Opinion

Jake O'Kane: I hope someday our children will feel as comfortable attending the Twelfth as they do St Patrick’s Day celebrations

Arlene Foster saw no irony in attacking St Patrick’s Day celebrations for being 'too green' despite having hosted coverage of the Twelfth on GB News

Jake O'Kane

Jake O'Kane

Jake is a comic, columnist and contrarian.

Thousands of people took part in St Patrick's Day festivities in Northern Ireland, including the Belfast parade staged by arts organisation Beat Carnival. Picture by Hugh Russell
Thousands of people took part in St Patrick's Day festivities in Northern Ireland, including the Belfast parade staged by arts organisation Beat Carnival. Picture by Hugh Russell Thousands of people took part in St Patrick's Day festivities in Northern Ireland, including the Belfast parade staged by arts organisation Beat Carnival. Picture by Hugh Russell

Thousands attended this year’s St Patrick’s Day parade in Belfast, including the ever-increasing number of tourists who are boosting the local economy. It wasn’t always like this; indeed, I may have attended one of the first ever parades in the city.

In the early 1970s my father organised a march involving two local bands starting, aptly, at the front of St Patrick’s chapel on Donegall Street and processing up the New Lodge Road. This was a somewhat daring venture at that time as it was both illegal and open to attack. I doubt more than 30 or so people attended, comprised mainly of family members of the young people in the accordion bands.

Thankfully times have moved on and St Patrick’s Day has evolved into an inclusive celebration involving young and old from all sections of our society.

Well, that’s what I thought until Arlene Foster decided to attack the way the patron saint is celebrated in the United States.

Writing in the Express newspaper about the St Patrick's Day exodus to America of "anybody who is anybody" in Ireland, she said she wanted to explain "for the benefit of readers outside of Northern Ireland" what happens.

Arlene has attended these very same festivities, saying there would have been "an international incident" if she hadn't attended.

St Patrick's Day in the US is a "green fest", she continued. "If you come from the unionist tradition believe me it’s a very uncomfortable situation. Americans are tone deaf to anybody that is Northern Irish or heaven forbid British during St Patrick’s day."

She widened her attack to include former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi who’d had the temerity to quote a poem by U2 frontman Bono. Arlene stated she would have preferred if the speaker had chosen a poem “from some of our greats like Seamus Heaney”.

I’m guessing Arlene didn’t know that when included in an anthology of ‘British’ poets, Heaney responded: “Be advised, my passport’s green / No glass of ours was ever raised / To toast the Queen.”

She had a go at the "Oirish", as she described him, President Joe Biden who’d misspoke during a St Patrick’s Day address, mistakenly calling the British PM the leader of England rather than the UK. To mock an octogenarian - "detailed commentary is clearly not Biden's strong point" - doesn't reflect well...

Indeed, Arlene’s saw no irony in attacking these 'green' St Patrick’s Day celebrations despite having hosted coverage of the very orange Twelfth on GB News.

When commenting about this on anti-social media I decided to err on the side of pity saying, “God love her, that’s all I’m going to say.”

However, even this uncharacteristically moderate statement was attacked by people seemingly possessed of preternatural powers of insight which see beyond what I said to what was ‘really’ meant by what was said.

Jake is proud to display his father's Foresters sash and his father-in-law's Orange Order sash side by side
Jake is proud to display his father's Foresters sash and his father-in-law's Orange Order sash side by side Jake is proud to display his father's Foresters sash and his father-in-law's Orange Order sash side by side

One of my attackers accused me of not being sensitive to “parity of esteem and the balance of symbols etc”.’ I replied with the above image, which is of my late father’s Foresters sash and my late father-in-law’s Orange Order sash. I recently had these beautifully framed at Turner Framing on the Ravenhill Road and they’re now displayed in my home.

I’m afraid neither of green nor orange, and being in what is called a ‘mixed marriage’, I ensure my children understand they’re the product of two ancient and rich traditions.

I hope someday our children will feel as comfortable attending the Twelfth as they do St Patrick’s Day celebrations, viewing the former parade as no longer sectarian triumphalism but rather, historic and worthy of respect. Imagine if representatives could attend both with a little green amongst the orange and a little orange amongst the green.

While I loved and respected my late father, I couldn’t, in all conscience, follow him into the Foresters due to issues around inclusivity. I remember asking him if it was open to everybody and he answered, “Yes”; I then asked, “Even Protestants?” to which he answered, “Don’t be bloody ridiculous”. I’ve subsequently learned Protestants can join the Foresters, though in reality that’s a moot point considering the organisation’s republican ethos.

So, to paraphrase Groucho Marx who said, “I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member”, I refuse to join any club unless everyone can be a member.