Catie Keogh - Irish American News

August 2011 Irish American News “We’ve AlWAys Been Green!” 17UK Klux KlanIn April 2006 Mervyn Gibsonwas forced to stand down asChairman of the Loyalist Commission.The problem: membersreportedly were anxious aboutthe Reverend Gibson’s involvementin an initiative by Britain’sNorthern Ireland Office whichwould include nationalist residentsgroups. That would havemeant Orangemen having toaddress Catholic complaintsabout Orange parades celebratingProtestant rule being forcedthrough their communities.It’s not as though Gibson isa Taig lover. On the contrary,he’s a poster boy for Britishpatriotism. He is Deputy GrandChaplain of the Grand OrangeLodge of Ireland, Minister ofWestbourne Presbyterian CommunityChurch in Belfast, alifelong member of the OrangeInstitution and also a formerRoyal Ulster Constabulary officerand Chairman of the LoyalistCommission.What is the Loyalist Commission?It is successor to TheCombined Loyalist MilitaryCommand and represents threeLoyalist vigilante groups—theUlster Defence Association(UDA), the Ulster VolunteerForce (UVF), and the Red HandCommando (RHC)—as well asProtestant church and communityleaders. The Ulster UnionistParty (UUP) helped to setup the group in October 2001,three years after the Good FridayAgreement. Perhaps that’swhy there are now estimated tobe three times as many “peacewalls,” huge apartheid fencesseparating Protestants fromCatholic communities, in NorthernIreland than before the GFAwas signed.The press tells you that the“peace process” is working, butis threatened by a few “dissidents.”You are never told thatthe heart of the problem is thegovernment itself.Church and state are one inthe UK. That’s why Tony Blairhad to keep his Catholicism secretuntil he left office. Writingfor the Guardian about Blair’s“30 years as a closet Catholic,”Steven Bates had it right: “themotives of Catholic politicianshave traditionally been regardedwith suspicion by non-Catholics,both here and in the US…”Queen Elizabeth II is SupremeGovernor of the Churchof England. The title derivesfrom King Henry VIII and hisAct of Supremacy. Parliamenthas the right of final approval ofall church measures. AdoptingProtestantism was a politicalrather than a religious move.When Henry married his brother’swife, Catherine of Aragon,he had to get a papal dispensationbecause such a union wasconsidered incestuous. Andwhen the marriage produced nomale children, Henry then casthis eye on one of Catherine’sattendants.But to marry Ann Boleyn,his marriage with Catherinehad to be annulled by the pope.Having already received onedispensation to marry Catherine,an annulment would imply thatthe first papal dispensation wasin error, something the popewas not willing to do. Anotherproblem was that Holy RomanEmperor Charles V hadinvaded Rome, and the popewas his captive. Charles wasCatherine’s nephew and resentedHenry’s dishonorable treatmentof his aunt. Having failed tochange the pope’s mind, Henryarrested Lord Chancellor CardinalWolsey, his closest advisor,and replaced himwith Thomas Cranmerand Thomas Cromwell,sympathizersof Martin Luther.They advised Henryto split the Englishchurch from the Roman,declare the kingits spiritual head, thengrant himself the annulment.Henry’s pursuit ofa male heir led tocenturies of miseryand death for IrishCatholics who weremurdered, enslaved,starved and disenfranchisedon a massscale. And from 1688to this enlightenedday there has neverbeen a Catholic primeminister. Were a memberof the royal familyto marry a Catholic,they would be barredfrom succession tothe throne.The Orange Orderhas stricter rules: no one who iseven related to a Catholic needapply. Over a third of representativesin Northern Ireland’s assemblyare Orange Order members.So last month when policeremoved objectionable UVF andUDA flags hung around SacredHeart Catholic church in Ballyclare,a small Antrim townonly 8% Catholic, and residentsbroke into a major riot, burningcars and injuring police withfirebombs, the reaction by AssistantChief Constable AlistairFinlay, second in command ofthe entire PSNI force shouldnot be surprising: Followingthat pre-parade riot, Finlaywent on Ulster TV and actuallymade a PUBLIC APOLOGYTypical bonfire. Flag burning approved.to the Protestant death squadsfor removing their flags in aninsensitive manner. Finley ofcourse knows where his bread isbuttered. And despite this verypublic and shocking kowtow,world media simply ignored it.Can you picture that happeningif police removed say, Nazi flagsfrom any church, synagogue,mosque or ashram anywhereelse in the civilized world?(That’s the same world, includingEngland, that put the NazisHeather A. BegleyProudly servingthe Irish communityout of business decades ago.)I checked the New York Timesand Chicago Trib fornews on the parade disturbances.The Timeshad two short paragraphsin its “WorldBriefs” section tellingreaders that Protestantslit bonfires and RomanCatholics, trying to attackthose celebratingat the bonfires, riotedagainst police. Verymisinformative: nothingabout UVF attackson the Short Strandcommunity or policeforcing Orange marchesthrough the Ardoyne.The Tribune carriednothing at all excepta very basic onlinevideo from Reuters.The general US medialine is: the rioters areuninformed Catholicyoungsters, some asyoung as ten, out forthrills, and often eggedon by dissidents tryingto ruin the peaceprocess.E-mail: IrishTV@ameritech.netWatch: IRISH JOURNALTELEVISIONChicago cable-CAN-TV,Channel 19: Monday 7pm,Tuesday 2pm; Comcast-(Skokie system) 24 Northsuburbs–Ch. 19 (or 35):Tuesday, 6pm; Comcast-(Elmhurst system) 41 Westsuburbs–Channel 19: Tuesday7:30pm.© Mike Morley 2011The Law Offices of Jeffrey J. Krollrepresents individuals and families in personal injuryand wrongful death matters including, motorvehicle collisions, construction negligence,work related injuries and medicalmalpractice.10 S. LaSalle St., Suite 3702, Chicago, Illinois 60603phone: (312)676-7222 fax: (312)849-2030heather@kroll-lawfirm.comWebsite: www.kroll-lawfirm.com Blog: www.chicagoaccidentinjurylawyer.com