Dangerous connections
A Chairde,
Two stories in the Irish Times on 28 April, by Carol Coulter in
particular and by Suzanne Breen, on connections between the UUP, the
Orange Order and the Church of Ireland, illustrate how one of the
central problems of society in the North of Ireland is not being
tackled.
That problem is the institutional linkage between the three
organisations. A linkage between any two would be serious enough in
the context of combating sectarianism, but the association between
all three forms a bulwark against change. It plunges the North into a
crisis of bigotry and hatred from Easter to September every year.
This annual crisis is usually accompanied by gratuitous hand-wringing
on the part of those who could do something decisive about the
situation but who refuse to do so.
Suzanne Breen writes about how the UUP Chairperson is being
threatened with expulsion for attending the funeral of three young
Catholic victims of the Omagh bomb. Her assertion that ``the Order
advises its members not to attend Catholic services'' is not strictly
correct. Carol Coulter quotes the Order's constitution, which
prohibits brethren from going inside a Catholic church: a member must
avoid any ``act or ceremony of Popish worship'' and must ``strenuously
oppose the fatal errors and doctrines of the Church of Rome''. There
are other more offensive elements in the constitution, which (despite
their distasteful nature) it would be a public service, were the
Irish Times to publish them for the edification of readers (it would
also be helpful to know what is contained in the ``39 Articles of
Religion'' of the Church of Ireland, which Coulter mentions).
The Order's explicit and direct encouragement of sectarian attitudes
and acts, for which there is no comparable equivalent politically on
the nationalist side, constitutes the basis of sectarian hatred in
the North. The fact that Church of Ireland ministers, let alone
members, are willing to participate in the activities of this
institution and to thereby give it succour is an ongoing scandal. The
constitutional link between the Order and the Unionist Party (the
Order comprises 30% of the UUP's governing council, the vast majority
of UUP members are members of the Order) links that party to explicit
sectarianism. The headline ``Move disappoints Eames'' illustrates a
typical example of hand wringing. The Church of Ireland Primate would
do better to urge all his members to leave the Orange Order
forthwith.
The attempts by the Catalyst group (as reported by Carol Coulter) to
expose these contradictions, particularly in the case of the Church
of Ireland, is to be welcomed. Their call for all those claiming to
promote anti-sectarianism to break from the Orange Order should be
supported.
Mick Finnegan
Cabra.
Open letter to Bus Eireann
A Chairde
I have been a customer of your company for over 25 years and
unfortunately the time has come for me to write you a letter of
complaint.
Since November last, I have had the dubious pleasure of availing of
your 114 Bus Service from Blackrock Dart Station to Sandyford
Indistrial Estate. Every day, I await, in hope, that the 7.15am
service to Sandyford will arrive. I am sorry to say that most days
this service is either late or does not arrive at all.
I rely on this service to take me to work each day and I feel that
the fares I pay should buy dependability.
Up to now I have been referring to this scheduled bus as a service.
It is not. I feel complately taken advantage of by Dublin Bus,
because I am paying for a service that does not exist. This is also
brought hime to me by the uncivil attitude of your drivers. I say
this because today, I witnessed a fellow passenger asking the driver
simply what had happened to cause the lateness of the bus, your
employee ignored the man.
I have traveled all over the world, have lived both in Germany and
the US and can safely say that I have never had to deal with such a
shoddy public transportation service. If other countries can maintain
a reliable service, why can't we do the same in Ireland?
I think Dublin Bus and its employees need to realise that they are
running a business and as such, require customers to keep that
business going. It appears to me that if Dublin Bus does not improve
its attitude and service dramatically, customers will have no
alternative but to seek other means of transport. This will result in
loss of profits and jobs for Dublin Bus.
Your slogan ``Changing with the city'' is in my opinion over ambitious.
First you need to change to being on time.
Mary Kavanagh,
Blanchardstown.
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