Not moving on......unfortunately. :-(

 What is euphemistically referred to as 'The Marching Season' is upon us in this often sad little enclave called Northern Ireland.  This when the 'Loyalists' march, with pseudo military bands, and as much triumphalism as you could reasonably shake a stick at.  Roads and town centres are closed , becoming almost a no go area for the saner part of the population here.  It's not like these bands don't march at other times of the year, just that most of it is compressed into the summer months, particularly July.

According to 'Loyalist' lore, this is to celebrate Protestant culture, and its association the the Battle of the Boyne (supposedly a defeat for Catholicism).  King William is presented as a Protestant hero, sent to rescue the poor, repressed protestant population here.  No mention is made that he was actually a gay Dutchman, or that the battles here were merely a tiny part of a European war, or that King William was supported both financially and with troops  by the Pope.  As with most myths, nothing is as it seems to be at first.

Of course this supposed Orange culture has it's supporters, and increasingly its continuation, and the divisions it fosters seem to be supported by terrorist and criminal groups.  Keep people in their ghettos, and you are ensured support; I suppose.  Let them have their little days in the sun to ensure a relatively quiet life for the rest of us; I also suppose.  Certainly, there is trouble almost every year if they are challenged in any way!  Many sane people who do not wish to be associated with any of this nonsense choose this time to escape on holiday, and who can blame them?  

The Orange Order used to have a great deal of power here in Northern Ireland, and have tried to maintain that by constantly saying no to change or to political progress that might give inclusion to all the population here.  Thus we had a strike in 1973, which brought down an attempt at power sharing then, and the distinctly less successful strike in 1985 that failed to halt the progress towards the power sharing government that we do have now.  To give you an idea of the intelligence level of those involved, a very crudely painted slogan on a wall in Newtownards at the time of the 1985 strike, was obviously supposed to be a call to arms.  It should have said "Don't march, mobilise", but had somewhat less impact, becoming widely ridiculed, because it actually said, "Dont march. mobize".  

Similarly, a few years ago at one of the ridiculous, large bonfires that are set up for the 11th night, and that seem to get even bigger every year, a sign asking for burnable contributions said. "Dump Would".  Strangely, I find none of this impressive.  Incidentally, the battle of the Boyne was on the 12th July, but because of the 1752 change to the Gregorian calendar, where September that year was 11 days shorter than normal, the Orange Order also feels the need to hold parades on 1st July, although there is a connection here to the WW1 Battle of the Somme as well, where so many loyalist volunteers died or were wounded showing their loyalty.  Of course, at that same battle, home rule supporting army volunteers also lost their lives, but not so much mention is made of that!

As mentioned, every year the organisers of these parades, bonfires and protests seem to manage to also display their intransigence, bigotry and plain stupidity.  A few examples from this year are below.  Please note that this kind of ignorant stupidity is by no means limited to the loyalist side of the divide here.  There was a report on the local news last night of a bonfire being built in Derry for the anniversary of internment protests (August 9th).  It is so close to an electrical substation that the local electric company is trying to take measures to limit the damage it will cause.  On both this and a loyalist bonfire this year (built close to a substation that supplies a large hospital, and beside a pile of stored asbestos!), contractors have been asked to remove the bonfire materials, but cannot do this without police protection.  Every year heat protection shields are put up at numerous houses around the green spaces where these bonfires are built, so that their plastic windows do not melt or the panes of glass crack.  It is not the bonfire organisers who have to pay to put up this protection.  Everyone, including the police seem to run scared of these thugs, and they call this culture!!

This is the bonfire on the asbestos contaminated site. (Pic from the BBC)

Every year there is some sort of controversy about the effigies put on these bonfires.  It all goes to show how open and accepting the builders are! (sic).  (Pic from the BBC)