Sinn Fein's strategy

Writing in a post on Slugger O'Toole about Sinn Fein strategy, Mick Fealty referred back to a an earlier post dated 30 May 2006, almost five years ago.

On the Today programme on BBC Radio Four in May 2006, Mitchel McLaughlin was asked to explain what Sinn Fein had achieved for its supporters. McLaughlin replied, 'The degree of uncertainty and the lack of confidence in the unionist community!'

This faux pas by McLaughlin was picked up by Newton Emerson in the Irish News (27 May 2006) and then by Mick Fealty.  I say faux pas but in fact he was merely being honest about Sinn Fein's strategy; the faux pas on his part was that he told the truth.

The republican movement has always operated on a number of fronts and one of them is psychological.  Sinn Fein talk about such things as the 'inevitability' of a united Ireland and such talk is intended to demoralise, demotivate and debilitate the unionist community.

On that occasion Sinn Fein let the cat out of the bag and perhaps that is why Mitchel has been rather in the background in recent years.

However more important is the fact that this is the Sinn Fein strategy and unionists should take note of that.  We should not allow anyone, whoever they might be, to demoralise, demotivate and debilitate the unionist people.  Indeed, as we approach the centenary of the Ulster Covenant and look forward to the first centenary of Northern Ireland, we have an opportunity to refocus and remotivate the unionist community.

Survey of library usage in Northern Ireland

DCAL has just released a new report on 'Experience of Library Usage in Northern Ireland' based on the Continuous Houshold Survey 2009-2010.  The questions were selected by DCAL's Research and Statistics Branch and covered a number of topics.  The key findings were:

• 29% of respondents stated that they visit a public library at least once a year.  18% said once a month and 5% said at least once a week.
• A singificantly higher proportion of female respondents than male respondents visited a library in the 12 months prior to the survey (34% and 21% respectively).
• Respondents aged 25-34 and 35-44 were most likely to visit a library at least once a year (34% and 35% respectively).
• There was an increase in the proportion of respondents visiting a library at least once a year in 2009/10 compared with 2008/09 - 29% and 26% respectively - this was statistically significant.
• The top three reasons given for visiting a library were 'to borrow/return/renew books', 'To look up information' and 'To accompany children' cited by 79%, 15% and 15% (respectively) of respondents who had been to a library in the previous year.
• 92% of respondents who had visited a library in the previous year were satisfied with their visit.
• The three most frequently cited reasons for not visiting a library were 'Not really interested', 'Buy or get bought all the books I need' and 'No need to go' reported by 28%, 25% and 19% (respectively) of respondents who had not been to a library in the previous year.
• 61% of respondents reported that they were satisfied with library provision in Northern Ireland, a significant increase on the 53% in 2008/09.
• 89% of respondents who had visited a library during the previous year were satisfied with library provision, a similar proportion to the 88% in 2008/09.

The Celtic supporters club and the glorification of terrorism

Last Sunday there was a match between Ranger FC and Celtic FC in Glasgow.  Here in Northern Ireland many local supporters of these teams watched the game on television and in Londonderry members of the Paul McStay Celtic Supporters Club gathered to watch the game in a local bar.

According to their Bebo site members of the Paul McStay Celtic Supporters Club use Peadar O'Donnell's Bar in Waterloo Street as their meeting-place and last Sunday they were joined in the bar by members of the Spirit of Freedom Republican Flute Band.

According to the Facebook site of the Spirit of Freedom Republican Flute Band: "Will be playing in Peadar O'Donnells, Watterloo Street, on Sunday 20th.  We will be playing in Support of Paul McStay Csc Doire for the Celtic and Rangers match. Were on at 2pm before and after the match. Band Members need to be there with all band equipment."

Lest there be any doubt that this actually happened, the Spirit of Freedom kindly posted a youtube clip of themselves playing outside the bar in Waterloo Street on their page http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWZcg1FihqQ  The youtube clip shows clearly the bass drum with a masked IRA terrorist on one side, holding an RPG7 rocket launcher, and a masked IRA terrorist with a rifle on the other side of the drum.

There was no parade and so this is not a matter for the Parades Commission although it is a timely reminder for the new Commission of the nature of this band.  However it may well be a matter for the PSNI, since this performance with this drum took place in the centre of the city, and it is certainly a matter for Celtic FC. 

Celtic should surely take appropriate action against the Paul McStay Supporters Club for organising such an event for a Celtic match.  Do they think it appropriate for one of their supporters clubs to invite a band that carries such a blatant endorsement of republican terrorism?

Meanwhile I am sure that Paul McStay himself will not want to have his name associated with the glorification of terrorism. 

Indeed it is rather amusing that the Paul McStay Celtic Supporters Club have on their badge a harp, a green version of St Andrew's Cross, an Irish tricolour, and the words 'against the famine and the crown'.  However Paul McStay, who played for Celtic from 1982 to 1997, was happy to accept an MBE from Her Majesty the Queen and is therefore a 'Member of the Order of the British Empire'. 

Cross of St Patrick (2)

The controversy in Downpatrick about the Cross of St Patrick flag came to mind this morning as I read the sports section of the Newsletter.  There was a photograph of the Ireland bowling team at the Home International 'A' Short Mat Championships at Swansea.

The team did exceptionally well and wrote themselves into the record book by achieving a 'clean sweep' of trophies, which included the team title plus the four individual British Isles Championships - singles, pairs, triples and fours.

The team were phtographed on the platform and there in front of them was their flag - a Cross of St Patrick, with a single shamrock in the top quadrant.  Clearly this was acceptable to bowlers from both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.

This is another example of the use of the Cross of St Patrick flag and serves to highlight the ignorance and intolerance of the Sinn Fein councillor in Downpatrick who rejected the flag at the St Patrick's Day parade because, he claimed, it had 'military associations'.

It is also worthwhile taking a look at the website of the Irish Indoor Bowling Association - http://www.iiba.co.uk/ - which has an interesting history of indoor bowling.  Short mat bowling originated in Northern Ireland around 1926 when outdoor bowlers from the Victoria club had to abandon play because of rain.  They moved indoors to the church hall of Strand Presbyterian Church and started to play there using a length of carpet.  Indoor bowls developed from this and there is a photograph from 1929 of indoor bowling in Ballymacarrett Presbyterian Church hall.  The game really developed after the 2nd World War and the IIBA was formed in 1961.

Cross of St Patrick controversy

For many years Down District Council has used the Cross of St Patrick, a red saltire on a white backbround, as the principal flag at the St Patrick's Day parade in Downpatrick.

However this year Sinn Fein councillor Eamonn Mac Con Midhe objected to the use of the Cross of St Patrick and walked at the front of the parade with an Irish tricolour.  According to a report in the Belfast Telegraph (18 March) he claimed that the Cross of St Patrick had 'a military background'.  A report in the Down News (11 March) stated that he objected to it because it has 'associations with the Protestant Ascendancy'.

Some years ago in Belfast, when Caitriona Ruane ran the West Belfast Festival, she objected to the use of the Cross of St Patrick at the St Patrick's Day parade in Belfast and gave as her reason that it was linked 'with a regiment of the British army and the fascist Blueshirts'.  The former was a reference to the Irish Guards  and the latter to General O'Duffy's Blueshirts, who became part of Fine Gael, now the leading partner in the government of the Irish Republic.

Both she and her Sinn Fein colleague in Downpatrick omitted to say that the Cross of St Patrick has also been used by the Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland, Irish Freemasons, the Church of Ireland and the former Irish state-owned shipping line Irish Shipping Ltd.  It also appears on the arms of Queen's University, Belfast, and the badge of the PSNI.

Moreover, if Councillor Mac Con Midhe is going to follow Caitriona's line and condemn flags because of their associations, he might reflect on the fact that the Irish tricolour, which he carried in the parade, was formerly known as the 'Sinn Fein flag' and was used by IRA terrorists.

So for the benefit of Eamonn Mac Con Midhe, here is the background to the Cross of St Patrick and for further information he may wish to refer to A History of Irish Flags from Earliest Times, which was written by Professor G A Hayes-McCoy and published in 1979. 

1. The red saltire, which is described as the Cross of St Patrick, was used to represent Ireland in the Union Flag, which dates from 1 January 1801.  However it was used long before that.
2. The Cross of Saint Patrick was incorporated in the coat of arms of the Order of the Knights of Saint Patrick, which was instituted in 1783. It is sometimes argued that it was borrowed for this purpose from the arms of the Fitzgerald family but there is much evidence for an earlier use of the Cross of St Patrick.
3. A book entitled De Doorliughtige Weerld, published in 1700, described the flag of Ireland as a 'white flag with a red St Andrew's Cross'.
4. A book published in the Netherlands in 1693, Neptune Francois illustrated the flags of the nations of europe and described the 'Ierse Irlandois' flag as a white flag bearing a red saltire.
5. A contemporary map of the siege of Duncannon Fort in County Wexford in 1645 shows the Roman Catholic Confederates marching behind a red saltire.
6. The earliest extant seal of Trinity College in Dublin dates from 1612 and shows two flags flying from the turrets of a castle.  One is the Cross of St George for England and the other, which was undoubtedly intended to represent Ireland, is a saltire.
7. A saltire also appeared on an old seal of the Dean and Chapter of Armagh.

The Sinn Fein councillor was also quoted in the Mourne Observer as saying, 'I have always wanted to fly the Irish flag and I believe it should be done. In all my years as a councillor I have not heard one positive word about [the Cross of St Patrick]. It does not represent St Patrick.'  But then does the Irish tricolour represent Patrick?  Of course not.  It is the flag of Irish nationalism and Irish republicanism and Patrick was neither an Irish nationalist nor an Irish republican.  Indeed the tricolour first appeared on 7 March 1848 when it was unveiled in Waterford by Thomas Francis Meagher, a leader of the Young Ireland movement.

 

The action of Councillor MacCon Midhe has damaged relationships in Downpatrick and was clearly designed as an election stunt by a Sinn Fein councillor who had no interest in good relations.

Austin Studios

In the city of Austin there was a disused airport with large hangers.  Some years ago someone hit on the idea of turning it into Austin Studios with the hangers becoming film and recording studios.  It has been a great success and the film True Grit was made there in 2010.  I had the opportunity to visit the studios to see how they have transformed the hangers into studios and other buildings into offices.  A number of companies are now located there and they are very much complementary to each other.

We watched a recording of Texas singer Carolyn Wonderland and the producer was Mike Nesmith, whom some of you will remember from the Monkies.

We have a similar opportunity at the Paint Hall in Titanic Quarter.  At one time this vast space was used to paint vessels but now it is used for film production.

In Northern Ireland we have a vibrant creative industries sector, which includes film production, and we can learn the lessons from other cities and countries as we work to make Northern Ireland a hub for this sector.

The 'Shrine of Ulster Liberty'

Every year more than a million people visit the Alamo where 187 patriots gave their lives for Texas independence and the Alamo is known as the 'Shrine of Texas Liberty'.

In Ulster there was another great siege, the Siege of Derry, and the walls of the Maiden City can be described as the 'Shrine of Ulster Liberty', where the defenders held out against the Jacobites and took their stand against tyranny and arbitrary power.

As we approach 2012, the year when Londonderry is the United Kingdom City of Culture, I hope that the story of the siege will be given due recognition in the programme of events.  It is the most important and iconic event in the history of the city and must have an prominent role in the cultural celebrations.

I look forward to hearing how the organisers of the City of Culture programme plan to remember that iconic episode in the city's history.