Catholic Unionists and the question: Does a functioning Northern Ireland turn soft nationalists into soft unionists?

Denis Stanislaus Henry and Sir John Gorman, Catholic unionists

Andy Pollak wrote:

"Northern Ireland's high-flying Catholics are not necessarily the ones old-fashioned Catholic nationalists would hope for and old-fashioned Protestant unionists would contemplate with dread and terror."

The authoritarian terror of Lundyism

Cartoon by Ian Knox of Alliance leader and NI Justice Minister, David Ford MLA

Any unionist opinion that deviates from the hardline, reactionary fringe is immediately and unavoidably smeared "Lundy." The colloquial curse word for the moderate member of the Unionist community. And you see it with the PSNI - An eire-phobia - where the slightest criticism of or incursion against loyalist promiscuity is labelled IRA. (Yet the irony is that in calling PSNI the PSNI-IRA, loyalists sound like republicans who call PSNI the PSNI-RUC.) A plurality and diversity of unionist opinion isn't just disapproved, but effectively outlawed. A total prohibition on anything not outwardly and chauvinistically Protestant.

The Lundy is the kuffar. The traitor. The heretic and apostate who has gone prostrate before the enemy. Only the deep and double-dyed sectarians and tribalists are the true and authentic holders and representatives of the community.

Of course this is nonsense. By their hysterical reactionism - the deep and double-dyed sectarian, so sure of themselves, so self-loving, so unbending - becomes a parody and caricature of the tradition they purport to represent. They don't seem to have any mechanism to question or analyse their own method and direction. This is not only incredibly self-satisfied but self-destructive. He who doesn't have the ability to adapt and and mould with the changing of events is doomed.

I want to live in a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-confessional society and live with a multi-confessional unionism. It's only through argument and dissent and the constant challenging of ideas that you can refine and develop political ideology and practice.

I've variously been called a "Unionists my arse". A "condescending appeaser" by Jamie Bryson. Nick Garbutt being called a "snob" by Willie Frazer

The other colloquial swear word and pjejorative term for the unionist that deviates from the hardline, is "guilty prod". Glenn Bradley explained being called a "guilty prod" here.

My previous post on the authoritarianism of fringe unionism against the moderate, here. See all my posts on Ian Knox, who did the cartoon above, here.

The heroine of Hackney - Shall I Not Remonstrate?

Pauline Pearce, "The heroine of Hackney", stood up to street fighting thugs and vandals that were terrorising her community and local businesses during the London riots (see original video here). She stood up and put out against barbarism. This contrasts with people in Northern Ireland who have surrendered, capitulated and prostrated before the most fanatical and riotous thugs. Here's a sample of what she said:

"This is a f****** reality. Low up the f****** burning the property. [Stop] burning people's shop that they work hard to start their business. You understand? The shop up there, she's working hard to make her business work and you lot want to burn it up, for what? So that you can say you're "warring" and you're bad man. 

This is about a f****** man who got shot in Tottenham, this 'aint about having fun and rioting and busting up the place. Get it real black people, get real. Do it for a cause. If we're fighting for a cause let's fight for a f****** cause. You lot p*** me the f*** off. I'm ashamed to be a Hackney person because we're not all gathering together and fighting for a cause we're running down Foot Locker and TV shops. Dirty thief run off."

Asked by Simon Armitage on the broadcast Speeches that Shook the World (watch here) if her speech made a difference, Pauline said:

"I do think to some degree it did. People said to me it was kind of at that point that people started coming out with the brooms and everyone started standing up for the communities a bit more."

Simon Armitage commented, "You were the voice of decency in amongst a lot of chaos for a moment."

Read my previous articles on eamonnmallie.com on the need to protest and challenge extremism on the streets here, here, here, here, here, here and here. See the original video of Pauline Pearce here and by reading further.