A Beautiful Life

 

A Beautiful Life

Watching the articulate and intelligent Mick Lynch, General Secretary or the RMT, comprehensively school some of the lightweight, minor celebrities who pass as journalists these days has been both gratifying and amusing. Mick, the son of Irish parents, who left school as a sixteen- year-old to work in the building trade, knows his stuff. He also knows the historical and cultural context the trade union movement. When asked by one hapless interviewer who his hero was he replied…

‘James Connolly. Do you know who James Connolly is? He is an Irish, Socialist Republican and he educated himself and started non-sectarian trade unionism, in Ireland and was a hero of the Irish revolution.’

Mick Lynch is being lauded by those on the left in the UK for speaking truth to power in a way the Labour Party has avoided for 30 years. The smug elites are not fond of articulate advocates for the working class and we can expect the right-wing press to try and discredit Lynch in the same scurrilous manner they destroyed Jeremy Corbyn. Mr Lynch is unlikely to be cowed though by the childish comparison to a Thunderbirds puppet ‘evil mastermind’ but the fact the tabloids are trawling his Facebook page and looking through his bins is a sign that the usual suspects are looking to distract from the message by attacking the messenger.

James Connolly would have recognised these tactics from the more conservative forces in his day. His time living off the Falls Road in Belfast demonstrated clearly to him how carefully fostered sectarian divisions were used to keep the working class at each other’s throats; rather than seeing the real enemy which was exploiting both communities. When he saw the social and housing conditions both communities lived in, he described it as, ‘tuppence against tuppence ha’penny.’ He also witnessed a cynical Tory Party ‘play the Orange card’ in order to support their own selfish party-political interests in Westminster. In the end, the partition of Ireland which Connolly warned against became reality and his words spoken in the years before partition became prophetic…

‘Here in Ireland the proposal of the Government to consent to the partition of Ireland – the exclusion of certain counties in Ulster is causing a new line of cleavage. No one of the supporters of Home Rule accepts this proposal with anything like equanimity, but rather we are already hearing in Ulster rumours of a determination to resist it by all means. It is felt that the proposal to leave the Home-Rule minority at the mercy of an ignorant majority with the evil record of the orange party is a proposal that should never have been made, and that the establishment of such a scheme should be resisted with armed force if necessary. I entirely agree with those who think so; Belfast is bad enough as it is; what it would be under such rule the wildest imagination cannot conceive. Filled with the belief that they were after defeating the Imperial Government and the Nationalists combined, the Orangemen would have scant regards for the rights of the minority left at their mercy.’

Connolly did not live to see Ireland divided into two states. In the north, a ‘Protestant state for a Protestant people’ was proclaimed despite a third of the citizens being Catholics in 1922. There was intimidation, discrimination and blatant electoral Gerrymandering to maintain Unionist hegemony in places like Derry where 75% of the population was nationalist. In the south, the Catholic church was given influence and power far beyond what was healthy in any land. Connolly would have despaired. The working-class solidarity he so badly tried to foster was ripped apart and has yet to recover.

His revolution, based on the socialist principles he espoused all his life, died with him in the stonebreakers yard at Kilmainham jail. The conservative forces of church and commerce guided the Irish Free State in a different direction and perhaps reminds us of one of his more famous quotations…

‘If you remove the English Army tomorrow and hoist the green flag over Dublin Castle., unless you set about the organization of the Socialist Republic your efforts will be in vain. England will still rule you. She would rule you through her capitalists, through her landlords, through her financiers, through the whole array of commercial and individualist institutions she has planted in this country and watered with the tears of our mothers and the blood of our martyrs”

James Connolly would approve of Mick Lynch’s articulate defence of the interests of his union’s membership. He may also concede that the average worker today lives in far better social conditions than those he would have seen in the slums of the Cowgate, Dublin or Belfast but I’m sure he would echo the point that most of the gains made by ordinary people in areas such as the NHS, welfare, workers’ rights and housing, was made possible by ordinary people organising and fighting for them. We should not forget that Churchill’s Tory Party fought against the establishment of the NHS and voted against it 21 times, but the Labour landslide at the 1945 election saw the Bill passed in Parliament.

We may face a summer of discontent as inflation spirals and various workers groups strike to protect their standard of living. Mick Lynch pointed out the hypocrisy of bosses telling workers to tighten their belts while they rake it in with bloated salaries and huge bonuses. We live in an era where the rich are getting richer and many of the poorer folk in society are struggling. Who can blame them for demanding a fairer system? The traditional link between the trade unions and the Labour Party may not be what it once was, but the fact that many ordinary people support the railway workers and see the obvious bias in media reporting of the dispute is telling.

Mick Lynch’s hero, James Connolly paid the ultimate price for trying to change society for the better. His daughter Nora went to see him on the evening before he was shot and reported this exchange between Connolly and his wife Lilly…

‘When we got into see my father he said, ‘well Lilly, I suppose you know what this means?’ She said, ‘oh no, oh no not that.’ He said ‘yes, Lilly.’ She broke down then and she said, ‘what a beautiful life James, such a beautiful life.’ He said, ‘wasn’t it a full life Lilly and isn’t this a good end?’

James Connolly gave his life trying to create a fairer society and better conditions for those crushed by poverty. The sectarianism he despised so much means that even today, some in the land of his birth refuse to recognise him as the champion of the poor he was. He sought to bring about change by revolution rather than evolution and was in that regard, a man of his time, but his courage and self-sacrifice are undeniable, even to those who refute his politics.

Mick Lynch chose his political hero with the same intelligence and understanding he uses to demolish the journalists who interview him. Connolly was clear what he wanted to see in Ireland and indeed around the world, when he said…

‘The Irish people will only be free when they own everything from the plough to the stars.’

That dream may never become reality but it won’t stop many fighting for a fairer, more equal society.

 

The Right Thing

 

The Right Thing

Irish folk singer Christy Moore appeared on BBC Radio’s ‘Desert Island Discs’ programme some years ago and, being a fan of his music, I recall tuning in to hear it. Moore is known for his considerable musical skill and penning songs which reflect a left-wing political outlook on life. His music was a commentary on the times he lived through and in albums such as H-Block and The Spirit of Freedom, he made plain his views on the situation in the north of Ireland at that time. Indeed, the launch of his album ‘H Block at the Brazen Head pub in Dublin was raided by the Irish Special Branch in 1978 and all attending were quizzed by the Police. All of the albums were seized in the raid and Moore relates that years later he spoke to some of the detectives who were on the raid. Such was the ambiguity of the times, they said most of them kept a copy at home and it was among their most treasured possessions.

Christy spoke honestly about why he stopped being sympathetic to the armed struggle in the north. When asked why he stopped supporting the IRA he said, ‘I suppose Enniskillen, then Warrington and proxy bombs. It was just the end of the line for me.’  For a traditionally stuffy radio show, Moore’s contribution was honest and open especially about his politics, his health breakdowns and his struggles with alcohol and anger. These days he is in his seventies and is as busy as ever. I’ve seen him live on a few occasions and from the more raucous shows at the Barrowland to the more sedate nights at the Royal Concert Hall, he remains a fine performer.

The reason I’m talking about Christy Moore today is that he came on a journey with so many people of his generation. He saw the very real injustices of what was going on in Northern Ireland and commented on them in his life and music. In the end the violence and the cruelties of those times led him to the conclusion that there had to be a better way. Christy’s appearance on the show came at a time when the peace process was starting to bear fruit and Martin McGuinness and Iain Paisley were working together to make a better future for the people they represented.

Those of us who have regularly attended Celtic games over the course of our lives have met a lot of great folk from the six counties who lived through things we on the other side of the water can scarce imagine. I used to sit by an older chap in the Jock Stein stand, who hailed from Belfast and we’d talk regularly about his experiences growing up and living through the Troubles. He spoke not only of the violence and injustice he saw but also of the spirit, resilience and decency of so many people just trying to get by in a horrendous situation. He was old enough to have watched Belfast Celtic play but his heart was always with their cousins in Glasgow. His journey to watch Celtic began  in the early hours of the morning and took a coach and a ferry to get him to the hallowed ground he loved so much. He never once bad mouthed anyone but rather told his tales of the things he and his community endured with a kind of weary sadness. When peace came in the late 90s, he told me the best thing about it was not worrying about his children whenever they went out.

The peace has endured despite the efforts of a misguided few to try and return to the past. Of course, the scars are still there, especially for the older generation who endured things we can only imagine. It will take generations for the hurt to subside and the truth to emerge about what really went on in those years. Some, alas will never find justice for their loved ones and will live with that all their days but at least there is compensation in the fact that their children and grandchildren will know better days.

My grandfather, whose name I bear, fought for Irish freedom when he returned from the trenches of World War One. In my memory, he is the grey-haired old chap who sang, ‘The Rose Of Tralee’ at family parties. It would be hard to imagine that old gentleman as a young man with a rifle in his hand but he did what he thought was the right thing in his own life.

Doing the right thing is, I guess, the point of today’s article. We saw images of Celtic supporters in Las Vegas singing about the IRA this week and the tabloids made a big fuss because of the presence of a few celebrity Celtic fans. There has been an upsurge in such songs in recent years, especially at away games and much as I don’t have a problem with people singing songs which reflect their heritage and outlook, I do question the necessity to sing them at Scottish football matches or linked events. If you choose to sing such songs then you accept the damage it does to Celtic’s reputation.

Celtic have fans from all walks of life and the ideals the club was built on should be borne in mind by all who follow the Hoops. The team was integrated from its earliest years and rejected the narrow-minded sectarianism others adopted. The support is increasingly diverse and some of my best friends who follow Celtic are neither of Irish extraction nor Catholics. We are a broad church now and should avoid anything which might make our fellow supporters uncomfortable.

I’ve written such words before and have been called childish names by a mostly younger element with no real knowledge of what occurred during the darker days of the troubles. If wanting Celtic to be an inclusive, modern club makes me a ‘soup taker’ then that’s fine by me but at least get a good book or two about the troubles and educate yourself first. They were dark times and no one came out of them unsullied; not the paramilitaries, not the security forces and certainly not the politicians on all sides who failed miserably.

We in Scotland were thankfully spared the things they endured despite the efforts of a misguided few to import the troubles here. We can be thankful for that and hope our cousins across the north channel have many years of peace ahead. As Seamus Heaney wrote…

‘History says, Don’t hope
On this side of the grave,
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up,
And hope and history rhyme.’

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.’