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John McCain The Ulster Orangeman |
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 by Andy Hume, April 14, 2008 |
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Boston is home to few Orange marches
There
were, to put it mildly, a few raised eyebrows at Jamie Kirchick’s recent suggestion (albeit made
very much in passing) that Irish Massachusetts might be tempted to tip towards the
Scots-Irishman John McCain in November. As Daniel Koffler pointed out on these
pages a few weeks ago, most Irish
immigrants to the fledgling United States were of Protestant, and usually
Scottish, lineage, and coined the phrase “Scots-Irish” only when Catholic
emigrants began to flood into America during the great Famine of 1845-51. So,
on the face of it, Catholic Boston --- which is more Irish than the Irish
themselves (I almost wrote plus royaliste que le roi) --- would be less likely to
vote McCain, not more.
In the land they left behind, three hundred years, several civil wars and that infamous famine only exacerbated the divide between the native Catholic community and the largely Scottish Protestant settlers (who started arriving in 1610, which in Irish terms is the day before yesterday). The original “two state solution” of 1921 has taken the best part of another century to settle into uneasy peace, and to the uninitiated, the ancient feud is all but incomprehensible. To take an example more or less at random, Northern Ireland is one of the few places where you will see the Star of David being flown in solidarity with Israel - a nation whose robust response to terrorism, as Protestants see it, has led to unjust vilification the world over - whilst Catholics, who see themselves as a people oppressed, fly the Palestinian flag in response.
All this is a roundabout way of saying that this is a story of byzantine complexity, peopled with protagonists possessed of extremely long memories, and two communities that are quite distinct and, historically at least, mutually antipathetic. (Which makes Hillary’s achievement in bringing peace to the island all the more remarkable.)
McCain’s pitch to the Scots-Irish constituency, on the other hand, is not terribly subtle. That the war hero chooses to tour the nation on a "No Surrender" Bus may not trip too many alarm wires in the average voter, but to any self-respecting Ulsterman, though the words to the old song vary depending on who you ask, the resonance is immediate and unambiguous. (It commemorates the defense of Derry against the besieging forces of the Catholic James II in 1689. Remember: long memories.)
“The cry was no surrender
But come when duty calls
With heart and hand and sword and shield
We'll guard old Derry's walls”
But memory can also play tricks. I well remember, on my first visit to New York some years ago, being astounded to hear the Orange anthem, “The Sash My Father Wore,” playing in a Manhattan pub which otherwise appeared the very epitome of hardcore expat republicanism, right down to the painting of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands on the wall. My drinking companion, a large man from Cork, growled at me to keep my counsel; it wouldn’t do, he said, to point out the owner’s naivety when we were guests in his establishment (and, not incidentally, consuming the first of several beers on the house). Experiencing the hyper-patriotism of Irish-Americans at first hand is a little like watching Mel Gibson’s ludicrous Braveheart in a crowd of Scottish nationalists: As the music swells and the eyes around you grow more misty, it seems almost rude to point out that a chisel-jawed William Wallace shagging Queen Isabella of France is just ahistorical tripe. It doesn’t pay to delve too deeply into the details.
Rangers v. Celtic: Fans had to be barred from singing IRA anthemsIrish-Americans,
of course, are far from being the only offenders in this regard. From Diaspora
Armenians and Cuban-American exiles in America to Palestinians in London, or
Greeks whose families were forced from Asia Minor, a romanticised version of
home always jostles for space with a heightened sense of victimhood and
hostility to the historical oppressor. Any immigrant community has to work hard
to maintain their unique identity; through religion, through art and music,
food, holidays, even sports teams. “Where e'er we go”, as the Pogues once put it, “we
celebrate the land that makes us refugees”.
Jews are better than most at hanging on to these golden threads of identity, thanks to an unusually rich cultural and religious heritage which stands proudly apart and passed down, through ties of blood, whether the next generation likes it or not. For the rest of us, with the passage of time, the threads binding us to our homes loosen one by one; each generation less religious than the last --- in Christian communities, at least --- and our traditions and languages diluted through assimilation. (Let’s just say I’d be surprised if Kim Kardashian speaks much Armenian.) And so we replace these gaps with a pastiche of symbolisms; the tales become taller, the ballads louder, and the outrages perpetrated against ancestors all the more brutal, until you are faced with the grotesque spectacle of collection plates for the IRA being passed around well-to-do Massachusetts soirees.
Is there anything distinctively “Scots-Irish” about McCain’s rhetoric? Well, maybe. Certainly it is likely to go down well among those of his fellow countrymen who share the faith of his fathers, but to the extent that it does so, that may be because it speaks to broader, more populist ideas of patriotism and service to one’s country (“something greater than myself,” etc. etc.), and pitches his tent squarely on blue-collar territory. Scots-Irish tend to live in red states like the Carolinas and Virginia anyway; Massachusetts is less likely to be swayed by exclusionary sloganeering that reminds Irish-Americans of all the things they don’t like about their Protestant neighbours.
At the very least, John McCain should be cautious about the buttons he chooses to press. No-one ever made a buck betting against the Irish.
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Beano
I know it's a minor chronological point given the context of a discussion on a US presidential hopeful, but I'm pretty sure the Palestinian solidarity movement in Irish Republicanism began flying flags and the loyalists, not renowned for their knowledge of international affairs, retaliated by flying the Israeli flag (like you said, a state taking a strong line against insurrectionist terrorism was something they'd have been keen to emulate).
Interesting piece though.
beano
Panenka's Chip
Couldn't agree with Beano more. A good article in the main but a bit of revisionism and post-rationalisation from Mr E in this article re the flying of flags and association. Regardless of how idotic the association with other conflicts is, any Protestant community association of Israel was as a reaction to the sympathy that Republicans had with their fellow 'strugglers' in Palestine. In fact, you'll most likely find that this 'sympathy' on both sides started within Celtic Park or Ibrox Park in Glasgow, before it became evident on the streets of Northern Ireland.
Which brings me on to the small matter of your pic and caption, which makes it relatively easy for readers to work out which Glasgow-based football side Mr Eugenides supports. It is worth pointint out that the predominately (nigh on exclusively) Protestant Rangers fans who have been sanctioned by European football's governing body UEFA for discriminatory chanting, being fined and warned as to the future conduct if their fans. While a minority of Celtic fans' behaviour in singing songs about the IRA has been reprehensible, Celtic's fans (the club were set up by a Catholic monk as a way of raising money to feed starving Irish immigrants in 1880s Glasgow but draw their modern support from wider base than Rangers) have never had any disciplinary action taken against them or even had the threat of action. Setting aside the argument that politics has no place in sports stadia, many of the pro-IRA songs Celtic fans did sing, were songs that refer to the Irish struggle for independence and the IRA as it existed in in early part of the 20th century but through a combination of misattribution by the opposition and (some would say) idiocy by those singing along with these tunes, the signing of these songs led to association with 'The Troubles' in Northern Ireland. Indeed, you'll find yourself hearing a tune such as the "Boys of the Old Brigade" in many traditional music pubs and bars in Ireland, where it is seen as a historical folk song, that has little or nothing to do with the streets of Belfast, Derry or Armagh in the late 60's, 70s and 80s.
Regardless of the misattribution, the central point is that these songs and chants have no place in football and most are eager to see it stamped out for good. By all means, beat up on the opposition through the medium of song but why bring religion, race or background into it? Celtic have been self-policing this (with some success) for 10 years or more, whereas Rangers have been forced to act because of governing body sanction. Regardless of how or why the clubs are acting, the fact that they are is ultimately a good thing.
B Dayfill
A very interesting article, connecting, if I may say so, some distant tangents! I read about a Celtic fan who was arrested for running onto the pitch at a match at the Rangers ground and attempting to handcuff himself to the goalposts while wearing a Palestinian flag. Sure, both sides have idiot fans but let's not muddy the waters, so to speak, to pretend that one set are worse than the other.
Andy Hume
On the issue of who started the flying of Palestinian and Israeli flags in Northern Ireland, you may be correct to suggest that it was the Protestants who were "responding" to the Catholics, but I'm sure we can agree that it's a minor point.
As for Panenka's Chip, I can only note that I didn't choose, suggest or even see in advance the picture or the caption. Perhaps Jewcy's editorial staff are all rabid Rangers fans.
The length of the ensuing comment makes my point about hypersensitivity to issues of Byzantine complexity rather better than I could, though.
Panenka's Chip
Bite me.
How's that for length of comment?
Daniel Koffler
To Paneka's chip: I chose the picture and caption because I thought they illustrated Mr E's point about hypersensitivity nicely, and had just read an article in the Times or Telegraph about restrictions on IRA songs. I am also very much a republican. Sinn fein amhain!
Truculent Sheep
I am also very much a republican. Sinn fein amhain!
- I do hope you were having a laugh there. Unless you really are into punishment beatings and forcing protestants at gunpoint to drive cars full of explosive up to army checkpoints...
Daniel Koffler
Richard
Kim Kardashian is only half Armenian (that half includes her touchas). Overall Armos have been pretty good at maintaining identity - food, culture, language, religion.
Anonymous
Forced protestants at gun point to drive a truck full of explosives into a checkpoint?? Date, city and groups involved please. This is a new one on me. Unless this is just more lies from the british propaganda machine. Unless you are going to give equal play to the attrocities against Irish natives (catholic and protestant) over 800 plus years of british imperialist control then we must recognize your statements and sentiment for the hogwash that it is.
UlsterProtestant
In the early hours of the 24th October 1990 armed Sinn/FeinIRA members took the family of Patrick "Patsy" Gillespie hostage. Gillespie was a Roman Catholic who worked as a cook. Sinn Fein/IRA forced him to drive a car loaded with 1,000 pounds of explosives to the British Army checkpoint at Coshquin on the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. When he arrived at the checkpoint the bomb was detonated by remote control, killing Gillespie and five soldiers from the King's Regiment.
At Gillespie's funeral Bishop Daly said Sinn/Fein IRA and its supporters were "...the complete contradiction of Christianity. They may say they are followers of Christ. Some of them may even still engage in the hypocrisy of coming to church, but their lives and their works proclaim clearly that they follow Satan"
Another example of a human bomb was a 65 year old man, Protestant James McEvoy who was tied to the chair in the lorry and also to the bomb and forced to drive a bomb into a British Army checkpoint outside Newry. He managed to escape the lorry jump clear at the last moment, suffering a broken leg, but Ranger Cyril J. Smith QGM aged 21 from B. Coy. 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Regiment was killed and thirteen were injured. Smith was posthumously awarded the QGM as he attempted to warn his colleagues about the bomb rather than running for cover
There were numerous other examples of Reblicans using Human Bombs throughout their campaign of slaughter and genocide. Not only that but the Isreal Flag was not raised in Loyalist Areas because Republicans raised Palistinian ones they were raised to show solidarity with the oppressed people of Isreal who had also been under attack from Terrorists claiming the land is theirs just as the Protestant people of Ulster had been under attack from Republican terrorists, I'm amazed to read of a man neither from Ulster or the republic of Ireland and who i believe to be Jewish who calls himself Republican! Sinn/IRA recieved weapons from Libya and supported Hammas and the PLO and even called Yasser Aarafat a hero and ran a campagn of genocide which lasted over 30 years in Ulster. Terrorists deserve to be brought to justice and sent to prison "Crime is Crime is Crime" and as for Boys of the Old Brigade being sung in Irish Bars as if it were a "bito Craic" and has nothing whatsoeveer to do with the modern IRA i'd just like to point out that that song is illegal and offensive and is not seen as a historical song exect by republican supporters, the "old" IRA murderd hundreds over the years and are not remembered as heros by people in the North, Celtic football club has been threated over their sectarian behaviour numerous time by politicians and both Celtic and Rangers have a joint initiative called "stamping out sectarianism", The IRA are terrorists and that should never be forgotton or whitewashed from history...