This day Feb,Feb 4 1942

Speaking at a meeting of the Derry Catholic Registration Association,its President, Rev John O'Doherty,CC, St Eugene's Cathedral,said: ''Last week the press reported a timely and able statement by the leader of the nation Eamon de Valera in which he referred to the Nationalist majority in Derry City. Now it depends on you to see this majority is maintained and increasing'.

We had a pointer to what could happen. All we had to do was look at the three 'lost counties'but knowing that we just carry on as usual Dennis Norden style....''it will be alright on the night''

This was in the early 1960s. So here we had a Unionist goverment building houses most of which for Nationalists and yet the whinge went on. Is it any wonder that some Prods said it was no use trying to work with them. Stuff em.

You would have a pretty long list if you wrote down all the social housing estates which were built in RC areas by the Unionist goverment.

It does say a lot about our own lot but, even when we held the balance of power, we still didn’t do enough for our own community. For me, obviously idealistic view-point, but the loyalist people and amongst them the most loyal of the loyal should have been looked after, especially back in those day when people were truly “working class loyalists” rather than an almost under-class that exists now, where people want to scrounge of benefits and have no incentive to work hard and lack of pride in themselves and their areas.

Also in employment it wasn't all one-way traffic. In those days it was matter of ''looking after your own'' and this applied to the RC people as well as the Protestant people. It applied to families too where a member of the family would 'speak' for another family member to get them a job. This happened on the mainland also and I'm sure in other countries thoughout the world. I have mentioned before (I think) about the dockers and the deep-sea dockers. You had to have a 'button' to stand a chance of getting employed on the docks. The 'dockers' were mostly Protestant. The 'deep-sea dockers' were mostly Catholic. The 'dockers' had their Social Club in Lower North Street (now closed), The 'deep-sea dockers' Social Club is in Pilot Street.

The thing is,I think the Catholics could see how the world,the standards and the old ways were changing. How the student protests and other protests were taking off. They hitched themselves to this and played a brilliant game as a suppressed,oppressed,repressed people. Nobody but nobody was prepared to give a hearing to the Protestant side.

Though have to say the Protestants didn't see how things were changing and perhaps wern't interested, the world would stay the same and it was just a 'flash in the pan'

My first time in the village in 4 years.

I asked about after this incident and turns out its nearly the same as Rasharkin/Randalstown getting, sickening as ever.

Those who have a goal and organise themselves seem to be taking over. Those that don't bother will ultimately pay the price for their indifference.

Yet the first half of the century was a black epoch for Ulster. There was a flood of emigration to New England,mainly composed of Presbyterians,who,to add to their economic difficulties,were without legal freedom of worship and were debarred from holding even municipal office. In the place of the emigrants,Irish Catholics from the south drifted in and were violently opposed by the Protestants who had stayed behind. Protestant Peep-of-Day Boys engaged in horrible nocturnal struggles with Catholic Defenders.

That quote from the book is interesting, shows that even then the Irish were moving up into the more industrialised North and also the dangers of what happens once Prods shift their ground.

Another young Protestant I know who’s living in Belfast at the moment also studying medicine at Queens plans to join the RAF, so the chances of him staying in Northern Ireland are next to nothing.

Something needs to be done to encourage these people to stay here.

On a side note. I stood and watched a band parade there tonight and looking at those following the bands, it is as clear as day that there is a real under-class of scum being raised up within our community. And I’m a working class Protestant myself and grew up with some amount a eejits in my own age group, but what seems to be coming through is nothing short of being on a par-with west Belfast hoods!

I remember when in Rhodesia (think it was) when some of them panicked at the first instance and started to hit the trail it was referred to as the chicky or yellow trail something like that. We didn't go for the three counties and I'm meaning after the deal was done re the drawing up of the border. There was no gun or bomb campaign launched to return the three counties. I think that says a lot about the two different types of people.