When ‘tradition’ becomes a clear display of hatred

[WhereIsMyJumper]

Am I being unreasonable to be aghast at the bonfires in NI? Burning the tri-colour as well as an effigy of a migrant boat. How can this be referred to as ‘tradition’??

https://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/firefighters-take-two-hours-to-extinguish-controversial-bonfire-topped-with-migrant-boat-and-irish-flag-in-co-tyrone/a1274789953.html

Happens in England too, but apparently that is fair comment not racism

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/southern_counties/3222321.stm

There are a mix of identities in Northern Ireland.
It’s not Irish people lighting bonfires to celebrate 12th of July, it’s British people.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_of_Northern_Ireland#:~:text=According%20to%20the%202021%20census,UK%20or%20Republic%20of%20Ireland.

Very normal to have children as young as three indoctrinated to ‘hate’ the other religion and vice versa. So sad.

The ones responsible for the bonfire would never claim to be Irish

WTF are you talking about?

What sleeper cells?

"I'm not from NI"
Clearly but sure you took a black cab taxi tour once so your deeply interested in our "culture"
Are you English Op? Don't you guys still burn guy fawkes effeiegies?
Maybe less of the faux outrage about a country you don't understand.
It's fucking stupid but your hands are hardly clean enough to popping off about it

I am from NI.

I'm disgusted and disappointed the bonfire was lit knowing the threat to lives here.

Fucking hatred, eh? Not even their own wellbeing or that of their family /community is important.

It's all about the hate.

I believe this is in context to a video of Kneecap performing where a member of the band says, “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP"

No. The other half are in Blackrock, Co. Louth! Especially with the good weather. My bil is from Zambia and a few years ago he worked in a warehouse up the North. He lasted a week. The bullying and racism was horrendous. So I was not one bit surprised to see the riots that broke out.

It's not immigration that we take a dim view of! It's the unvetted young males pouring into the country claiming to have fled war and so on in safe countries.

I don’t see a problem. It’s an effigy.
It’s really not that awful and No migrants were actually harmed

There have been immigrants there for a long time and they are frequently attacked by so-called loyalists

Lots of people in England are cheering NI on.
They all agree with stopping this influx.

Exactly, same as Kneecap only used words and no mp was actually harmed.

No shits given about him either.
Although the effigy didn’t say ‘death’ to anyone.

Not on that bonfire but it said Kill all Kneecap on another (in Irish)so exactly the same thing.

Hopefully the police will place equal importance on the hate speech.

Kill all kneecap?
Ive not heard one person say they want to kill immigrants. I’ve not seen a sign saying death to anybody.

Darwin theory came into my head today survival of the smartest and fittest. Who in their right mind would take their children to be polluted by the toxic fumes of those bonfires and possible asbestos 🙈🙈

The thing about the hospital power being taken out potentially was ridiculous - who in their right mind would risk lives of sick and vulnerable people?

The police's hands are tied and that's why nothing is ever done. The risk of unrest is too much of an issue. I once complained about a paramilitary uvf flag outside my dcs nursery (mixed area) and the reply was that it would cause more trouble to take the flag down than to leave it up. I'm all for communities expressing their patriotism for Britain but para flags & burning effigies are a step too far. This time of year brings so much stress all round. If only it wasnt such a hate fest it wouldnt get such a bad rep. Look at Paddy's Day - it's all inclusive. Both communities coming together- Loyalist bands in the parades (even down in Dublin)and nobody kicking up about it.

I think it’s really interesting (fucking annoying) that countries like Ireland seemingly ‘get away with’ blatant racism and xenophobia yet maintain their overall positive image, when places like England (usually referred to as Britain, but we know they mean England) has a deep-seated, never to be eradicated image of racial bigotry and mistreatment, despite only recently settling the debt they owed for their role in abolishing slavery (which was still rife around the world).

Yes there is a history of at times brutal colonisation - which was similar to many other countries practise - that’s obviously not an excuse for it taking place, but I think because GB (England) was so successful compared to other countries, and comparatively so small in size, it fed a resentment among even the countries who participated themselves!

Australia is another prime example - their record for the despicable way they treat people trying to migrate there is infamous, but there aren’t many people who would sneer at the country in the same way they do England. They, like Ireland, and several countries in Eastern Europe, aren’t considered a racist country in the same way, despite their current policies.

The irony is, that for such a racist country, it still appears to be one of the top destinations for migrants and asylum seekers. I’ve read many accounts from POC who have lived in numerous countries around the world who consider the U.K. to be the best to move to for non-white people.

I read an article months ago about demonstrations taking place outside buildings used to house asylum seekers in Ireland and the reporter had the nerve to explain it as locals ‘fearing a change to their traditions’- I mean WTAF???!!! Can you imagine how that would fly if it was said by someone in Manchester, Birmingham, Leicester, or conversely, the mainly white, middle-class areas down south?!

I remember all the anger surrounding Brexit and the distancing from ‘racist’ Britain and being promoted as more liberal and welcoming to migrants - until they actually started to arrive.

I doubt Ireland’s reputation will be at all tarnished by what is currently going on, because, like Australia, people around the world prefer to think of it as a welcoming, liberal (twee) place, far removed from the uptight, class-bound, racist cesspit that is and was Britain (England).

Does my head in, sorry.

They wanted to march in a Ne Scottish town it was a resounding No from the towns people and council.Bigotry is not a thing in the Ne but is a blight on the west coast of Scotland.

I remember seeing a march on YouTube..it was in Benidorm marchers kitted out in Rangers FC tops ,paper orange sashes iirc.
Even on holiday they can't take a day off from being bigoted arseholes.

For anyone still pushing the 'these people would never call themselves irish' line checkout the Brian O'Driscoll documentary where he goes to a parade. He also struggles to wrap his head around it but the orange men that he meets most definitely call themselves Irish - they are after all members of the grand orange lodge of Ireland. That's not to say that lots of loyalists would reject that label so like most things in NI it is complicated.