Just last week, our headline was about colour. Armagh GAA’s distinctive orange and that other orange beloved of ‘the other side’.
Little did we know that colour would come to the fore in such a disturbing way during the past week. In the wake of the awful murders in Southport, there was justifiable anger. But, all too often, justifiable anger can be turned into blind hatred with a little help and a nudge or two from the rabble rousers in every society. And some speculation and gossip on social media platforms, of course.
But surely, we might have thought, the resulting violence would be an English problem. A few English cities would kick off, there’d be a spot of recreational violence and then it would all calm down again. But it hasn’t worked out like that, has it?
It hasn’t become a Scottish problem. The good citizens of Glasgow aren’t ripping their city apart. Down in Wales, the people of Cardiff aren’t out throwing stones. So why have our particular brand of knuckle-draggers kicked off? Are they angrier about what happened in Southport than the Welsh or the Scots? It seems unlikely.
We do love a good opportunity to riot in this part of the world, though. And, while the English police have had to put up with lots of stones, chairs, bins and the like, our lot aren’t slow to reach for the family stock of petrol bombs. The PSNI, as ever, doesn’t get it easy.
But, whilst it would be simple to spotlight certain communities, Sandy Row for example, it’s more complicated than that. Wind back to Saturday, when we had the bizarre sight of some anti-immigration protestors (or racists, as they’re better known) waving union flags and others happily mingling with them brandishing their Irish tricolours. Hardened Belfast sorts and died in the wool Dubs celebrated the fact that they were both white and joined forces to lash out at anyone who wasn’t.
Writing in the Belfast Telegraph, Alison Morris alleged that Irish far-right activists (who’d have thought that was even a thing…?) were ‘hosted’ by a loyalist who was arrested in connection with the murders of five Catholics in Sean Graham’s bookmakers on the Ormeau Road back in 1992.
Does ‘hosted’ mean he brought them back to his gaff for tea and buns, or maybe a kebab from a business that had survived their earlier attentions? It’s not explained but, whatever way you cut it, it’s pretty gruesome.
Of course, had the anti-immigration protestors made their point and then headed back home to Donegall Road or Dublin North, it would have been acceptable and, to some extent, understandable.
But it all deteriorated, as was almost inevitable. Before the Belfast and Dublin rednecks went off to drink pints together (as the local media alleged), there were attacks on Asian-owned businesses.
And the whole thing spilled over from Saturday night into this week, with a short break on Sunday because, of course, it’s the Sabbath. Reports of a man being seriously injured when his head was stamped on by attackers purely because of his colour just made things even worse, as did images of masked thugs trying to kick front doors down.
The killings in Southport were beyond horrendous in anyone’s book. But they were the work of a deeply disturbed individual who could have been black, white, yellow or any colour in between. They don’t mean that more lives have to be ruined and racial hatred to become part of life everywhere on these islands.
Belfast’s underclass has simply jumped on England’s bandwagon and our lads are showing them who can do this kind of thing best. It’s beyond depressing. Then again, so is that video of the little Belfast girl skipping along the footpath with her Ma (presumably) whilst shouting ‘Pa**s Out’.
Wonder who taught her that one?Don’t think she picked it up on CBeebies.
Our Leaders Disappoint…Again
The political reaction to all that’s been going on has been muted at best, deeply disappointing at worst. Yes, lip service has been paid. Almost all of them have issued sternly-worded statements condemning the violence. But banging out a statement takes about ten minutes of their valuable time.
Have they been out talking to victims? Visiting destroyed commercial premises? Sympathising with victims? Apart from a few local exceptions, they haven’t, although Emma Little Pengelly did take to the airwaves yesterday and made something of an effort.
More specifically, have certain parties been directly criticising parts of their traditional patches? Have they been out talking to community leaders, and the other kind of leaders who tend to dominate in certain areas? Maybe they have, but it seems unlikely.
Of course, the poor souls are on holiday at the moment. They’re not supposed to be working. But, when things are as bad as they are, that’s a piss poor excuse in anyone’s book.
Still, what did we expect? The form book should have given us a clue.
Grinding To A Halt
At the time of writing, it certainly looked as though Belfast city centre would have to square up to more protests this weekend. The masked anti-immigration mob hasn’t shown its hand as yet, but it’s a fair bet that they’ll be out and about. And so will the other side, who are pledging a ‘vibrant and colourful’ pro-diversity event kicking off at noon.
It must fill city centre pub owners, restaurateurs and traders with abject horror. They’ve had to put up with this kind of disruption for many long years and they’re still having to pay the price any time a few people think that they’ve got to air their grievances in public.
Belfast Chamber was right to condemn all of what has gone before in its statement this week but it was also right to call on government to take swift action. Mind you, there’s precious little sign of that around these parts.
The problem is that it’s a bit hard to know what that swift action should be. Banning marches, wheeling in more water cannons, stocking up on the modern equivalent of rubber bullets…..it’s hardly progress, is it?
That said, Sir Keir Starmer’s promise to throw the proverbial book at offenders appearing in court does seem to be coming to pass, with some lovely lads from the Merseyside area being given the kind of sentences they didn’t expect when they left home.
But back in this part of the world, as ever, it’s the businesses that are going to suffer.
Boyne Is Best
If the current anti-immigration (or racist) protests and disturbances continue, it could all get a bit confusing around Sandy Row at the weekend.
A parade and rally is being planned to demand, no less, that the name of the Boyne Bridge is retained in the local community. The grey old bridge is being demolished to make way for the brand new Belfast Central rail and bus station.
The locals aren’t too worried about buses and trains. But they do want the new road linking Durham Street with Sandy Row to be called Boyne Bridge Place. It’s probably fair to say that Translink and the other stakeholders might want to opt for something a little less in your face……like Primrose Meadow or Wildflower Way.
Or they could wind the locals up by calling it Nelson Mandela Avenue. But, on balance, maybe not.
The rally at the weekend will call for Sandy Row to remain ‘inextricably linked’ to the Boyne Bridge, and as a wee extra, it will further call for 100% family housing to be build on the neighbouring Hope Street site.
Wonder what kind of families they have in mind?
There’s Money In Bubbles
If you’ve ever spent a day or two at the wonderful Galgorm Resort up Ballymena way, you’ll know that it’s all upscale, luxurious and the kind of facility we’ve never had here in Northern Ireland….and most of us would never have dreamt of.
Who’d have imagined sitting in a jacuzzi outdoors in the middle of winter in deepest County Antrim? Providing, of course, you can get into the hot tub ahead of the never-ending stream of prosecco-guzzling female guests.
We’ve often wondered how these ladies can sit for so long in one hot tub quaffing Italy’s favourite sparking wine. What if they need to pee? Oh, wait….
Still, hot tubbies apart, we’ve always enjoyed it, especially the food, the bar, the lovely bedrooms and the amazing waiter service breakfast.
And we’re clearly not the only ones. Turnover at the Resort rose by £2 million to £35.9 million in the year to the end of October last year. That’s a lot of bubbles.
Belfast? Not A Chance, Mate
Spare a thought for the poor woman from Sudan who has just fought and lost a legal battle at Belfast High Court, aimed at securing a safe route for her family to join her here.
Shima Esmail claimed that the British Government had unlawfully failed to establish a reunification scheme for her relatives who are living on an abandoned bus while conflict and famine ravages the African country.
But the Belfast Court didn’t agree and judged that there was no dimunition of rights in the case.
Close shave, though. Her relatives could have ended up in Belfast.
The Green, Green Lakes Of Home
It’s a bit hard to work out what anyone is going to be able to do about the blue green algae problem in Lough Neagh which, it seems, could spread up the Bann to the resorts of the North Coast.
But it certainly doesn’t look very nice and it’s not going to do anything to encourage visitors to an area which has a lot going for it otherwise.
The Lough Neagh Partnership has been active and vociferous and Minister Andrew Muir does seem to have committed a fair bit of his time to the cause. Yet, listening the scientific boffins, there doesn’t seem to be any quick fix. Or even a slower fix, for that matter.
And, of course, we’re never slow to play the blame game here in Northern Ireland. Careless farmers have been blamed, industry has been given a rap, even climate change….perhaps not surprisingly.
Either way, something needs to be done if at all possible. Who wants to gaze out on, or even worse, sail out on a lake that looks like one of those ghastly vegetable smoothie things?