How strange the ways of human beings! For decades, unionism has preached to nationalism and republicanism to respect traditions other than their own, and not to do so was adopt an insular and bigoted outlook. Now we find Michelle O’Neill stretching republicanism to its creaking limit by attending a Remembrance Day ceremony, where the actions of the British dead in various conflicts are remembered and honoured. Meanwhile, Emma Little Pengelly, when faced with the invitation to attend the inaugaration of Catherine Cookson as President of Ireland (can you think of a less threatening invitation?), dear Emma quickly finds reasons in her Events Book that prevent her from attending the Presidential Inauguration.
OK, call in the ghosts of Political Christmas Past: Not An Inch, No Surrender, What We Have We Hold, The South Is Priest-ridden and Predatory, what with all them menacing priests and nuns. Leo Varadkar is a threat, Micheál Martin is a threat, Catherine Connelly is a threat. Go ye out from amongst them.
I think there must come a point where nationalism/republicanism says ‘Enough is fucking enough, guys’. If every gesture of goodwill is to be thrown back in our face, maybe we should simply stop making gestures of goodwill.
Back to your caves, unionist neanderthals.
As a Republican voter it has always stuck in my craw ( what exactly IS a craw and is that word ever used in any other context?) the way we are obliged to pay homage to the British military yet condemned by self righteous unionists for honouring republican war dead. I do realise it is important to respect our foes and their folk memories but the DUP really do extract the urine. Partially because of the presence of Jim Allister, looking to remind them that it is 1976 but also because they genuinely have zero respect for anybody else.