TOPIC - FlagsNI

Now we’re talking! Does the current flag issue indicate that we in N Ireland have not yet raised our political status from a society driven by violence? If so what should we do about it?

Has this issue really to do with flags and identity? Or are we witnessing a reaction from those seeing themselves isolated from society and the political process - perhaps seeing no socio-economic benefit from the peace process?  Are these people who have no stake in our political process? If so how can they be involved? Some people have suggested a manipulation of the issue for extremists or gangland interests?Are we experiencing a lack of leadership, little political imagination or courage? If so what are the likely consequences? Or is this a political manoeuvre gone wrong, can it be corrected?

Good questions don’t you think? Now where do we start?

The flags issue. Disgusted, frightened, threatened, frustrated, questioned, disappointed, embarrassed, humiliated, seriously, seriously challenged. What happened to ‘Our time, Our place’? Why couldn’t we have it like this all the time? Van’s dream? Our dream? What happened to all of that? All those aspirations, all that positivity? The political strategies, the investment? Didn’t we do enough?Stephen Nolan, the ‘Best Show in the Country’ guy, is it really down to you now to sort out our differences, our battle? Are you our new Bill Clinton? Our 2013 John de Chastelain? Ok so we have new voice in our midst. A voice soundly devoid of David Irvine wisdom. Raw, loud,noticeably inarticulate, repeating stock phrases about never, neverness, Britishness,  our identity, our flag. The kind of voice you know from experience you just can’t ignore. The kind of voice that reverberates with frustration, with oppression, with lack of self-esteem, lack of theorising,lack of empowerment. All the issues that Republicanism addressed before the Peace Process and the Protestant working class didn’t. You know that this won’t just go away. You know that somehow you will have to bring these people along. You’ll have to deal with the frustrations, deal with the symbols, the battles, the emblems, the drums, the language of division. They are part of us. We have to finally, relentlessly address this hurt. There is no police, no military solution. The police know what they can and what they cannot do. If there are gangsters involved, drug dealers as some people have suggested, ‘The Beast from the East’, they can take them off the streets. If they have evidence of crimes being committed they can enforce the law. They can monitor behaviour and report on this to the public. They can meet with different bodies to discuss the situation. They cannot stop peaceful protests. We live in a democratic society.  We surely have to accept that there has been a serious lack of leadership. Our capital city has been held to ransom. Our children are being affected, Our economic future has been challenged.

Are there things that we can be doing? What are our politicians doing? It seems from down herethat it’s all gone very quiet up there on the Hill.  And what are we already doing? There are somevery successful organisations in our society. The GAA has been very successful  in fully engaging the youth. The Orange Order has trained up young people to play in bands. Isn’t it a pity that neither organisation opens its doors fully to both communities? Schools have tried to extend the curriculum to include the study of citizenship. However we have now chosen the path of separate development and we now have to deal with the consequences. We do have some Integrated schools. There is some great work going on here.

Work which is world renowned. We have the capacity to lead the world in addressing conflict issues in our schools. The rest of the world looks to us for advice, guidance in this field. But as long as we continue to largely settle for separate development we will  continue to churn out young, disengaged, disenfranchised people who think they have to continue the battle. What battle? We’vemade up this battle. We invented it ourselves. It’s only when you look at it up close that you realise that it doesn’t actually exist. It’s a figment of our imagination. There is more to be done. Maybe it’s time to stop apologising for being old and to start sharing a little of what we have learned over these years.

 Maybe there are things we can do. Yes, we can turn out to vote. But maybe also it’s time to stop being the silent majority. Maybe our politicians need us. Complacency, apathy, fear, settling for second best has got us all here. Is thisreally where we want to be? Is there more we can be doing?

Heavy stuff, n’est-ce pas? In the style of our good friend Stephen Nolan let’s change to a lighter topic.