Monday, November 07, 2005
Monday Madness - Paddy's Day farce
I came across this article in the Sunday Times (hat-tip A Tangled Web) regarding Belfast city council's plans to organise a politically neutral St Patrick’s Day festival with neither a drink nor a tricolour in sight. As they report:"The council seems set to approve a £110,000 (€164,000) budget for a politically correct festival in which the crowd will only be allowed to wave culturally neutral rainbow-coloured shamrock or the cross of St Patrick.
"Those wearing partisan clothing, such as Glasgow Rangers or Celtic tops, will be offered large green T-shirts to put over them. There is also expected to be a ban on people painting their faces green, white and orange, or in the colours of the Union Jack."
What a disgrace! Let's get something straight here. St. Patrick's Day is IRELAND'S DAY. It's the one day in the year that we actually get to show how proud we are of our country - and now not all of us will be allowed to!
Belfast city council should be ashamed of themselves. There is absolutely nothing wrong in young Irish children waving tricolours and sporting faces painted green, white and orange. I have done it myself as a young child for the St. Patrick's Day parade in Dublin. It's a truly great day (weather permitting of course) in which we witness the floats, watch the acts on show and generally have a great time. Strangers all coming together for one day in a show of patriotism.
So why then must this be denied to the people of Belfast? They are just as Irish as I am. No more, no less. When a child from Dublin, Cork or Galway waves a tricolour it's alright but when a child from Belfast does it, apparently they are racist pigs! It makes me sick to my stomach!
The ludicrous thing about this is, there will be more Irish tricolours on display in the Patrick's Day parades in London and New York than in Belfast!
I find this hatred of the Irish flag particularly ghastly and how dare they have the audacity to proclaim the St. Patrick's cross a neutral symbol! This is the symbol that the British regard as the Irish flag, not the Irish! It is seen in the Union Jack for crying out loud! The Irish flag on the other hand has a noble symbolism and is a truly neutral symbol as it symbolises the green and orange of Catholicism and Protestantism respectively coming together in peace, symbolised by the colour white. It's unfortunate that Belfast city council regard my national flag as some sort of hate symbol!
Belfast city council has once more poured scorn on the great tradition of St. Patrick's Day with their own annual tradition - spitting on displays of Irish patriotism.
Shame on these bigots.
# posted by United Irelander @ 12:03 AM 
© 2008 United Irelander.
