The links between the present and the past can be baffling and sometimes embarrassing.
In recent days there has been rioting in Derry, leaving 10 PSNI officers injured and in need of treatment. The attacks followed the parade of several thousand Apprentice Boys through the streets of Derry and along its walls. Colum Eastwood, leader of the SDLP, has condemned the violence and described encouragement of it as ‘child abuse’.
In 1969, the Apprentice Boys marched through Derry and ignited a spark which led to days of intense rioting which only ended when the British army took over in Derry (and were cheered by over 90% of the population. Those who had rioted were hailed as heroic and the image of a young boy with a gas mask is one of the most celebrated murals in Derry.
So why did the Apprentice Boys march in1969 and why did they march this month? We know the answer to that: to give expression to a sense of superiority and triumphalism, all wrapped up in the historic events of the Siege of Derry.
What is different now that makes rioting and resistance to the marches unacceptable, whereas in 1969 rioting was seen as more than acceptable?
I don’t know so don’t look at me. The Taoiseach has condemned the rioters, Colum Eastwood has condemned the rioters, and Michelle O’Neill says they acted “disgracefully.”
A spokesman for Saoradh, Stephen Murney said that “inevitably trouble broke out recently when yet another sectarian hate march took place” . He claims that Colum Eastwood offered “no evidence or proof” that republicans orchestrated last weekend’s riot.
So should the rioters have stayed at home? Are the Apprentice Boys an honourable organisation deserving of room to hold their annual marches through Derry? And is the difference between 1969 and 2024 55 years and nothing else?
Or are we engaged in a convenient fudge rather than admit we’re contradicting ourselves?
Keep your answers brief. 50 words or less, and no swearing
What has changed from 1969,Jude? Police force still massively anti Republican, still protecting the glorious union, still paid by Britain. Supremacist marches still tolerated… Even encouraged. No visible place in society for the Irish language. Still a Mickey Mouse impotent administration in Stormont. Squandering of public money on vanity projects. Still child poverty. Still lack of housing. Still children anxious to take on the police.
If as you say nothing has changed since 1969, and many would disagree with you, and the conflict failed to bring about such change, how do you feel children with petrol bombs will now somehow spearhead that change?
Surely the most obvious and transparent change before all our eyes, is that the vast majority from all backgrounds know and can agree what has failed and what the alternative is.
I happen to think children throwing petrol bombs in 1969 was dangerous and wrong, even though the context was very different. Sometime in the 1980s the IRA in Derry decided that rioting, then done mainly by young people, needed to stop because of the dangers it posed to the young people themselves. In 2024 I can see no justification for a 7 year old (or anyone else) throwing petrol bombs. If you don’t like the Apprentice Boys speak to your elected reps. Ditto PSNI.
I think things have improved since 1969, the Unionist government which was sectarian and unfair is away. The RUC and B Specials likewise. I know there are issues within some Nationalist areas with the PSNI but throwing rocks and petrol bombs is not the answer. I fully accept Stormont is set up within the British state but Nationalist representatives are able to address any issues which concern them. The British spooks and spies still permeate society like they always have but military action would not, in my opinion, be justified. Years ago the Republican leadership set out on the road to the long war, we are still in the long peace.
I happened to be in Derry last Saturday visiting from my home in Co Leitrim. I observed the Apprentice boys parade and to my surprise found it to be a family friendly well organised event. I saw no balaclavas, no Israeli flags and heard no sectarian chants. Instead I observed a well behaved crowd and numerous marching bands which provided quite a spectacle. The event which went on for over three hours was peaceful and well behaved. I saw no public displays of drunkenness or disorder. I won’t be learning the flute anytime soon and have no interest or intention of taking up another faith but I can easily live with what I observed last Saturday and just wish more Southerners would put aside their prejudices and experience a piece of history and pageantry. The trouble came later from the other side of the house unfortunately.