Brainless PSNI and Parades Commission

[Evil Genius]

The basic thrust of unionists generally is to prevent St Patrick's day being celebrated in the same way with everyone involved as it is everywhere else in the world.

Exactly!

Really?

St. Patrick's Day - Aldershot:




St. Patrick's Day - Helmand:


St. Patrick's Day - Belfast:


St. Patrick's Day - Ontario:




St. Patrick's Day - Bangalore


St. Patrick's Day - On a street near you...

[Denn Forever]

And finally, when all attempts to play the ball prove fruitless, you resort to playing the man.

Well done - you've now completed the full set...

To be fair, the bit you bolded was not from Apples..

[Oraisteach]

It's wasted, EG, completely wasted, that talent of yours.  It was meant for much grander things, not to be squandered on a rabble of deaf, dumb and blind kids who just don't get it, as you, prim as a Portora schoolmaster drilling Latin conjugations, scold them for being so obtuse,  with your peevish "Do try to keep up."

No, where were you when Tony Hayward was making a horse's elbow of himself explaining the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, when you could have spun it so expertly? 

I just love your spin on the Rising Sons of William.  You spring like a mantis to disavow any misguided Pape of the ridiculous misconception that they're an OO outfit.  Of course they're not.  Just as if a Rangers supporter whipped off his blue jersey and donned a Linfield one.  He wouldn't be a Rangers supporter any more, would he?  No, on St. Patrick's Day, just as there are 40 shades of green, there are 1,690 shades of orange, and I'm going to bet that four months from now those same larriers and their 40 other cohorts will be Enniskillen-and-the-Boyne-ing it with their brethren.

I love too that you describe them as a traditional Ulster band parade, as though they were an artifact borrowed from the Ulster Folk Museum or an Ulster fry and that you write, "I have no interest in these Band Parades, nor have I ever marched anywhere etc. Indeed I have a great distaste for any such displays which are designed to be exercises in coat-trailing and territory-marking etc, and to wind up others."  And then you scamper to clarify that they are not one of those aforementioned "coat-trailing" and "territory-marking" antagonists.

You'll perhaps understand a Papish reservation of judgment on that note since much of the summer is filled with like bands festooned in the very same Loyalist insignia not paying honor to St. Patrick but asserting dominion over craven Croppies.  I love too that you distinguish three parades: a Catholic one, a Civic one, and a Protestant one.  Do you really believe that the so-called Catholic one and Protestant one are of like kind.  The former, if I recall clearly from my youth, is a boy scout parade up to the cathedral to receive shamrocks from the cardinal, a dignified act of genuine respect for our patron saint.  The latter, well . . . I don't quite see its Patrician element.

And by the way, thanks so much for the Nostradamus award.  Believe me, in situations like this I delight in being wrong.  And thanks too for the generous words of praise that you shower on the Nationalists of Armagh for their unbelievable restraint in not reacting angrily to a procession designed to hijack a day dear to them, one in which genuine ecumenical bonds are woven, not scissored by sectatarianism.

Well, Spiderman, a belated happy St. Patrick's Day, and I'll leave you alone to spin some more.

[bennydorano]

Is it wrong to be turned on by that last photo of EG's?

Nice post  Oraisteach.

[ardal]

Is it wrong to be turned on by that last photo of EG's?

Nice post  Oraisteach.

+ 1

PS ref last photo, yes it's wrong, is she a glentoran (?) supporter, can't see any shamrock to suppose it's St Patrick´s day

[Applesisapples]

It's worth noting that as usual with these band parades the real losers were the small businesses in Armagh who in times of recession rely on days like St Patrick's Day to keep them afloat.

[Evil Genius]

It's wasted, EG, completely wasted, that talent of yours.  It was meant for much grander things, not to be squandered on a rabble of deaf, dumb and blind kids who just don't get it, as you, prim as a Portora schoolmaster drilling Latin conjugations, scold them for being so obtuse,  with your peevish "Do try to keep up."

Thank you, though the "Do keep up" line was, I thought, more condescending than peevish.

(Condescending means to talk down to, btw).

No, where were you when Tony Hayward was making a horse's elbow of himself explaining the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, when you could have spun it so expertly? 

Don't you mean "Where were BP?" - all they had to do was pay me my usual rate ...

I just love your spin on the Rising Sons of William.  You spring like a mantis to disavow any misguided Pape of the ridiculous misconception that they're an OO outfit.  Of course they're not.  Just as if a Rangers supporter whipped off his blue jersey and donned a Linfield one.  He wouldn't be a Rangers supporter any more, would he?  No, on St. Patrick's Day, just as there are 40 shades of green, there are 1,690 shades of orange, and I'm going to bet that four months from now those same larriers and their 40 other cohorts will be Enniskillen-and-the-Boyne-ing it with their brethren.

In their rush to condemn, some posters described this Parade as an OO event. It wasn't.
Of course in one sense, the distinction may not matter (to you, at least).
However I pointed this out to demonstrate that the knee-jerk response of many posters was based on ignorance - for example, posters banging on about "Willie Frazer", or "UVF bands", or "Drugged and boozed up loyalists roaming the streets when local nationalists are on their way home from a days drinking" or (ahem) "Inebrieted Taigs and Tartans beating the crap out of each other at the corner of Thomas Street and Scotch Street" - all of which was complete garbage.

I love too that you describe them as a traditional Ulster band parade, as though they were an artifact borrowed from the Ulster Folk Museum or an Ulster fry...

Did I? Which post was that, then?

... and you write, "I have no interest in these Band Parades, nor have I ever marched anywhere etc. Indeed I have a great distaste for any such displays which are designed to be exercises in coat-trailing and territory-marking etc, and to wind up others."  And then you scamper to clarify that they are not one of those aforementioned "coat-trailing" and "territory-marking" antagonists.

Once more, where was that? [bold]

You'll perhaps understand a Papish reservation of judgment on that note since much of the summer is filled with like bands festooned in the very same Loyalist insignia not paying honor to St. Patrick but asserting dominion over craven Croppies.

I think I understand precisely why these parades get up the noses of Nationalists etc, which is why there must be strict regulation to ensure that provocation etc is kept to an acceptable minimum.
But that is what the PC (and PSNI) exist for and in this case, the restrictions which they imposed were both reasonable and effective in ensuring that the bands be entitled to exercise their right to parade, whilst at the same time keeping them separate from people who would be offended by same.

I love too that you distinguish three parades: a Catholic one, a Civic one, and a Protestant one.  Do you really believe that the so-called Catholic one and Protestant one are of like kind.  The former, if I recall clearly from my youth, is a boy scout parade up to the cathedral to receive shamrocks from the cardinal, a dignified act of genuine respect for our patron saint.  The latter, well . . . I don't quite see its Patrician element.

I didn't "distinguish" [sic] anything. There were three parades in Armagh on St. Patrick's Day.

Do you really believe that the so-called Catholic one and Protestant one are of like kind.  The former, if I recall clearly from my youth, is a boy scout parade up to the cathedral to receive shamrocks from the cardinal, a dignified act of genuine respect for our patron saint.  The latter, well . . . I don't quite see its Patrician element.

No I don't. Nor did I state (or imply) that they were qualitatively the same.

And by the way, thanks so much for the Nostradamus award.  Believe me, in situations like this I delight in being wrong.

Except you didn't win it... 

And thanks too for the generous words of praise that you shower on the Nationalists of Armagh for their unbelievable restraint in not reacting angrily to a procession designed to hijack a day dear to them, one in which genuine ecumenical bonds are woven, not scissored by sectatarianism.

I do not consider an unwillingness to go out of the way to be offended to be the same as "unbelievable restraint".

The fact is, the PC and PSNI anticipated that if (a ) the Loyalist parade was restricted as to route, banners and emblems etc, and (b ) was delayed until 7.30, by which time all the other celebrants of the day would either be in the pub or have returned home etc, then there would no good reason for anyone to be inordinately put out by this parade.

And as events turned out, rather than being "brainless" [sic], they were absolutely correct - unlike the "usual suspects" who rushed to condemn on this thread...

Well, Spiderman, a belated happy St. Patrick's Day, and I'll leave you alone to spin some more.

I predicted that so long as the PC restrictions were complied with etc, this Parade need not lead to trouble on the streets of Armagh, whereas you predicted it would.

Therefore in your attempt to cover up your own error by trying to shift the focus onto me, it is actually you who is spinning - and damned unsuccessfully, at that!

[All of a Sludden]

Aldershot on St Patrick's day, what do the Royals get up to?

[Oraisteach]

Aw, EG, it must be a frustrating burden for you to march around battering that fat Lambeg drum of an ego of yours for an audience that neither hears nor grasps its nuances.

By the way, thank you for schooling me in the meaning of "condescending." Actually, despite my education at a Catholic, thus substandard, school, I did manage to acquire at least an adequate vocabulary, so when I used the word "peevish" I actually meant that word, denoting annoyance or irritation, a quality you often reveal in your posts on this board.

But perhaps the word "condescending" is a propos in the broader context under discussion.

First, let me commend you on your remarkable self-awareness in recognizing that your "do keep up" line is in fact condescending, characteristic of how you treat many on here.  Your openly admitting your disdain offers no pretense of dissembling.  Good man.  True and blue.

But condescension also actually applies to the Loyalist parade that is the focus of this thread.  Since condescension suggests a patronizing superiority, a look-down-your-noseness, an I'm-better-than-you, so screw you attitude, it really encapsulates the essence of the Rising Sons of William contemptuous peacock strut.

On a day long revered by Catholics, one now properly embraced by Protestants as theirs too, this sectarian shower, Loyalist emblems and insignia flapping for all to see, are in effect saying "know your place" and "how dare you" with an arrogance that is at the heart of condescension.

But then this condescension has a meaning beyond the contemporary since it lies at the heart of the very unionist state itself, an entity founded and fed by this same condescension—an institution that proclaimed that it is proper to deny you people rudimentary rights because you feckless Fenians are lesser than we are,  less human and less trustworthy.

So, EG, feel proud that this thread of condescension runs from you, through the Cormeen contingent all the way back to Carson himself.   

And with regret, I am also disheartened to report that St. Patrick failed to purge all the snakes from this land.

[Evil Genius]

Aw, EG, it must be a frustrating burden for you to march around battering that fat Lambeg drum of an ego of yours for an audience that neither hears nor grasps its nuances.

By the way, thank you for schooling me in the meaning of "condescending." Actually, despite my education at a Catholic, thus substandard, school, I did manage to acquire at least an adequate vocabulary, so when I used the word "peevish" I actually meant that word, denoting annoyance or irritation, a quality you often reveal in your posts on this board.

But perhaps the word "condescending" is a propos in the broader context under discussion.

For a simple throwaway gag pinched from (I think) Blackadder, the "condescending" remark seems to have left you rather more peeved than I am...

First, let me commend you on your remarkable self-awareness in recognizing that your "do keep up" line is in fact condescending, characteristic of how you treat many on here.  Your openly admitting your disdain offers no pretense of dissembling.  Good man.  True and blue.

Anyhow, this thread is not about me...

But condescension also actually applies to the Loyalist parade that is the focus of this thread.  Since condescension suggests a patronizing superiority, a look-down-your-noseness, an I'm-better-than-you, so screw you attitude, it really encapsulates the essence of the Rising Sons of William contemptuous peacock strut.

On a day long revered by Catholics, one now properly embraced by Protestants as theirs too, this sectarian shower, Loyalist emblems and insignia flapping for all to see, are in effect saying "know your place" and "how dare you" with an arrogance that is at the heart of condescension.

But then this condescension has a meaning beyond the contemporary since it lies at the heart of the very unionist state itself, an entity founded and fed by this same condescension—an institution that proclaimed that it is proper to deny you people rudimentary rights because you feckless Fenians are lesser than we are,  less human and less trustworthy.

Nor is it actually about the Cormeen band, either, still less about the position of "Fenians" in the "Unionist state" etc.

Rather it is about the decision of the "brainless" [sic] Parades Commission and PSNI to permit this Band Parade through Armagh on St.Patrick's Day.

And as is invariably the case, no sooner had "the usual suspects" on this Board seen the term "Loyalist", than they began foaming at the mouth and predicting murder, mayhem and anarchy etc.

Whereas a simple, objective review of the Parade Organiser's Submission, and the PC's Conditions, would have indicated that it was perfectly possible to stage this Band Parade in Armagh without unreasonably offending, obstructing or inconveniencing anyone - as proved to be the case.

So, EG, feel proud that this thread of condescension runs from you, through the Cormeen contingent all the way back to Carson himself.   

It is not for me to feel "proud" at the outcome of this matter, rather that must be for the PC, the PSNI and the good people of Armagh, Unionist and Nationalist, for showing good sense and reason.

And with regret, I am also disheartened to report that St. Patrick failed to purge all the snakes from this land.

"Snakes" is it?

Well let's see how you slither away from your earlier prediction that this (brainless) decision would lead to "Inebrieted Taigs and Tartans beating the crap out of each other at the corner of Thomas Street and Scotch Street"