{"id":910,"date":"2012-06-27T16:31:57","date_gmt":"2012-06-27T15:31:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/?p=910"},"modified":"2012-06-27T16:37:15","modified_gmt":"2012-06-27T15:37:15","slug":"910","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/?p=910","title":{"rendered":"The message on the Hill"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE MESSAGE ON THE HILL<\/p>\n

If you live in the west, north and south parts of Belfast there is a good chance you viewed with your own eyes the \u2018Eriu is our Queen\u2019 message placed on the Black Mountain. When I seen it my immediate thought was \u2018who the \u2026. is Eriu\u2019? Ancient history is not my strongest point but I\u2019m sure the majority of West Belfastwere saying the same. A friend of mine sent a brief resume of good old Eriu \u2013 an interesting story and one I would like to investigate further. But the real message wasn\u2019t about who is their Queen, but rather it is who is not <\/strong>their Queen. Fair enough.\u00a0Each to their own.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The problem for me is that no matter what Protestants hold up as symbols of their identity, republicans seem to knee-jerk a negative reaction to that symbol \u2013 they don\u2019t seem to have a \u2018I couldn\u2019t care less about it\u2019 reaction. Some years ago I was down at the University of Ulster, Jordanstown to register for the coming term. In the main hall there was a visual presentation about tourism and the differing aspects of this country.<\/p>\n

What caught my eye was a display that said \u2018whether you like an Ulster Fry or a six-county special \u2026\u2026.\u2019.I couldn\u2019t believe this attempt to remove another semantic reference to a cultural sign-post. Who thinks these things up? It\u2019s sad really \u2013 but, understanding the psyche, not much of a shock.<\/p>\n

Of course the \u2018message on the hill\u2019 provoked a reaction. Some people decided to remove this demonstration of republican cultural identity \u2013 some people may have been hurt and that is unfortunate. But is it a sign of things to come? Republican youths entered at least two Loyalist areas seeking to provoke trouble. Tensions have heightened. Is that what the peace process is about? Every-time we demonstrate our cultural identity they need to denounce it as not their identity? We already know that! But remember our identity hasn\u2019t gone away you know!<\/p>\n

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