Irish Examiner view: A small step but a gesture of real hope

DUP condemnation of flag-burning offers a glimmer of hope for progress in Northern Ireland

Ireland's tricolour burns on the Tigers Bay  'eleventh-night' bonfire in Belfast, in the early hours of Monday morning. DUP leadership condemnation of flag-burning has to be welcomed.   Picture: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

Background and tradition shape our consciousness and worldview. They define whether you regard the promotion of Irish as a political or a cultural project. That ambition may be seen very differently along Belfast’s Shankill Road and the Dublin suburb of Shankill. One community may see it as a red-rag provocation. The other, or at least some of it, may see the rejuvenation project as an enriching way to express some of the traits that make up a strand of our national character.

That same dynamic, but in reverse, shapes the majority view south of the border on events marking The Twelfth. This annual celebration of Loyalism was, for generations, a mix of triumphalism and Croppy-lie-down intimidation. That has been changing for many years, especially since 2012, when the late Austin Hunter apologised on behalf of the Royal Black Institution after sectarian abuse was levelled at St Patrick’s Church in Belfast. The administrator of St Patrick’s, Fr Michael Sheehan, responded in kind: “I welcome this positive development and the sincere Christian spirit behind it.” A small but significant gesture in the normalisation of relationships — even if achieving that “normalisation” can make the revival of Irish look like child’s play.

The photograph of South East Antrim UDA boss Clifford ‘Trigger’ Irons, who is accused of running a major drugs ring, on the top of the North’s biggest bonfire in Larne is a needling reminder of some of the dark forces involved. That a Belfast high court recently altered the terms of Irons’ bail, allowing him to watch the 288-pallet-tall bonfire until midnight, is a reminder of how power was routinely abused by the institutions of the North. Irons’ goading presence gives those who prefer intransigence to progress another opportunity to rebuff those prepared to work towards a common goal.

 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Jeffrey Donaldson condemned the burning of the Republic's flag on bonfires.

That DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson yesterday unambiguously condemned the burning of this Republic’s flag on bonfires suggests he may be such a positive figure. Coming so soon after the DUP apologised for decades of homophobic hatred, this intervention cannot but auger well.

“We have seen a number of bonfires this year where flags and posters were not included,” said Donaldson. “Respect is a two-way street. I’ve seen the union flag burned on internment bonfires. I find it offensive and I understand why people are offended.”

Though the landscape is littered with opportunities for negative, unbending whataboutery, Donaldson’s gesture, like the low-key Shared Island initiative, may, if it generates a response in kind, be another small step along the road to normalisation. Should that progress bring initiatives that provide employment, extend opportunities for education and decent housing for all of the North’s struggling communities, then a win-win outcome beckons.

This situation is alive with challenge and in a landscape almost built on irony there is another: It is far more difficult to deal with a calm, rational leader than it is to deal with a never-never-never fundamentalist. However, if all involved respond generously then that will be another victory for what might be called the Hunter/Sheehan philosophy — and a welcome defeat for the Irons-style cage-rattling.