Very good. There are so few people left in Irish life willing to say this. I am outraged that Simon Harris & Co. are going full steam ahead to incorporate these bigots into our country. Every step towards unification, I feel more and more alienated.
During the 1990s I bought the Belfast Newsletter to keep abreast of Unionist thinking. I was amazed how much just wasn’t covered in the Dublin-based media. For instance, from memory, the Mayor of Portadown responsible for planning and getting built the housing along most of the Garvaghy Road was an Orange man. The road was originally almost 50:50 Catholic : Protestant. Today it’s safe to assume there are few Protestants there. When Charlie Bird was almost daily hyperventilating on the RTE News at One during the clashes between the police and the ‘residents’ thirty years (?) ago no mention was made of the enclave at the end of the road made up of elderly Protestants whose houses had bottles and stones thrown at them every night. They were too afraid to walk in the local park.
The entire Garvaghy Road dispute is the sort of thing the African American economist Thomas Sowell refers to as ‘cracker culture’ in his book ‘Black Rednecks & White Liberals ’. According to Sowell cracker culture existed in the north of England and most of Ireland. It was carried to the US where it survived mostly in Black urban ghetto grievance culture. In the south of Ireland cracker culture seems to have a last toehold in the Traveller Community feuds. In Northern Ireland it still thrives, especially since it suits some political parties.
Most political energy in Northern Ireland is spent on doing the other side down. Obstruction and begrudgery are top skills. They spend little time on tomorrow's work or moving forward.
When this boiled up yesterday I listened to Paul Brady’s song a few times.
The Island
by Paul Brady
They say the skies of Lebanon are burning
Those mighty cedars bleeding in the heat
They’re showing pictures on the television
Women and children dying in the street
And we’re still at it in our own place
Still trying to reach the future through the past
Still trying to carve tomorrow from a tombstone…
Chorus
But Hey! Don’t listen to me!
This wasn’t meant to be no sad song
We’ve heard too much of that before
Right now I only want to be here with you
Till the morning dew comes falling
I want to take you to the island
And trace your footprints in the sand
And in the evening when the sun goes down
We’ll make love to the sound of the ocean
They’re raising banners over by the markets
Whitewashing slogans on the shipyard walls
Witchdoctors praying for a mighty showdown
No way our holy flag is gonna fall
Up here we sacrifice our children
To feed the worn-out dreams of yesterday
And teach them dying will lead us into glory…
Repeat Chorus
Now I know us plain folks don’t see all the story
And I know this peace and love’s just copping out
And I know these young boys dying in the ditches
Is just what being free is all about
And how this twisted wreckage down on main street
Will bring us all together in the end
And we’ll go marching down the road to freedom…
Freedom
Copyright BMG Rights Management UK Ltd., a BMG Company.
Very good. There are so few people left in Irish life willing to say this. I am outraged that Simon Harris & Co. are going full steam ahead to incorporate these bigots into our country. Every step towards unification, I feel more and more alienated.
A First Minister for all, yeah right.
During the 1990s I bought the Belfast Newsletter to keep abreast of Unionist thinking. I was amazed how much just wasn’t covered in the Dublin-based media. For instance, from memory, the Mayor of Portadown responsible for planning and getting built the housing along most of the Garvaghy Road was an Orange man. The road was originally almost 50:50 Catholic : Protestant. Today it’s safe to assume there are few Protestants there. When Charlie Bird was almost daily hyperventilating on the RTE News at One during the clashes between the police and the ‘residents’ thirty years (?) ago no mention was made of the enclave at the end of the road made up of elderly Protestants whose houses had bottles and stones thrown at them every night. They were too afraid to walk in the local park.
The entire Garvaghy Road dispute is the sort of thing the African American economist Thomas Sowell refers to as ‘cracker culture’ in his book ‘Black Rednecks & White Liberals ’. According to Sowell cracker culture existed in the north of England and most of Ireland. It was carried to the US where it survived mostly in Black urban ghetto grievance culture. In the south of Ireland cracker culture seems to have a last toehold in the Traveller Community feuds. In Northern Ireland it still thrives, especially since it suits some political parties.
Most political energy in Northern Ireland is spent on doing the other side down. Obstruction and begrudgery are top skills. They spend little time on tomorrow's work or moving forward.
When this boiled up yesterday I listened to Paul Brady’s song a few times.
The Island
by Paul Brady
They say the skies of Lebanon are burning
Those mighty cedars bleeding in the heat
They’re showing pictures on the television
Women and children dying in the street
And we’re still at it in our own place
Still trying to reach the future through the past
Still trying to carve tomorrow from a tombstone…
Chorus
But Hey! Don’t listen to me!
This wasn’t meant to be no sad song
We’ve heard too much of that before
Right now I only want to be here with you
Till the morning dew comes falling
I want to take you to the island
And trace your footprints in the sand
And in the evening when the sun goes down
We’ll make love to the sound of the ocean
They’re raising banners over by the markets
Whitewashing slogans on the shipyard walls
Witchdoctors praying for a mighty showdown
No way our holy flag is gonna fall
Up here we sacrifice our children
To feed the worn-out dreams of yesterday
And teach them dying will lead us into glory…
Repeat Chorus
Now I know us plain folks don’t see all the story
And I know this peace and love’s just copping out
And I know these young boys dying in the ditches
Is just what being free is all about
And how this twisted wreckage down on main street
Will bring us all together in the end
And we’ll go marching down the road to freedom…
Freedom
Copyright BMG Rights Management UK Ltd., a BMG Company.
Appears on:
Back To The Centre
Nobody Knows
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Cracking tune. Haven't heard it in years!
Really interesting read thankyou for sharing