Once more with divisive, sectarian feeling

Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear. It’s that time of year again when the Boneheads rule. When pallets are lovingly placed one on top of another, where optimistic signs about Killing All Irish (KAI) and engaging in sexual congress with an infirm, 86-year-old man known as Pope Francis. 

It’s that time when proponents of pallet-burning elbow their way to the B(ritish)BC microphones and explain that bonfires have nothing to do with hatred or sectarianism, it’s just a bouncy-castle – well no, maybe not a bouncy castle,they’d melt, wouldn’t  they – a fun event deeply rooted in unionist culture, commemorating the arrival of King William of Orange to our shores and the rich pallet-burning culture he has passed down to us. 

So here’s the question: are the Twelfth bonfires bad because they pollute the air and have a habit of damaging nearby houses, or are they bad because they encourage triumphalism, sectarianism and sheer naked hatred? Is it because they’re contributing to the destruction of the planet or because they’re contributing to the blockage of any hopes for a live-and-let-live society?

All of the above, probably. They’ve more or less got rid of tyre-burning,although I gather a few find their way into the flames still. But now the problem is, burning wooden pallets is also very bad for the air we all breath, so tough cheese if you’ve got asthma, here we go!

There was a woman on Talkback explaining the importance of giving people room to transition. That’s from being knuckle-draggers who love nothing better than a massive bonfire (they’re going for a record in Larne, I believe), to …Well, to what? Nice non-polluting bonfires,I suppose. With photographs of the Archbishop of Canterbury and unionist politicians and ‘We are Scum’ placards? To balance out the many decades of divisive nastiness that even the best-mannered Eleventh Night  bonfires appeal to?

Nah, guys. What you need to do is to find a totally non-bonfire way (the Feile did it for nationalists) that provides entertainment and thought and openness. That’s not something you should be still  transitioning towards twenty-five years after the Good Friday Agreement. That’s something you simply should have put in place so you can regain a degree of self-respect and for once perform a concrete act of  reconciliation.  Seriously – try it. You’ll feel an awful lot better about yourselves and you’ll  maybe even win back some respect from the huge bulk of people who don’t think like you.