Ye Blackhearted Sinners!
By Sean O Donaile
- Dr. Paisley I presume Channel 4, Mon
- Children of the Ashes UTV Tues
- People in need RTE 1 Fri
- I gCillin an Bhais TnaG
I recall being sandwiched between Nelson McCausland and a
preacher from the Free Presbyterian Church while addressing
students at a seminar on integrated education at Queens a while
back.
Nelson spoke of the need for Protestants to rediscover their
Irish roots that night and later told me (off the record of
course) that he and I had a lot in common. No such sentiments
were expressed by the DUP preacher, who informed me that I was
``held in bondage by the Pope o' Rome''.
I tried to reassure him that I didn't have any chains or leather
gear in my possession, and that the Pope wasn't my idea of a good
night out. Channel 4's documentary ``Dr. Paisley I presume'' gave
an insight into the personality and beliefs of big Ian, whose
Stormont groupies with blue bags and blue scarves were replaced
by a film crew, which was treated with disdain throughout the
seven days of his tour of Cameroon.
Paisley is nothing if not energetic and was up every morning at
seven at airports and churches bellowing against the ecunemical
movement, followed by his ``hard egg'' David McElveen, a leading
light (sic) in ``the save Ulster from Sodomy'' (and bondage)
campaign.
The church in Cameroon split twelve years ago and Dr Ian is
campaigning for the fundamentalist wing, some of whose followers
were imprisoned by the state. He campaigned for their release,
and one must agree that this was a worthwhile exercise, although
his concern for the imprisoned seemed to evaporate at the border.
Paisley paranoia is everywhere and he believes the world is out
to get him. He repeatedly refers to his terms of imprisonment - 3
months in Crumlin Road prison in the 60s - and informs us that he
is ``persecuted'' and ``under police surveillance all the time''.
He is still imprisoned in his mind - ``I'm a prisoner of the
Bible'' - and tells us that ``we have to sweat for the truth''. He
claims to have ``met personally Jesus Christ'' and that we're all
``blackhearted sinners'' who look set for the ``torment and fire'' of
hell.
McElveen talks of his ``sense of humour'' although I don't know if
that includes his continous references to programme maker Jon
Ronson as ``our Jewish friend'' and ``the lost sheep''.
Paisley undoubtedly has a very strong personality and this leads
to deterioration in relations with the film crew. Ronson talks of
being sucked into a world of obseqiousness and of ``walking on
eggshells at all times'', nervous of antagonising this ``martyr''.
As the trip proceeds one cannot but decipher that he is basically
a big bully who intimidates and humiliates those around him. His
antics are similar to that of a teenage gang leader.
Ronson concludes that ``there's few things that you can be with
him except humble'' which explains his anger at nationalists for
refusing to bend the knee on Garvaghy Road and beyond.
Ian Paisley-''bully (bullai) fear''!
Children of the Ashes (UTV), charts the return of three
Vietnamese war orphans to Saigon, 22 years after they were first
airlifted to ``Christian'' families in Britain.
Of the trio Mai Hoa Thomas seems the most content and declares
herself as ``English as they come''. On returning to her orphanage,
she is met by a block of flats and fruitlessy attempts to track
down records of her parents.
This proves pointless as she was one of hundreds of babies handed
over to priests at confession by desperate mothers and all
records were destroyed to escape state persecution. Her only
comfort is to find her baptism cert and meet the priest who
baptised her, which brings her back to the church she rejected
back ``home'' in England.
Safi Dang was fortunate to survive a plane crash which killed 140
other toddlers on the American ``operation baby lift''.
Unfortunately she has never been able to fit in in either country
and her fruitless search leads to an increased sense of
isolation.
The sole successful member of the trio, Mink, was handed over to
an orphange at twelve and manages to track down old friends and
eventually meets his biological father, who abandoned him at
birth, thus ensuring a frosty reunion.
Mink decides instead to console himself with re-interring his
mothers ashes (who died alone of gangrene) at the local Buddhist
temple.
People in need, obviously. The same can't be said for the banks
and companies who appeared on RTE's ``People in Need Telethon'' on
Friday last, unless you include their need for free brownie
points. This is the bi-annual jamboree where Gay Byrne tells us
all of the wonderful work we're doing to serve the poor, while
neglecting to inform us that the money raised will do little more
than buy a single packet of cigatettes for the one third living
in poverty.
This charade does little bar giving free publicity to the banks
and Dunnes Stores, the same people who are accustomed to milking
the country and maltreating their workers. It diverts attention
from the real reasons for inequality and falsely reassures that
all is well and our conscience is rested for another year. If RTE
were to devote as much effort to promoting a day of action to
press for increased social welfare payments, the results could be
very positive.
Unfortunatly this nonsense gives free publicity to the same
politicians who should be targeted. While not doubting the good
intentions of many, even the school children would be better off
raising money for their own schools, which are the most
overcrowded in Europe.
The Hunger Strike documentary ``I gCillín an Bhais'' (previewed
here last week) leaves an even stronger impression second time
around, particularly the stirring personal testimonies of ``Bik''
McFarlane agus a chairde. Tom McGurk of the Sunday Business Post
pointed out recently that the wave of Irish history movies and
documentaries have provided Irish people with the opportunity of
writing our own history for a change.
This is a crucial point and we should also be positively aware
that we now have a medium, TnaG, which is more likely to tackle
these issues on an objective basis. The Section 31 era of RTE and
others did nothing other than stifle debate and prolong conflict.
Tune in for a repeat on 10 May.
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