Those rioters weren’t republicans and neither is our government
But the only thing that remains to be answered is just how much people are going to be asked to tolerate.
If the Taoiseach confuses the words condemn and condone, should anyone be surprised?
During the week, Environment Minister Dick Roach was advocating that cash-strapped councils should be funded by the reintroduction of rates, which were scrapped as part of Fianna Fáil’s infamous 1977 manifesto, which was the greatest confidence trick pulled by any party in the history of the State. It was also the last time that any party won an overall majority in a general election here.
What happened last week must damage our tourist appeal, because it makes a mockery of the effort to depict this country as Ireland of the welcomes into which so much money and effort has been ploughed.
The Love Ulster rally afforded a magnificent opportunity to show that we are different in the Republic. People usually love a parade, and it can be a real family occasion.
Northern bands are the most colourful that can be seen anywhere. It could have afforded a magnificent opportunity to market the capital, especially with the rugby international the following day. But a tiny minority - who represent some of the worst elements in our society - undermined the whole thing.
What kind of conduct will be tolerated during the next march? Drunken louts have already been upsetting the St Patrick’s Day festivities in Dublin in recent years, but last Saturday was something very different. The Good Friday Agreement is not going to work unless there is respect on both sides for the traditions of each other.
It is for the Republic to take the lead, because we have been relatively unscathed by the troubles of the latter third of the 20th century.
During the celebrations commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising in 1966 the Taoiseach, Seán Lemass, stated that he and many others had been guilty of questioning “the motives of those men who joined the new British armies formed at the outbreak of the war but it must, in their honour and in fairness to their memory, be said that they were motivated by the highest purpose”.
Unfortunately, Lemass stood down before the next Armistice Day when he might have given formal expression to those sentiments. It would have been so much better if one of 1916 generation - a participant in the Rising - had paid tribute to those who had fought for the rights of small nations. The depths of obscenity were plumbed in 1987 when the Provisional IRA bombed the commemoration ceremony in Enniskillen.
Ignorant people are still questioning the motives of those who fought in the first world war. We don’t have to believe that those who fought in the war were right, but we should believe that they thought they were right. The same should apply to the people who took part in the Easter rebellion.
Even those who were so determined to resist Home Rule because they feared it would be Rome rule, deserve respect. For a long time it would appear that they were right about Rome rule, because our gutless politicians essentially betrayed the Republic by secretly handing over the ultimate say in government to members of the hierarchy who were elected by nobody.
Some of the scenes last Sunday were reminiscent of the extensive looting in O’Connell Street that marred the early part of the Easter Rising. People from nearby slums could hardly believe their luck once they realised there were no police on the streets to stop them looting to their heart’s content.
Against the backdrop of last Saturday’s rioting, Jeffrey Donaldson suddenly sounded like a voice of reason and moderation. He even warmly complimented the gardaí.
Ian Paisley was presented with a victory. He has been bellowing that President Mary McAleese hates Ulster, but now he will be able to say that the people of the Republic hate Ulster. It does not matter that only a tiny unrepresentative minority was responsible for what happened last week. Amidst the tribalism, it is convenient perception that counts most.
In the early days of the troubles in the North, when the civil rights people wished to hold a march, Paisley would announce a counter rally, and the police would then ban both. We are asking for trouble if we surrender to such tactics.
AMONG the people attacked in the streets during the riot in Dublin were some Chinese workers. It may be simplistic to describe those attacks as nakedly racist, because if the gurriers had been able to identify a few Kerrymen they would probably have attacked them, too. Charlie Bird, who must have one of the most recognisable faces in Ireland, was attacked. This was recreational violence, an old style Donnybrook in the centre of the city.
The fact remains, however, that Chinese workers were attacked and, if this kind of thing is tolerated, there will inevitably be a backlash from the estimated 50,000 Chinese people now living in Dublin.
This is something that needs to be addressed before it leads to an eruption. Such things can frequently be rectified at an early stage with commonsense and discretion, but they become very difficult to resolve if passions are allowed to boil over. We don’t have to look very far north to see the living consequences of allowing such stupidity to fester.
If a newspaper suggested that Pakistanis were responsible for last Saturday’s riot, there would be outrage, because it would be clearly inaccurate. But there was not a murmur of dissent when the media said that republicans were responsible for the riot. Let’s get it straight for once and for all; that crowd are not republicans any more than they are Pakistanis. They are homegrown gurriers.
Republicans are people who accept and believe that supreme power rests in those to whom the people have delegated authority. In the small ancient republics people expressed their preferences directly, but in the larger, more populous, modern republics people elect representatives to act for them. In this way the country is governed by the will of the people.
The so-called republicans, who caused the trouble last week, do not recognise the will of the people, and they should not therefore be called republicans. They have been allowed to hijack the term. The overwhelming majority of Irish people are republicans, but they are ashamed to admit it, because of the reprehensible conduct of the likes of that neo-fascist clique that organised last week’s riot and exploited the mindless yobs who revel in recreational violence.
They are our counterparts to the soccer hooligans and the National Front in Britain. Part of our problem is that we have essentially been betrayed by the lying duplicity of those who promised zero tolerance to get votes, but never even tried to deliver.
Instead, we have been witnessing the growth of organised crime, the breakdown of social order, and the orgy of sleaze and depravity that has been exposed by the various tribunals of enquiry.
Nobody is being held responsible, and the public - not the culprits - are being forced to pay. That’s not justice and it’s not good government either.
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