The only thing vaguely Irish from my bridge view is the final addition to the Union Jack that is fluttering merrily in the breeze here in London, namely St Patricks cross (inserted after the act of Union 1801), which is a red X on a white background, and not a lot of people know that.
The good residents of Dublin are known as Jackeens because of their fervent waving of Union Jacks on the visit of Queen Victoria to Dublin, who by all accounts was popular there at the time. I don’t think that the flag waving Dubliners today will have the same bit of cloth on the end of their flag sticks.
I read on the net somewhere about the historic visit recently to 10 Downing St. of Gerry Adams and Sinn Fein, unofficially and in the pre-meeting banter one of the Sinn Fein entourage in a reference to the historic surroundings reportedly said “so this is where all the trouble started” a 10 Downing St. official asked if it was a reference to the 1991 mortar attack by the IRA, only to be told that the trouble started with the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921.
I suppose you could argue that the trouble started a bit earlier with the Baginbun landing in 1169 of the Normans and everything they brought with them, or you could say it was after the Treaty of Limerick in 1691 when the Jacobite army was disbanded and fled to France, but wherever it is supposed to have started it won’t begin to be finished until the Unionist brethren get their fingers out and accept for once and for all that they have to share Norn Iron whether they like it or not.
The irony of the whole affair is that the majority of the population of the UK don’t give a blind fiddlers feck about Norn Iron or of its loyal subjects, they couldn’t give a toss if it sank out in the Atlanic, the UK has bigger problems with a war in Iraq and dodgy political leaders, and home grown muslim terrorism.
The only people who care most about Ireland are the Irish, so brothers orange in the North, happy St. Patricks Day from the current capital city of your province, whose days are surely numbered.
Wow, what a condescending bastard you are.
Most of your post was interesting at least but let me dissect your last two paragraphs a moment.
“wherever it is supposed to have started it won’t begin to be finished until the Unionist brethren get their fingers out and accept for once and for all that they have to share Norn Iron whether they like it or not.”
We don’t have a problem sharing Norn Iron. It’s witnessing its destruction we’re worried about. My own POV is that, as well as being the right thing to do, unionists have a vested interest in demonstrating that Northern Ireland can work and can be a place where those who consider themselves Catholic/Gaelic/Irish can live just as happily as their southern friends or their Northern neighbours.
“the majority of the population of the UK don’t give a blind fiddlers feck about Norn Iron or of its loyal subjects”
You write as if this is a shocking revelation. We are aware of the indifference with which Northern Ireland is viewed by most on the mainland.
“the UK has bigger problems “
No argument there.
“whose days are surely numbered.”
We’ll see.
Hi there Beano, thanks for the comment. I would have replied earlier but I was watching the Irish rugby team beat the Italians on the telly. Our common island was well represented today by the boys in green.
I won’t attempt to argue the toss with you on the rights and wrongs of the existance of Northern Ireland, it exists and even though you don’t seem to think so will eventually be reassimilated into Ireland at some stage or another, and it’s reassimilation like it’s construction will be for the same reason. Economics. The days of H&W and Shortts are gone, the reasons for celebrating the Battle of the Boyne are past their sell by date, cultural identity will not be lost by a change of government or change of statehood. Being from the same common ancestors and sharing a heritage that is proud will not be lost unless it becomes uninteresting, but perpetuating something born of hate and a desire to retain power can’t last. I wouldn’t compare like some Unionists with Apartheid, but to all intents and purposes that is what existed in the North of Ireland before partition and has been perpetuated by the existence of Northern Ireland. Repression of an ethnic group will always lead to a backlash, as with British rule in Ireland in general had the rulers been less oppressive perhaps the day today would look different, you only have yourselves to blame.The RUC is gone, the border checkpoints are being removed one by one, the end is inevitable.
You chose to call me a condescending bastard for my point of view, I’m not a bit condescending and to paraphrase Tim Pat Coogan “I am solely responsible for the opinions expressed here”, as you have your right to your point of view. If the moderates of your own party had done the groundwork better then moderates from both sides would be ruling Northern Ireland now, but no the Ulster Unionists clammed up on their chance, and now you worry about Ian Paisleys scaremongering, and Sinn Feins rise, when the moderate leaders let the responsibility from them, extremists take it on.
Best of luck with your blog.
It’s incredibly simplistic to say the only problem was the UUP not selling the deal well enough. Sinn Fein’s failure to live up to their commitments forced them into a corner. If anything the UUP weren’t hard enough in making sure this happened as outlined in the agreement.
Anyway, that’s a touch off topic.
I don’t think I’m going to continue debating this anyway. It’s useless to try and discuss anything rationally with people who bandy about terms like “apartheid” and “repression” as if they were going out of fashion. And let’s not pretend the economics of a united Ireland are even remotely feasible, let alone preferable.
By the by: “Our common island was well represented today by the boys in green.”
The Republic of Ireland rugby team does not represent me, not so long as a match in Belfast is an ‘away’ fixture.
Yes, you just keep sticking to the same old beat of that Lambeg drum. Our common ancestors probably came over on the same plantation boat, I also have ancestry in Scotland and England and had relatives who fought for Britain drowned for Britain and are recognised for their deeds only recently by a country coming out of the shadow of its big neighbour, I also have Irish ancestry with blood lines that go back to Brian Boru and am the better for it, I’m a product of integration. You got to swallow the bitter pill of Northern Ireland, not your own fault, but you choose to live the life that suits you best. When the rest of Ireland can be on an international stage, you can choose to be there or not, nobody can force you.
One day maybe we can talk about these things without having to be indignant or insulted by one anothers viewpoint, your future is Irish though maybe a long way away maybe not in your lifetime, but its coming, Ireland is ancient and patient.
A match in Belfast is not an away fixture.
Maybe he’s confusing it with soccer.
Yes there is some confusion on my behalf as to how anybody from the island of Ireland, or Ireland for short, could possibly have not been gladdened to the gills by those giants of men in green playing RUGBY, but there you go.
I’d say he’s an extreme example of his kind. I mean, even the likes of Davy Tweed wore the green. That’s like Wild Willie McCrae playing for Ireland. Well, it isn’t. Willie wouldn’t be able to run three yards, but he’d sing up a great country song for the boys.
Anyway, your correspondent is factually wrong. As I said, if there was a match in Belfast, it would not be an away fixture. It would simply be Ireland playing against somebody else in Belfast, and that might have happened if Croke Park hadn’t become available.
That was about crowd capacity, by the way. Belfast has nothing to match the size needed to accommodate the crowds who attend an Ireland international match but if there was a suitable stadium in Belfast, Ireland matches would be played there.
The answer might be simpler. Perhaps he has no interest in sport and therefore doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about? The evidence of his other utterances suggests so.
My dear Bock, our non-sports lover has a blog at everythingulster.com which you would know if my comment device was working, he is a bit of a bigot and probably lives in an orange cocoon. In my humble opinion there is no point in arguing with people who can’t acknowledge the other sides point of view, you don’t have to agree only accept that there are other points of view. Furthermore Ulsters everthing misses out on Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal, integral parts of the Ulster province, I could go on, and probably will in a blog somewhere down the line.
Cheers Tim
Whats the Republic of Ireland Rugby Team?