Are we ready to accept the Orange

dublin | miscellaneous | opinion/analysis Tuesday February 28, 2006 02:38 by jim travers jimtravers at eircom dot net

A look at the recent riot in Dublin city and to try and make sense of the problems associated with Loyalists marching through our city

Are we ready to accept the Orange

Well now, the marching feet and pounding drums of the Orange Order that disguised itself in a slogan of “Victims of IRA violence” has been sent packing its hatred back to where it came from. What a sick bunch of gutless yahoos of political leaders we have in this state who seem to think that by giving the Orange Order a fresh lash of paint that their deeds and activities in the past will be and should be forgotten and forgiven in the name of commerce and the liberal all embracing society and image we try and portray to the world. It is not that long ago when the Orange Order was conspiring with its loyal supporters to rid the state of Ulster of the Fenian scum that fought for their basic civil rights and their desire to be treated as human beings. The problems in Northern Ireland was brought about not by the desire of a minority community to achieve a united Ireland, but by a loyalist orginisation that denied the civil rights of anyone whose religion did not conform with the good, honest and loyal Protestant ideologies of a Protestant State for a Protestant people within the United Kingdom.

Once again we have a political machine in the Republic of Ireland that will sell itself out to the desire of politicians to place personal gains above the overwhelming desires of the people. The riots in Dublin city were uncalled for and unwelcome. The people who orgainsed and took part in these riots played no meaningful part in helping to break down barriers between the two traditions on this island. The Gardai (who are our own people) were placed under unnecessary risk of injury because a few mindless idiots were driven by the desire to rob and plunder rather than a cause they passionately believed in.

There again we also must question our political leaders willingness to allow a march that would have been seen within the staunch Unionist camp as a march of triumph into the heart of a city that was the centre of a republican patriotic struggle for Irish freedom. There would have been no reason or provocation to have a counter demonstration and then a riot if those who felt passionately about IRA violence came to Dublin and walked in civilian dress to express their feeling of hurt and pain. The people of Ireland would have openly welcomed the true and honest desire of genuinely concerned people to end forever the cycle of bloodshed and pain the people on all sides of the Northern divide have felt over the very many years. But no, good Orange men who are true to their beliefs wanted to parade in full military colours down the very heart of a city and people they despise and hate within our so called Fenian Free State.

Let us not forget that when the nationalist people in Northern Ireland called and pleaded with the southern government of the time to defend them from the marauding gangs of loyalist thugs who murdered and burned out their homes, the southern government turned its head and went into a Monty Python discussion session to discuss yet another emergency. The Provisional IRA was born out of the need of nationalist people to defend themselves first, as that need was then hijacked in the name of a United Ireland. We may all condemn the IRA for its past atrocities but the fact was that the IRA filled a void that was left by a political unwillingness to address the social, religious and economic problems that existed at that time within the failed state of Northern Ireland.

Our political leaders both past and present hid behind their unwillingness to express the overwhelming desire of the people of this country to live in peace first, a United Ireland second and the belief in the reality that Orangeism is not compatible in a Republic or Federal state that will not swears allegiance to a flag which is not part of this state. The old Irish money was Fenian money and now the Euro is foreign money. Northern Loyalists are the only people in Western Europe who see the Euro as foreign and of no real value. Political leaders within the Protestant community encourage division and wallow in people’s fears of a united Catholic state where the rights of the Protestant community are denied to them as they denied them to others. Protestant political and religious leaders have far more to lose from their people’s desire to achieve dialogue and co-operation with their fellow citizens and the people who live within the Irish republic. The political leadership in the Republic are far more interested in maintaining their Celtic Tiger economy that enhances the pockets of their vested interest friends and buddies.

Why was this march allowed to go ahead and why did the rest of the country know that such a march would lead to some sort of unrest when politicians of all parties sat quiet believing that the people of this Republic were more about their great American green back style of living rather than the logical belief that triumphal marches enflame bitterness and resentment among people? The Orangemen were bringing down with them emblems of division and hate that has caused so much heartache on both side of the divide. Jeffrey Donaldson, Ian Paisley and the rest of those bigots responded in the now accepted loyalist manner that all the people within the Irish Republic are anti-Northern Protestant bigots and that the Republic is not ready to accept Northern Unionists as their equals. Would the thugs on the Shankill Road accept a march down their own road or city by supporters of the Easter Rising. I think not.

But let us not forget that there are decent, honest and hard working Protestant people living in Northern Ireland who just want to live and rear their families in peace and security. They are trapped and embroiled in misinformation, scare tactics and intimidation by a section of their community who will not relinquish their power and influence for the sake of the peace and security of their own people and the people of the island of Ireland.

Politicians in the Republic have once again been found wanting in their ability to analyse the situation and act accordingly in the interest of the people they were elected to serve. The Gardai (unfairly) once again come under scrutiny as to the effectiveness of their policing and their ability to handle the situation. The city council must answer questions as to why they allowed the centre of the city to be left in such a manner that encouraged and allowed a riot to gain momentum by the very fact that all sorts of missiles were available for the rioters to use. It is not acceptable to hear officials and city council representatives say that they never though such a situation could have happened and therefore were caught unaware. These people charge businesses and citizens crippling rates and charges only to be told they did not envisage a situation, this is not good enough. We pay them enough through taxes, stealth taxes and rates for them to be professional in their work or else they get out.

I would like to make a prediction that I hope will not occur. Should another Orange march take place in Dublin then the government of this state will have to deploy all the police and military resources of the state in order to
quell the disquiet and uprising that will take place. This situation will have the potential to bring a government down or at worst lay the seed of civil war and conflict within the Republic. The vast majority of the people in the Irish Republic have no problem with Orangemen marching in Dublin to highlight their grief, desires and concerns. They believe in the freedom of everyone to express their beliefs, but they do not believe that triumphant marches that caused so much division in Northern Ireland should be allowed to take place by people who put out their hands but do not want us to shake them.

Fianna Fail is supposed to be a republican party but we now see them act like minnows to the power and influence of the PD’s. It’s so funny; Fianna Fail scrapped the Easter Parade because they believed it might be seen as a triumphant display of military power and superiority. Years later they (under PD influence) allow a military style band to parade in our capital city, knowing full well that the Orange Order is rife with bitterness, division and hate. Fianna Fail now decide to restore the Easter parade, not because of our history or to commemorate an historic event in Irish history but to counteract the republican image and support now being enjoyed and gained by Sinn Fein.

The time is right, the time is now, let’s have a parade and let that parade be a military one with no uniforms, no flags and no signs or emblems that might offend those who see this Republic with envious eyes but will only join it if they can maintain their anti-republic, anti-united Ireland, God save the Queen attitude that has its place only in history books and a desire from by-gone days of old. Thugs hi-jacked a parade but the vast majority of the people in this country expressed their disbelief that such a parade could be allowed to take place.

The people on mainland Britain now look on Ireland and its people as a progressive developing society and country. It is a far cry from the days when as Irish people we were herded onto cattle boats and subjected to intimidating treatment when we landed on British soil. It is not that long ago when the signs in bed and breakfast houses and hotels said “ No dogs, no blacks, no Irish”. British society has progressed and learned to live with its neighbours on the island of Ireland. The people of the Irish Republic have also learned and progressed to live in harmony, respect and co-operation with the neighbours in the United Kingdom. And then there’s Northern Ireland that cannot live in peace among itself or live and co-operate within the United Kingdom. In the past the Republic of Ireland had nothing to offer Northern Ireland but now the Republic is a blossoming economy that did not emerge and prosper out of its own financial incentives to lure foreign investment. The Republic of Ireland was deliberately placed in an economic advantage over Northern Ireland by both the British Government and the United States of America so that the transition to a united Ireland would be achieved through cross border interactivity of the workforce. The Celtic Tiger was not brought about by an Irish political desire to make Ireland successful, (look at the political mismanagement of our resources and finances) on the contrary, it was brought about so that the Republic could become a major economic force on the island of Ireland. For its part the European Union, like an eraser acting on a pencil line, diminished the visible presence of the border but left just enough of an image to keep the peace so that the final erasure will not be noticed until it was finally gone.

Politicians in the Protestant community were given truck loads of ammunition in the Dublin riot that will encourage and enhance their desire to maintain the division of mistrust and fear so that their political influence and authority will be maintained and strengthened. From a republican point of view the riot enforced and embedded in very many people the desire to avoid violence while also igniting a small spark that must be a worrying factor to those in the political establishment.

The Irish Republic may not be ready for the Orangemen but the Orangemen are not ready to embrace an Irish Republic. We have confined the trouble in Northern Ireland to Northern Ireland. It is a dangerous tactic to encourage the marching of feet on soil that is steeped in the history of the fight for Irish freedom.

The Orange Order came down to Dublin knowing full well that the possibility of trouble was high on the agenda.
The comments and back snipes of the same Orange men who boarded their coach at the Holiday Inn on Pearse Street, Dublin on their way back to Belfast was a reminder that their intentions were not about peace and justice but about the show of strength and power to the folks back home that an Orange Order could march in triumph through the streets of a city that is steeped in the struggle for Irish freedom.

The time is now, the time is Orange……..let us keep the Orange firmly associated to the mobile phone industry.