{"id":2489,"date":"2013-10-15T13:30:33","date_gmt":"2013-10-15T12:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/?p=2489"},"modified":"2013-10-15T13:30:33","modified_gmt":"2013-10-15T12:30:33","slug":"where-do-we-go-from-here-tony-novosel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/?p=2489","title":{"rendered":"Where Do We Go From Here?: Tony Novosel"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"PUP<\/a><\/p>\n

PUP leader Billy Hutchinson pictured at the Progressive Unionist Party annual conference at Brownlow House in Lurgan, Co. Armagh.<\/p>\n

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Between 1969-1972, when Northern Ireland descended into the violence of the modern \u201ctroubles\u201d fueled in part by apocalyptic rhetoric of some unionist leaders\/politicians an unintended consequence of this violent period was the split that took place within unionism between the unionism working class and \u201cbig-house\u201d unionism. This split resulted, amongst other reasons, from the belief that unionism could no longer protect the border, defend Protestant communities from the violence of the Provisional IRA nor fulfill the social contract that promised employment in return for loyalty from the Protestant working class.\u00a0 A consequence of this \u201csplit,\u201d the DUP formed in 1971, ostensibly as the political voice for the ordinary Ulstermen and women. In the same period the loyalist paramilitaries began to defend their communities and to attack the IRA and the nationalist community.<\/p>\n

This split within unionism and then the eventual division that developed between the DUP and many of the paramilitaries eventually led to the use of the term \u201cloyalist\u201d when referring to the working class Protestants who took up arms to \u201cdefend Ulster.\u201d\u00a0 This was necessary for both the \u201cBig House\u201d and the DUP, in order to differentiate themselves, the \u201crespectable\u201d elements within Unionism, from loyalism. Interestingly, for purposes of this piece, after the split, the Unionist parties, in particular the DUP continued to be the parties of \u201cNo!\u201d whilst some within the loyalist paramilitaries and their working class allies became the \u201cprogressive forces\u201d that attempted to engage constructively with politics as a way to end the conflict and create a \u201cjust and equitable\u201d society.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to 2012 and 2013, the flag protests and the band protests at Twaddle.\u00a0 We are witnessing the familiar play that I wrote about in January (The Lost Opportunity Redux<\/a>) once again acted out on the streets of Belfast. The rhetoric and actions of the unionist \u2018leaders\u2019 put the Protestant working class on the streets (flag protests).\u00a0 Then those on the streets, losing faith in the \u2018leaders\u2019 who can\u2019t restore the flag nor get the \u2018brethren\u2019 home along the \u201ctraditional\u201d route, begin to organize and act to defend their \u201cculture and identity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Are these events linked and if so do they give us any insight into where working class loyalism will go in the future? An even more important question is \u201cIs it going anywhere?\u201d As some argue, could this really be the last gasp of the loyalist working class, a class left behind by economic, social and political change? Or, could this be the beginning of a working class political movement that can have an impact on Northern Ireland politics<\/a>?\u00a0 If it is the latter what will that impact be? Will the working class go down the road of right wing populism, a very real and disturbing possibility?\u00a0 Can this working class activism centered only on the flag and marching lead, once again, anywhere other than another dead end for loyalism?\u00a0 Or as, one observer asked can this activism be used \u201cto galvanise populist support for an agenda around socio-economic and political justice?\u201d that will deal with the very real issues of educational underachievement, social and economic deprivation and all the attendant social problems these bring on once they resolve the issues of the \u201ccultural war?\u201d<\/p>\n

Faced with these questions, this piece will argue that loyalism is not going away, but where it is going is unclear.\u00a0 However, whichever way loyalism goes it will have a very real impact on the future of Northern Ireland and its people.\u00a0 Therefore, it is important to go beyond the sensational headlines, the very real violence of some loyalists in the protests, sometimes silly and na\u00efve actions (See Willie Frazer\u2019s arrival at court as a radical Muslim cleric) and the sometimes unquestioning support for the British flag, the military and the trappings of empire to understand where loyalism might go in the future.<\/p>\n

We all know what has occurred as a result of the flag protests and the standoff at Twaddell.\u00a0 Like the late 1960s and early 1970s, working class loyalism believing that Unionism cannot defend unionist\/loyalists interests, in particular its symbols, moved onto the streets to defend its culture and identity.\u00a0 These protests have ended in stalemate at Twaddell and frustration over not getting the flag back on City Hall.\u00a0 They have also fueled grassroots political activity and a surprising \u201csuccess\u201d that points out that the Protestant working class is finding its political voice. This \u2018voice\u2019 was a major reason why Peter Robinson and the DUP backed away from their support for the Maze regeneration programme and why a number of Unionist politicians have paid visits to Twaddell.<\/p>\n

Since the start of the flag protests in December 2012, we have watched the news, read the pundits, heard the radio programmes and read all the blogs which essentially talked about and at times condemned a community that has \u201clost its way,\u201d a community more worried about its symbols and identity, a community that often engaged in mindless violence and followed \u201cleaders\u201d who had no political programme (the \u201canti-Party\u201d is an example of this) and could only lead the loyalist community down a dead-end once more.<\/p>\n

Reading Facebook, Twitter<\/a> and so on, one could very easily be discouraged and despairing about loyalism and where it is going.\u00a0 One posting that has made the rounds of Facebook pages reads: \u201cI came into this world kicking and screaming while covered in someone else\u2019s blood and I have no problem going out the same way.\u201d Others call Facebook, \u201cTaigbook.\u201d Another posting that appeared on the 29\/9\/2013 read:\u00a0 \u201cFuck Bloody Sunday:\u00a0 No Apology! No Surrender!\u201d There are references to the PSNI as \u201cPSNIRA\/Scum.\u201d\u00a0 There was joy in stopping the Republican parade in August and doing it in violation of the law and incalculable damage to Belfast and loyalism\u2019s image.\u00a0 Anti-immigrant feelings, racism, and in particular virulent anti-Muslim sentiments appear on many pages.<\/p>\n

Statements appear attacking those from within loyalism who wanted to compromise in the 1970s and 1980s and attacking any compromisers then and now as communists. Some loyalists condemn the PUP, as they did in the past, as \u201csocialists\u201d and \u201cappeasers\u201d because the PUP agreed to the (Belfast) Good Friday Agreement.\u00a0 Other statements once again link loyalism\u2019s struggle unquestioningly to Israel.\u00a0 A recent post condemned the PUP for participating in a conference with republicans and argued \u201cNo Surrender!\u201d \u201cNo Compromise!\u201d\u00a0 Any outreach from loyalism to republicanism and vice versa, is condemned as \u201cappeasement.\u201d\u00a0 In essence, what this wing of loyalism wants is a return to the Ulster of pre-1969 where it existed only for the loyal British subjects, not those with a different vision of the future of Northern Ireland and Ireland as a whole, be that the republican vision or the liberal, progressive unionist vision of many loyalists.<\/p>\n

Even with what political analysts and observers would call regressive and reactionary forces within loyalism emerging over the past year, I would argue that what we are witnessing is the \u201cself \u2013mobilisation\u201d of the Protestant working class.\u00a0 This mobilisation, in the face of what it sees as weak and appeasing unionist leadership, represents a working class not prepared to follow those it no longer trusts and instead go down its own route.\u00a0 That route could be the road to nowhere again, just as it was in other times in Northern Ireland\u2019s history when the loyalist working class fought blindly for the cause\u201d but didn\u2019t look beyond that \u201ccause.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although much of this narrative is true, like any other story, it is not the whole story.\u00a0 Yes, there is a very reactionary element within loyalism, as there has always been, and we have seen that over the past year with the element that does not think or act beyond the issue of the \u201cnation,\u201d identity and\/or culture. But, as in other periods of Northern Ireland\u2019s history, there were and are elements within the Protestant working class who, while defending the nation, culture and identity of the Protestant working class also have engaged in political action, community organization and empowering the Protestant working class to take control over their lives and communities.<\/p>\n

Whilst the self-mobilisation that I outlined above represents the PWC taking control of its own destiny it also represents a step backwards and is self-defeating, (there is no plan for the future) there is another self-moblisation taking place within the loyalist community that we do not hear or know about.\u00a0 This mobilization could lead to a stronger, more vibrant and politically aware Protestant working class that can represent its own interests and do it in through politics and community action and not through knee-jerk reactions to the provocations it sees directed at it by Sinn Fein.<\/p>\n

Before, I continue I must address the fact that this piece cannot deal with what the UDA and the UPRG are doing at this time.\u00a0 I do know from many conversations on the ground that there is a great deal of positive work being done by both groups and many other groups in those communities. However, I simply don\u2019t have enough information or the space here to deal with them and so will leave that to other writers.<\/p>\n

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

Irish News editor Noel Doran speaks at the Progressive Unionist Party annual conference at Brownlow House in Lurgan, Co. Armagh.<\/p>\n

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For the purposes of this article, the most obvious place to begin is with the Progressive Unionist Party.\u00a0 Prior to the move by Belfast City Council to remove the flag on all but 17 days in November 2012, the PUP did not see the flag as in an issue that the Party needed to deal with.\u00a0 However, that changed, on 14\/11\/2012 when Billy Hutchinson, the PUP leader, changed the party policy. He did this in the face of what he and the PUP viewed as an assault on the symbols of Britishness, in particular the parades and flags, by nationalists and republicans.\u00a0 Consequently, when the flag protests began, the PUP and Hutchinson, supported the protestors, but unlike the \u201canti-party\u201d and the more reactionary elements with loyalism, began to act and organise politically.\u00a0 Hutchinson, echoing the Principles of Loyalism<\/em>, stated in a TV interview on 8 December 2012, that the PUP along with the UVF\/RHC would use \u201cunarmed (political) resistance\u201d and that they would defeat Sinn Fein politically.\u00a0 While this caused consternation amongst many observers, those familiar with the Principles of Loyalism<\/em> would not have been surprised as this is a core principle of the document. (See \u201cThe UVF and Political Resistance\u201d in Principles of Loyalism<\/a>)<\/p>\n

In response to the flags issue and protests, the PUP undertook political action and began to recruit people into the party and put them through an education programme once they joined in order to channel people away from the streets and into political action. (The Party now counts 600+ members with \u201cpeople joining daily.\u201d (Hutchinson))<\/p>\n

On the 13 January 2013, Hutchinson made a video for the PUP TV website and that is now on Youtube, (http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3w-4La_lmgk<\/a>) in which he called on people to act within the law and to avoid disruption of daily life in Northern Ireland by sending letters of protest to City Hall and making their voice heard on the flags\u2019 issue that way.<\/p>\n

The PUP has also organized voter drives with canvassers going to door-to-door to sign people up to vote.\u00a0 An image has appeared on many Facebook pages that reads \u201cNo Vote = No Voice: Register to Vote\u201d superimposed over the British flag.\u00a0 At the same time, the PUP in Newtonabbey posted:<\/p>\n