Canada: The Disregarded Link

 

 

Willie Drennan

They say whoever wins the war gets to write the history books. This saying probably originated after the American Revolutionary War.  In Ulster we all know the story from the American angle very well. We know of the honourable reasons for the cause of the revolution against the British: the taxation without representation. We know of Tom Paine’s ‘The Rights of Man’ and how the Scotch Irish embraced the Enlightenment and fought for liberty and religious freedom for all. We know all about the heroic deeds of the Ulstermen at Valley Forge, Brandywine and Yorktown.  Us Ulster Scots of today are as proud as can be of our connection with those valiant ‘Sons of Liberty, who inspired the French Revolution and the United Irishmen.  

 

But when you do get to hear the Canadian version of things the plot thickens, the intrigue abounds and the potential lessons for all of us today become apparent.

We’ve always known in Ulster that we have very strong historic ties with Canada: if only because of the extent to which those ties were reinforced in the twentieth century. We haven’t been fed much glorious hype about our connection however: that’s all been kept for the freedom fighting ‘Sons of Liberty’ who were motivated by the independent spirit of the Scotch Irish.

 

Once you look into the Canadian version of things however we soon realise that us Ulster folk have every bit as much a connection with Canada as we have with the USA. One of the largest ethnic groups in the early days of British North America were the Irish and the majority of these were from Ulster, even after the later mass influx of Southern Irish  in the1840’s. Ontario in particular was dominated by Ulster folk with Toronto known as the Belfast of Canada: and for much of the 19^th century and early 20^th century the Lord Mayor of Toronto got to ride a white horse on the Twelfth Day and pretend he was King Billy. The Lord Mayor was often as Orangeman himself as the Orange Order at that time was a massive institution across Canada: from British Columbia to Newfoundland. Now it has to be said that these Orangemen were also English, Scottish, German Protestants, and  Orange politics were related to the politics of Canada: not Ireland. There can be little doubt what ethnic group started up the Orange Order in Canada.  Wherever Loyalists of Ulster descent settled in Canada Orange lodges were formed.

An abbreviated Canadian version of the American Revolution is as follows.  Those who didn’t agree with over throwing British rule in North America were persecuted and force to flee to flee north to the ‘British North America’. 100,000 of them gathered in the last British held port of New York City to be shipped off north of the line that became the Canadian border.  They were called ‘Loyalists’  because they refused to fight the British and participate in the American Revolution. Some would argue though that these Loyalists had also been opposed to the ‘taxation without representation’ imposed by the British authorities on Americans: it’s just that they wanted to sort out the difficulties within the remit of the British Constitution. They didn’t want to go to war to force the change that they believed could well be changed through peaceful diplomatic means. Herein lies the fundamental differences between the American and Canadian mindset ever since.

It is particularly interesting that it is difficult to figure out any difference in background, principles and mindset between the Ulster folk who became Canadians and those who became Americans.  The very first ‘Irish’ settlement in Canada was in Nova Scotia by Ulster folk; many of whom had had forebears who had defended Derry’s Walls during the siege of 1689. Many more Ulster Loyalists settled in New Brunswick, Eastern Townships of Quebec, Ontario and indeed right across the northern shores of the Great Lakes.  They were no softies they were as tough and as dogged as any 18^th century pioneers: the difference was that they fully embraced the notion of liberty and equal opportunity for ALL. Well okay, that’s the same principles that the USA was founded upon but the Canadians didn’t have to go through another horrendous bloody war to get things sorted.

This more tolerant approach to life has been the fundamental difference that continues up to this  present day.  While Canada  lives with the guilt of how their forebears obliterated the indigenous peoples they have certainly, ever since, demonstrated a degree of tolerance that can be matched by  few other nations.

Canada for several generations has been the multicultural showcase of the world. They have dealt with the difficult issues between Loyalists, Francophones, Natives and recent mass immigration in a way that has become the envy of the civilised world. Are their lessons here for the UK as multiculturalism becomes a serious contentious issue? Are their lessons here for Northern Ireland?  Does the Canadian approach to things deserve more attention over here among their distant cousins this side of the Atlantic? Why do the Canadians of Ulster stock think different and do things different than the Americans from the same Ulster stock?

Well shortly after this goes to print I’m off for a visit to the former Loyalist stronghold of British North America. I will explore more of their historical and modern-day approach to multiculturalism and report back on any relevant findings of note in Issue 12 of The Ulster Folk.

 

 

The Twelfth Day and Celtic Park of Colin Agnew.

Willie Drennan

Ballymena man Colin Agnew is a staunch supporter of Glasgow Celtic FC and has been since he was 7 years old. The strange thing about that is that Colin is a church-going Protestant who also supports Northern Ireland and Ballymena United. He is a one-off. Colin explained to me that when he was 7  Celtic won the European Cup by beating Inter-Milan in the final. His family didn’t have a TV set but he was able to watch the match on a neighbour’s black and white screen.

Colin was smitten by the glory of the occasion and he was mesmerised by the green and white hoops, well at least by the black and white hooped shirts on the TV screen. But it didn’t matter to Colin that there was an Irish Catholic and Irish Nationalist aspect to the identity of the Glasgow club: from an early age Colin was simply into people and friends first ( and of course football) over political and religious difference.  I’ve known Colin for many years and can vouch for his sincerity on this.

 When I asked Colin about how he dealt with the sectarian singing and chanting, that both Celtic and Rangers are renowned for: he told me the magic would disappear without it. He felt it was something not to be taken too seriously, or too literally, outside of the football ground: and believed that that was the case for most Rangers and Celtic fans.

He explained that he attended his first Celtic match when he was sixteen. He was able to get a ticket through his close Glaswegian friend: Celtic fan Tony Collins; an ex-British soldier boxing champion, turned evangelical gospel folk singer who lived in Ballymena for a few years. Tony managed to get two tickets for the Scottish Cup Final at Hampdem Park against the Rangers through his contacts in Glasgow. The only slight problem was that the tickets were for the Rangers end and they didn’t realise this until they were in the ground. Colin said it was a matter of shoving their Celtic scarves up their jumpers, singing along to the Billy Boys and The Sash, not cheering when Celtic scored and standing up to cheer when Rangers scored. Rangers won the game 3-2.

That didn’t put Colin off: at 16 it was too late to become a Rangers fan. Colin was enthralled by the atmosphere at the game: at the passionate singing of both sets of fans and is convinced that these ‘Old Firm’ games are the best in the world. Colin later lived and worked in Scotland for a few years, allowing him to regularly attend Celtic games and so solidified his love and connection. 

Colin has two sons who both follow if their dads footsteps by following Celtic , as well as Northern Ireland and Ballymena United. He recently took his youngest son Benjamin to see Celtic for the first and marked the event by writing and recording on CD, a song called ‘Benji Goes to Paradise’.  It is actually sung by his old Glaswegian folk singing fiend Tony Collins, that’s right he forgave him for buying the tickets for the Rangers end. As a Rangers fan just can’t quite get into enjoying it, I do fully understand why the quality of the recording, the lyrics and the tune make it is a hit among Celtic fans.

This was not Colin’s first composition and his other songs include a popular song for Northern Ireland fans which has been well promoted by the Sunday Life and received the blessing of the IFA itself.

What is also unusual for this Celtic enthusiast is that he has a great affinity with Ulster-Scots and Ulster Protestant cultural traditions. A few years ago Colin won a writing contest organised by the News Letter based on memories of the Twelfth of July. His printed story entitled ‘Memories of the Glorious Twelfth and Granny’s Conglomeration Sandwiches’ was a great read. It captured the essence of the Twelfth as a distinct cultural pageant and, first and foremost for Colin, as a time for family reunion.

 The family circle would gather at his grandmother’s house on the Twelfth morning in excitement and in anticipation of the big parade. Colin loved the colours of the banners and uniforms, the music of the bands and the Lambegs and fifes and checking out those he knew in the parade. In particular there was great anticipation of the arrival of Slaght LOL 475, to watch it cross Harryville Bridge, as that was the lodge his father was in.

After the parade it was back to his grandmothers for another feed of home-made food, conglomeration sandwiches and wee buns. As the distant sounds of drums serenaded from across the fields on the warm summer’s night (Colin recalls it always being sunny on the 12^th) the family made their own entertainment led by the storytelling and recitation skills of his colourful granny. Very fond memories indeed and Colin Agnew is probably one of the few people on the planet who sees no contradiction, or experiences any obstacles or pain in his enjoyment of both Glasgow Celtic FC and the Twelfth of July.  Too bad for Northern Ireland that he is just a one-off.

Trees and Bees

25,000 more diseased trees had to be destroyed in County Down again recently.  They were of course from imported saplings, As we said before it is time for us to be producing our own trees from seedlings. Very easy to do and would employ some local people in the process.

As we pointed out in Issue 4, our honey bees are vanishing at an alarming rate. Bees have been around forever and they are crucial for pollination: crucial for our food production. Perhaps the G8  people have discussed this and have come up with a strategy for dealing with this environmental travesty. If not, it will be left up to small independent bee keepers like County Antrim’s Jimmy Cousley to facilitate their survival.

The State of our Local Economy

Willie Drennan 

Someone needs to write a book about the approach of our governments to the local and global economy. Well someone probably is writing that book as I write this rants, but until it’s out there and a best seller nothing is going to change very quickly. The most likely outcome of the G8  Summit in Fermanagh is that our wealthiest  nations will continue their policies of expanding the wealth and control of global chieftains at the expense of investment in , and promotion of local independent, but inter-dependent, sustainable enterprise. 

Our government at Stormont will follow the paths of their government partners in London and   Dublin to ensure that those who play along will be rewarded. Their policies will continue to stifle  small private sector incentives. Here is one tiny example. Unlike the large conglomerates who own   the other newspapers in Northern Ireland, with the support of government, The Ulster Folk are discouraged. The Ulster Scots Agency dishes out its Ulster Scots paper ‘free’ of charge while  other public purse funded outfits, such as the Belfast Welcome Centre don’t want to sell our paper.  This is a small, but excellent example of  government approach to the local economy. 

The State of our Democracy.

Willie Drennan

Since the last issue of The Ulster Folk the state of democracy has taken a turn for the worse. There is still no serious consideration by our present political to set up the most basic conditions for true democracy by facilitating an official opposition. All countries need this to ensure basic accountability and transparency in government: something seriously lacking at Stormont where they have postponed the next election for an extra year and given themselves a pay rise while the rest of the country is experiencing wage cuts.

On the bright side so many people are now understanding the extent of the failings of our present  political structure and it is inevitably only a matter of time before it all gets sorted. 

G8: A missed opportunity for Northern Ireland?

While we’ll never ever really know if the cost hosting of the G8 will ever pay back Northern Ireland in real   financial dividend: there was perhaps another type of opportunity missed. That was the opportunity for those Ulster Unionists and Irish Nationalists who distrust the policies of the world’s leaders to get together to say so. Instead the public protest was dominated by those with anti-Northern Ireland, as part of the United Kingdom, agendas.  We had a rare opportunity to agree on something and we missed it.

Identity in Confusion?

Willie Drennan

The problem is the media and government agents want to label and stick everybody in one of their boxes. They want to categorise everybody into groups where they can be pigeon-holed  and controlled.

For the record I am primarily an Ulsterman, who is an Ulster-Scot, Northern Irish, Irish and British. I can go further in geographical terms and claim to be European, a Northern Hemispherian (I may have just mad that word up) and a resident of Planet Earth who shares the space with all kinds of other people, animals and energies. 

 I am a libertarian-type, liberal-thinking Leftie: independently minded and with leanings to the Right.  I am an unorthodox, non-conformist dissenter and stand strongly and clearly for independence of speech, thought and identity.

The Twelfth Day

Willie Drennan

Growing up in Northern Ireland I looked forward to the Twelfth of July in the same way as I did Halloween and Christmas. As a child and a teenager, in pre ‘troubles’ time, I was aware that my Catholic friends and neighbours didn’t really celebrate the 12^th, but the fact that they would watch the parade, occasionally help collect materials for the bonfire,  or dance a jig under the Orange Arch suggested to me that it wasn’t really a big deal.

It wasn’t really until I left Northern Ireland to travel and work in other countries at the age of 21 years, that I realised the 12^th Day was projected across the world as a bigoted anti-Catholic event.  I couldn’t really understand this as the majority of those who participated in the Twelfth, that I personally knew, were not bigots: l but I had to do some soul-searching. For a period I was made to feel embarrassed and guilty for having ever enjoyed the music and fun. I could recall songs being sung in drunken exuberance that were most certainly offensive; but I arrived at the conclusion from examining other cultures with a very open mind, that every culture, class and creed has their extremist elements.

When I returned to NI in 1997 I was shocked at the level of animosity in the media, and among the middle-class good and great, towards the 12^th.  They were going on about narrow-minded bigots and I wondered when narrow-minded bigotry was not narrow-minded bigotry.

There are different aspects to this celebration and it means different things to different people. There are religious, political, cultural and social elements but - love it, or loath it - it is an exceptional indigenous cultural festival that Tourism Ireland should be promoting world-wide .  Here’s hoping for a sunny, spirited, peaceful, dignified Twelfth Day 2013: celebrated in a respectful manner and with due consideration for everyone in Northern Ireland.

Gee Eight!

Willie Drennan

 The G8: whose idea was it  for Northern Ireland to host it? How long will it take to reap return on investment costs for infrastructure and security? What costs will there be in relation to property damage and hospital bills? These are the questions many are asking in Northern Ireland, as well as: how many participants or protestors will come back To Fermanagh for holidays or conferences? One answer to that one might be: fenced-in security zones look and feel the same the world over; in the same way as malls and shopping centres are universally identical.

While it may be delusionary to think that somehow Northern Ireland, or the UK as a whole, might someday reap financial benefits from the hosting of the G8: it at least gives us the opportunity to tell our local politicians that enough is enough.  It offers us the opportunity to tell governments that we are wising-up, we are catching them on and that we no longer want to vote for global, big corporation controlled politics. 

 One thing for sure nothing will emerge from this G8 conference that will help establish sustainable regeneration of our local economy:  those who currently control the world’s wealth will not suddenly throw it all away to local independent inter-connected enterprises. They won’t allow small-time independent thinkers, who chose not to be subservient to the system, to disrupt their global grip on power and wealth. Post G8, our local Stormont politicians will still go off gallivanting across the world over advancing the global economy to the detriment of our local independent growth. We will still be buying cheap foreign clothes, food and furniture instead of creating an innovative low-carbon, low dependence, locally-centred economic strategy.

The best we can hope for out of this is a greater exposure, through social media and independent bloggers, as to how we are led like sheep to fulfil wealth expansion for the almighty global landlords.  It really is time for people to send out the message to the powerful that we have caught them on and we all want change. There is no excuse any longer to believe everything the government and their media tell us. 

G8 Protests: Is there any point?

          

People have every right to street-protests, marches, rock concerts and parties. There are very legitimate reasons for protest against global control of our economies by the few, the great, the wealthy and the powerful. There is justification in exposing international exploitation: of poor workers in poorer countries, the manipulation of mindsets and bribing of the masses in wealthier nations. These are the people responsible for creating the artificial global economic boom that sucked in so many. When the boom’s bubble burst, as orchestrated, these are the people who walked away with power and wealth intact leaving millions to flounder in subservience to the system. 

Protesting can be good, partying and bonding in celebration with kindred spirits is good. But once it turns to violence that damages local property and further disrupts our local economy then the plot gets lost: the genuine message of the protest is diluted enabling the G8 folk to write-off protesters, and complainers as irrational delinquents. This has led many to ask if there is any point protesting against the G8 at all: is it actually counter-productive?  

If I thought it would help in any way I to sort out our economic woes - or even if I was just confident that I wasn’t  in any way enabling either the Gee Eighters or opportunistic rabble rousers - I  would strap on my Lambeg drum and join the angry mob.