Saturday 21 April 2018

NORTHERN IRELAND - CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT



I CAME TO NORTHERN IRELAND 40 YEARS AGO THIS YEAR AND I PREFER TO LIVE HERE THAN IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND.

I have no desire to see a UNITED IRELAND. But I would be quite happy to see a NEW IRELAND.

I am not a Republican or a Nationalist - and I am not a Unionist or a Loyalist.

I think that many of these terms hark back to the divided past. We cannot live in the past. We must live in the present and look forward to the future.

Recent polls have shown that the "Catholic" population is increasing and the "Protestant" one decreasing.

Some experts say that by 2021 Northern Ireland will have a majority of "Catholics". But that does not mean that all those "Catholics" will vote with Sinn Fein for a United Ireland.

As the two largest parties in Northern Ireland Sinn Fein and the DUP have a huge responsibility to lead all of us away from the divided past and towards a better future.

Unfortunately, there are still many dinosaurs on bother sides that are wanting to yell: "NO SURRENDER".

To achieve a better future each side needs to show a great generousity towards each other and stop laying down red lines.




Sinn Fein is holding out for A STAND ALONE IRISH LANGUAGE ACT.

That is not really necessary.

I think that a new, modern Culture and Language Act would be fine.

Such an act could safeguard the languages and cultures of all - Irish, British and all those other minority cultures that now exist in Northern Ireland.

People should be allowed to set up and run viable Irish language schools - and many others will be happy to continue supporting the English language schools that are in the majority.

But we must be practical and recognize that English is the everyday language of the vast majority of people all over this island.

I think it would be madness - and very expensive - to have every street and road sign in Northern Ireland in both English and Irish.

I would much prefer to see that kind of money put into our health service.

I studied Irish for the 14 years I was in primary and secondary school and have a fondness for the language.

But I do not need to see the signs in the town and street where I live in both English and Irish.

If you want to pay homage in Irish to the place in which you live then call your house by an Irish name and let that form part of your address.


And the DUP is not helping anyone by banning same-sex marriage just because many of their members are from some kind of fundamentally Protestant background - even though the rest of the UK - which they say they love - has same-sex marriage. 

We must get away from parish pump politics and develop a politics that is in tune with the global world we are all moving towards.




If there was a poll about a United Ireland tomorrow I would vote "No".

And I would vote like that because:

1. We have a better standard of living as part of the UK at the moment.

2. I prefer to live in a diverse society than in a one culture society.

3. And for me personally, I think that the Roman Catholic Church still has a little too much influence in the Republic - even though that influence is on the wane.

However, that "subtle" influence is there - especially in a party like Fianna Fail which has been traditionally the party of the farmers and the RC Church.


In the past, the Unionists were right when they said: "Home Rule is Rome Rule".

Of course, at the same time, "Ulster" was a Protestant statelet for a Protestant people.


All these models are now outdated. 

Saint Patrick was accredited with ridding Ireland of snakes.

Perhaps we need to pray to him that he will now rid Ireland of the dinosaurs - on both sides.






73 comments:

  1. A good and balanced blog.

    N.I. needs more such mindsets.

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  2. A rather worn, tiresome blog at this stage. We've heard this personal history and views too often. Nothing that fires the imagination. Incidentally, Fianna Fail has moved under Martin - no longer Catholic Church friendly...now wants abirtion on demand, sadly.

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  3. You have no right to an opinion Buckley. Go home, you were never welcome here, but just like those PP's you like to talk about, you have imposed yourself! Your are worse than any of the clergy you blog about.

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    1. @06.45;

      You sound like the High Priests talking about Jesus.

      Nice to see you devote an early morning moment to +Pat's blog. Clearly it means something to you.

      Delete
  4. Some wild comments! Pat obviously has hit a few nerves!

    I used to think along lines of Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland: Protestant and Catholic and whatnot.

    Maybe I’m getting wiser but I’ve come to see very little value in flags, labels and categories.

    There is no “them” and no “us” just people. All mystically connected by this wonderful thing called life. We are all one.

    People are just people: North or South, Protestant, Catholic, Jews, Athiests.

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    1. You should see the foaming at the mouth comments I cast into the delete bin :-)

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    2. Bishop P., could you give us one example? Just for a bellylaugh?

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  5. Democracy, as it means today, is the 50 percent plus one formula as hailed by the Brexiteer camp, which includes the DUP. It would be completely hypocritical (but inevitable to expect from the DUP), that different yardsticks would be employed in the event of a vote for Irish unity. I would be against a vote for unity right now as it would fail but give it a couple of years with Brexit and people will see the real damage. I'm also sure that northern, ethnic Catholics for want of a better term, will be more assertive for unity or at least more openly against the Union due to the economic uncertainty created by Brexit, the accelerated dismantling of the UK welfare state and the fact that they will be in the majority, however so slight. The proverbial Larne Catholic could exist as a minority, ready to show its belly for either a good kick followed by a nice scratch but it might start to show its teeth when assured that the course of history as such is flowing its way.

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  6. The ferry from Larne will be useful when we can send back the majority of Protestants who were planted here, I’ll pay for Arlene’s ticket myself. I see Sammy Wilson has made yet another homophobic remark about the Taoiseach.

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  7. Only a tiny percentage of Scots speak Gaelic, but the SNP ****wits have erected dual language signs at all the railway stations. The only purpose is to cause division and mischief.

    Moreover, the second most widely spoken language in Scotland is Polish.

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    1. Yes, but Polish is not an indigenous native language of the country . That's a very different situation

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    2. 15:18, nor is Scots Gaelic a native language. Like Irish Gaelic, it may once have been, but it lost that position a very long time ago.

      It is disengenuous to hark back to a long-dead past (and long-dead languages) to justify spending public money on bilingual signs which are purely a product of cultural and political agendas.

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    3. I didn't mention public money or signs (Maybe another poster did .) I am a linguist.

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    4. 19:02, which Anon. are you? 10:08 or 15:18?

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    5. I was 15.18

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    6. And what was your point, 23:10?

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  8. During the last census in the republic of Ireland, only six thousand people completed the form in the Irish language.

    Also, when ROI signed up the EU (Common Market then), they listed their official language as Irish, so everything has to translated accordingly. Which no one reads.

    Now the plonkers are trumpeting ROI is the only English speaking country in the EU.

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  9. As long as you agree to take back all the Irish economic migrants in GREAT Britain. They can be kicked out now that we've got our country back from under the Brussels jackboot.

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  10. O9:14, what is a better form of democracy than 50% plus 1? Though I'm much more worried about countries such as the UK and Ireland which claim to be democracies yet have second chambers in their parliaments which are not directly elected. The House of Lords is a total farce, made up of Anglican bishops, hereditary peers and political party nominees.

    And in Ireland you have the likes of Bacik who cannot get elected when she stands as a TD candidate, but can then promote death in the Seanad.

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  11. Bishop Pat is it true what I heard - Bishop Boyce is running Dromore by email and phone from his pad in Donegal. All PP's in Dromore have been delegated to conduct confirmations so he won't even be doing that. The whole thing seems like a gimmick and joke.
    Lernaderg Parishioner

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    1. How would Pat know. You'd be better off ringing Bishop Boyce and hearing it from the horses mouth so to speak. I'm assuming that Boyce running the Diocese from Donegal impedes somehow on your life and its daily function?

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    2. I'm told that Boyce is running Dromore by occasional visits, email and phone calls?

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    3. @14.37 You would be surprised what Pat Buckley knows. I notice the poster @13.09 lives in the diocese of Dromore so they are more than entitled to know who is running that diocese and how.

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    4. That’s no way to run a diocese.
      May (Newry)

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    5. That Priest was right, appointing that old man retired Boyce to Dromore was an absolute insult and joke to those of us living in the diocese.
      (Lawrencetown)

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  12. *****

    Those sending me nasty comments need to realise that they are wasting their time.

    After 30+ years of abuse it is like water off a ducks back and they end up deleted with one click

    :-)

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    1. I often find, and it is true, that those who perpetuate a continuation of abuse toward another, do so because of their own issues, insecurities and more often deviated minds. Pat, after many years of challenging the status Quo, toward a renewed vision of ministry, you have come across some unsavory characters, so abuse hurdled toward you is nothing more as you say water off a ducks back. When I was younger I removed a book from the school library written by a Canon Matt Hep, sometime cerca 1940. I've often quoted it on many occasions. Its by no means a best seller and at best is very bland, but It details how the greatest challenge or indeed abuse towards clergy came from within the ranks. Its written in latin but its previous owner wrote the translation above the latin.

      MMM

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    2. Canon Matt Hep. A name I have not heard in yonks! very quotable material but of very little substance.

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    3. 17:03, then why is it quotable?😆

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    4. A load of tripe, that Matt Hep... Shakespeare he ain't!

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  13. I am a northern catholic. I don’t vote because it’s a waste of time. Around here you could paint a donkey green and the catholics will vote for it. Similarly if the biggest rascal in town shouts “No Surrender” then almost to a man and woman the Protestants will vote for him/her.
    Nothing changes. We can pretend what we like about the peace process but the bigots are still there in large numbers. Not only the overtly aggressive mob but the subtle and equally intransigent ‘upper class’ attitudinal bigots. One side is a bad as the other.
    I have no desire to be in a united ireland nor have I the desire to be in a non euro Britain. I have long since learned that for all its faults and it’s history the UK has served me and my family well. I’m happy

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    1. We had a long hard fight to get democracy and the right to vote. Don't be so lazy and get out and use your vote . No point in complaining about how you perceive things to be and yet sitting at home and letting others do the work! I hardly think that is going to do anything to improve matters!
      (It's a well-known cop-out cliché which fools no-one)

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  14. Do you think some of the abuse might be coming from Clergy?
    (The Real Sr. Mary)

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  15. Anyone watch the Big Tom special last night?

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    1. Brian Darcy was on. he never lets anyone get a word in edge ways. The man literally has a motor mouth, he cant get the words out quick enough.

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    2. Yip! Always gives me the impression that he has loads to say and not enough time in which to say it.

      Too many parenthetical comments in his speech.

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    3. 17:05 as well as having a motor mouth, Darcy has a big motor. A Mercedes to be exact. Good old vow of poverty.

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    4. That car is driven to impress lovely ladies. 's obvious.😆

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    5. Darcy has houses left to him in Wills, no wonder why he drives a Mercedes. His successor at the Graan has dumped all of his 'with it' initiatives, thank God. Darcy is totally false.

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  16. @15.56 Yes the Big Tom Special was good on the Late Late Show, the only one that gave me a pain in my h**e was listening to the phoney Brian D’Arcy. Why does he always insist on it’s all about me me me me.

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  17. I agree, Darcy spoiled it for me. I was at Big Toms Funeral, it was very moving. Darcy was there trying to hijack it all and trying to be Centre stage, he looked a total idiot. The day was all about Big Tom and the great thing about it was everybody ignored Darcy, even though in the graveyard he tried singing louder than everyone else. What an attention seeker.

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  18. On the RTE programme the other night Darcy was given 15 minutes to speak uninterrupted and then he spent the rest of it trying to interrupt the women. Including the absolutely gorgeous blonde woman with perfect white teeth and flawless skin, a country music singer I think. How lucky is the man who settles down with her as his wife.

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    1. 18:34 Cliona Hagan is her name........gorgeous lady

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    2. Yeah . Cliona Hagan - - and full marks to the TV makeup depth for taking the time to cover spots and acne etc with concealer and for using no. 7 cream to disguise eye bags. Then they started on the hair.. A team effort but the end result, especially with the clever lighting, wasn't bad at all!

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  19. All Ireland or a British state it's all BOLLOCKS, the so called Free State wouldn't touch us with a barge pole we are too toxic. As for the mainland they're happy that there's a stretch of deep water to seperate us and if they could they'd love to see us drowning in it.

    We'd probably be better off forming our own independent state, then we could happily continue on in what we do best.

    Squabble and fight over tribal lines. It's a bit like the Anon's here the love to dig and jib like it matters a jot.

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    1. I think the Free State regarded Northern Ireland as toxic from the start. Yeats spoke for many when he said something to the effect that if you've got nasty neighbours who are always squabbling, just shut the door on them.

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  20. Pat, there really is no limit to your expertise and erudition. You would think - both secular and religious authorities - would acknowledge your genius and bow to your abilities.

    Both nationally and intentionally, Pat, you have the answers, the finger on the pulse and you know exactly what needs to be done. It must be very very frustrating to live in a world where you see such simple and obvious solutions that others are too stubborn and stupid to see.

    As regards the Church, well suffice it to say, you have it fully sussed there too. There is no point of theology to which you cannot address yourself with absolute precision and incisiveness.

    Pat, this world would be a safer, saner place if you were enthroned as Leader of both Church and State with that bloke Magna as vice regent.

    Maybe, indeed, Pat, you yourself will be the fulfilment of that One World Leader, who combines both religious and secular power, foretold in Scripture? One can but hope.

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    1. Your comment reduced me to tears.

      Never before has anyone so fully understood my burden as the repository of universal wisdom and salvation.

      Please pray for me as I bring the fruits of my great mission to birth.

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    2. Oi, pal! That 'bloke Magna' phrase sounds disrespectful.

      Where do you live? (For purely educational purposes, of course.😆)

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    3. What? Like the Republic of Ireland, with its financial dependency on the European Union?😅😅😅😆😆😆

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    4. Maybe Pat it's time for promotion to a higher position like say Pope and maybe then the likes of anonymous commenters will accept your position on all matters. Infalliblity is a great gift oh that right the plebs in ranks lower pay no regard to such infaliblity infact choose to ignore it with contempt. What do you say anom's I'm right on the nail.

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    5. @ 20.26
      Best laugh we got all week
      Genius!

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    6. Magna at 21:27, I live in Limerick aka Stab City. Come on down for a wee holiday and we will show you a hell of a time. We won’t guarantee your safety but there’ll be plenty of uisce beatha. As they say, ‘mind how ye go’. ;-)

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  21. Northern Ireland is a political,cultural and financial joke.

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    1. I don't see anybody laughing..

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  22. Will there be something more interesting to read about next week, +Pat. A cheap and cheerful spring scandal at Gaynooth would be something to look forward to.

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  23. I agree with you @21.16. Grew up in NI. Best thing ever was boat to England. New life, new thinking and healthier attitudes. Go home every so often to see family. After a few days I want away again. Folk have same parochial attitudes and narrow minded thinking. Same old shit!

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    1. They are happy in there own mire and shun change

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    2. You @ 22.05 sound very patronising and insufferable! Why not just stay away..?

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  24. Fr. D'arcy would have been well annoyed for not being allowed to celebrate the funeral of Big Tom! There's strict guidelines in Clogher so well done to Fr. Leo who duly had the main celebrant role.........poor 'oul Brian would have been seething, hence him trying to outdo everyone else singing in the cemetery.

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    1. @22.20 I couldn’t agree more. I’m glad the limelight was stolen from D’Arcy and rightfully so. I respect the Clergy from Clogher for this. The man is a parasite. His singing in the cemetery was totally embarrassing trying to out do everyone else and trying to be Centre stage. The man can be described in one word - Pathetic.

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  25. God Bless the Queen on her birthday. Xx

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  26. Sean, are you now an Anglican vicar?

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  27. Indeed. They will probably sing that tomz in Westminster Cathedral

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  28. Indeed. Rentagob D’Arcy wouldn’t like to not be No1 in the spotlight. An oul Jessie as my mother would call him

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