In Ireland, mostly in the North, ‘The Twelfth’ commemorates the victory of the Protestant King William of Orange over Catholic King James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.
I wish both sides had lost. The Catholic Irish owed King James II no allegiance, and the Protestant Irish should not have been supporting treason against their king, whose daughter was married to King Billy, for goodness sake. Not only that, but the pope of that time (whom the Protestants hated) was supporting King Billy. It was a squalid terrorist affair played out on the soil of poor Ireland, which lead to centuries of brutal anti-Catholic oppression, ethnic cleansing and genocide. And to compound the injury, the British powers that be named this period the ‘glorious revolution’.
If people want to find appropriate language to say something about 1690, they should go back about 100 years earlier to when Romeo and Juliet was written and to borrow The Bard’s immortal words, ‘A plague on both your houses’ – on both King James II and King Billy, scoundrels both.
Now, there’s an Englishman, whom both Protestants and Catholics can celebrate – Shakespeare. Forget the other two terrorists, stick with a great Englishman.
Even though I am a native of Fermanagh and even though I know the history and culture well, I’ve never quite understood the mania for marching/parading in Northern Ireland. And, above all, it is impossible to understand the Orange Order’s pathology of insisting to march in poor Catholic areas where they are not wanted. How can rational people understand that without seeing it as a desire to assert Protestant dominance and supremacy?
One thing is sure – if Catholic nationalists and republicans insisted on marching through all-Protestant areas, the Irish National Caucus would be the very first to oppose it.
Fr SEAN McMANUS
President, Irish National Caucus, Washington, DC
Sinn Féin doesn’t have any real strategy for united Ireland
On Sunday Politics Martin McGuinness made reference to “so-called republicans”. The definition or description of Irish republicans long precedes Martin McGuinness’s involvement in the republican struggle. Historically it has meant the repudiation of the exercise of British sovereignty over any part of the island of Ireland and the ‘inalienable’ right to self-determination.
Sinn Féin alone stands as a party claiming to be republican that challenges the ‘inalienable’ right of Irish citizens to determine their own future. Instead it claims that the population of the Six Counties has a greater right to determine the future of the Irish nation than the rest of the Irish nation. It not only takes that viewpoint but involves itself and participates in administering British rule in the Six Counties.
This is unprecedented. Never before have people who claimed to be Irish republicans accepted Crown positions and administered British rule in Ireland.
The British government has made it clear that only when it feels that it has evidence that a majority in the Six Counties might be in favour of a united Ireland that it would hold a poll to determine if that is the case. That is part of the Good Friday Agreement that Sinn Féin has agreed. It is not for the citizens here to determine when a poll be held.
Sinn Féin is currently holding a series of meetings to decide its strategy, north and south over the next 10 years. Gerry Kelly, speaking about orange parades around Ardoyne hoped that the problem was something that would not be passed to the next generation. It is clear that Sinn Féin does not have any real expectation of a united Ireland in the short term but when it advocated that people should sign up to the GFA in 1998 it was suggesting that a united Ireland would have been obtained by now.
Sinn Féin misled those people who sacrificed so much in the belief that what they were told by Sinn Féin and the republican leadership was true. But it is becoming increasingly clear that those who led the republican movement were more concerned with their own self-interest while those grassroots supporters who sacrificed so much have been left behind.
The truth of the matter is that Sinn Féin does not have any real strategy to obtain a united Ireland and therefore no real idea when it might be achieved. On the question of Irish unity it is bankrupt when it comes to policy.
SEAN O FIACH
Belfast BT11
Honour brave men of Ireland
Recently I bought a World War One commemorative poppy style badge bearing the inscription ‘All gave some, some gave all’. I intend to wear this emblem from now until November of this year in honour of men, from the whole island of Ireland, who sacrificed themselves for us.
Whether it was the 16th or 36th division etc. Catholic or Protestant, northern or southerner, unionist or nationalist, it doesn’t make any difference.
Surely the time has come for people to stop spitting on the memory of these brave men. They fought with honour and at no time did they give orders for the abduction and murder of widowed mother of 10, Jean McConville, or the rest of the so-called, ‘Disappeared’.
Buy a badge and regardless of what other say dare to honour these brave men from our island home.
ROBERT LACEY
Greenisland, Co Antrim
Clarifying Civil Service pay assertion
I wish to correct a number of points contained in The Irish News article ‘Civil service workforce falls 11% in a year’ (July 19).
The assertion that the Civil Service pay bill has “fallen slightly to the tune of over £40,000” following the Voluntary Exit Scheme (VES) is incorrect. The pay bill reduced by £41million in 2015/16 when compared to the previous year and will reduce further in 2016/17 as the full impact of the VES is felt.
The claim that the VES is ‘Westminster-funded’ is also misleading. The VES is funded by executive borrowing.
COLIN LEWIS
Department of Finance
Wonderful aspiration
I am delighted that the subject of Irish unity is at long last being discussed in a positive manner and therefore wild accusations are not thrown at people who support this wonderful aspiration of many of our people north and south and in particular myself.
It is a dream of mine that one day we as Irish people, be they Protestant, Dissenter or whatever hue you wish to hang your hat on, can achieve this through reasonable dialogue.
PAUL DORAN
Clondalkin, Dublin 22
Killing power
The new British prime minister’s answer when asked would she press that button which would result in the death of a 100,000 innocent men, women and children was a resounding Yes.
So-called terrorists could only dream of having access to this killing power. If Russia and China made such a statement in their respective parliaments the west would declare World War Three. Which begs the question who is the real terrorist in our midst today? The question now is this person fit to be in power at all?
PETER McEVOY
Banbridge, Co Down
