One Sheffield University class conducted a survey of how the students showed preferences to their place of origin. The Ulster students stood out as having the greatest percentage showing a definite preference to their own area over other parts of the United Kingdom.
The reason for that seems unclear to anyone who has not visited the province. But a visit shows that Ulster has sea-side resorts, geological wonders, an airplane industry, universities, museums and historical monuments. All that is missing is sunny weather, but skin cancer scare stories are enough to steer some tourists there.
These notes have been compiled since the beginning of 1996.
Top
MARCH 1996
The prospect of elections in Northern Ireland, fought on nationalistic issues seems merely the path to yet another chamber of horrors. Westminster, Whitehall and Dublin have produced a document of unrivalled opacity, which fails to mention most key economic issues.
And yet during the IRA ceasefire, both the government and the IRA have continued their campaign of propaganda against cannabis, and those who use or distribute it. The RUC, with backing from social workers and mainstream politicians had started to concentrate its activities on the so called 'Drugs Menace' which it held to be almost as bad as terrorism, while the IRA, not having enough prisons yet, saught to emulate the USA government and its shady military allies in Latin America in its use of violence in the 'War Against Drugs'.
The current rules of parliamentary politics where the participants speak in code while evading the real economic and social issues can only result in more trouble. Violence is the the handmaiden of deceit. Most of the time the deceit comes from politicians who claim to solve the problems of families in a contracting economy by harassing minorities such as refugees, single mothers, and where racist and ethnic attacks are against the rules, those who use prohibited drugs.
Top
MANCHESTER BOMB.
The IRA bomb in Manchester, famous for its liberal tradition reminds us that many people despise their rulers. In this case the hard men of the IRA, a tiny factional army, do their work, although after a warning to the police. Little further is said about collusion between the IRA and the security forces. Unlike Hamas, or the Tamil Tigers, or the FIS, or Aum Shinryiko they give warnings. People know they could do far more damage if they tried. So what do they get: a circus where ringmaster Mayhew, or 'Mayhem' as popularly referred to in Ulster, takes the menagerie through its hoops. The Northern Ireland elections were all about that. Not one alternative-left style candidate got any real support. The people are so inward looking that the four main parties were two flavours of unionism, the official non-unionists in the SDLP, and the IRA/Sinn-Fein entity.
Some may argue that Sinn-Fein and the IRA are not the same. That may not be true, but the graffiti in some parts of Belfast praise violence, by celebrating the accurate cross-border sniper. The IRA has popular support in some localities simply because of past injustices. The parents pass these stories to their children, and if they are poor the children do not have a chance to visit the world and get an alternative point of view.
Some yuppies may go for the Alliance Party, but its leader is a respected local psychiatrist, and these guys have had their image spoiled a bit by recent events in Bosnia. Radovan Karadzic is the best known psychiatrist in political affairs, but Dr Alderdice is a far more moderate man, with a steady and unyeilding attitude towards working for cooperation. Dr Alderdice understands that politics is not a zero sum game. This is a rare and unusual quality for a Northern Ireland political leader.
Top
MARCHING SEASON
The 'Orange Order' parades may seem unique to Northern Ireland, but really they are a symptom of quite a common trait of human behaviour. Universities have student parades, while workers' organisations once had May Day parades. Most countries have their own 'National Days', when they celebrate independence. One country, Serbia, even celebrated a 'National Day' where the country suffered defeat and four hundred years of enslavement.
Recent history has seen the virtual abolition of Trades Union and Workers' Organisation parades. The ideas of class solidarity have been replaced by the slogans and insignia of fascism and nationalism.
Ireland as a whole solved its problems in the last century through emigration, so that it has a lower population now than one hundred and fifty years ago. The Irish suffered one of the first crises in adapting to capitalism. The various sectarian movements were seen as useful enforcers during a time when many people had to be oppressed in order to provide a luxurious living for an urban and often foreign elite.
Ulster was always special, having a slightly less iniquitious system. The scottish immigrants were often men of more democratic principals than those of London. Their religion was more helpful at that time. The late nineteenth century saw fantastic industrial development in areas such as Strathclyde, Belfast, and Furness. Those northern coasts of Great Britain built the ships to dominate the world. Even disasters such as the Titanic, built in Belfast, grabbed the world's headlines.
Trade union marches were never a real problem in Northern Ireland. There were a few incidents in the 1930s, but generally sectarian strife replaced class struggle. In fact the unionist workers' strike of 1974 is acknowledged by many as the most effective strike in british history. In this way the people were showing a form of 'bloody mindedness' for which they have become famous.
Many of the up and coming leaders are born from the period of confrontation in the early 1970s when the annual death toll was measured in hundreds, rather than dozens. Paisley's brood have grown up in a Northern Ireland which was protected by massive government subsidy. The harsh economic climate of the 1990s has seen some of these subsidies end, and so there is a downwards pressure on wages. The so called peace process made things worse. If the state was no longer threatened, then less would be spent on the civil service including the police. The twenty four hour a day helicopter monitoring would cease, along with all of the ground support necessary for such patrols.
The Ulster people are frightened of too much change, and the lack of regular sectarian confrontation is one of the changes feared, just as a psychotic mental patient sometimes fears a cure more than anything else. As an area of the UK, Ulster is always asking for money by displays of self destructive behaviour.
This violent image has served the province well. They escaped the single most idiotic policy of the Thatcher government: The Poll Tax. The fear of confrontation with armed gangs deterred the british government from implementing this folly in Northern Ireland, although nearby Scotland suffered the tax a year earlier than England and Wales. Railway privatisation is another government policy which is contested there, along with high value added tax on fuel.
Taxation has also divided irish nationalists. While the UK had economically beneficial rule, and the children had free education and liquor prices were cheaper than across the border, there was almost no incentive for anyone to vote for a merger with the Irish Republic. The fact that Sinn Fein gained in the recent elections shows many were dissatisfied with the government's handling of the economy. There was even a brief period in 1992 when the pound sterling was worth less than the irish punt.
For any understanding of the 'North Ireland' problem it is important to remember the following points:-
Top
[1] PEACE PROCESS
People talk about a 'peace process' but really this is an interim phase of a very old struggle between center and periphery. It is really just something to make politicians look good, but when there are real problems they leave decisions to the chief policeman in the province.
Top
[2] MISCARRIAGES OF JUSTICE
The legal system in Northern Ireland is different to that in the rest of the UK. All terrorist offences are tried in Diplock courts where there is no jury. Rather than trying to end this system during the IRA ceasefire, english politicians were more inclined to talk of introducing the same system to the whole of the UK.
During the time of the IRA ceasefire the nationalist and republican paramilitary organisations have carried out beatings and torture without restraint. Instead of bullets they used iron spikes and bars, but these often did more damage to the victims than bullets.
In the past, internment without trial in the 1970s, and a series of incorrect convictions of Irishmen in English courts, going back to the 1800s has built up a deep antipathy of many for 'british justice'.
Top
[3] WEAK LEFTIST PARTIES
In Ulster the various socialist and leftist parties, including the trade union movement, were split on sectarian lines during much of the twentieth century. With changing world economic conditions this deficit has left the political process very weak in dealing with issues that affect Ireland as a whole: climatic change, over-fishing, European monetary union, and cross border trade.
The British labour party has been afraid to operate in Northern Ireland, although some of the more far left groups such as Militant Labour, and the Socialist Workers' Party do have a presence there.
As in the rest of the UK, there are no political parties to represent the aspirations of young people. In particular the concept of an 'open society' is conspicuous by its absence from any of the mainstream political parties. By comparision with the rest of the UK there was very little organised opposition to the government's 1994 Criminal Justice Bill. By contrast, most of the marches and demonstrations tend to be those supporting a more exclusive and fascistic society.
Top
[4] CRIMINAL GANGS
The official government policy has been to treat terrorists as common criminals, except for the method of trial. The background of nationalist politics in the formation of criminal gangs or secret societies is not new in world history. The Sicilian mafia, or the Chinese triads share this trait of nationalist ideology.
The paramilitary gangs have been able to make money in protection rackets, counterfeiting and trade name theft, and drug dealing.
Top
[5] EXCELLENT INFRASTRUCTURE
Northern Ireland has good airports, roads and harbours. In addition the universities train scientists from all over the world, and the province has its own airplane and guided missile industry. The past bomb explosions, and the necessary work in fortifying police stations and law courts have given a suitable domestic market for the a local construction company, Mivan International. This has become a major world wide operation with contracts in Jerusalem and Bangkok. Northern Ireland is well connected to the Internet, and there is no reason why an international finance center could not be developed in the province.