Take a moment and listen to this caller to LBC.
Margaret told Richard Spurr that she arrived in Britain in 1969.
He immediately picks up on the point with his statement of “no blacks no dogs no Irish”.
My Mayo father arrived in Britain in the 1950s and saw those signs in many towns.
He told my mother about them and she told me.
There is nothing new in the thinking of the Famine Song ensemble at Ibrox.
Margaret’s reason for calling was to say that racism is not a matter of skin colour.
She is, of course, entirely correct in that assertion.
Rather it is about power and prejudice.
Pigmentation is only one way that the out-group can be othered by the powerful.
When Margaret arrived in Britain your humble correspondent was an inquisitive 11-year-old.
By that time I already knew that somehow we didn’t fit in and we were not welcome.
For the avoidance of doubt, I never thought that I was anything other than Irish.
Of course, this would not have been an issue in any other part of the global diaspora.
It was the start of a long journey into the central hatred of fair-minded Scotland.
In the 1980s I lived for a while in a predominantly Afro-Caribbean community in England.
I was amazed that the older generation who were first-generation immigrants had an intimate knowledge of Ireland.
Some of these oul fellas could recite the 32 counties and, in some instances, could speak of her townlands down the country!
They had never set foot on this island, but they had listened to my father’s generation of Irishmen speak longingly of home.
The sense of solidarity between the Irish and people who had just arrived from the Caribbean was palpable.
The latter immediately spotted that the Irish were not really white in the sense of being part of the dominant ethnicity.
Of course, in Fair Caledonia, such a conversation on air would still be uncomfortable.
The radio person in Scotland would quickly move the caller onto the subject of “sectarianism”.
Yet, this analysis falls apart rather quickly when subjected to even the mildest of scrutiny.
Jacob Rees Mogg is a Catholic.
Moreover, the Italian community in Scotland has been allowed to express their ethnicity and rightly so.
However, when it came to the Irish that was somehow a different matter.
I explored this entire issue in my book on the subject in 2013.
The third section is called:
“An illicit ethnicity?”
Denial of the existence of the Irish community was one of the organising principles of 20th century Scotland.
The issue around a fitting memorial to An Gorta Mór in Glasgow is a case in point.
It was very much a case of Perfidious Alba in the City Chambers when it came to this seminal event in the story of Ireland.
The Irish community in Glasgow looked at what the SNP council came up with and decided to build their own!
You can read about it here.
The radio discussion on LBC was framed around what Stormzy had said about racism in Britain.
A key weapon in the armoury of any racist is to deny that racism exists.
However, in Fair Caledonia, they had another one at their disposal.
A simple denial that the socially excused ethnic group actually existed as a multi-generational community.
Consequently, espousing anti-Irish racism in Scotland is still largely consequence-free.
The community that I was born into can still be very publicly disregarded and derided.
From the genocide choir at Ibrox to the woke warriors of the SNP.
As Margaret said to Richard Spurr, someone really should say “sorry”.
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Sorry Phil, while I don’t dispute for a second that anti-Irish racism is very much alive and real in the U.K. as a whole and certainly in Scotland, more so the west but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist in other parts, in fact any where you find a red white and blue scarf of the tribute act anti-Irish racism will be close at hand, attempting to draw comparisons with the black community is drawing a false equivalence than minimised their plight at the hands of colonialism and imperialism and shows your privilege.
Yes the Irish are still discriminated against and yes there was a point when people were as likely to be stopped and searched for having an Irish accent as they were for having darker skin, but there is no comparison now, nor over the course of history if you know your history.
One other false equivalence which comes up regularly too when this is raised is the issue of indentured servitude which bot the Irish and the highland Scots faced when the land they were on was worth more to colonial rulers than the people themselves, but it only takes a cursory reading of history to see the huge difference between indentured servitude and actual slavery.
The, well we’ve suffered too narrative (and with family ties to cork, Kerry and Donegal I’m certainly not going to deny that the Irish diaspora have suffered) is one of the most harmful microagressions black people suffer when trying to tackle racism, it stems from white people’s desire that conversations be centred around them, it’s why they often have little patience for self proclaimed white allies who expect them to do the exhausting emotional labour of explaining this to white people over, and over, and over
If any of this is uncomfortable then I’d highly recommend reading white fragility by Robin Diangelo, which is a fantastic and enlightening book. Not least because drawing these sort of false equivalences with the plight of the black community ultimately only serves to weaken your valid argument.
yes this was a very unwise comparison.
If you are not black you cannot understand how it feels to be visually discriminated. Friends have explained this to me
It is a bit like me trying to say I know what anti Irish racism is like because I have experienced some ant Scottish comments. (Which would be ludicrous)
Apologies as this is taken from Wikkipedia but the point is valid nonetheless.
“Cromwell led a Parliamentary invasion of Ireland from 1649–50. Parliament’s key opposition was the military threat posed by the alliance of the Irish Confederate Catholics and English royalists (signed in 1649). The Confederate-Royalist alliance was judged to be the biggest single threat facing the Commonwealth.”
I think the historical and recent need to control this “area to the west” and subdue its people is paramount in UK gov.t thought. During the WW II, the Irish were rumoured to be re-fuelling U-Boats etc.
There are similarities with Cuba and the USA. and as soon as it stopped becoming a play ground for the wealthy ( in Ireland’s case, for the aristocracy ) and became independent there was a red flag alert and in the Cuban case, literally.
Oh dear…
The “re-fuelling U-Boats” smear.
The reality was that Royal Navy vessels were re-fulled in Cork harbour during the operation to hunt and sink the Bismarck.
The Irish Free State was neutral o the side of Britain throughout WW2.
Here is mine from a decade ago on the subject.
https://philmacgiollabhain.ie/2009/06/09/old-myths-about-ireland-in-the-emergency/
Oops, I thought I was making that point by the use of the word “rumour”. The English language!
The addition of the word “unfounded” would have helped.
If you read my 2009 piece you will see how vitally unneutral the Irish Free State was to the Allied cause in WW2.
In my defence, I believed the “etc” to be dismissive. With a father, whose people hailed from Dublin, and a mother from Donegal, I can assure there was no slight intended and thanks to you they may be about to come back to haunt me.
Your mother’s county was vital to the winning of the battle for the Atlantic.
Read my piece and you will learn of the “Donegal corridor”.
Not the behaviour of a neutral state.
My Father was in the RAF and had a “good war” as they say. My mother made telescopic sights with Barr and Strouds for the war effort. Two better people you would be hard pressed to find and I believe their heritage played no small part.
Smear is far more appropriate .Probably put about by the shameless devils in Whitehall , being filled with even more paranoia at having lied to just as recently as The End World War One l and let down her (Englands) nearest and dearest Neighbour and Family member not joined by land like Scotland and Wales .
A Right Proper Charlie , Methinks .!
To put some meat on the bones with regard to closing down Catholic schools in Scotland.I know FOR A FACT that Protestant parents send their offspring to these establishments,as do parents of all other faiths.
How do I know this,because I attended a parent’s evening recently and the father(who I knew to be a protestant) of one of the kids my boy hangs with engaged in conversation with me.
When I said to him how good the school’s Ofsted reports were he replied “Aye,it’s just a pity there’s so many fuckin statues aboot ra place.”
When I said “well,it IS a Catholic school” but if he was so unhappy about it there were plenty of non catholic schools in the area that his child could attend,his reply should have left me astounded but sadly,didn’t surprise me. “Aye,but they’re further away fae the hoose and the education standards are shite.” Would one term this attitude as bigotry WITH caveats ?
I must also point out that NONE of the Moslem, Sekh or Hindu parents I spoke with that evening had even given the subject a moments thought.Who woulda thunk it !
Talk about wanting your cake and eating it,I really do despair .
Hail Hail.
You have a photo; ‘No Irish No Blacks No Dogs’
Where does it come from ? I would bet money it does not come from the 1950s.
People in the UK did not use the word ‘Blacks’ at that time.
This usage started in the USA in the early 60s among people who objected – quite reasonably – to the word ‘colored’.
It was the latter word which was universally regarded as the proper word for the group now called the Windrush Generation.
Of course, as well as the word ‘coloured’, any number of insulting terms were used.
Another point that seems to be missed here was the strong feeling in the post war years that by remaining neutral in the fight against fascism Ireland and the Irish were certainly not friends but were regarded widely as fifth columnists.
It’s hard to imagine that such feelings of resentment would die away suddenly when large swathes of English cities were still so much rubble.
What was extraordinary was how quickly such feelings of resentment dissipated.
In Liverpool, the Orange order was a very strong force in the 1950s.
Not any more.
The interesting question is why anti-catholicism/anti-Irishism has persisted in Scotland.
The issue of abolishing catholic schools is not an issue at all in England.
The blue tinted hate filled follow followers persistently bleat on about the separation of school children at an early age, yet none of them are willing to shut down their own bigot factories.
Their ultimate aim is to shut down Catholic schools due to their Catholic hatred which is exactly why they won’t be shut down and why they were established in the first place.
Their agenda is clear.
Wake me up when they close down their schools for the sake of integration.
Just shy of 3000 catholic schools in England and Wales and there is zero sectarianism
With only 300 or so catholic schools in Scotland they are not remotely the fundamental causes of sectarianism in Scotland .
We all know the source of this cancer and whilst hopefully with the passing of time it will dissipate it’s roots sadly are still deep and entrenched In many small minds
As Nancy Pelosi recently and famously said of Trump ‘ I don’t hate him in fact I pray for him ‘
Likewise I personally don’t remotely fear or hate the ever diminishing and sad orange and even Masonic community and mindset despite how I and my kind have been treated by them . I actually feel sorry for them and their small minds .they won’t influence the future of our schools at all .
On the other hand I worry much more about the constant secular onslaught which will not diminish or go away and is being accommodated by our so called leaders
Racism is a three-legged stool The three supports are Fear resulting from Ignorance and a Desire to belong to a superior section of the community given the racists low standing in general. Name calling has always been a powerful tool used by The English to eat away at the confidence of the target group. The Scots are mean, the Irish stupid and West Indians are lazy etc. but it is up to the victim not to own it although it is hard. It seems to me that the any particular anti-racism impetus is dependent on what is basically fashionable and the previous examples have never been in vogue unlike homophobia and anti-Semitism as Labour found to its cost with the latter and the burning an LBGT pride flag got this guy 15 years for the former.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-50861259
When the world was hailing Mandela, and rightly so, I could not understand the difference between South African racism and the treatment, both of the Native Americans and the Aborigines by the USA and Australia respectively.
The United Kingdom has 67million people.
There’s more Catholic’s in the UK than there are non Catholics in Scotland. Catholic’s should stick with the UK and the protections it gives.
Jacob Reese Mogg is 18th out of 67million on the precedence of seniority. The PM is 17th.
Could he have achieved that in Scotland?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_precedence_in_England_and_Wales
Brilliant point !
The Queen is the head of the Church of England .
There is no way that Christians and by definition Catholics will be persecuted in a UK Which preserves the monarchy and which will continue for a long long time to respect those and our values …regardless of the pressures from the liberal elite And secular society generally
Whereas The SNP (and liberal ) secular loonies up here will shut down our schools and our culture in a heartbeat as soon as they get what they want .
The anti Irish catholic racism addressed in PMGs excellent book is still absolutely deep and endemic in large parts of society in Scotland today As it has been for generations although I sense hopefully it is declining …but only a little
More years ago than I want to think of As a 17 year old starting off in a professional career ..within an hour of starting my first job in the office I overheard the remark
‘ how the f@ck did a taig get in here ? ‘
I had to ask my old man that night ‘what is a taig ?’
I have never forgotten ,and never will ,what he told me . He educated me on his mother originally from Donegal being dragged by the hair from her home in the middle of the night as a wee child with her siblings and All Called taigs by Scottish Black and Tans as her father was hauled away to be beaten to within an inch of his life . he was a lucky one to survive!
Buyer beware the Scottish independence bullshit !
sorry to beat on about it in previous posts but Deep down They do not give a f&ck about us …they just want votes from the gullible until they get what they want !
So Verum, I surmise you want an independent Ireland but not an independent Scotland.
I see a contradiction there.
Independence for Ireland. Independence for Scotland!
Better naturally together than apart I think 👍
I suspect many from the ‘catholic’ community in the North will be loathe to give up the benefits of being part of the UK so despite the inevitable and evolving majority they will have over time unification won’t be a formality in my opinion.
The limited input I have is most folks are fine with the status quo if they can have peace and get a government addressing the real day to day issues like the failures in the NHS etc
I think most folks in Scotland are the same
Happy enough but get the real problems fixed please.
I long ago faced this dilemma , my maternal grandparents are from Ireland and my Paternal Grandparents from Scotland and England. I want a United Ireland , however I am not that bothered about Scotland having Independence. I would prefer we all Sotland Ireland Wales England and our mainland European neighbours (23 miles approx) could converge so much so that we were One REPUBLIC no borders One People One Love .
@CroppyBhoy
So would it be safe to assume then you voted for an Independent Scotland whilst wishing to remain in the EU?
FFS get a grip man – Jacob Rees Mogg is elitist as they come. His dad William Rees Migg was a reactionary establishment figure and young Jacob was schooled at Eton.
He was rejected by voters in Fife not for his religion but for the policies he espoused (the fact he took his nanny canvassing would not help).
Far from not getting elected in Scotland I think he would struggle to get on in many countries based on his record as opposed to his establishment credentials.
He certainly will not be running for election in Grenfell after his recent remarks!
Even the Tories has to hide him during the election he is such an erse😭😭😭
Apparently he gets on well with Mhari Black which I cannot get my head round but the irony for someone like you must be delicious😘😘
Perhaps they will have a love child called Septem Aquinas Innocent who will support CELTIC as SEVCO will be dead and cremated?
Jacob is a dab hand at procreation.
Mhari Black supports Partick Thistle (sometimes called Plastic Whistle – some cheek calling other people plastic anything!)
I would be astonished if Rees Mogg was interested in football with his background – not sure what team you are supposed to support if you go to Eton😂
I spent almost 30 years, mainly based in London, but I’ve also travelled quite extensively. Not only have I heard the usual racism against the African and Afro-Caribbean communities, as well as the folks from the Asian sub-continent – I’ve been called a “Jock” (which is just about “tolerable”), but another “favourite” was to be called a “Sweaty Sock”. I’m also sure, Phil, you will have heard reference to “Paddies” and “Thick Micks”. I think racism is an Englishman’s “comfort blanket”. Whenever I read of Tommy Two-Names and his hangers-on, it makes me wonder what drives these morons. The irony of how the British Empire was enriched by the rape and pillage of these countries whose people’s are despised by their ilk are totally lost on them. If you asked the average englishman how Bristol, Manchester, London, etc became big cities, very few of them would know that (for example) Bristol’s wealth came from tobacco that was harvested by African slaves in America. Likewise, how cotton enriched Manchester. Indeed, Glasgow plays its own dark role, not only from the wealth created from enslavement, but we even built the ships that were used to transport those slaves across the Atlantic Ocean.
Next time anybody is in Glasgow city centre, enjoying the splendour of the magnificent buildings around George Square, take some time to understand what these buildings actually mean, in terms of racism, and the part that Scotland itself contributed to it – whether that be anti-Irish racism, anti-black racism, or any other kind of racism.
Racism is racism, is racism. There are no shades of grey about it.
Excellent comment Steven:
The role of Scotland in providing the middle-management of the British Empire has still not been fully addressed in Fair Caledonia.
The role of British Ireland during the Empire equally so. Irish divisions in the British Army, illiterate Irish lads rising to become Generals in India.
Fighting Napoleon and all that.
All grand buildings in Ireland from pre 1922 were built on British empire proceeds. Including the Dublin post office. Don’t knock GLASGOW architecture.
A historically illiterate trolling comment.
The role of the Scots in establishing the British Empire in the 18th and 19th centuries has no Irish parallel.
Alistair McGowan, impersonator, did an episode of “who do you think you are?”. He discovered that his great great great grandfather was an Irishman who joined the army as a private soldier. His Irish regiment was posted to India. He rose to become a General with estates in India, local Governor with hundreds of servants and owned elephants.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alistair_McGowan
Most of these guys returned to Ireland with their titles and wealth and built grand townhouses and country houses with their British Empire wealth.
Outliers prove little.
It isn’t a matter of debate among serious historians that the Scots were central to the middle management of the British Empire.
The Irish were not.
If the architecture was created with Empire “blood money”, does it matter where that blood money was spent? Go visit Glasgow Necropolis (the city of the dead), and “admire the great tombs and mausoleum. Take note of the family names, take those names home, then do your own internet research. Only an idiot has a closed mind, my friend!!
Arthur Wellesley was Field Marshall Commander in Chief of the British Army at the Height of the British Empire. Indeed he led the British Empire to its height. You probably know him better as His Grace The Duke of Wellington. He was Irish, born in Dublin. He has grand statue memorials in Southern Ireland. He was Prime Minister of the UK twice.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Wellesley,_1st_Duke_of_Wellington
There were tens of thousands of Irishmen in multitudes of ranks below him.
The Duke of Wellington was very clear that he did not define as Irish.
I had no problem being called Jock, Sweaty or even porridge-wog. My mates Scouse (thieving git) Taff (druid) Geordie (Jock with his brains kicked out) Paddy (bog trotter) Monkeyhanger and Wurzel didn’t mind either. And Mick (the nigerian-indonesian mongrel) was only known by the name Horse because of the size of his cock. We all smiled and laughed all the time.
I think you all miss the point about nicknames and banter. Maybe you missed something like friendships in your lives?
Sad really.
Being called “Jock”, or “horse”, or whatever is neither here nor there. Names are names – it is the intent behind such labels. Remember the furore cause not so long ago, by the words spoken by Lord Charles of Normandy, when he referred to Imran Ahmed as his “paki friend”, and how he tried to justify such language? In a modern, multicultural society, such terminology has no place in english, or indeed any other, language. Maybe you can convince me otherwise, but I very much doubt it.
Look at what the leader of Scottish Borders Council did in her bid to become an MP …. Playing the sectarian card big time … Hard to believe even the Tories would do this but she did https://www.thesouthernreporter.co.uk/news/politics/borders-council-leader-denies-claims-inciting-sectarianism-bid-be-mp-1343516
The Blair Government apologised unreservedly on behalf of the United Kingdom for An Gorta Mhor. He accepted the blame.
No-one has apologised for the 150 years of sectarianism/racism in Scotland towards what were British subjects within their United Kingdom. All Ireland was UK British at that time of the Great Famine. They were not immigrants they were British Citizens and their descendants are descended from British Citizens.
The food for changing your religion deal in Scotland offered to starving British Citizens was a crime against humanity and Human Rights by those religious organisations. An apology from them is required also. The Church of Scotland raising an AGM statue in their church grounds would go a long way. What about Edinburgh St Giles, Royal Mile? A pre reformation catholic cathedral anyway!
Get the apology out there to all the tourists.
Get we have all said things we regret and if I’m being honest, I did in the past refer to buying a chinky which clearly has racist undertones but I can genuinely say that I wasn’t being intentionally racist. Ms. Black on the other hand has consistently expressed her public utterances in private so either she has no concept of anti Irish racism or she actively believes what she says. My bet would be on the latter.
How do you know what Ms Black says in private?
A friend of yours?
A relative?
Heard a rumour or read it on the internet?
There are much bigger fish to go after on anti Irish racism but heh too difficult and doesn’t fit your political agenda
In the run up to the election both Labour and the Tories sacked MP candidates for their previous anti Semitic statements and racist statements. SNP did not sack Ms Black. Why was that? Why is she an MP? Why is she acceptable? Even Farage’s Brexit party sacked some. Those who were sacked should complain about Ms Black and double standards. Those who sit with her in the commons should complain to the speaker also.
Maybe because we were more welcomed here in Wales but I have always felt Welsh. I’m proud of my Irish ancestry (on both parents sides) but I’m 100% Welsh when we play Ireland. I’ve said this before on here, I’m so glad my Grandparents chose South Wales and not Glasgow. Never had to put up with what you get in Scotland.
The experience of the Irish in Wales is markedly different from the community in Fair Caledonia.
I spent a very happy Post-Grad year in Swansea in the 1980s.
Moreover, I cannot imagine a politician like Ms Black in Wales so openly disregarding part of the Welsh nation and doing so without any consequences.
I come, on one half, from an Irish family, but was born in Glasgow. I am Scottish, and although I am proud of my part-Irish heritage, I don’t feel Irish. Part of that is probably because I went to a non-denomination school, and because religion played no part in my life. I’ve since moved to France with my two daughters. They were educated in France at secondary school level and, although still Scottish, they are culturally French in so many ways. Their kids will be French, not Scottish, although I’d hope they will be aware of their Scottish/Irish heritage. My point is, that although everyone has a different experience, in my opinion articles like this one continue to drive a wedge between communities rather than offering any sort of solution and allowing progress to be made, progress which has come on leaps and bounds since the 1960s when my parents (one Catholic, one Protestant) went against the grain and got married. I hope their “bravery” wasn’t in vain….
The “solution” is for anti-Irish racism to be called out wherever it emerges.
Agree with ddbass. Religion is a con, Nationalism is divisive. Call racism out by all means but remember there is prejudice in Scotland against people who are perceived to be Catholic but are not.
We Irish descendants in Scotland have been fair game for slander, mistreatment, racist comment, and Downright ignorance since the influx began. It’s still in evidence today. I remember starting as an Apprentice in 1971 in a Factory where Irish Catholicism was despised by most and tolerated by some. This made for an unpleasant unhappy episode, but we grew up and stood our ground. It was either that or sink.
Today’s Ant-Irish racism is far more subtle in terms of the chosen words. It is however there for all to see …..if we just look a little closer.
In fairness, my grandad grew up in Glasgow to a parents who were catholic and born in Ireland, he joined the communist party at a young age and as such rejected religion. The result was that he had to move to Edinburgh as he was discriminated against from both sides. As an first generation scot of Irish decent rather than an Ulster scot he could not get work anywhere run by Protestant businesses, however becaus he did not attend chapel nor could he get work in the Irish or catholic controlled workplaces as if he didn’t go to chapel he must be one of them.
As such he moved to Edinburgh where he got work easily as religion, while still apart of life here as was discrimination was not ingrained into the cultural identity as much as it was in the west.
Phil
I have lived in Newport for 10 years after living in Aus & Warrington.
First 40 years in Scotland mainly east coast.
There is racism everywhere and Welsh are as racist in some ways as others – especially the ones of my generation. Brexit has exacerbated this.
In England I found an inherent ignorance and arrogance towards any other nation from many people I considered friends.
In Aus a racism towards the indigenous people.
In Scotland I found the vast majority of racism being blue to green and equally tiresome. I found this more prevelant in older people and It was not entirely a one way street. Football perpetrated this divisiveness even among the younger generations.
There was also some anti English which was more borne of an inferiority complex which I firmly believe greater self government and reliance would address.
I find the anti Indy agenda of many people on this site perplexing when it seems so obvious to me that Unionism and anti Irish sentiment are so closely entwined.
Nail on the head.
phil
Why the ongoing venom to a young inexperienced mp using a colloquial hurtful term. We all make mistakes especially when young.Has she a history of anti Irish racism or any other form of racism?
In comparison to a supposed ‘One Nation’ PM who bandies racist insults ad nauseas for political gain you are picking on small fry.
Your continual vilification of Black and lack of forgiveness is beginning to look petty and small minded and does not reflect well on you. She is an easy target for many people don’t like her because of her accent and lack of deferrence (snobbery)
Sorry to have to say this but I am sure I am not alone in thinking this.
She was 22 when she gave that interview to the Holyrood Parliament magazine.
She has had ample opportunity to retract and apologize.
Rather than deploy “venom” I wrote to Ms Black privately and sent her a copy of Minority Reporter.
This site is fully searchable and there is a lengthy piece detailing the background.
Great post!
Phil,
I have followed your writing for a number of years now and have found it informative educational and instructive. I would say that I agree with your opinions on the vast majority of subjects. As a Scot of Irish Catholic decent I largely agree with your thoughts on racism in Scotland. As a youth in the mid 60s I could (and did) sing all the Rebel Songs and join in with the dubious chants. I would say that I was a Grade A Plastic Paddy. At school I learned to sing ” Hail Glorious St Patrick” but little of the history of Scotland. I fully respect people’s right to proclaim their heritage but don’t restrict it to a particular group. I find your anti SNP and Ms Black tirades quite wearisome. I get it you are not a fan. We have all said and done things in the past that we should not have. Get over it. In my lifetime I have known many Plastics not restricted to the Irish variety. I’m expect you have too. Other than that I think you are doing a great job. Keep it up.
If you find calling out racism “wearisome” then stop reading.
That works for me.
Phil, you have lived in Ireland for 22 years. Surely you have to be here on a day to day basis to get a proper comprehensive picture,of what life is really like for any race,colour, or creed. Putting up pictures of the Union Bears and Ms Black every two weeks does not really constitute or justify the negative stereotyping of full a nation.Maybe for a change you should look at the positives between both nations, and do a piece on it. That may not fit in with your agenda of course, a wee bit like the day you woke up to the Liam Neeson anti Black racism scandal, which you were very quick to defend as he apologised, despite the crass nature of his actions, and the usual convenient “time lapse”excuse. Ireland has its own issues with racism, however god forbid we were to refer to it as a a racist nation,which I will agree, it is not.That is not to say like ” Fair Caledonia” it has its share of bad apples. Phil come back for a wee visit. If you look hard enough you may well find the odd bogey man or two, however most of us are doing ok, and getting on with life in a content and mature way, and we can walk the streets at night,without being questioned about our ancestry.
It’s not expected though from Members of Parliament.
Parliamentary Standards and all that.
They have to conduct themselves to a higher standard than all others. Ms Black falls short.
I applaud the Jewish folks for how they tackled the Labour anti Semitism. Some folks in here support SNP more than they care about sectarianism in Scotland. I’m glad the Jews didn’t support Labour.
All political parties will have a degree of rascism because all humans have a degree of racism.
For Phil to constantly bang on about 1 young, naive, female (easy target) who made an unwise comment when there is so much racism on display in MSM.
The SNP are not particularly impressive but how many councillors or mps have affiliations to orange order compared to other parties?
There was naked anti Irish racism on display this year in Brexit negotiations by Brexiteers.
Re Irish & Scottish independence – they are completely different circumstances. Absolute poverty or physical repression by state not a major factor for Scotland and thankfully religion not a big factor now.
I cannot help detecting a kind of snobbery from some people on here when relating Irish independence to Scottish independence.
I look forward to the day when Scotland and Ireland (preferably all Ireland) are two Indy countries who can support each other as tolerant, peace loving countries living in harmony with all their neighbours including England.
Very poor reply Phil – you are being dismissive of people who enjoy reading your posts, are sympathetic to you but may have a genuinely held difference of opinion.
I will take your advice to stop reading but you will end up with an echo chamber which does not help anyone reflect, debate and learn.
Sorry to have to say this😞
Ah, pretty poor response there tbh – ” if you don’t like it then just eff off “.
Some excellent posts above from JP58 and John Reid who get this reply for not toeing the party line, and as they commented, you’re already well on your way to operating in an echo chamber, so good luck with that.
Re Ms Black – she did say that earlier in her career – I would also add that I’ve said it as well at several Celtic away games – some of our 16 & 17 year old ‘ultras’ can be heard singing about being off to Dublin in the green and happily telling us all about the Thomson gun – these are the ‘plastic paddies’ who have never set foot in the country.
Ms Black is also still in this country fighting against many injustices incuding LGBT rights.
Given Donegal’s pretty atrocious back-history in these matters (I mean, you had to get Daniel O’Donnell to help you get just over the 50% referndum vote) would it be fair to say that maybe you still harbour a grievance because, to the casual observer, it seems that when you have a slow news day, or nothing is happening at sevco, you seem to wheel out a photo with copy/paste narrative.
Asking for a gay rugger guy.
For the avoidance of doubt and a propos of nothing, my parents were both Irish and moved to Govanhill in the early 50’s so best leave aside any lectures on that front.
Ms Black was 22 and an MP when she gave that interview.
I doubt it would have been so consequence-free for her if she had aimed such a slur against any other ethnic minority in Scotland.
Ironically m,y book on the subject (Minority Reporter) uses the LGBTQ analogy apropos people hiding their ethnicity within a racist society.
That is why I sent her a copy.
It was a private reaching out.
Had she responded at all then I would never have had to be public about my concerns.
An SNP sucking Soup Taker?
There’s a lot of SNP Soup Takers in the diaspora descendants.
Well said John, I agree 100%.
I’m thinking;who exactly could make such an apology?
It’s not the apology itself,it’d be the person’s delivery and sincerity of said apology,after all it’s only words.
Actions and long standing memorials would serve better than mere words.But,I won’t go holding my breath