Column 47 for July 16th, 2000
It’s "marching time" again in Northern Ireland.
In the summer of 1996 I had the opportunity to live in Northern Ireland for six weeks. The friend I went to visit lived near the Drumcree church, in the town of Portadown, so that is where I made my home. You have probably heard those names on the news lately, as you did in 1996 while I was there. Portadown is usually in the midst of the "troubles", being the location of the traditional protestant Orangemen’s march down Garvaghy Road, past the Catholic section of the strongly segregated town.
Arriving in Dublin on July 12th, I spent two days in the coastal town of Balbriggan, waiting for things to calm down to the north. When I did head northward, the bus had to skirt several burned-out vehicles and pass military checkpoints before arriving in Portadown. Several weeks later, while calling my father from a phone booth across the street from my apartment, about one A.M. local time, a British armored car passed by. The soldiers were in full face-paint camo, and they swung the .50 caliber machine gun around to my direction.
I was there. Among my friends in Portadown, you can count a member of the IRA, and a member of the opposing UDA. Most of my friends and acquaintances, however, are members of nothing but a troubled community and small corner of the United Kingdom. I’m not full of answers, just observations and wishes and prayers for peace and reconciliation.
On August 10th of that year, I traveled to Londonderry to observe the Apprentice Boys march. Following are some of my notes from that time:
"Londonderry. To me, just the name brought flashbacks of our American newscasts. Bombings. Fires. Riots. Killings. And the announcer's voice, "...from Londonderry, Northern Ireland, the BBC reported today that the IRA accepted responsibility..."
Responsibility. Politics. Religion.
During the Middle Ages the Roman Catholic Church spread and converted heathens throughout the British Isles. The native Irish population became almost totally Catholic.
Where did this trouble all start? Why?
Possibly in 1633. Henry VIII established the Church of England separate from the Roman church. Some time later he and others encouraged the mass emigration of Protestants to populate Ireland. It may have been the mass movement of Protestant Scots to the northern province of Ulster. The crown would in this way secure their Protestant control over the native Catholic population.
Possibly in 1671. A 38 year old prince, James Stuart, second son of King Charles I became a Roman Catholic. In 1685 he became king of Protestant England, Scotland, and Ireland. The House of Commons unsuccessfully tried to keep him from the throne. In 1688, James II was overthrown in what is remembered as the Glorious Revolution. James son-in-law, William of Orange, a Dutch Protestant, was invited to invade England. James II fled to France, while William (of "William & Mary" fame) assumed the throne as William III. All seemed well, but in 1689 James assembled a Catholic French-Irish army and attempted to restore his crown. His forces tried to capture Londonderry, but were repelled by the Apprentice Boys, who closed the gates to the walled city. James' army was totally defeated by William's forces in 1690 at the Battle of the Boyne and he again fled to France.
Londonderry continues to be a center of the violence that plagues Northern Ireland. Not too many years ago, during a Catholic protest march, British paratroopers fired on the crowd and killed 13 people.
The Apprentice Boys march today around the wall of the city continues a centuries old tradition celebrating their victory. Complaints from the Catholic Bogside neighborhood had prompted the British authorities to block the wall near the Bogside with concertina wire, armored cars, and troops. Two sides had now become three, with the British holding the middle ground between the Protestants and Catholics.
Today it seems all Irishmen hate the British."
I’m not sure what all this means. So far, we haven’t been able to come up with good solutions to conflicts like this, whether in the Middle East or on part of a small island in the British Isles. I guess it would be best to ignore the stubborn loudmouth blockheads on both sides of the argument and try as best we can to support the majority of the Northern Irish people who wish to live and work together in peace.
I AM going back to Northern Ireland. And I hope that I arrive in a place where people have at long last learned to be tolerant of their diversity. Why can’t we at least respect beliefs different from our own, even here at home in Carrollton? It might be a good start.
Peace. tomiswho@mindspring.com