{"id":2160,"date":"2013-07-19T09:09:55","date_gmt":"2013-07-19T08:09:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/?p=2160"},"modified":"2013-07-25T13:44:02","modified_gmt":"2013-07-25T12:44:02","slug":"in-danger-of-creating-a-new-superprod-billy-joe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/?p=2160","title":{"rendered":"In Danger Of Creating A New Superprod: Billy Joe"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Danger Of Creating A New Super Prod.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Within Protestantism–and without–to –at times a Global audience, there have been many images down the years that portrayed the militant side of our faith.\u00a0 Militant being relative.\u00a0 The abiding and endearing snapshots of a cluster of middele aged or elderly wee women clad from head to toe in red, white and blie, spinning Union Jack umbrellas whilst dancing to the strains of an old Orange tune may not be the same as that of a combat clad alpha male, replete with dark glasses and a cudgel.\u00a0 A sober suited clean cut man wearing a collarette and a bowler hat can hardly bear comparison to those portrayed in wall murals–black, commando like figures brandishing automatic weapons and demolishing a front door with a sledge hammer.<\/strong>
\nCircumstances over the years have, to a large degree dictated what many of us have become.\u00a0 Within certain elements of Loyalism there is a reluctance to give creedence to the continuance of paramilitarism.\u00a0 And perhaps rightly so.\u00a0 But there is, in many quarters, an even greater reticence when it comes to acknowledging the need for those same organisations over 40 years ago.
\nTo be a young inductee into one such group in the early 1970’s didnt have the effect many might imagine.\u00a0 Within my group of peers there was a distinct matter of factness about “joining up”.\u00a0 There was no other options as far as I was concerned.\u00a0 Rightly or wrongly, or whether you believe it or not, circumstances in the early years of the Troubles, attributed greatly to the birth of Loyalist groupings.\u00a0 But to a larger degree, at least within the organisation I joined, there was an acceptance of what you had to do.\u00a0 No fanfares and very little advertising of who you were or what you were doing.\u00a0 However at this time there was a propensity within the larger of the Loyalist organisations to make oneself known to the public.\u00a0 Their leaders were household names, and there was a tendency to parade at every opportunity.
\nOver the intervening years and for a variety of reasons, the perception of those organisations has chenged greatly.\u00a0 The general consensus is that former members, many who are now old men, are an anathema.\u00a0 Pariahs and scapegoats\u00a0to a fickle society–a society who can, in equal measures, canonise or demonise at will.\u00a0 To go further, a widely held belief in certain quarters is that many of those old defenders are actually the root cause of the many fold ailments affecting the PUL communities in present times.\u00a0 That is if listen to those who choose to make the distinction now between Unionist and Loyalist.
\nDecember 2012 has become another defining time in the annals of Loyalism.\u00a0 \"\"<\/a>The much covered and widely reported Flag issue has helped\u00a0re-awaken many of the hitherto dormant feelings within working class Loyalism.\u00a0 The ceasefires of 1994 and the the subsequent Good Friady Agreement of 4 years later gave the vast majority of the population a real hope that peace had arrived.\u00a0 And indeed it had.\u00a0 Well, a version of it.\u00a0 Peace became a new word in our vocabulary.\u00a0 And as happens, when we learn a new word we tend to overuse it: at every opportunity.\u00a0 Perhaps we thought we didnt have to work too diligently\u00a0at maintaining that hard gained peace.\u00a0 After all, we now had elected representatives who were there to ensure that peace was here to stay.\u00a0 The new generation were content to put their\u00a0trust in the Unionist politicians–as we had always done.\u00a0 And after all, sure, they had\u00a0never failed us or let us down–had they?
\n\"\"<\/a>Arguably, a facet of the the Loyalist working class psyche–for as long as I can remember–is to blindly follow those who represent us–sure, didnt we install them in the first place, so they must be okay.\u00a0 And anyway, what can we do about it?\u00a0 Cast aside the fact that since time immemorial they have not only failed to give us proper representation when it counts but on a daily basis MIS-represent us.\u00a0 They play on the political naivety of the masses and barely stop short of treating us like morons.\u00a0 The working classes within Loyalism are little more than cannon fodder when it comes to the machinations of our politicians.\u00a0 We are a tool that can lie unused for a long time but can be brought out and used when the need arises.\u00a0 The two strikes of 74 and 77–Sunningdale–The Anglo Irish Agreement–the GFA being a prime example.\u00a0 Here the Loyalist paramilitaries were used as a counterbalance to the huge influence held within Republicanism by ex-prisoners in the lead up to the GFA.\u00a0 Barely months later those same lynchpins of the agreement were spuriously cast aside…without compunction.\u00a0 The acquiesence of the hordes within the Protestant working classes can always be counted on by politicians.\u00a0 We, in turn have this notion that this is what we are meant to do–it is our lot–what else can we do?
\n\"\"<\/a>Since last week\u00a0the events surrounding the non return of the\u00a0Ardoyne lodges on the 12th July have again hit the headlines–for all the wrong reasons.\u00a0 Up to 100 arrests have already been made with the promise of many more to come.\u00a0 Add that to those already arrested and in cases jailed for the Flag disturbances and the numbers are very considerable.\u00a0 What would be interesting to me would be a discosure of the figures relating to Senior Orange Order representatives or politicians who have been arrested and charged over the same period.\u00a0 I fear that figure would be ridiculously low.\u00a0 40 odd\u00a0years of regular\u00a0repeats\u00a0is bound to have taught us something.\u00a0 Ian Paisley Snr. was famously nicknamed The Grand Old Duke of York for his habit of “leading” Loyalists to the top of\u00a0“The Hill”–and leaving them there.\u00a0 Dont be fooled into thinking with Paisley no longer the prominent figure he was that others will not repeat his well tried methods.\u00a0 The Orange Order have failed miserably over the years to lead and to represent even their own members.\u00a0 Have they anything new to offer now?\u00a0 Will they shake off the shackles\u00a0of their intransigent past and show new dynamic leadership when it\u00a0is most needed.\u00a0 Hardly.\u00a0 When our leading politicians call the masses to “their” cause–or when the OO ask for support for “their” lack of engagement, leadership or balls–pause–wait to see what they<\/strong> are going to do–without the insurance of the “sandbags” from within the streets and estates of working class Loyalist areas.\u00a0 When you are languishing in Bush or Bann house in Maghaberry jail it is highly unlikely that those in the next cell are mandarins in either Stormont or Schomberg House.\u00a0 Nor will these same people be in too much of a hurry to pay you a visit or leave a few quid into your tuck shop account.\u00a0 For too long these charlatans have manipulated and coerced the “under classes” into fighting their battles.\u00a0 Dont be fooled again.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Billy Joe<\/strong><\/p>\n

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