FLAG DAY
By David Vance On March 17th, 2011St. Patrick’s Day = a day for Irish triumphalism when it comes to IRA/Sinn Fein.
A row over which flag should fly at the St Patrick’s Day celebrations in Downpatrick has cast a shadow over the planned festivities. In previous years the flag of St Patrick, a red cross on a white background, has been used alongside the council flag. Sinn Fein councillor, Eamon McConvey is expected to carry an Irish tricolour flag at the parade instead. Several schools and organisations have pulled out as a result.
Rightly so.
Let’s be honest here and cut to the heart of things. Around the world, St Patrick’s Day is enjoyed as a celebration of things Irish. I wish all those who partake in the festivities well!
But in Northern Ireland, it is different. It is an opportunity for some to try and shove Irishness down the throats of the British majority that live here. I have no interest in it save this. It is called St Patrick’s Day after the man who allegedly brought Christianity to pagan Ireland. So that SHOULD make it a celebration of Christianity. It’s not. The beer, the parties, the parades – nothing to do with the virtues of the man after which the day is named. Most will think that fair enough but for anyone who is a Christian, surely the day is an oxymoron. Councillor McConvey is just a moron.
Let’s be honest HERE. All around the world people will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and the only place where the IRISH flag is begrudged is in a part of IRELAND.
How ridiculous is that?
When the unionists had power the banned the Irish flag and that mentality hasn’t gone away. The alleged flag of St. Patrick is no such thing. It is the flag of the Fitzgerald clan and was put into the union jack on an entirely spurious basis. It is not a compromise. It is a British flag.
A Christian Saint is entitled to a cross if they die a martyr. St Patrick did not. St Andrew did. That’s why the St Andrew’s flag is legit and the British St. Patrick’s flag is a nonsense. If unionists want to wave it on St. Patrick’s day they are of course 100% welcome to do so. But live and let live. Don’t try to force your flag on us. We have our own.
In previous years the flag of St Patrick, a red cross on a white background, has been used alongside the council flag.
The state must taint everything.
The Shinners are quite open about their aim of making St Patrick’s Day a Shinner version of the Twelfth of July. So of course they want as many tricolours as possible, not to celebrate St Patrick, but to stick it to the Unionists.
Look how many “Shinners” are enjoying the shinnerfest in Dublin:
http://www.rte.ie/news/player_live.html#32019991,’http://dj.rte.ie/vodfeeds/feedgenerator/videos/live/?id=8′,’flash’,255,{“name”:”St_Patricks_Day_Festival_Parade”,”autoPlay”:true,”noAds”:”false”,”adLocation”:”/ads/video/live.inc”,”explicit”:false,”playListContainer”:”clip”}
The border of NI does not bar opinion and feeling, whether one favors the history or is displeased with the history of the border itself. It is beyond absurd to insist that St. Patrick’s day, a worldwide celebration of Irishness, be reduced to some sort of limited observance of the Saint’s life alone, devoid of the centuries of cultural meaning.
I think that’s a better use of the tricolour than to how they are treated on the 12th or do you support the KAT tricolour burnings, Peter?
Spot on reply Henry, factually perfect.
It’s absurd that the only place where the flying of the Irish flag is objectionable is in Ireland.
Of course not. But flag-burning is a world-wide activity.
Mahons
The Shinner objective is quite open, and is already largely achieved. They have hi-jacked St Patrick’s Day and made it into a Shinner-fest. They are not in the least interested in promoting it as a cross-community, shared christain heritage day, which it could be.
Flag burning is a vile activity that decent people everywhere will not tolerate.
Peter – A cross-community shared Christian heritage day – like Christmas and Easter when everyone merely reflects on the pious nature of the day as opposed to the cultural (except of course for Presents, food, Easter Eggs, Santa, Carols, Christmas Trees, Carols etc).
The way to keep the Shinners as you say from hi-jacking it is not to limit them but let them be drowned in the worldwide revery.
And does that make it acceptable? How does it affect your life on this day when people in NI want to wave the tricolour for 1 day?
Flag waving is an acceptable world wide activity!!!
And orangefest being all encompassing festival that it is.
Thanks, you make my point for me about St Shinner’s Day.
In what way….is it not unionists that exclude themselves from proceedings that the rest of the world have no trouble enjoying.
There is no reason why unionists should be involved in or celebrate St Patrick’s Day. It does not have to be cross-community inclusive. It is nothing to do with Christianity. It is simply the day which has emerged as a celebration of anything to do with Irish national identity. It is perfectly appropriate for the Irish flag to be flown and waved or worn by revellers. Exactly the same in reverse applies to Orangeman’s day.
The Shinners are quite open about their aim of making St Patrick’s Day a Shinner version of the Twelfth of July.
Link? Where did anyone from SF ever say anything about wanting a version of the 12th of July? All people want to do is enjoy St. Patrick’s Day the way it is enjoyed everywhere else. There is no plan or plot involved. It’s a shame to see unionists getting all uptight about it every year but it is their problem. If we wanted to be anything like them we ‘d be looking to march belligerently through unionist areas. Nobody is doing that. People just want to have the same good time Irish people have all over the world on this one day. One day mind as opposed to a Marching Season.
Colm
I was in Belfast today. There were an endless stream of GAA shirt wearing beer swilling St. Patrick fans. Some had tricolour colours on their faces – in one street Irish tricolours were bedecked. If you need to wonder why it leave so MANY unionists cold – the evidence is there – in green, white and yellow.
David
I think that’s fine. Just as it’s fine for unionists to bedeck themselves with Union Jacks and surround themsleves with everything British on 12th July. Let St Patrick’s Day be what it is -IRISH, and Orangeman’s day be what it is – BRITISH.
Yellow David?
As for the beer swillers well we’ll see that on the 12th also, whats another day of the year matter? The GAA shirts will be swapped for rangers/linfield/premiership football jerseys and the drinking will continue
See this is it, what does it matter for one day of the year for people to celebrate their identity….just wearing different sporting atire.
How many parades through housing estates today?
I’m sorry it is / or it is seen as a sectarian day in places. Here, it’s the most nonsectarian day of neighborly cheer one could imagine.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day, all.
I always thought the unionists were cold because of the weather. Sure isn’t that the unifying element for all sides.
Rubbish. You are saying that unionists should be content to march behind tricolours. Why should they? No-one expects nationalists to march behind the Union Jack.
Unionists think that flags are a way of excluding people rather than including them. That’s why they liked to insist on having the butchers apron on public buildings as a sign to nationalists that they should feel excluded. it is why they now insist on feeling excluded by a flag that was designed to include them.
They have invented their own St Patrick’s day tradition of looking for something to be offended about. In fact St Patricks Day is like listening to The Pogues. It is Irish to the core but open to all. You just have to get up and dance.
the butchers apron
Very inclusive Henry.
Every year it’s the same old, same old.
I’ve said it many, many times before but it looks like i’ll have to say it once again.
The 12th of July is NOT a Unionist day. It is an Orangemans day.
The vast majority of Unionists are NOT members of the Orange Institutions and have no interest in it whatsoever.
So these comments that ‘you have your day, so we have ours’ are (and always will be) complete and utter b*llocks.
So why is Orangeman’s Day a public holiday in Northern Ireland then ?
Nope wrong again. If there’s something on tv a person does not like you are free to switch the channel, likewise if you don’t want to partake in the day’s celebrations you are free to go about the day as you see fit. That’s your choice.
Is there pressure for you to take part in Austrailia Day or Chinese New Year? No but you have the freedom to make that choice.
How many religious services? How many Police in the Holyland? Poor St Patrick – his name is synomoous with drunken boors.
Most if not all parishes have a Patrick’s day mass/serice. As for as attendences to church go, well that is another debate. But don’t we see the same at Christmas, Easter and the 12th. Drunken boors are synonymous with the people of this island no matter what creed.
That said plenty of people can go out and enjoy the day without ending up plastered. Myself, I was keeping an eye on Cheltenham and ended the evening by going for a quiet pint and a bit of food with the missus. Highly recommend Against the Grain on Wexford street in Dublin for anyone that enjoys trying some microbrewery beers along with some fantastic gastro-pub type food.
Did you enjoy the parade itself David?
Had to look up about Holyland? 8 arrests, fairly comparable to most college RAG weeks I would think. Acceptable no, but it’s not an isolated incident. Look at most music concerts and festivals and you will see the same behaviour.
Because they’re ” special “!