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A Protestant Parliament
CulzieDate: Sunday, 2010-12-12, 1:10 PM | Message # 1
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The strong emphasis on Orange and Protestant links to the unionist Goverment is a feature of politics in the 1930s,rather than the 1920s.

It was influenced partly by the need for unionist unity and partly by the impact of Eire where de Valera and Fianna Fail came to power in 1932. Unfortunately,Craig allowed himself to be affected by these changes in the south.

In parliament in April 1934,he gave his often-quoted remark of 'a Protestant parliament'.

The full statement read: '' In the south,they boasted of a Catholic state. They still boast of southern Ireland being a Catholic state. All I boast of is that we are a Protestant parliament and a Protestant state.''

Craig was probably reacting to comments by de Valera and his deputy premier,Sean T O'Kelly.

At a Dublin election meeting in February 1932,de Valera said: 'The majority of the people of Ireland are Catholic and we believe in Catholic principles. ''And as the majority are Catholics,it is right and natural that the principles to be applied by us will be principles consistent with Catholicity.''

In October 1933,in Geneva, O'Kelly declared that ''the Free State Goverment was inspired in its every administrative action by Catholic principles and doctrine.''

B.T. Friday November 26 2010


Ulster Protestants consider themselves to be a separate nation. This nation they call Ulster
 
RSAUBDate: Saturday, 2011-01-29, 12:02 PM | Message # 2
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I have to agree with De Valera once your people are the majority, then they have every right to be a Roman Catholic state when the overwhelming majority of the population are Roman Catholic. Demographics is destiny.

We in Ulster, if our politicians pushed hard enough could have set in stone the future of Ulster. Instead many seemed to talk the talk and just drifted along before everything came crashing down around them.

Craig was right, we should a been a Protestant state for a Protestant people, unfortunately we were to complacent on the number of Roman Catholics within the boundary’s in Northern Ireland and the number who arrived after partition.

 
CulzieDate: Tuesday, 2011-02-01, 10:17 PM | Message # 3
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Yeah its a malaise within unionism that we don't take on board whats happening around us. We can never ever say that we had no inkling of what was in store. But knowing it and doing something about it are two entirely different things and the unionist politicans in particular seem to be playing their part in the great sell-out.

N.I. are due to play Scotland in Dublin. The stadium holds 51,000 I believe. The Tele said there are 5,000 NI supporters going and the same number from Scotland. This leaves 40,000 empty seats. Why take it there. Is it the way the tourament is organised. Will Wales and Scotland be playing at Windsor? If so its a stupid way to run things and once again I see that maybe politics plays its part. No Maze national stadium for Ulster now, Hows about the Aviva Stadium Dublin for the national stadium of all Ireland.

A method to the madness maybe.


Ulster Protestants consider themselves to be a separate nation. This nation they call Ulster
 
RSAUBDate: Wednesday, 2011-02-02, 9:54 PM | Message # 4
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Aye, this competition just like the Setanta cup at local football level, is just another step in the blending in process. Obviously the Welsh and Scottish supporters are mainly pro-independence for their respective regions and detest the Union Flag and their hatred of the English is a match made in heaven for the Irish. The big losers will be Northern Ireland some of our fans will let us down a bucket full, they will sing “We hate England more than you”, personally I’ll not be attending any of the matches and possibly mightn’t even bother watching them as this is just another small step to splitting up the Union and alienating the English even further and strengthening the bond between all the Irishmen.
 
CulzieDate: Wednesday, 2011-02-02, 10:27 PM | Message # 5
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I believe its been moving in that direction for quite a while now even before Thatcher did the dirty deal. Maybe not as noticable before that but it was still happening. Anything at all which helps in the blending in process will be used,and that includes sport. Rugby and Hockey have already sold out and football is heading in the same direction. A couple of Secretaries of State and others spelt it out when they said something like 'we have no political,strategic or ecnomical interest in NI'. The ira held a big conference in Donegal. Against most opinion they opted for peace. I believe the Westminster masters told them we have stated that we have no interest in this place but we can't go against the majority. However,what we will do is to create the conditions and make changes which will lead the majority to an all-ireland, and this is what has been happening ever since then.

Ulster Protestants consider themselves to be a separate nation. This nation they call Ulster
 
RSAUBDate: Thursday, 2011-02-03, 9:35 PM | Message # 6
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Very true, we hold the majority but our people are being conditioned and quietly being sucked into the big green Irish bog like so many before them. The greening of Ulster is happening, and that saying about them "taking Ulster without a shot being fired", is exactly what's happening.
 
CulzieDate: Friday, 2011-02-04, 5:45 PM | Message # 7
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Its been worked away at for a number of years. Seamus Mallon rubbed it in when he said about the Belfast Agreement...''.it was Sunningdale for slow learners'' and so it has worked out. Harmonization was another word for the blending in process.

'The Sunningdale agreement envisaged the creation of a Council of Ireland. The CoI was to comprise a cross-border body - drawn from seven members of the NI executive and seven members of the Irish goverment. The council was to be vested with minor consulative and research functions but was to have a 'harmonizing' role,and the door was left open for it to expand into institutions capable of forging a united Ireland.'

So its been pretty clear what the plan was for a long time now and it seems to be bearing fruit. Yet we still have those 'loyalist' 'unionists' who tell us the Union is strong,the Union is safe. Are they fifth-columists? I don't know but they certainly could fit that role. None of them appear to me to be acting reluctantly in this plan,in fact the opposite is true as they are going out of their way to be obsequious. I seen Mr McDonald had a few from the republican Belfast Media in Sandy Row a while back and had them at the boxing club there which is part of the OH. No wonder they didn't seem to be interested in Jimmy McLarin in the Rangers Club lol. Of course if McGuigan was to promote it that would be ok. and playing down the fact he was a Prod I bet they would jump to have Jimmy on display then. We'll see what happens on that score.

I might have got it wrong about the Dublin venue for NI and Scotland. I thought I heard something on the TV which gave me the impression that all the matches will be played there.


Ulster Protestants consider themselves to be a separate nation. This nation they call Ulster
 
CulzieDate: Thursday, 2011-12-15, 6:36 PM | Message # 8
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Just saw this letter in the News Letter. Its sets the whole of what James Craig said in context. RCs are always quoting ''a Protestant parliament for a Protestant people'' and using it as a means to back up their claims of injustice by the goverment of Ulster. I think we have to remember the times that they lived in,when there was no PC. Its against a background of hostility from Eire and from those within Ulster that we must see Craig's comment. When B.U.was struggling for its very existence and against a people who were using murder to bring down B.U.

Setting Craig’s words in context of the time

Published on Monday 5 December 2011 08:57
NICK Garbutt in his article ‘A courageous brand of unionism’ (December 1) contrasts Peter Robinson’s conference speech with the famous remark of Sir James Craig, “All I boast is that we are a Protestant Parliament and a Protestant State.”
It is unfair to Craig not to put his somewhat contradictory, and unfortunate phrasing, in the context of the time. Here are the full set of remarks he made in a Stormont debate of April 24, 1934 on the rights of the minority, and how Catholics had fared since partition.

Craig denied their conditions had deteriorated, ending his speech: “Since we took up office we have tried to be absolutely fair towards all the citizens of Northern Ireland. Actually, on an Orange platform, I, myself, laid down the principle, to which I still adhere, that I was Prime Minister not of one section of the community but of all, and that as far as I possibly could I was going to see that fair play was meted out to all classes and creeds without any favour whatever on my part.”

A nationalist MP interjected: “What about your Protestant Parliament?”, to which Sir James replied: “The hon. Member must remember that in the South they boasted of a Catholic State. They still boast of Southern Ireland being a Catholic State. All I boast of is that we are a Protestant Parliament and a Protestant State. It would be rather interesting for historians of the future to compare a Catholic State launched in the South with a Protestant State launched in the North and to see which gets on the better and prospers the more. It is most interesting for me at the moment to watch how they are progressing. I am doing my best always to top the bill and to be ahead of the South.”

Another contextual aspect is Eamon de Valera’s statement in 1932 welcoming the Papal Legate: “It is most fitting that the Irish Government should not only assist in every way the great and solemn function of the Eucharistic Congress here in Ireland, but also should take their due part and place in its proceedings” and his later remarks: “Since the coming of St Patrick 1,500 years ago Ireland has been a Christian and a Catholic nation. She remains a Catholic nation.”
I will leave a defence of Capt Terence O’Neill’s patronising remarks to another.

s magowan

Monday, December 5, 2011 at 09:18 PM
Indeed De Valera was only confirming a statement made by fellow rebel Patrick Pearse who ,when asked what makes a person Irish,to which he replied "Being Catholic and Gaelic"


Ulster Protestants consider themselves to be a separate nation. This nation they call Ulster
 
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