“To name things wrongly is to add to the misfortune of the world,” said Albert Camus.
Precision in language is essential, especially in the forensic setting of a court.
Therefore, I was intrigued by the case of Kyle Cruickshank.
The disgraced police officer was found to have embarked on “a five-year campaign of racist and sectarian abuse”.
In court, it was stated that Cruickshank:
“He would ask [other officers] for their surnames to see if they had a Catholic surname.
“He would use phrases such as fenian b******s.
“He would listen to calls coming through and listen to the name of the complainer.
“If their name sounded Catholic, Cruickshank would say ‘they would get the jail’.”
What, dear reader, is a ‘Catholic surname’?
Everyone in Fair Caledonia instinctively knows exactly what was being referred to in court.
The delightful Mr Cruickshank was asking about IRISH surnames.
This is yet another example of the invisibility of the Irish ethnicity in modern Scotland.
A decade on from writing Minority Reporter, modern Scotland’s bad attitude towards her own Irish remains extant.
The title of this piece is taken from the final section of Minority Reporter.
A decade on, it is still a relevant question in friendly, fluffy, tolerant Scotland.
When I was writing that book, I wondered where the zeitgeist could be shifted.
Indeed, the culture was a part of the battlespace.
I had often remarked that I couldn’t see anyone like me in modern Scottish literature.
Where were the positive portrayals of second-generation Irish people on the page, stage or, crucially, the screen?
There was undoubtedly no shortage of such fictional characters in an American setting where being of Irish ethnicity isn’t a social crime.
I posit that the lack of similar cultural products in Fair Caledonia and the invisibility of the muy community from the public space isn’t coincidental.
I observed that during my talk at the ChangeIn Scotland conference in Ullapool 2011.
Moreover, it wasn’t about the invisibility of Catholics per se in the Scottish cultural landscape.
The existence of people of Italian ethnicity in modern Scotland was acknowledged.
It was the Irish who were invisible.
By the time I had given that talk in Ullapool, I was already a published playwright here in Ireland.
When I disclosed that in the bar afterwards, someone said I should do my bit to address it by creating second-generation Irish characters in a Scottish setting.
Well, two stage plays and two novels later, I can say that I’ve taken up the challenge.
I was considering these matters last week when The Irish Voice interviewed me.
They’re fine folk, and in their tenth year, they have plans to build something that lasts and lasts.
I wrote this piece about them last August.
You can support them by going to this link.
The Irish Voice is available at no cost across several outlets in Glasgow, including from the good folk at Calton Books in Glasgow.
The observant among ye will spot Native Shore in the window.
To add to the invisibility narrative, despite their best efforts, my highly experienced publishers would not conjure up a single mainstream book review of a highly topical political thriller about MI5 and IndyRef2.
This one in Bella Caledonia managed to sketch out the plot of the book without any mention of the central character.
For the avoidance of doubt, I’m grateful that they did review the novel.
However, compare and contrast this review of Native Shore by my friend and comrade Danny Morrison.
Overall, I’m convinced that there are people in Holyrood who wish that the community that the Irish Voice serves would just go away.
We won’t.
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As a guy born during the 2nd World War called Michael [Mick} I came across quite a lot of anti Irish language from some ignorant individuals. My generation were quite used to this and just thought it was something we had to live with.
As my many family links with Ireland went way back from the middle to the end of the 19th Century I always found this ignorance a bit strange and quite funny.
Civic Scotland has always swept this under the carpet, and continue to do so. You just have to look at BBC Scotland and the Media in general to see how few people born in the West of Scotland with Irish or Catholic backgrounds are represented on these platforms.
That is why lots of people from this background are so proud and supportive of Celtic FC and the way they have represented this community through the years.
I don’t understand why The Irish Voice should even ask for funds, the Irish community in FC should be grateful to have it. Maybe some of them have forgotten their roots. I’m saying this with a bit of anger and astonishment in me. For you all that donated, I tip my hat off to you. Well done Phil, highlighting this and all your achievements which in some quarters have not been recognised. Keep well.
Yet the ROI FA are happy to join forces with them in a football tournament
Maybe the Irish ambassador, if there is one, in Edinburgh should show a bit of support.
There is no Ambassador in Edinburgh as it is not a sovereign state.
There is an Irish consulate in Edinburgh.
I am not of Irish descent, I am proud to be a Scots. But am hugely ashamed of the way many Scots view those who are of Irish descent. It shames us and has no place in Scotland.
I wish I was second generation Irish. My mob were here by the early 1800s which means no EU passport
This. If there hadn’t been a photo at the top of this piece, the mental image I would’ve had of the copper would be…exactly the same…
We haven’t gone away, ye know.
Phil, these types of questions have been in existence since I was young. The polis, managers at work so on. What is in a name, if it’s Irish then it will mean everything, to some it means that I don’t have the right to work, to live in a house without having neighbour’s who put flags up in a shared back. And ask how do I like it, crack joke about painting fences red white and blue.
If I don’t like it then go home. Home to me is Ireland. He knows it.
Keep at them Phil
TAL🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪
Catholic name? You mean like Daniel Fergus McGrain?
“A 5 year campaign?” Well it’s reassuring to know the relevant authorities stopped this knuckle dragger with their usual level of efficiency, Aye Right. Keep up the good work Phil HH
Please explain to me it you will, why you refer (somewhat sarcastically I think) to Scotland as Fair Caladonia in certain contexts ? I understand your thinking about the referendum and some folks fear about cutting ties.
Does that perhaps have any bearing ? I too was bitterly disappointed with the result of the thing. I write with absolutely no animosity towards you and wish you all the best in your future work, which I do follow.
Yours, from Auchenshuggle.
Spot on Phil.