Sean BresnahanThe North is no longer a ‘Protestant state for a Protestant people’, as intended when ripped from the rest of Ireland at the onset of Partition. 

 
While a welcome development by any standard, though not yet complete, for those reared with an ingrained belief in the supposed ‘Britishness’ of their ‘own wee country’, this has been internalised as though an attack on their person. 


Thus we have reports as the recently cited Holylands Transition Study (referenced in the Irish News, 22nd September) encouraging the notion that GAA tops are a sectarian imposition on those in the area from a unionist background. Needless to say, those who would decry the GAA as sectarian can only be ignorant of the many Protestants who play and have played a part in its history.

While there may be reasons to explain this psychological phenomenon — these rooted in the sectarian history of the statelet — reasons of themselves do not constitute justification, even where we understand how they came to be taken up. There is, then, no justification for these considerations. They should be given no succour or reward, even if there be fear-based reasons behind why some hold to them.

The problem that all this gives onto is that anything seen to be ‘other’ — particularly where it is Catholic or Irish — is perceived as though a threat. Thus, civil rights for others translates into an ‘attack’, as does the Irish language and now, too, a mere GAA jersey. A psychological affliction as this can only but worsen as the nationalist community continues to outstrip what once was the unionist majority in the North.

For those so encumbered, the only way out from under their difficulty is to come to terms with that the Six Counties are a part of Ireland, soon to be joined with the rest of Ireland as one all-Ireland republic. And while, yes, that republic must be a welcoming place for all, not for one split second should a ‘de-Irishing’ of our country — neither now or come the future — be considered to placate such senseless fears, as would often seem the thinking.

Sean Bresnahan is an independent Republican from Co. Tyrone who 
blogs @ Claidheamh Soluis. Follow Sean Bresnahan on Twitter @bres79

‘De-Irishing’ Ireland To Placate Intransigence No Template For The Future

Sean BresnahanThe North is no longer a ‘Protestant state for a Protestant people’, as intended when ripped from the rest of Ireland at the onset of Partition. 

 
While a welcome development by any standard, though not yet complete, for those reared with an ingrained belief in the supposed ‘Britishness’ of their ‘own wee country’, this has been internalised as though an attack on their person. 


Thus we have reports as the recently cited Holylands Transition Study (referenced in the Irish News, 22nd September) encouraging the notion that GAA tops are a sectarian imposition on those in the area from a unionist background. Needless to say, those who would decry the GAA as sectarian can only be ignorant of the many Protestants who play and have played a part in its history.

While there may be reasons to explain this psychological phenomenon — these rooted in the sectarian history of the statelet — reasons of themselves do not constitute justification, even where we understand how they came to be taken up. There is, then, no justification for these considerations. They should be given no succour or reward, even if there be fear-based reasons behind why some hold to them.

The problem that all this gives onto is that anything seen to be ‘other’ — particularly where it is Catholic or Irish — is perceived as though a threat. Thus, civil rights for others translates into an ‘attack’, as does the Irish language and now, too, a mere GAA jersey. A psychological affliction as this can only but worsen as the nationalist community continues to outstrip what once was the unionist majority in the North.

For those so encumbered, the only way out from under their difficulty is to come to terms with that the Six Counties are a part of Ireland, soon to be joined with the rest of Ireland as one all-Ireland republic. And while, yes, that republic must be a welcoming place for all, not for one split second should a ‘de-Irishing’ of our country — neither now or come the future — be considered to placate such senseless fears, as would often seem the thinking.

Sean Bresnahan is an independent Republican from Co. Tyrone who 
blogs @ Claidheamh Soluis. Follow Sean Bresnahan on Twitter @bres79

11 comments:

  1. "...those who would decry the GAA as sectarian can only be ignorant of the many Protestants who play and have played a part in its history." Protestants playing GAA does not make the GAA non sectarian. There were thousands of RCs in the RUC so do you think the RUC wasn't sectarian?

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  2. Not a great start when you attempt a quote mind which distorts the message...

    "All through this debate the charges made by hon. members opposite have been grossly exaggerated. Since we took up office we have tried to be absolutely fair towards all the citizens of Northern Ireland. Actually, on an Orange platform, I, myself, laid down the principle, to which I still adhere, that I was prime minister not of one section of the community but of all, and that as far as I possibly could I was going to see that fair play was not meted out to all classes and creeds without any favour whatever on my part.

    Mr Leeke: What about your Protestant parliament?

    The Prime Minister: The hon. member must remember that in the South they boasted of a Catholic state. They still boast of Southern Ireland being a Catholic state. All I boast of is that we are a Protestant parliament and Protestant state. It would be rather interesting for historians of the future to compare a Catholic state launched in the South with a Protestant state launched in the North and to see which gets on the better and prospers the more. It is more interesting for me at the moment to watch how they are progressing. I am doing my best always to top the bill and be ahead of the South."

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  3. @ Steve R

    The quote is rarely given in its full form, however, does it really matter? History speaks for itself.

    The tragedy is that it wasn't quite a Protestant parliament for a Protestant state, it was a Protestant dominated parliament for the furtherance and protection of ruling class interests, which are almost exclusively Protestant.

    The vast majority of Protestants did badly under Stormont. They just had the handy (and open to dispute) notion that they were better off than a convenient "other".

    It's the oldest trick in the book...

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  4. Brandon

    Protestants in the north did better under Stormont than they would have in the 26 counties. Rampant sectarianism from the nefarious Roman church, Ne Temere etc and the gaelicisation of Ireland under EDV devastated the protestant community. Thankfully we had partition.

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    1. The problem for Catholics was the reverse. I doubt partition would have been the hot issue it became had unionism not been so discriminatory against Catholics. I guess as the Southern state settled in people there would not have been as driven towards Irish unity and the removal of partition. The dynamic was in the North and was fed by unionism. The Provisional IRA would never have gotten off the ground as opposition to partition alone. Which has led me to feel that the Provisional campaign was the expression less of resentment at Britain being in Ireland and more at how Britain behaved while in Ireland. Ultimately, the Provos settled for something that did not remotely resemble the stated objective of their campaign and got a lot of support for it. Has to be a lesson in there.

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    2. @ Peter

      "Protestants in the north did better under Stormont than they would have in the 26 counties"

      That's a sweeping statement. It's one of history's ponderables, but I don't think it's farfetched to imagine an all-Ireland Protestant dominated party having major influence across the entire island of Ireland.

      As it was, those in the slums of the Shankill Road or Sandy Row were probably not much better off than those in the lanes of Cork or the streets of Dublin.

      "Thankfully we had partition."

      Partition led to, what a careful political commenter might define as, "mixed results".

      Something I've noticed from unionist/loyalist commenters on this site is the requirement for a hostile external force to mitigate their host community's actions. This is the fatal flaw in unionism/loyalism, and will be its ultimate demise.



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    3. "Something I've noticed from unionist/loyalist commenters on this site is the requirement for a hostile external force to mitigate their host community's actions."

      This is the essence of 'whataboutry' Brandon, and it's quite clear by now that nobody has the moral high ground.

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  5. Imagine the country it would have been if the Ulster Protestants had been a part of building it. The empowerment of the Catholic Church, to begin with, and all of the abuse that entailed, would almost certainly have never come to pass. That Ireland that could have been — a rights-based secular all-Ireland republic — remains, yet, the promise of the future to come under Irish Unity.

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    1. It might even have been worse - the Catholic Church might have formed a strange alliance with fundamentalist Protestantism and there would have been no swings unlocked on Sundays anywhere in the country. The Fundies will be more attracted to the non secular elements such as anti abortion sentiment.

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  6. AM
    It must be galling for you to see the careerist draft dodgers doing so well. At least the young aren't seeing what we saw.

    Indeed there are many lessons to be learned but Irish history is littered with mis-steps, bad faith and disasterous decisions. I think that's why I was a fan of the GFA. Hume and Trimble were good men and for once something good happened, imperfect though it is.

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    1. Peter - it doesn't much annoy me these days. The old black and white certainties have long since dissipated. Draft dodgers don't kill people so I guess there is something to be said for it. It becomes a problem if they prompt others to kill people for their own careerist ends.

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