2013-05-23T02:46:34-04:00 Philip Murphy http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/index.php?author=philip-murphy Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Philip Murphy Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2706461 2013-02-17T19:00:00-05:00 2013-04-19T05:12:02-04:00

Philip Murphy http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-murphy/
It has been 15 years since either of the North Belfast duo landed Northern Ireland's elite football crown, but this year, the title looks set to make its way north of the city, following years of Linfield, and to a lesser extent Glentoran domination - the Irish League's so-called 'Big Two'. What the fans got on Saturday however, was a shameful day for football and for Northern Ireland.

*To give a little context, Cliftonville, Ireland's oldest club, are situated on the largely Catholic Cliftonville Road, while Crusaders reside at Seaview, on the largely Protestant Shore Road, where yesterday's match was to take place. Both sides typically attract supporters of the creed relevant to their locality, but it is by no means a rivalry dominated by religion. There may be the very occasional inkling of sectarianism from hangers-on attaching themselves to each club, but for true fans it is instead, just like any typical local football derby.*

As the Cliftonville fans gathered on Skegoneill Avenue, from around 2pm, however, to make their way to Seaview, they found themselves halted, as a small group of protesters blocked the away fans' turnstile at Crusaders' Seaview headquarters. At present, their motives seem unsure, with initial murmurings prior to the game suggesting that local residents were concerned by the large crusade of Cliftonville fans in the area. Crues Chairman, Stephen Bell, had however worked tirelessly with local residents in the run-up to the fixture and seemed confident of an amicable solution, with some Crusaders fans agreeing to walk in solidarity with their Cliftonville counterparts.

As it transpired, the protest, of around 50 people, blocked the supporters' final destination, leaving the PSNI unable to guarantee supporter safety, ultimately resulting in the postponement of the match. The protest itself included leading flag protesters, Willie Frazer and Jim Wilson - Frazer, comes from South Armagh, over an hour's drive away and Wilson is an East Belfast Community worker. Neither are local residents. Why they and some Union-flag clad comrades were present remains to be seen and demands the full scrutiny of the Northern Irish media.

The protest has appeared little more than a cynical effort to halt the movement of a largely-Catholic crowd along a Protestant Road - blatant bigotry. The football fans of both clubs, were however the victims, the scapegoat, the innocent bystander. Their crime, supporting their local football teams.

The great shame in all of this is the damage it does to both clubs, who provide more for local working-class communities than just about any organisation in their environs. Both clubs provide opportunities to participate in football for men, women and children alike, making them a key component of the North Belfast fabric. The clubs have worked together, fostering strong cross-community relations in recent times, setting an example for the young people of the area. Saturday will sadly however have cost Crusaders thousands of pounds and will possibly have further alienated current and potential supporters of local football. All this, at the hands of a protest beyond the control of football's powers that be.

Football has in many ways reflected politics, especially those of the working classes in the region. In bygone decades, Northern Ireland's political instability and football have clashed to devastating effects on the terraces. Times have changed however. The league is now a safe environment, with crowd trouble and sectarianism now confined to rare, isolated incidents. What yesterday demonstrated was a complete indifference to the protesters on the most-part from both fans, who it must be said, handled the pandemonium with impressive dignity in their large numbers. The gesture of some Crusaders fans to walk hand-in-hand with their footballing rivals, unheard of in the poisonous atmosphere of many football rivalries.

Football fans have shown that society has largely moved past the tyre-kicking, but maybe as one now notorious Facebook page suggests, a small core of self-important loyalist protesters are indeed, quite frankly 'against democracy'.

Jim Wilson and Willie Frazer claim to represent working-class Protestant and Loyalist communities. Yesterday both men stabbed the back of one fine provider to these communities in the form of Crusaders Football Club. Aside from denying a local community provider thousands of pounds in gate receipts (by no means the first economic victim of their protest) and ensuring unquantifiable damage through association, the question remains: What exactly did this protest seek to achieve for the disenfranchised sons of Ulster?

Crusaders Football Club, Irish League supporters and the wider North Belfast community deserve answers.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2540968 2013-01-24T07:43:03-05:00 2013-03-26T05:12:01-04:00

Philip Murphy http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-murphy/
Sinn Féin, Northern Ireland's largest nationalist/republican party, has proposed a border poll which would decide whether or not Northern Ireland re-unifies with the Irish Republic. The DUP, the country's leading party, has hinted at accepting the idea in order to "call Sinn Féin's bluff" according to deputy leader, Arlene Foster.

The unification of Ireland can only be decided directly by the people, in accordance with 1998's historic Good Friday Agreement. Polls have however shown little desire at present for a united Ireland, with first minister Peter Robinson perhaps boldly claiming that a majority of Catholics (who largely vote for nationalist/republican parties) are happy to remain in the United Kingdom. This makes the potential for a border poll all the more puzzling.

"It's the economy, stupid" as Bill Clinton told us ahead of his 1992 election victory. The Northern Irish economy is indeed rather stupefying and unlikely to be welcomed on board by the taxpayer south of the border, just as much it provides a burden to our friends across the Irish Sea. Former prime minister Harold Wilson was once lambasted for attributing the word 'spongers' to Northern Ireland, but in many ways he hit the nail on a head which is yet to have been fully dislodged. The public sector accounts for approximately 30% of the region's workforce, with Northern Ireland a massive benefactor of British spending. And despite reluctance to reduce corporation tax in line with the south, the British government has certainly not skimped on the region.

The introduction of water bills has been continually delayed, despite an archaic infrastructure and at the same time, tuition fees remain at the original rate for local students in Northern Ireland, despite hikes elsewhere under the coalition. And of course, all parties oppose a raise in either, for fear it may lose votes. It's much easier to oppose taxes than to find ways of generating the revenue they cover.

"Playing to the galleries" was a quote political commentator Chris Donnelly attributed to DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson during Stephen Nolan's debate/chat show on BBCNI. It perfectly sums up the current drain among the main political parties. Donaldson's performance was one of milking loyalist sentiment, whilst shying away from the realities and failures of both he and his colleagues. His party's one-sided approach to policy in Lisburn was called up as just one example of a failure to endorse the shared-future.

Sinn Féin followed suit, casting a blind eye on violence coming from the nationalist Short Strand during flag protests, with party president Gerry Adams in blatant denial against compelling evidence. UUP leader Mike Nesbitt rolled back the years and followed the auto-cue of the DUP's example, jumping on a bandwagon to avoid appearing weak, whilst undoubtedly alienating moderate, liberal unionist voters -only party dissenters Basil McCrea and John McCallister displayed the individual bravery to think beyond the status quo.

Elsewhere, SDLP scored a massive own-goal in its decision to support the naming of a children's playground after IRA hunger striker, Raymond McCreesh in the border town of Newry - a ludicrously insensitive two fingered salute to IRA victims in a horrendously ill-informed attempt to eat into the Sinn Féin vote (SDLP has however since decided to review the decision in Newry & Mourne). And as for the peripheral Progressive Unionist Party, its support for the flag on designated days soon progressed to supporting a 365 day approach when the Belfast City Hall flag issue came to the fore in a gutless jump with the tide.

Of course, another issue to arise from Nolan's passionate broadcast was the issue of consensus, which Donaldson and Donnelly both agreed was at the core of the Good Friday Agreement. Consensus has been achieved, but only in tiny fractions, through slow steps or when soaking up some more money from Westminster whenever possible. If Northern Ireland was all lawn, its mower would be a lone man with nail clippers. The lone men with nail clippers among the political class are the outsiders, the non-tribal parties - Alliance and Greens. The former has risked losing unionist votes on principle at City Hall and the latter are perhaps even less relevant on the Northern Irish politoscope, but at least the two demonstrate ideology beyond the usual flag-hugging one-upmanship.

Politics in Northern Ireland needs to address the real issues. We've practiced and mastered whataboutery for too long. The result is a flailing economy, unaided by friendly fire from within and a divided political shambles, completely devoid of consensus. Whenever Northern Ireland shows some self-sufficiency, perhaps then we deserve the right to allow ourselves the opportunity of a border poll. Because, at the minute, who really would or should want us and all our excessive baggage?

To even suggest a border poll is arrogant - Sinn Féin's reasons, beyond a never-ceasing desire for a united Ireland seems strangely timed, while the notion of a DUP rubber-stamp for solely bluff-calling purposes is a sad reflection upon our democracy. Why not blow another few million on a referendum of which we already know the result? We could do with a bit more tension and antagonism right enough. Our time our place, stroke cities of culture, Justin Bieber, MTV, b*llocks to that. Get over ourselves, show some self-sufficiency and achieve something before we think we've earned the right to throw money at an irrelevant border poll. The shared-future is a myth. It's a divided politics, of divisionary parties built on segregated estates, apartheid education and a pseudo shared-future.

If we cannot co-exist in harmony under British rule, what will suddenly change under Irish rule?

It's time for the ruling elite in Northern Ireland to address the real issues that matter within the region before the mere notion of a referendum is entertained.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2432144 2013-01-08T10:50:36-05:00 2013-03-10T05:12:01-04:00

Philip Murphy http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-murphy/
The proposal to bring the flag down originated from pro-United Ireland nationalist/republican politicians within the city's council. It faced predictable opposition from the pro-union unionist parties, with loyalists regarding its removal as an erosion of their Britishness. The Alliance Party, Northern Ireland's neutral, non-tribal party, held the casting votes and decided that a designated day approach provided a fair alternative. Prior to formalising its stance, the party had reviewed other UK councils and it should be noted that the designated day policy remains the status quo at NI's Stormont Buildings - the home of the NI Assembly.

Reactions to the decision have however been hostile from Unionists. Passionate speeches echoed around the chamber on that night in December, as many saw it as a case of chipping away at their British culture. Unionist parties had distributed leaflets in advance of the vote, highlighting the Alliance Party's role, claiming it had undermined Northern Ireland's 'shared future'. The desire for nationalist/republican parties to remove the flag was unsurprising in unionist circles, but some felt betrayed by the Alliance Party.

The emotions of the councillors soon poured onto the streets. Outside the Council sitting, as the decision was made, hundreds of loyalists protested outside the Belfast City Hall. While many protests have remained peaceful, a significant number, particularly in Belfast, have however turned violent. Many have hijacked them for their own needs or recreational rioting, an all too popular pursuit in Northern Ireland, in terms of both participation and spectating - rioting which has been reciprocated by some Republicans in East Belfast's Short Strand in recent days. Inspire a generation, eh?

And who are the victims? The Alliance Party was an initial target, with two of its councillors receiving a paint bomb through the window of their Bangor home; the party's offices came under attack in East Belfast, whilst a serious threat has been posed to the lives of Northern Ireland's police service (PSNI) over the last number of weeks.

The other victim is Belfast's Economy. The run-up to Christmas saw huge interruptions in the capital; from roadblocks to rioting, which predictably dissuaded commerce in the city, much to the dislike of traders in the city. The events also played havoc with the city's Continental Market, adding another blot in the copybook of the 'Northern Ireland' brand.

Happy New Year?
Following a Christmas hiatus, the protest has however returned with renewed vigour, in both peaceful and riotous forms. The statistics tell their own tale though: tens of officers injured, over 100 arrests, petrol bombs and burnt out vehicles on the streets of Belfast. Not exactly a Happy New Year.

"Our time, our place" was the tagline adopted by Northern Ireland's Tourist Board for 2012. Sadly however, times have changed very little for the United Kingdom's ugliest sibling. Derry/Londonderry enters 2013 as the UK's City of Culture - a city so culturally divided that its inhabitants, egged on by political representatives, can't so much as agree on its name. This type of behaviour again typifies the province's pedantic, political landscape in a country.

Should we be surprised?
Given the political framework of Northern Ireland it is perhaps unsurprising that such a situation persists. The power-sharing executive is fronted by the ideologically polarised Unionist First Minister, Peter Robinson and deputised by Republican, Martin McGuinness. It's not so long ago that getting their respective parties to talk to one another was an accomplishment.

This is all of course a result of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which paved the way for decommissioning and the new assembly. For some however, there has been a democratic deficit ever since, specifically in working-class loyalist areas. The only inkling of any malaise at the ballot box has however been seen in unionist voting turnout, but in spite of any disillusionment, both the DUP and Sinn Féin still firmly hold the balance of power in their respective communities.

Ulster People's Forum
One body to come to prominence during the protests is the Ulster People's Forum(UPF) - a body with a mixture of ambitious demands, uncorrelated ideas and dubious claims, seemingly representing a small section of estranged loyalists. Its members have been present at many of the protests, though the group has categorically condemned the violence. It has however claimed that the PSNI has been over-zealous in its policing and at one point attributed the increased Catholic membership of the police force a possible reason.

The UPF's plan to protest in Dublin has added another wonderful dollop of petrol to uneasy flames in Dublin, a city largely ignorant to the on-going charade of Northern Irish politics. The group intends to remove the Irish flag from Leinster House, the Irish Parliament Buildings, in opposition to the Irish Republic's interference in the north. What this can or will achieve is extremely unclear, beyond the possibility of an adverse reaction from republicans in the south.

Freedom of speech is one of the wonderful freedoms of democracy and political activism is of course to be admired. Since the initial protests, they has served little but a futile disruption of day-to-day life and an easy excuse for various delinquents to hijack them. And let's not forget this originated from a democratic decision. Perhaps the protesters ought to seek justifiable solutions, reasonable demands and a respectable mandate before they come knocking on the door for change.

The Union Flag returns to Belfast City Hall on Wednesday to mark the birthday of the Duchess of Cambridge. Will the protests stop? For one day, maybe.]]>