![\"\"](\"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/th-21.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The period\u00a0following September’s mass\u00a0Orange demonstration in Belfast commemorating the signing of the Ulster\u00a0Covenant\u00a0the event\u00a0leading to Ireland’s Nakba, the partition of the country and generations of violence, colonial rule and sectarian division was followed by widespread expressions of relief and hope for the\u00a0future.<\/p>\n
There\u00a0had\u00a0been no violence. The\u00a0Orange\u00a0Order had\u00a0said\u00a0they\u00a0were\u00a0sorry for\u00a0the hurt feelings of nationalists. They\u00a0had\u00a0even\u00a0spoken\u00a0to\u00a0a\u00a0priest. By\u00a0and large\u00a0they\u00a0had\u00a0obeyed the\u00a0determination of\u00a0the\u00a0Parades Commission and, aside from the\u00a0usual\u00a0demonstrations\u00a0of\u00a0sectarian\u00a0hatred\u00a0outside\u00a0two\u00a0churches\u00a0and\u00a0one\u00a0bandsman\u00a0urinating\u00a0on\u00a0a\u00a0church,\u00a0things\u00a0had\u00a0gone\u00a0well.<\/p>\n
But\u00a0things\u00a0were\u00a0bound\u00a0to\u00a0go\u00a0well.\u00a0The\u00a0determination\u00a0that the Orange\u00a0Order “obeyed”\u00a0was written by themselves.\u00a0The\u00a0sequence\u00a0of\u00a0events\u00a0was as follows. The Loyalists had a\u00a0clear\u00a0run\u00a0on\u00a0the\u00a012th\u00a0July\u00a0demonstrations. Parade\u00a0Commission determinations\u00a0were minimal and Sinn Fein mobilized across the\u00a0North to police any protests. One\u00a0Loyalist band went viral on the internet doing a war dance outside a Catholic church and singing the sectarian “famine song”. All\u00a0this\u00a0is\u00a0perfectly\u00a0routine, other\u00a0than\u00a0exposure\u00a0on\u00a0the\u00a0internet.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Parades\u00a0Commission\u00a0banned the\u00a0Shankill band from an upcoming parade and banned all other bands from playing outside the\u00a0church.\u00a0The\u00a0outcome\u00a0was an upsurge in loyalist violence led by the\u00a0paramilitary\u00a0UVF,\u00a0political\u00a0support for the loyal\u00a0orders by the Unionist parties, including First Minister, Peter Robinson,\u00a0and mass defiance of the ban, alongside a tide\u00a0of publicly expressed sectarian hatred\u00a0astonishing\u00a0in\u00a0its\u00a0virulence.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0new\u00a0determination\u00a0from\u00a0the\u00a0Parades Commission\u00a0echoed\u00a0word\u00a0for\u00a0word\u00a0the Orange\u00a0Order press\u00a0statement\u00a0indicating\u00a0how\u00a0they would conduct\u00a0themselves\u00a0indeed\u00a0it\u00a0was the protest by\u00a0residents\u00a0that was constrained.\u00a0In\u00a0the meantime a Stormont debate\u00a0had\u00a0seen\u00a0unionists\u00a0politicians\u00a0unite\u00a0in\u00a0defence\u00a0of\u00a0loyalists\u00a0and\u00a0in\u00a0sectarian\u00a0jeering\u00a0at\u00a0their\u00a0opponents.<\/p>\n
There\u00a0is nothing\u00a0new\u00a0in\u00a0any of\u00a0this.\u00a0The\u00a0Parades\u00a0Commission\u00a0regularly\u00a0seek to inhibit the worst\u00a0excesses\u00a0of Orangeism,\u00a0only\u00a0to be\u00a0met\u00a0with\u00a0Orange\u00a0uprisings\u00a0and rapid retreats by\u00a0the state last\u00a0year’s riots in\u00a0North Belfast\u00a0and the UVF attack\u00a0on\u00a0Short Strand\u00a0come\u00a0to\u00a0mind.<\/p>\n
In\u00a0reality\u00a0the\u00a0only\u00a0people\u00a0to\u00a0support\u00a0the\u00a0Parades\u00a0Commission\u00a0are\u00a0the\u00a0nationalists,\u00a0including the Catholic Church and Sinn Fein,\u00a0despite\u00a0its\u00a0totally\u00a0undemocratic operation. The\u00a0latest\u00a0debacle\u00a0is\u00a0almost\u00a0bound\u00a0to\u00a0see\u00a0its\u00a0demise.<\/p>\n
It’s\u00a0on\u00a0the\u00a0behind\u00a0the\u00a0scenes\u00a0deals\u00a0on\u00a0a\u00a0replacement\u00a0for\u00a0the\u00a0Commission\u00a0that\u00a0the\u00a0hopes of the nationalists rest. The last\u00a0stitch\u00ad-up\u00a0would\u00a0have\u00a0made\u00a0most\u00a0trade\u00a0union demonstrations illegal and cleared the sectarian ones. It\u00a0collapsed\u00a0because it contained a commitment to talks with nationalist groups. Now\u00a0the Orange Order have said that they are sorry that nationalists are upset. They\u00a0have allowed districts flexibility to talk if they wish to a decision that ran alongside the receipt of a substantial peace grant from Europe. They\u00a0have\u00a0had quiet conversations with Catholic priests. The\u00a0Unionist political leadership have united behind the Loyal\u00a0orders\u00a0\u00adwhat\u00a0they\u00a0want\u00a0they\u00a0will\u00a0get.<\/p>\n
Sinn\u00a0Fein\u00a0have\u00a0been\u00a0outsmarted\u00a0yet\u00a0again.\u00a0They\u00a0thought\u00a0the\u00a0deal\u00a0meant\u00a0talks\u00a0with them.\u00a0The\u00a0Orange Order will\u00a0decide\u00a0who they speak to. They\u00a0hoped\u00a0their\u00a0call\u00a0for\u00a0“respect” would\u00a0lead\u00a0to\u00a0constraints on the\u00a0marches. The\u00a0Orange\u00a0Order will decide the arrangements for\u00a0marches. The\u00a0Shinners are discomfited,\u00a0but\u00a0no\u00ad-one\u00a0will care.\u00a0The\u00a0Catholic\u00a0church,\u00a0as\u00a0the\u00a0second\u00a0largest\u00a0sectarian group\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0North,\u00a0will\u00a0be\u00a0delighted\u00a0to\u00a0strike\u00a0deals.<\/p>\n
Behind the issue of\u00a0Sinn Fein\u00a0saving\u00a0face\u00a0there is the real issue.\u00a0All the\u00a0convulsions since\u00a0the start\u00a0of\u00a0the peace\u00a0process were\u00a0about\u00a0limiting the behavior\u00a0of\u00a0the Loyalists. They were\u00a0always\u00a0going to march and now they\u00a0will continue\u00a0to\u00a0march\u00a0with\u00a0little\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0way\u00a0of\u00a0constraint.<\/p>\n
Yet\u00a0the Orange Order\u00a0is a sectarian organization.\u00a0All\u00a0aspects\u00a0of\u00a0demonstrations\u00a0from\u00a0the\u00a0bonfires\u00a0on\u00a0are\u00a0filled\u00a0with\u00a0raw\u00a0sectarian\u00a0hatred.\u00a0They\u00a0are\u00a0committed\u00a0to\u00a0ensuring\u00a0the continued\u00a0sectarian division\u00a0of Northern\u00a0workers. The danger of\u00a0major\u00a0sectarian violence can only increase\u00a0as\u00a0austerity\u00a0bites\u00a0and the struggle\u00a0for sectarian\u00a0division\u00a0of\u00a0resources\u00a0increases.<\/p>\n
With\u00a0the\u00a0Covenant\u00a0celebrations\u00a0we\u00a0have a\u00a0mass\u00a0declaration\u00a0that Ulster is\u00a0British and will\u00a0remain\u00a0so.\u00a0We also have a declaration\u00a0that the mechanism of\u00a0British rule will continue\u00a0to be\u00a0Unionist dominion\u00a0and sectarian\u00a0intimidation.<\/p>\n
Sinn Fein and\u00a0the Nationalists\u00a0facilitate\u00a0this. That makes them\u00a0part\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0problem.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/th-41.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
When errors in tendering for main line rail services in Britain were found to lead to new costs of \u00a340 million there was a major political storm.<\/p>\n
When it was found that a massive con had led to the reemployment by the new police service of over 1000 former RUC members, retired as a result of the Patten Report in the most generous redundancy packet in history, and that it had cost over \u00a3100 million, there was hardly a ripple in the North of Ireland.<\/p>\n
The DUP, fresh from the loyalist triumph of the Ulster covenant centenary, brushed aside Sinn Fein complaints. The police lacked experienced officers to combat terrorism, they claimed. We should be thankful that the RUC officers were willing to accept another sack of money. What was \u00a3100 million or so to ensure security?<\/p>\n
Chief Constable Matt Baggot gave a good-natured shrug of his shoulders. Mistakes had been made and with the benefit of hindsight things could have been done differently.<\/p>\n
Sinn Fein could only splutter. Questions needed to be answered. The new recruits should have been trained up.<\/p>\n
Sinn Fein were unable to put the real case. The enormous sums spent in the Patton reforms were meant to sanitize a force with a long history of torture, of assassination and endemic collaboration with loyalist death squads. On the strength of Patten Sinn Fein supported the St. Andrews agreement that holds up the current administration and offered unconditional support for the police. They have gone on to call on their supporters to collaborate with the police in tracking down republican militants.<\/p>\n
Now the audit committees report shows that the reform was largely blunted and that the RUC culture survived. This was especially the case in enquiries into state killings. “Retired” officers here, busy investigating crimes alleged to have been committed by their colleagues, were earning so much that they were given help with tax avoidance by the police!<\/p>\n
Sinn Fein cannot admit this. It is no longer possible for them to change direction. What their leader, Martin McGuinness, says now in the face of growing unionist triumphalism, is that we are all on a journey on the road to peace and that unionism has not caught up with the Shinners.<\/p>\n
But the unionists have no journey to make. They were bribed but they didn’t stay bribed. Bribes didn’t stop the UVF rioting. They didn’t stop the Orange Order bigots pumping out their usual bile. It did not restrain unionist politicians.<\/p>\n
It is Sinn Fein who have been on a one-way journey. They can only hope that the universal culture of bribery and corruption that they have spawned will keep the unstable settlement afloat.
\nJohn McAnulty, 4 October 2012<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
COVENANT MARCHES PROMISE ENDLESS SECTARIANISM The period\u00a0following September’s mass\u00a0Orange demonstration in Belfast commemorating the signing of the Ulster\u00a0Covenant\u00a0the event\u00a0leading to Ireland’s Nakba, the partition of the country and generations of violence, colonial rule and sectarian division was followed by widespread expressions of relief and hope for the\u00a0future. There\u00a0had\u00a0been no violence. The\u00a0Orange\u00a0Order had\u00a0said\u00a0they\u00a0were\u00a0sorry for\u00a0the hurt feelings…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1843,1867,1873,1846,1876],"tags":[253],"class_list":["post-4030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-how-capitalists-organise","category-emancipation-liberation-and-self-determination","category-against-unionism","category-british-imperialism","category-ireland-against-unionism","tag-author-john-mcanulty"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"views":14154,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4030"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18333,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4030\/revisions\/18333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}