The heart of bigotry
Sectarian protest in Fermanagh
By Ned Kelly
Unionist support for a picket at the Aghadrumsee Primary School
outside Roslea in Co Fermanagh last week has been branded as
``defending the indefensible'' by local Sinn Fein councillor Brian
McCaffrey.
On three consecutive mornings a group of parents prevented two
newly appointed Catholic cooks, who replaced two recently retired
Protestant cooks, from starting work.
The group holding placards reading `Fair Play' and `Equality'
were protesting that while previously the canteen had been
staffed entirely by Protestants, in an area where 85% of the
population is Catholic, now it employed three Catholic cooks.
Three local Unionists came out to support the Protestant
protesters, Fermanagh District councillors Harold Andrews and
Cecil Noble and local MP and Assembly member Ken Maginnis.
ti-agreement Unionist, Andrews, acting as spokesman for the
protesters, said, ``we feel aggrieved that the Protestant
community is not receiving equality of treatment.'' Maginnis
curiously pointed the finger at republicans, ``There have been
almost 30 people murdered by militant republicans in that small
area of SE Fermanagh. The whole might of the Republican Movement
has been directed against the Protestant population there and I
can understand the resentment and bitterness that many feel,'' he
said.
Noble suggested that the Western Education and Library Board
(WELB), responsible for the appointments, could have ``split the
posts'' between Protestants and Catholics.
Despite these attempts to legitimise the protest, the WELB, after
an emergency meeting last Thursday, said it stood firmly behind
the appointments and said that ``recruitment procedures were
absolutely correct, the board must operate within the law.'' It is
also possible that the protesters at the heart of this sectarian
row could face fines under Fair Employment legislation if action
by protesters caused an employer to discriminate against an
employee.
Describing the protest as ``nothing short of disgraceful'', Sinn
Féin's Brian McCaffrey said, ``the actions of Councillor
Andrews...has created consternation in both sections of the Erne
East community and gives great cause for concern. I have spoken
to a number of people from the unionist community and they have
expressed to me a deep sense of shame that there are those who
are prepared to express their bigotry in this way.''
McCaffrey called on Andrews to resign his membership of the
Fermanagh District Partnership Board (FDPB), a body appointed to
oversee and distribute the EU peace and reconciliation fund
directed to promote social inclusion and redress social and
economic disadvantage.
Section 7 of the FDPB's `Code of Conduct' for its members states
``Board members should subscribe to the concept of equal
opportunities and ensure that the policies and requirements for
equality issues are complied with and implemented.''
``Councillor Andrews' definition of equality,'' said McCaffrey, ``is
at odds with that of the WELB, FDPB, Fair Employment legislation
and the overwhelming number of people who, in supporting the Good
Friday document, committed themselves to the equality agenda.''
Fermanagh Unionist Noble is himself at the centre of a row over
the Unionist domination of key posts in the Housing Executive
(HE). The row started when the Unionist-dominated Northern
Ireland Housing Council (NIHC) yet again chose three Unionists to
fill influential posts on the HE Board and ignored a nationalist
candidate. Noble is one of the three Unionists nominated.
Every year the NIHC nominates three candidates to the 10 member
HE Board, which has an annual budget of over £550 million. Only
once, in 1995, has the NIHC nominated a nationalist, and then
only after the NIO was forced to intervene and appoint a
nationalist candidate directly.
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