Yer ain folk

 

Yer ain folk

Some years ago, I attended a sports dinner at a masonic hall in Glasgow. I was keen to listen to two greats of Scottish football, Tommy Gemmell and Willie Henderson, regale us with tales of their days as players. It was, in fairness, a terrific event with much laughter and poignancy as the two ex-pros brought to life the golden age of Scottish football. During the interval, I lined up to buy some drinks at the small bar and got into conversation with a middle-aged chap. We discussed the stories the two old players had been telling and had a laugh as we waited to be served. As the conversation ended, he leaned closer to me and said, ‘enjoy the rest of your night, pal. It’s great being wi yer ain folk, none of that manky mob around.’ At that moment, my brother called to me, ‘Pat, make that three lagers.’ The man’s face changed completely when he heard my name and he looked the other way obviously mortified.

As tales of everyday sectarianism go, it’s pretty tame stuff. We’ve all seen and heard much worse but it illustrates that people are more open, more themselves when they think they are among their ‘ain folk.’ This was illustrated fully in that despicable video circulating online of people in an Orange Hall in County Down singing and laughing about a young Irish woman who was murdered on her honeymoon. As examples of moral degradation go, it was pretty near the bottom of the barrel. How many other such examples of sectarian stupidity are kept hidden because people are among their ‘ain folk?’

Of course, decent people of all hues condemned the incident unequivocally. Linfield Football Club terminated their relationship with a coach who took part in the vile singalong. The club, long associated with the unionist community in Belfast, has tried hard in recent years to educate the less enlightened element among their supporters but just as with Rangers in Scotland, there are those who don’t want to change. Linfield’s biting and severe statement made clear their abhorrence of the naked sectarianism on display in the Orange hall and are to be commended for speaking out.

A couple of those involved have apologised for their actions although some have suggested the only thing they are truly sorry about is being caught. In the age where camera phones are ubiquitous, there is a steady stream of videos of people being ‘themselves’ when they think no one is watching or they’re among their own kind.

The Orange order has said it will investigate the goings on at the Orange hall and take disciplinary action if necessary. The nature of the organisation suggests this is a bit like marking your own homework. There is surely a manifest flaw in an organisation which will not tolerate Catholicism nor accept Catholic members, investigating patently anti- Catholic behaviour? This wasn’t just bad taste, this song was written by an adult, learned and known by multiple people in the room and target solely at a young woman and her family because of their background. There is a deep flaw in the psyche of people who can’t accept others because they are different from them, even in relatively small ways.

If these videos which slip out onto the internet now and then teach us one thing, it is that some hide their hatreds behind a mask of respectability but sometimes that mask slips and we see their true face. Perhaps the tsunami of disgust and criticism coming their way now will teach them the lesson that more and more people reject this sort of behaviour. I hope they learn and grow as human beings but perhaps some will just learn to keep the video phones off in future. One Irish newspaper put it succinctly….

‘Congratulations to those who sang that vile song about Michaela McAreavey: you’ve successfully united the public and all politicians and commentators in utter revulsion against you. For all of us who have seen the video, it was hard to feel anything other than disgust watching a group of men, in a room decorated with Union flags and Orange Order paintings, join in chorus to sing a horrible and insulting tune they all clearly knew so well. They laughed and joked with each other and raised their arms in celebration.’

Human beings seem tribal by nature, perhaps a remnant of our hunter-gatherer past and in places where disparate groups have been forced to live together by history or by chance, there will always be some who blame the ‘other’ for some misfortune. The legacy of Ireland’s history from colonisation, plantation, partition and the horrors of conflict, have left deep wounds that are far from healed. That being said, we are all human beings and we know in our hearts that some things are just plain wrong.

Of course, no individual and no community should smugly think they don’t have their share of fools and knaves among their number. I’ve written recently about a small minority of Celtic fans who seem not to care a jot about the principles the club stands for and seek to revive tired old songs rejected by the bulk of the support before they were born. It’s up to us all to live up to the best ideals of our club and say no to intolerance of any sort. We Celtic fans know well the feeling of comfort and comradeship being together creates. It is a powerful bond that has been moulded through the generations and has come through some hard times. I hope that being among our ‘ain folk’ is never an excuse for denigrating others. As a wise man once said…

‘ Integrity is doing the right thing-even when no one is watching.’

We could add to that… even when you’re just with your ‘ain folk.’