New myths for old
The Siege of Derry in Ulster Protestant Mythology
By Ian McBride
Published by Four Courts Press, Dublin
Although this book landed on my desk almost a year ago pressure
of work meant that I never got the chance to review it until
Easter of this year, as the talks process culminated in the
so-called Good Friday Agreement.
As I settled down in front of a computer the irony of the time
was that, given the week that was in it, I thought that this book
could almost have been written about the history of today.
All the emotive phrases and ideas and underlying concepts of what
loyalism and unionism are about have been and are being played
out in regard to the Stormont talks.
Paisley and McCartney were to all intents and purposes claiming
the mantle of the true unionists and were accusing Trimble of
being a Lundy.
Trimble on the other hand saw himself as the Governor Walker of
the plot - faithful to the realm and ensuring that it is truly
defended.
Then there are the representatives of the UDA and UVF labelled,
as were the Apprentice Boys of yore, the rabble but who rushed to
the city's gates and closed them in face of the advancing Fenian
hordes. They're now installed as the minor heroes of the piece.
Although we shouldn't forget that when they rushed,
metaphorically, to shut the city gates recently some ten
Catholics were shot dead in a brutal and vicious onslaught.
The methodology of Orangeism/unionism/loyalism has always been to
build myths around itself. We often hear unionists say they are
defenders of democracy and freedom - what democracy do
nationalists have in the Six Counties? What about gerrymandering?
For so long the unionists told us they were the peacemakers -
what peace do nationalist have when we consider the `traditional'
triumphalism of Drumcree?
d now as I update this review we are three days into Drumcree 4
and its attendant violence and intimidation. Sectarianism is the
watchword yet the Unionists and Orangemen are in the middle of
building another myth, namely they are marching to uphold civil
and religious liberty.
The importance of McBride's book is that it is a chart that we
can use to sail through the myth-making process so key to the
ideological development of unionism/loyalism. What it doesn't do
is explain the need for this myth-making.
That need arises out of the need to build a consensus around
unionist power and privilege - in the unionist ideology the power
to say no is the ultimate myth. They say their No is about
self-determination. For the rest of us on this island who desire
peace the ability of the unionists to say no is about blocking
change and progress towards a peaceful accommodation. It seems
then that it is the rest of us that are under siege now.
By Peadar Whelan
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