David McNarry in his letter – ‘Galling to hear Sinn Féin lauding GFA’ (November 2) – finishes off by asking: “Are nationalists interested in compromise to meet unionist demands?” Over the years there have been numerous statements and questions from unionist politicians which caused sheer disbelief, but this one beats them all and actually transcends belief. How David McNarry put this question into writing and then into the public domain shows clearly how unionism in general forgets, and wants others to forget, the complete absence of compromise to nationalists since the creation of this sectarian statelet.
My first thought was had Mr McNarry lost all sense of reality or was this just the latest unionist ploy to rewrite the history of these six counties by implying that it was the nationalist community that discriminated against the unionist community and not the other way around as anyone knowledgeable of the history of the north is aware.
Even a brief look at the history of these six counties, as recorded in history books worldwide, will show the blatant sectarian discrimination against the Catholic community – never mind the complete absence of compromise. The best jobs were given to the Protestant community with job adverts clearly stating that Catholics need not apply. The best houses were kept for those from the Protestant community as the rateable value of a house affected the right to vote and, once again, no compromise – just blatant discrimination.
How on earth, with all these facts and many, many more, did David McNarry think he could now ask the nationalist community to compromise? From his letter it is clear that he wasn’t asking them to compromise, he was asking the nationalist community to unite with the unionist community and reject the NI Protocol. So, clearly it was not compromise he was seeking, he was looking for the nationalist community to meekly accept the unionists’ faulty interpretation of the protocol and vote the way unionists wanted them to, despite their own evaluation of the protocol.
Mr McNarry must accept the realities of today – the nationalist community is now the majority voice in the north. Unionism has to come to terms with the fact that they can no longer have everything their own way as they did in the past. Mr McNarry would have been much better off condemning the sinister threat of violence from the inappropriately named, Loyalist Communities Council. These people purport to speak for, the still armed, gangs of the UDA, the UVF and the Red Hand Commando who appear to have implied the use of more violence if they don’t get their own way.
The PSNI, if it is ever to have any credbility in the nationalist community, must investigate this issue as a matter of urgency as we can never allow any groups to bring us back to the dark days of the Troubles.
Contact between the main unionist political parties and this group must only take place to advise the LCC that such talk is bringing further instability to their own communities at a time when it is least needed, and is helpful to no one.
SEAN SEELEY
Craigavon, Co Armagh
No room at inn for Dublin’s Mansion House crib
As Christians around the world are about to set up nativity scenes for Christmas, the ox and the donkey – regular fixtures around the manger – are latter-day inventions not mentioned in the gospels. The Vatican itself has included animals in the nativity scenes it sets up each year in St Peter’s Square. But that tradition is scrapped in Dublin. After more than 25 years running the crib is no more, having been an annual seasonal attraction outside the Mansion House, the lord mayor’s Dawson Street residence. Since 1995 the crib was enhanced by the presence of donkeys, goats and sheep sitting alongside figures of Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus each December outside the Mansion House, attracting a large crowd of admirers. The crib is a joint initiative between Dublin City Council (DCC) and the Irish Farmers Association (IFA). The life-size stable has been home to a sheep, a donkey and a goat cared for by the IFA and Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Dublin’s lord mayor and Green Party councillor Caroline Conroy’s proposal to the city council’s protocol committee is that she plans to introduce a more ‘inclusive’ winter wonderland-style experience to include choirs, sleighs and post boxes at the Mansion House instead of a crib with live animals. The lord mayor says the decision has nothing whatsoever to do with animal welfare. Farmer Fionn Sherlock, from Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, said the donkey, goat and two sheep his family supplied have been well cared for. The same donkey and goat have appeared for the last decade. Former president Mary McAleese has asked lord mayor Conroy to reconsider her decision, not to forego the annual live animal Christmas crib outside the Mansion House. However, one is not persuaded by the lord mayor’s rationale for ditching the live crib and even less enchanted by the proposed winter wonderland display – causing one to lose faith in the Green Party.
GERRY COUGHLAN
Dublin 24
Upsetness
We mustn’t allow anything that upsets someone to become unlawful, as anything can upset somebody, somewhere, sometime. It will be used to silence those on the sidelines of power who ‘upset’, but not against the mainstream players who upset. The idea that any government is concerned about people getting upset is absurd anyway, especially when the same governments are sending weapons to Ukraine and Saudi Arabia at the moment. New countries will be armed and different people will have their lives ruined next year and the year after, ad nauseam. Governments themselves and large corporations upset people. But they will never be the target of censorship or punishment for the upset they create. The fear mongering that governments propagate or the mind numbing advertising that brand corporations force on us are out of bounds. It will be people who question the official narratives. It will be the independent journalists, documentary filmmakers, authors, podcasters, public speakers and the like who will be hounded into the ground, not because they upset, but because they don’t support the wars, they see freedoms disappearing in incremental steps, and they’re warning about a fully digitalised money system - to name but three things.
LOUIS SHAWCROSS
Hillsborough, Co Down
