s because they live on the island of Ireland, albeit in Northern Ireland, and from a sporting point of view the football teams here play in the Irish League! It’s not “twisted versions of history” to blame for this but the twisted logic put forward by people like Anderson.
     He claims that “patriotism is something to be celebrated.” Well, Mr Anderson, somebody once said that “patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” Think about it!
     On the other side of the coin, the Ulster Unionist Roy Garland in a letter to the Belfast Telegraph found it “hard to believe that what have been referred to as ‘stupid unionists’ are at it again.” He completely rejected the analysis of the “Love Ulster Campaign” that Ulster is at “crisis point.”
     He argued that “these people were conned down the years into believing the Union was about to fall and they seem to have learned nothing from their experiences.”
     Another letter-writer claimed that as regards the Shankill Mirror special edition, “nowhere did it point a way forward, or suggest a strategy which is not a failed repetition of past campaigns.” The writer made the point that “all their appeals are to Protestants and Protestant values and solidarity,” whereas the Republican and Nationalist movements are “open to anyone regardless of their religious background.”
     The “Love Ulster Campaign” and the special edition of the Shankill Mirror should be rejected as irresponsible efforts to deepen the divisions within Northern Ireland. It’s a pity that the deaths of many people in dreadful circumstances were used in this way.

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