“Royal Ulster Rifles” On An Irish Stamp?

Posted on January 25, 2014 by fitzjameshorse

The interesting thing (dont laugh!) about collecting Irish stamps is that it tells us as something about an Event AND the time the stamps were issued.
For example, the Easter Rising 1916.
Commemorated in 1941 (25th Anniversary).
Commemorated in 1966 (50th anniversary). Rather spectacularly.
Commemorated in 1991 (75th Anniversary). Low key because of the Northern Troubles.
Commemorated in 2006 (90th Anniversary). Low key.
And in 2016…the nature of the commemoration will depend on the prevailing post-Conflict narrative.

Until 1985, the Post office was run by the Department of Posts and Telegraphs which meant that there was a degree of political interference in issuing stamps. It was maybe odd that no stamp was issued to mark the fiftieth anniversary of The death of Michael Collins. But of course thats explained by the fact there was a Fianna Fáil Minister.
Some years later this was rectified when Collins, Cathal Brugha, Sean T O’Ceallaigh and others were honoured in annual “Statesmen” series.

For nearly forty years, Irish stamp issues have been dominated by…Europe. Stick the word “European” in front of any old rubbish and the Irish Post Office will come up with a stamp issue.
So 1995…fifty years of peace in Europe or fifty years from the end of World War Two. Or even Victory in Europe? How exactly foes a neutral nation celebrate and commemorate? Well basically with Ambiguity.
After all in 1995, we were edging slowly towards Passivity in Norn Iron and the cornerstone of the Good Friday Agreement would be Creative Ambiguity.
In 1995, there was also much talk of the “totality of relations”between Ireland and Britain.
So in 1995, a stamp was issued to commemorate the End of World War Two…note the wording as it is deliberately (and appropriately!!!) neutral. But also note the reference to “The Second World War” rather than “The Emergency”.

All the ingredients are there for a typical 1995 Irish stamp. Internationalism. Peace. Europe…and the inconvenient fact that Ireland did not actually fight in World War Two. Ireland was neutral, just like Belgium, United States of America, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands and most other nations.
But of course people from Ireland DID fight in the Second World War on the Allied side. And that produces another item for the check list of Acceptability in 1995…The North and Northern Unionists.
So a stamp is designed by Q Design.
And the pre-issue bulletins from An Post, publicise the stamp.

IrishStamp 1995

What could possibly go wrong? Spot the difference in the two stamps above?
Well one actually is not a stamp at all. It is cut out from the publicity material. Notice the Piper? Hard to miss, I suppose.
From the Royal Ulster Rifles.
Ooops.
Suddenly this brilliant idea became a very bad idea.
For unfortunately this regiment had links to a previously named regiment who had fought AGAINST the establishment of the Irish Nation.
People with a Republican agenda also claimed it had been absorbed nto the controversial Ulster Defence Regiment…with members of an occasional homicidal tendency towards Northern Caholics. I cant comment on the “family tree” of British regiments…merely point out that it was generally believe.
Rather hastily An Post did a re-think.
“The Piper” actually undermined the intent of the Stamp.
Back to the Drawing Board…literally.

And the Stamp actually issued…airbrushed the Piper out.
Fascinating eh?

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The Controversial World Of….Stamp Collecting

Posted on January 23, 2014 by fitzjameshorse

Today is my wife’s birthday. At her request, I hasten to add that she is a much younger person than me. We went to a small village in the “Republic”. Intention to have a nice lunch.
As you may know, I collect Irish stamps. Because thats the kinda dynamic, crazy guy that I am.
And today I called in a Post Office to pick up a single 60cent stamp issued to commemorate the Centenary of the Irish Citizen Army. At the end of last year the Centenary of the Irish Volunteers was commemorated and in April this year another stamp to mark the Centenary of Cumann an MBan will be issued.
I am not a great fan of First Day Covers. I consider them to be souvenirs rather than genuinely postally used stamps.
Anyway today, 23rd January I called into a village post office to get the new stamp. I was totally shocked when the post office clerk told me that the issue had been cancelled. Seemingly a last minute instruction from the General Post Office in Dublin. No reason given.
Just by way of confirmation, I went into the post office in another village.
I did manage to get the following information.
The stamp was due to be issued today.
First thing this morning, sub-postmasters all over the Republic were instructed not to sell the new stamp. The sub-postmaster did not know the reason. It was in her experience unprecedented (actually there IS a near similar situation in 1995). Possibly it was just a deferral. Possibly a printing error.
Certainly there is no reason to think it was a political decision. The annual Stamp Programme is agreed at least three years in advance.
The post office clerk SHOWED me the embargoed stamps.
Sheets were delivered yesterday. Under seal. There is as always, a very prominent instruction “NOT TO BE SOLD BEFORE 23rd JANUARY 2014”.
Of course the problem with last minute instructions not to sell the stamps…is that some will “escape” either by accident or design. It is more than likely that a small post office in (say) West Cork or East Clare wont receive or misunderstand the instruction.
If thats the case, then there will be a few hundred stamps which should NOT have been issued.
And that makes them valuable if the stamps are TOTALLY withdrawn.
If the issue date is merely postponed, it means that “dated” stamps are a nice curiosity. …a nice stamp to have and while attracting a premium, not especially valuable.

So what happened?
Well the story is actually on the website of An Post.
The programme was approved and the stamp design approved.
The design…which I have seen …is a group of Irish Citizen Army personnel and a prominent ICA officer…Captain Jack White.
The ICA was formed as a consequence of the Dublin Lock Out. And Jack White, a former British officer in the Boer War was one of the main organisers. And the problem is that a prominent academic at NUIG (Liam? Keohane) has said that the person on the stamp is NOT Captain Jack White.
So understandably An Post has had to withdraw the stamp.
Whether it is deferred or turns out to be permanent is embarrassing because of course these things are subject to a high degree of scrutiny.

There is strangely a “Northern” connexion. Jack White was a North Antrim man. Indeed a Protestant but threw himself into Socialism in the early part of the 20th Century.
Ironically he had no direct part in the Easter Rising of 1916 but was actually briefly imprisoned in the aftermath. He had tried to mobilise British coal miners to strike in support of James Connolly. This was of course during World War One.
White is one of those maverick figures in Irish history. I would categorise him as a socialist internationalist, rather than a nationalist. He certainly fought in the republican side in the Spanish Civil War.
White actually settled back in the Ballymena area of County Antrim.

I bet you never realised that Stamp Collecting was this …er…interesting.
You will all be delighted to know that some day I might tell you about the Great Stamp Collecting Controversy of 1995.

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Mallie, Paisley…And Mrs Paisley Too

Posted on January 21, 2014 by fitzjameshorse

So Part Two of The Great Interview.
It had already been screened to the Belfast Press Corps on Friday last week and under embargo until Midnight Sunday night.
This meant that the three Belfast newspapers and BBC and UTV were able to splash the story all day Monday. This meant that all the best quotes were already in the public domain long before we all sat down to watch it. It also meant that the DUP could get out rebuttals in advance of the broadcast.
Curiously this meant that the BBC got a massive audience but paradoxically the programme did not have the explosive impact it should have had.
Indeed the programme did little more than provide links to the quotes we already knew.

What did we learn? Well Mrs Paisley (aka Baroness Paisley) had as much to say as her hubby. Clearly there is LOVE there. And there is that old cliche that “behind every Great Man is ….” More so Eileen was standing by her man and indeed standing behind her over-indulged son, Ian Junior. Not so long ago we referred to them as Papa Doc and Baby Doc.
And of course the other cliche brought to mind is that “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”.

Frankly Nobody came out of this well. Certainly NOT Eamonn Mallie.
Maura Lyons, Eugene Reavey, Kincora…no questions.
Paisley is a man who started his own Church, started his own political party, started his own Orange Order. A control freak…but even allowing for several houjrs of interview edited to two hours, there is little excuse for Mallie leaving out key questions. The one thing left to the control freak was to control his legacy and Mallie facilitated this….albeit in the knowledge he had a scoop in the revelations about Paisley and the broken relationship with the DUP and Free Presbyterian Church.

We are talking DYNASTIC family politics here.
The Paisleys.
Ian…over forty years at Westminster as MP or “Lord”. Often double-jobbing as MLA and even First Minister.
Ian Junior…MLA (resigned) succeeded his father as MP. Was a Junior Minister.
Eileen…wife, mother and …oddly…member of House of “Lords”.
Swish (sic) Family Robinson…
Peter. Current First Minister, MLA, former MP.
Iris. Former MLA and MP
The Dodds Clan.
Nigel. Current MP. Previously MLA. Previously a Minister.
Diane.Current MEP.

Eileen might well feel that they owe it all to her husband. But the reality is that they got their start in Politics on his coat trails and fostered their own careers since. And theres a few other DUP dynasties out there.

Much has been made of Paisley as King Lear. A man who no longer understands the world. But I think of it as King Richard III….Richard (Paisley) against Henry Tudor (Robinson)…and the watching Stanleys (Dodds) weighs in on the winning side.

There is a warmth about Paisley that Robinson does not have. Yet it was bitter and personal. Paisley punched below the belt with “I am happily married and still live with my wife”. Eileen spoke of “sleaze” in the Robinson home. And Dodds as a “cheeky sod”…anyone else recall the DUP campaign to “Save Ulster From Sodomy”?
We also learned that the DUP Special Advisor hovering around behind Paisley (once) and Robinson (now) is called Timothy Johnston and Eileen wanted to “shove his survey down his throat”…a testimony to the restrained nature of unionism. In nationalism, it would have been shoved in an upward direction.

Can we say with Certainty, that Paisley opposed the Good Friday Agreement until the position of First Minister fell to him? Or can we say that in the years after 1998, he was able to get concessions from Sinn Fein on de-commissioning weapons that no other unionist could have done?
Was the affable, “chuckle brother” the right image for the New Norn Iron and the wrong image for Unionism? Did Paisley fulfil a year-long necessary role before being ousted by Robinson?
The bottom line is that we all knew in 2007 and 2008 that Paisley was in his eighties and had lost “something”. He had to go?

Yet some blasts from the Past. Eileen bemoaned the loss of Desmond Boals friendship. Young folks wont know Desmond Boal QC. A dissident unionist in the O’Neill era, he threw his lot in with Paisley and gave the DUP some respectability, oddly balancing the only other DUP politician, the barely literate Johnny McQuade.
But Boal gave up politics (in 1973?) for the Law.
And Rev Ivan Foster…now bald …but I dont think Ive seen him since he was a firebrand young preacher man in the Free Presbyterian Church in the 1960s. He was (with Rev William Beattie) usually at Paisleys side but he too gave up Politics around the same time…for the Free Presbyterian Church.

Boal and Foster were an odd double whammy. Fundamentalist politician and fundamentalist Christian. Representatives of Paisleys double life. Fundamentalists DONT do compromise and in compromising, Paisley sealed his fate with his political and (later) Church friends.
They removed him as Leader of the DUP.
They removed him as Moderator of the Free Presbyterian Church.
And now his family dont even worship at his “home” church, the Martyrs Memorial.

Yet at times, Paisley seemed to have the old twinkle.
Asked by Mallie how he would react to a relationship between one of his children and a Catholic, he laughed and talked about getting himself a big stick…and then more humanely adding that “my love would be greater than my hurt”…the feeling ALL parents know.

Mallie mused at the end that the Obituarists (sic) would need to re-write their scripts.
And maybe that was the whole point.
This interview with 87 year old Paisley was a VIRTUAL Obituary.
There is the unspoken knowledge that there will be a REAL Obituary soon enough.
Microphones will be put into the faces of Robinson, Dodds and the rest…and especially in the short term that will be uncomfortable.
Robinson…The Beast…has declined to speak on specific issues the programme raised. Blessing Paisley “with the mercy of his silence”.
But can he really forget that Paisley portrayed him as a cuckold last night?
Dodds dismissed as a “cheeky sod” last night by Eileen Paisley. An opportunist ingrate.

Not so long ago, we assumed that Paisley would die as a kinda unlikely Nelson Mandela. A State Funeral perhaps at Stormont to underscore the whole new Norn Iron narrative. We are alleged to need a unifying figure but its not Rev Ian Paisley.
We have had the Good Friday Agreement…Peace…Passivity.
The Meek might inherit the Earth…but they did not inherit Norn Iron.
On one side it was Paisley, Robinson and Dodds.
On the other side it was Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness and Gerry Kelly.
The Men who were around in the bad times (and arguably contributed to the bad times) are now in charge implementing the Recovery.

So Paisleys funeral is likely to be a modest affair. Will Peter and Iris Robinson be there? Nigel and Diane Dodds? Desmond Boal?
Maybe it will fall to the other “chuckle brother” Martin McGuinness to lead the official mourning.
Talk about Irony?
Yet it makes sense. Leaving aside violence and mayhem (on all sides), Treason is NOT a bad thing. Indeed its part of the Irish way of life and any Irishman who goes to his grave NOT committing Treason should be ashamed of himself.
I have absolutely no problem with Treason.
But I DO have a problem with Treachery.

The conventional wisdom is that this will not harm the DUP electorally. I am not so sure.
There is the Ian Paisley Junior factor.
He is MP for North Antrim, a staunchly DUP constituency. Junior would be stupid to resign from the Party and go Independent. Yes he has the Paisley “name” but its a “name” that will degrade over the years. And probably the DUP “name” is just as useful. With North Antrim, already holding a TUV, UUP and at least one nationalist quota, I dont think Paisley is the force that people think. He lacks charisma and has an air of “entitlement”.
The broader picture…I think this depends on the Timing.There are local and European elections in 2014, Westminster elections in 2015 and Assembly elections in 2016. Rev Ian Paisley is 87 years old and in poor health. This could be an unforeseen issue.

But ultimately a lot depends on the OTHER parties and their willingness to actually go after the DUP. The DUP are weakened by this. Kick them hard.

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As The Fan Hits The Shit…

Posted on January 20, 2014 by fitzjameshorse

So the DUP are rubbishing tonight’s Big Interview.
Ian Paisley in conversation with Eamonn Mallie.

I am all prepared …coca cola and two packets of Tayto Prawn Cocktail. Its going to be that kinda night.
Nothing worse than a woman scorned and “Lady Paisley” looks like she might scratch a few eyes out.
And the Boy Paisley (Ian Junior) largely invisible (in media terms) since being at Westminster might move centre stage this week…defending the Aged Parent.

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SDLP And Health

Posted on January 18, 2014 by fitzjameshorse

About ten days ago, a family friend and young mother took her 2year old child to the Accident and Emergency Department in a major hospital. The child had injured an arm and the young mother needed re-assurance that there was no break.
After spending several hours in A&E, the young mother was informed there was no break. “Its painful. But she can move her arm”. So thats ok then. An XRay? “No ….she can move her arm”.
As many will know, this was around the same time of well reported difficulties in A&E in several Norn Iron hospitals. Notably the Royal Victoria Hospital inB elfast.
On Monday, I went to my local General Practitioner to make an appointment to see him.
The earliest appointment I can get….3rd February.

Its a very peculiar thing that it is now much more difficult to see a Doctor than it was fifty years ago.
I am thinking of our old family doctor with the one-man practice on the Falls Road. Aided only by his two spinster sisters, he was already an old man.
An UN imposing small man yet with an authorative demeanour, he served the people of the Falls Road for almost fifty years, retiring in the 1970s
As I recall, he had two daily surgeries. No appointments necessary. Just turn up and one of the two sisters would show you into a waiting room and eventually you would be seen.
He lived in the Cliftonville area of North Belfast. But an emergency call and he would arrive at our house. My father had a chronic heart condition.
Back in those days the only car parking outside our house was likely to be driven by a Doctor.
Actually in those days there were several one-man Doctors surgeries.
The “Wee Doc” was one such Doctor.
Many years later, I learned he had actually been awarded a medal for his service (for the British) in World War One.

I like our current doctors….been going there for over thirty years. The older doctors from the 1980s have retired and/or died. The (then) young doctors are now running the place and there are young doctors there now, who are actually younger than my children.
Thats how it goes. I know I am old and its a cliche but doctors do appear to be barely out of their teens.

So what exactly has happened. Mostly its beaurocry.
Politicians…such as current Health Minister Edwin Poots run a big budget Depratment.
And for twenty odd years, we have seen Ministers protect themselves by building walls between their overseeing Department and our local Health Boards and Trusts.
The Beaurocrats are well paid to ensure that staff are overworked and underpaid and that budgetary cuts can be passed off as…improvements.

But what exactly do if you are ill. Well one of the seven doctors in our local practice might actually make a house call during normal working hours.
After normal working hours, it is necessary to phone the After Hours service based in the grounds of the local hospital. The advice depends on the Doctor who is actually on duty. I have never had occasion to use the service except for one son and my grandchildren.
There always seems to be an element of negotiation before the Doctor relents “bring him/her over”.
There is rarely any satisfaction.
Most people seem happier to drive an extra 200 metres to the Emergency Department at the hospital.
And there does seem to be a territorial war between General Practitioner/After hours Doctor/Hospital. Actually getting some Doctor to be responsible is an achievement.

But while politicians and journalists focus on Flegs, Parades, the Past, Richard Haass and Eamonn Mallies documentary on Ian Paisley…the thing that real people seem bothered about is the obvious deterioration in the Health Service.

Prompted largely by the anecdotal evidence provided by its own Constituency Advice Centres, SDLP will be holding a Conference on Health tomorrow. Arranged at short notice, it will involve health professionals and trade union representatives. No doubt all will be expressing concern.
It IS a crisis.

The nature of Norn Iron politics is that the two unionist parties are CONSERVATIVE and not sympathetic. The Alliance Party is…as always non-committal to anything but itself.
The two parties most sympathetic to the Health Service is the socialist leaning SDLP and Sinn Fein.
Sinn Fein are too wedded to the current government.

SDLP seems the most likely to express genuine concern. After all Alasdair McDonnell, the Party Leader IS a DOCTOR. Deputy Leader Dolores Kelly is also a former Health Service worker. In part its philosophy….public health service is key belief of a Social Democrat party but just about every SDLP member at every level will have a family member in the Health Service.

Earlier this week trade unions from the Public Sector…NIPSA and UNISON turned up at Stormont to lobby MLAs on Public Sector pensions. As always the “go to Party” is SDLP.
And SDLP pledges support.

But frankly Support is a two way street. SDLP philosophy and actual policy is close to the thinking of health professionals and their representatives in trade unions and other bodies.
Sadly the trade unions have manifestly failed to endorse their political friends….preferring to join the ridiculous Labour NI or the even more ridiculous Workers Party ….or simply pretend to be members.

SDLP has stepped up to the plate. A little support….or even electoral endorsement ….too much to ask for?

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Congratulations Peter Osborne

Posted on January 16, 2014 by fitzjameshorse

The Czar of Russia would like to send best wishes to Peter Osborne, the new Chair of the Community Relations Commission…a Quango
Until last month Peter was Chair of the Parades Commission…a Quango.
We are indeed lucky that Peter has the “skills set” to Chair both these important public bodies.
Peter Osborne must be pretty good at “Chairing”. He is a previous Chair of a political party…the Alliance Party.

Peter Osborne is not to be confused with the Alliance Party’s most recent Chair…Glyn Roberts who was appointed to the Parades Commission last month…as a rank and file member (£22,000 per annum). Unfortunately Glyn had to resign within a few days due to logistical difficulties.

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Centenarians should apply for President’s Bounty

Posted on January 16, 2014 by fitzjameshorse

This is interesting and thanks to My SDLP colleague Councillor Donal Cunningham for pointing it out.
If I live thirty nine more years and get to be 100 years old, Mrs Windsor or more likely her successor (if the monarchy still exists…will send me a Birthday Card.
But the President of Ireland will send me a letter congratulating me….and over €2,500….which is pretty sweet.
On hearing this, Mrs FitzjamesHorse has vowed to keep me alive.
With my luck….when I am 99…
Still another reason why Nationalism is better than Unionism.

ballycastlesdlp's avatarBallycastle SDLP

higgins

Ballycastle SDLP Councillor Dónal Cunningham has reminded centenarians and their families that they are entitled to a very substantial bounty from the President of Ireland on attaining their 100th birthday.

 Dónal Cunningham said “Many people are unaware that on their 100th birthday they can apply for the Centenarian Bounty from the President of Ireland.  Those born on the island of Ireland and living in Northern Ireland are eligible.  The bounty consists of a payment of 2540 euros and a letter of congratulations from the President.  There can be a small local ceremony or the whole thing can be done privately.  On the 101st and subsequent birthdays, the recipient receives a commemorative coin from the President.”

“It is good that more and more people are living to 100, and they should be aware of this entitlement.   It is good to mark such an achievement in this way.  It is very…

View original post 19 more words

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Dr Paisley And Mr Boswell?

Posted on January 14, 2014 by fitzjameshorse

Ah Dr Paisley and Mr Boswell.
No Dr Johnson and Mr Mallie.
No its Dr Paisley and Mr Mallie.

Rev Dr Ian Richard Kyle Paisley (aka “Lord” Bannside) Theologian former Politician and International Statesman and Eamonn Mallie, fearless investigative reporter, doyen of the (dwindling) Norn Iron Press Corps and the Man Who Explains Norn Iron to TV Stations all over the World.
How was it for you?
Mallie increasingly resembles his Parody.
But I also thought his interviewing style was as robust as… Piers Morgan.

What exactly was it all about? Mallie claims to know Mr & Mrs Paisley for over three decades and would certainly be aware that it all that time, he has never got the better of the Big Man.
I am not sure if he did or didnt last night. It would be much the same as a 60 year old Heavyweight Boxer trying to get the better of 75 year old Muhammed Ali. The odds favour the younger man but theres no real glory in it.
I wonder how the Programme started out.
Did Mallies People contact Paisleys People?
Did Paisleys People contact Mallies People?
A kinda venture that facilitates both…the journo gets a scoop and a two hours of television spread over two weeks and gives Eamonn Mallie the chance to perfect his “look at me…dont I look athorative?” gestures.
Also facilitating Paisley of course. A chance to set the record straight. Or if you prefer …settle old scores.
Curiously the one minutes trailer for next weeks installment was more interesting than the preceding fifty nine minutes.
And maybe thats the meat of the programme.
A few years ago Paisley suffered a “double whammy”. He was removed as Moderator of the Free Presbyterian Church. And removed as Leader of the DUP.
He…and Mrs Paisley who only featured in the trailer for next week….seem resentful.

Mallie did himself few favours.
Did he mention Maura Lyons…and the case that made Paisley, previously just another bible thumper in a big tent….a household name on the Falls Road in the 1950s.
Just about every time that Paisley appeared on TV, my Auntie Sheila shouted “Maura Lyons” at him. Auntie Sheila died in 2004.
And when Paisley mentioned Kingsmills last night, Mallie curiously avoided mentioning that the Big man had used House of Commons privelege to name an individual(a member of a previously bereaved family) as a perpetrator. Completely wrong (the kindest interpretation).

Clearly the programme set up was curious. The impression could have been given that Terence O’Neill resigned as a consequence of the violence of August 1969. In fact he had resigned some months before.
But perhaps most odd was Paisleys assertion that 1950s and 1960s Norn Iron lacked Justice….the unfair voting system, the discrimination in Housing etc was wrong. But curiously he could not support Civil Rights demands because the Civil Rights people believed in a United Ireland.
Once again Boswell…I mean Mallie…..did not push the point. A very obvious point that Paisley actively supported the status quo.

Paisley did not exactly come thru the night well.
He demeaned himself with too many “I cant recall….” And too much certainty that he was right.
Yet what can we expect?
As just about every commentator has noted.
Paisley formed his own Free Presbyterian Church.
Paisley formed his own Independent Orange Order.
Paisley formed his own political Party, the DUP.
And for that matter his own newspaper.
And of course he became First Minister in a Government, set up by the Good Friday Agreement, which he opposed.
He never did anything where he was not the Leader.
He is the ultimate control freak.
So last night he tried to control History. Re-writing it. And failing. And settling his Legacy. And failing.

Peter Robinson came thru it quite well.
With just about every viewer shouting “thats not right” every five minutes …at the TV screen, it means that Robinsons contradiction of the Paisley version of Clontibret will have a degree of credibility.
Also resonating will be Robinsons statement that this kinda interview would be better conducted when memories are fresh. Again it SEEMS a kindly interpretation.

Peter Robinson was Deputy Leader of DUP for a very long time. Other Paisley sidekicks, Rev William Beattie and “Major” Ronnie Bunting were not politicians to be taken seriously.
Robinson survived.
In part Paisley at his prime aged (say) 57 could afford to point at “The Boy Peter” (age 34).
It was an imbalance.
Now Robinson is 64 and Paisley is 87.
It is all change.

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The Paisley Interview

Posted on January 11, 2014 by fitzjameshorse

Possibly the most dominant figure in Norn Iron history is the Rev Dr Ian Paisley. He is now 87 years old and is currently not very well.
Is he the most divisive figure in History?
Or the most unifying?

Put more bluntly, is he one of the main reasons, Norn Iron descended into violence? Or is he one of the main reasons that we found a way out? Or is he both?
We talk about a decade of Centenaries that we must negotiate our way thru. How do we handle the upcoming Centenary of the First World War? The Easter Rising? The Somme?
For the record, I have always believed that these Centenaries should not be “handled”. No self-respecting Historian should be (for a fee) advising Governments on how Centenaries must be “handled”.
The Truth is the Truth is the Truth.
But we have proved incapable of “handling” 1690 (Battle of the Boyne) and 2014 (Haass Talks)….we cannot be expected to deal with 1916.
As I am 61 years old…I can actually remember the 1960s….I choose to think of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the these events.
We are (again) in Pre-Conflict rather than Post-Conflict mode.
And we should not under-estimate the Unexpected.

Rev Ian Paisley is…I say again ….87 years old.
The Queen of England …Mrs Windsor…is around the same age.
The “Duke of Edinburgh” is in his 90s.
“Prince Charles” is 65 years old.
For that matter I am 61 years old.
I dont want to be tasteless or crass but you probably see where I am going with this.
The Decade will end sooner rather than later for many of us.

All of which makes the two “set piece interviews …Paisley and veteran local journalist Eamonn Mallie…quite interesting.
Your reaction might well depend on your reaction to Mallie as much as Paisley.
You might hold the view that Mallie is “peerless” the doyen of Belfast journos….whose insights are sought on 24 Hour News Channels around the world.
(When Norn iron needs explained….Mallie always seems willing).
Or you might hold the view that Mallie is a pompous, self-obsessed faux “Renaissance Man” who is a legend in his own lunchtime.
I make no comment.

Yet the two interviews…and a book deal (??????)…is a scoop for Eamonn.
We should look forward to seeing him in Ian Whytes in Dublin with an auction catalogue.
But what’s in it for 87 year old Ian Paisley?

History can be well served. But will it?
Is it a glorified Autobiography…the most unreliable form of History? Is Eamonn effectively ghost-writing the newest Paisley narrative.
Leaked spoilers appear to be a mixed bag.
We are told that 87 year old Paisley believes Catholics were treated badly in Norn Iron. That surely is to be welcomed. But would History have been different if 37 year old Paisley believed this?
It is certainly reasonable from a unionist perspective that Paisley believed the Civil Rights movement to have been used by “nationalists”.
And his account of Clontibret….a slightly absurd but potentially dangerous “invasion” of a County Monaghan border village by loyalists led by his Deputy …Peter Robinson, now First Minister.
Its an escapade that Robbo The Statesman would like to forget.
The Paisley version is that it was pretty stupid? The Robbo version…we are told …is that the Big Man organised it and that Robbo deputised.
Certainly we can speculate that there is no love lost between Paisley (and presumably the Paisley political dynasty) and Robinson (and presumably the Robinson political dynasty).
Shockingly Paisley is alleged to say that the Irish Government policies were primarily the reason that bombs exploded in Dublin and Monaghan killing almost thirty people.
These bombs are believed to have been the result of collusion between loyalists and RUC “rogue” elements and British Intelligence “handlers”.

Just a few weeks ago, Gerry Adams was castigated for callously suggesting that two RUC Officers were lax about their own security and it led to their deaths, after leaving Dundalk Garda Station.
Paisley is therefore just as callous as Adams, who was lambasted by the “peerless” journalists in Dublin 4 and the “peerless” website Slugger O’Toole.

Let me be clear here. Private citizens like you and me have a certain licence to say things. Because we largely express these views to a limited private circle of family and friends.
You might therefore have expressed views on the deaths of (say) President Kennedy, Che Guevara, the Twin Towers, Margaret Thatcher, General Pinochet, paratroopers at Narrow Water…..if you did not, then you have certainly heard callous things said. And certainly if you knew that your views were in the public domain, you might have chosen a reasonable form of words.
To that very narrow extent, I have a certain sympathy with Adams and Paisley.
In being direct about those RUC deaths and Dublin-Monaghan, they were not expressing view that have not been heard before…representative of a stream of nationalist and unionist thought.
Of course Paisley is much more popular than Gerry Adams in the Dublin Media…and of course Slugger O’Toole. Dont expect a lot of threads on how shocking Paisleys thoughts are. Expect the word “context” to be used a lot.

But will Mr Mallie, a South Armagh man mention the three Reavey Brothers, murdered in 1976?
Will he mention that Paisley, then a Member of Parliament used House of Commons privelege to name a fourth brother as involved in a reprisal killing?
It was of course complete nonsense…but the Big Man has not so far been big enough to admit his part in a gross injustice?
Credit therefore to another South Armagh man…Dominic Bradley MLA ….for daring to keep this in the public domain.

Will Slugger O’Toole dare mention the Reavey Brothers?
Is there not at least a duty on Paisley to face up to this?
Slugger are often tenacious about other injustices….Jean McConville for example.

But wasn’t Eamonn Mallie, one of the journos to whom the cuckolded Peter Robinson poured out his heart four years ago?
Is this going to be as robust as Mallie claims?
Or will it feature “Lord Paisley” and “Lady Bannside” walking in a garden with obligatory elderly Labrador (hired from Central Casting) to show the softer side of the Great Statesman? Our very own Nelson Mandela.
I will judge Mr Mallie, not so much on the questions Paisley answers but rather the subjects that a lesser journalist than Eamonn might be tempted to forget.
Here is a handy check list for you to tick as Mallie brings them up.
Maura Lyons.
Valerie Shaw.
Reavey Brothers.

If you have to look these names up on Wikipedia, then it is probably evidence that Mallie needs to mention them.

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Politics, Protest….Social Media

Posted on January 9, 2014 by fitzjameshorse

Politics and the Influence of Social Media.

I am not convinced by the claims that Social Media have a significant effect on Norn Iron politics. Or at least, I was not convinced until Twitter, Facebook and YouTube posts appeared which poured scorn on the Fleggers and the Paraders…and more recently Republican dissidents and even more recently Norn Iron politicians in general.
Maybe Tinternet is the authentic voice of Opposition. But it is all based on an elitist attitude…Satire rather than Philosophy.
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So a seminar 10th December at University of Ulster Belfast Campus.
Participants|
Dr Orna Young…(Chair)
Alan Meban….New Media Enthusiast and Slugger O’Toole regular.
Dr Dave Magee
Harriet Young
Brian Spencer
Dr Paul Reilly.

About twenty-three people in attendance. These included Leading Flegger and the target of much ridicule, Jamie Bryson. Mr Bryson was accompanied by some friends.

Nice to see Alan on the platform.
Alan spoke first and he sees Blogging in the same context as the cheap pamphlets in the Linenhall Library, a means of getting a message across, using the means available at the time. While leading politicians here use social media, it is soft focus stuff, no hard politics. Bloggers should not kid themselves that they have changed the world. But Blogging does provide a safe space for the politically active.
Mentioning Platform for Change, Alan noted their comparative invisibility in terms of online presence. And Occupy Belfast was embarrassingly contradictory.
Acknowledging Jamie Bryson’s attendance, Alan spoke of the “exclusive friendship club” which existed before Bryson, Willie Frazer and others became part of the de facto leadership of the Protestors. The Movement did not grow out of a “hashtag”… It grew out of Orange halls and band membership.
Loyalists Against Democracy….from Satire, Lampooning, Ridicule, Mocking, alleged Bullying, crossing the line into Viciousness. LAD need to get a grip on their output.
Is Twitter…an online Peace Wall, where people can chuck verbal bricks over a wall?
NI21…is it the new political party for the Facebook Generation?

Dave Magee is a recent “PhD” and a Peace Activist. TV, print media was now dead and that social media had taken over, he revealed himself to be in a bubble.
He misses the point that Bloggers live in a Blogging World. Is he really correct that it provides a “voice for the voiceless”. Surely Norn Irons Academic Community are the noisiest voiceless people that I have ever met.
Dave claims people can now form their own narrative…..that may be true but are academics not involved in controlling the narrative….as indeed they probably should in terms of History.
The Internet is a tool for Peace and Activism.
Dave made the excellent point that the Internet was as much about Mass Surveillance as Mass Communication and we should maybe be as wary of the Internet NOT being banned as we are about it being banned.
Dave referenced Chesea Manning (convincingly) and Julian Assange (less so) but it maybe stretches things to talk about the “military occupation of civilian life”. It seemed to enter “tin foil hat” territory with “they” are spying on everyone and checking out who is talking to whom. Are “they” really that interested in Fracking activists, wind farm activists and….Cambridge University students.
Dave seems obsessed with Activism….he is involved with peace activists, feminists, musicians, poets, LGBT, vegetable growers..and people who make soup (??????)….who are bound by a committment to Justice…..Gender, Poverty, Economics.
He is involved with the Compromise After Conflict “team”….and Dave fell into jargon ….blogs from “stake-holders” which undermined the better points he made.
But really this is a man who has spent too much time with (loyalist) ex-prisoners and touring bonfire sites on the 11th July. Wanting to highlight the “good work” done by loyalist ex-prisoners and referencing “progressive elements” in UVF….is really just an academic form of the Stockholm Syndrome.
Explaining Fascists….even “progressive” fascists to the World…is not something I would want to do.

Is Harriet Long related to Naomi Long? I dont know (my wife just asked me) She is a community worker. Particuarly with families and this leads to a broader interest in Peace and Reconciliation. Social Media has introduced Harriet to IDEAS. Her own Blog is quite open…she does not hide behind a screen name.
Blogging is
1 a voice for the voiceless.
2 encourages dialogue (building bridges).
3 establishes Harriet’s place at the table.
Devolping the first point, Harriet did seem to understand that there was a REAL voiceless community that the Academics dont get to hear. Predictably many of these voices are women.
Theres not enough time given to these voices.
On the second point, Harriet spoke about Norn Iron having many people like herself. Educated and committed to a Community….a narrative has emerged that people have been forgotten.
I think she over-stated the whole “caring” thing in the broader community. Too defensive about East Belfast in general. Yet I think her basic point was correct.
A Social Media “table”? More jargon?
She holds a list of forty people …subversives who could change the conversation in Civic Society.
(Actually Id forgotten she had said that until I read my notes….Oh my God….there WILL be a LetsGetAlongerist coup d’état.) But isnt it interesting that when people talk about “inclusivity” they are really only talking about kindred spirits.
Anyway Id be surprised if I was on Harriet’s Little List.
Harriet believes Institutions in Norn Iron are on their way out but….to be replaced by Social Media?
It is frankly glib to talk about Non Traditional Leadership…nonsensical jargon. “I want to hear from the care-givers”.
Brian Spencer is well known as a Blogger and an occasional cartoonist on Slugger O’Toole.
Brian is a former law student and is now a “legal blogger” and artist. He outlined areas of the law that applied to Bloggers.
These included contempt of court, stalking, intimidation or being offensive. He cited the example of the “joke tweet” that mentioned blowing up an airport. Reference also made to how reputations can be damaged and it can be costly as in the case of Sally Bercow. The response of the Law has been robust, even heavy handed.
The basic lesson is “Think Before You Tweet”.
The Internet has produced a rise in people using social media but in Norn Iron, sectarianism “has grown a new head”.
The lesson from the Courts is “tweet at your own risk”. Brian himself believes the answer is in Education rather than Regulation.
Referring to Loyalists Against Democracy, Brian spoke of Humour, Satire and Balance.
The success ofLAD is due to the “Muzzled Moderate” finding a voice.
Brian actually welcomes the criticism that LAD is offensive or bullying. People have to stand up to the tiny minority, destroying the reputations of us all….turning Norn Iron into a “racketeering bucket shop”.
The power of the dissidents…unionist and republican ….has gone unchecked too long.
He gave examples of loyalists using extreme racism and sectarianism to counter that they were hardly convincing victims of bullying.
Brian was also critical of those liberals who denounced LAD of being elitist.
Credit to Brian Spencer.
Whether directly (Alan Meban) or indirectly (Dave Magee and Harriet Long) there was a certain acceptance that Jamie Bryson was in the room. There was a sense of punches being pulled.
So…Brian…a liberal unionist…pulled no punches.
A LetsGetAlongerist with Attitude.

Paul Reilly is writing a book about Social Media and Protest.
Political Parties dont yet see votes in Social Media.
Fringe Parties such as the Greens seem more ready to embrace the new media.
For Republican and Unionist residents groups, its not really about Dialogue. Its about getting the views of their own community.
I’m not sure why this surprises Paul.
No Party, No Group exists to provide a kinda Entertainment for Academics.
It is NOT a Game.
Likewise it cannot realistically surprise that residents groups use mass (old) media. The clue is surely in the word “mass” getting a message out to the largest number of people. That means Newspapers and Newsletters distributed door to door rather than a Website.
In a broader sense Technology is still the TOOL. It is not the DRIVER.
All of the Political Parties are aware of a resource issue with online presence. Paul mentioned a Stratagem (hiya Quintin) report which shows that a lot of MLAs (96% maybe) use Twitter, Facebook etc.
The Flegs Dispute. Paul notes a disenchantment with unionist politics. And sectarian exchanges and angry moderates.

Interesting that during the break…excellent tea and scones…quite a lot of participants introduced themselves to or re-acquainted themselves with Jamie Bryson.
Struck me as odd. Twelve months previously Jamie Bryson was a Nobody. Now he is a Player.
I did not introduce myself to Jamie Bryson.
And really a bit disappointed that so many seemingly intelligent and certainly educated people wanted to pay court to him.
Its not that I am a snob.
I am probably the best part of forty years older than Mr Bryson. Yet I feel I know him all my life. I am perhaps a mirror image.
Jamie Bryson is a working class Protestant, Unionist and Loyalist.
I am a working class Catholic, Nationalist and Republican.
I know exactly how he ticks. I dont have to ask him how he thinks. Alas the PhD Students need to hear “authentic working class voices”.
But there the similarity ends. No PhD student wants to hear my authentic, working class voice.
Did I stop becoming an authentic, working class voice when I got seven O Levels? Or was it the two A Levels? Or was it the Degree in History and Politics?
Unlike Jamie Bryson, I remain a Nobody.
I cant be patronised by Academics. Nor am I a useful source for an authentic thesis.
Nor am I accepted on equal terms.
Yet if the Academics think that “authentic working class heroes” ….nationalist or republican ….can be used or tamed, they are mistaken.
Academics can be bought at Queens University and sold at the University of Ulster and they wouldn’t even know they were in a parcel.
Academics confer a degree (no pun intended) on ex-prisoners, ex-combatants.
Its street cred….being on first name terms with a leading Conflict Resolutionist bestows respectability on a street fighter.
Being on first name terms with a street fighter gives the wannabe academic some kudos.

The mystique of the Belfast Street Fighter is long standing. There are even university modules which name-check Buck Alec, Stormy Weatherall and Silver McKee. Yet such people would have held little mystique for my father. And the generations of subsequent street fighters hold little mystique for me.
Which is why Journalists and Academics inhabit a curious neutral zone, where I can never be.
It is the best part of forty years since I first heard the story of the Female Dublin journalist who boasted to colleagues of her “first Protestant”, a UDA man. Of course I did know a young woman from nationalist Belfast who fell into similar hands in a UDA Romper Room.
And what about the journalist twenty years ago who asked a UDA Thug “am I the first Catholic to be in your car?” And got the reply “well youre the first LIVING one”
How we laughed.
Except of course if youre not a journalist.

After the Break…
Key Words…as usual….Disenfranchisement, Women, Negativity.
No seminar is ever complete without these keywords being used at least once.
But its a bit lazy.
Disenfranchisement….surely the letsGetAlongerist-Conflict Resolutionist campaign to produce a homogenous, middle-ground society….is more likely to produce low turn-outs than Conviction Politics.
Women….yeah that old cliche that if our politicians were all women, we would have less trouble. Someday I must introduce the Panel to the women in my life. But …seriously that notion is patronising to women.
Negativity….ah yes we must never be negative. Negativity (or Reality) is not allowed.

It is now over a month since this event. Apologies for delay in Blogging. I have been suffering from a broken nose (dont ask!) and possibly I have Seminar Fatigue.
Some good questions from the “Floor”….star quality audience.
Yet there is something uncomfortable about it for me.
Another Seminar…and I am rapidly becoming a One Trick Pony. I made the same tired point…I even bored myself…That LetsGetAlongerists, Conflict Resolutionists, MetroTextuals and Academics are in a cosy middle ground controlling the Norn I iron Blogosphere.
But you all know that anyway.

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