Rossport and the dead hand of Northern politics?
There was an interesting piece in the Sunday Independent on the Shell to Sea campaign. Recent protests at Bellanaboy and a heavy police response has galvanised some attention online, with some exaggerated claims of parallels with the brutalisation of the Ogoni in Rivers State and the Niger Delta. But it was the involvement of Sinn Fein in the campaign that caught Declan Lynch’s eye:
…here is their schedule for one day, according to an internet source.Sinn Fein picket at Shell in Clare Hall; Sinn Fein picket at Donnycarney church; Sinn Fein picket at Shell in Glasnevin; Sinn Fein picket at Shell at Lucan bypass; Sinn Fein picket at Shell, Taney Road, Dundrum; Sinn Fein picket at Shell in Dalkey; Sinn Fein picket at Statoil in Castleknock; Sinn Fein picket at Statoil in Hartstown.
Picketing was from 5pm to 7pm, and venues outside Dublin were not listed.
He goes on:
Could Sinn Fein, indefatigable as they are, have invented a controversy more suited to their needs than Rossport?
Here in one package is the perfect gift for them, wrapped up in an emerald green ribbon – an apparent David vs Goliath struggle which can make them look good, for a change; an issue which stirs the old nationalist blood, with the all-powerful foreign oppressor looting the natural resources of Ireland and grinding down the poor but defiant Irish people; a controversy which can advance Sinn Fein’s project in the South, and a means of getting an immediate result by chipping away at the local political establishment, the Enda Kenny types who echo McDowell’s dark talk about “Provo tactics” when they refer to “outside forces”.
All of this, he argues, is likely to be counter productive so far as the wider Irish population is concerned:
…any vaguely normal Irish person has already turned away from Rossport, for one obvious reason: when the light catches it a certain way, what’s going on there looks like something brought down from the North. Which, to the vast majority of folks watching the “clashes” on the RTE News, means that they don’t want to know about it.
The blazing intensity of it, the sheer west Belfast style of the protests, including some outstanding footage of men resisting arrest, writhing in the ecstasy of oppression as they are carried away by the peelers, all this turns the hearts of the people of the Irish republic to stone.
He concludes:
…part of the statement issued by the Rossport 5 on their release might have been drafted by Adams himself, with Ferris pacing the floor adding helpful suggestions. It went: “We remind Shell and their Irish Government partner that imprisonments have historically and will always fail as a method to secure the agreement of the Irish people.”
Ah yes, it’s that old ecstasy again – though with the TV cameras rolling and the press writing it all down, and an appearance on the Late Late, these days even oppression is not what it used to be. At this point the men were evoking the tradition of romantic republican heroes, the last line of resistance to the Crown.
At this point too, the cause was lost.
An interesting conclusion, the truth of which very much remains to be demonstrated in practice. Not least at the polls next summer.
An interesting avenue opened up by Parcifal as he bid us ‘au revoir’ as there may be a time when a New Sinn Féin is needed – ie a corporate Sinn Féin with snazzy suits and flash pr. Perhaps – but when that day comes – there’ll still be a need for politicians who get out and support the people on the ground, who get the baton in the face for justice for the commoners/cosmhuintir.
The transformation described by parcifal as a Clause 4 moment is what happened to FF – but that took seventy years and its still not complete.
Declan Lynch’s article is typical of the Sindo in that it ascribes to everyone the mindset of those who write for the paper – ie they’re bored with the north, therefore everyone must be bored with it. Ironically they keep returning to it and SF’s vote keeps going up – it certainly hasn’t gone down. The absence of quality journalism at the Sindo has led to a decline in its sales, however, and no amount of opera cds can hide that.
For another example of Sindo’s journalism of ‘extreme prejudice’ – and nothing to do with SF – it’s worth looking at its treatment of the arrival of its rival, Irish Mail on Sunday, and the articles castigating the ‘British’ newspaper’s invasion of Ireland. (Never mind that AJF played the British card when he was buying the Belfast Tele). This is relevant to the debate in hand as we’re told this article by Lynch is interesting and it raises an interesting point. From my point of view, the point is obscured by the prejudicial aspect of the journalism, playing on base ‘fears’ which only the journalist harbours.
Mick, its “too far” away to effect its vote in the cities, beyond as you point out putting further distance between them and conservative middle classes.
In rural areas postive on the balance sheet, and will increase support in the likes of Mayo, Galway and Clare.
Donegal – well there in a world of their own so who knows!
Kevin Myers summed it up for me and all decent Irish citizens when he called on the gards to crack some heads at Rossport and end this Provo inspired nonsense. Hopefully they’ll break some arms and legs too and give them something to really scream about. Scum.
OC, whether you mean to or not, every word you type supports the hypothesis of Lynch’s article.
I genuinely hope that you’re right and Parcival’s wrong in your respective analyses of where the Provos are now.
The problem with what you say is this, U, I can’t stomach the yellow journalism of the Sindo and the various sindo wannabes. It was epitomised for me by the Liam Lawlor shenanigan but it’s reinforced every week when I see the headlines on the news-stand.
As for this victimology codology from Lynch, (it’s not a thesis or a hypothesis by the way, it’s plain prejudice and nasty at that), either he or you can’t be serious about suggesting that this all a northern plot. His comments about the Rossport 5 statement when they got out of jail reading as if were dictated by Adams and Ferris shows he is desperate for any way of linking them to SF and thus, in his eyes, discrediting them. If that’s his tack, I could easily argue it was as if it was dictated by Mandela and we’d be into a different zone entirely.
There’s a certain amount of the ‘self fulfilling’ prophecy about this type of column, however, which can’t be dismissed. What he’s trying to do is place the image in the minds of the readers that the North isn’t part of Ireland, that it’s separate and different rules apply. I don’t agree. But I do see the continuous propoganda of this nature seeking to cultivate an artificial barrier lest the barbarian northerners break through the gate and upset the cosy concensus of Lynch and his fellow travelling scribblers.
And naturally as I oppose Lynch and his ranting, I’m going to appear like that which describes. If that’s the price I have to pay for challenging his prejudicial drivel, then I’ll pay it because he’s wrong and the entire faction of Irish politics he represents is wrong. What is it that Burke said again?