Jenny McCartney clearly concurs with her father Bob’s view that the lack of serious organisation of the British parties in Northern Ireland amounts to unequal citizenship for NI. She playfully turns the words last week of Gerry Adams on the nature of Unionism around:
Mr Adams’s final reflection was to observe loftily that everyone on the British mainland regarded Unionists, not as British, but as “slightly dysfunctional Irish people”. His tone implied that this was entirely the correct view to hold.
Such derisive remarks about Unionists now commonly pass unchallenged, although I wonder what squeals of outrage would emit from Sinn Fein if a British politician languidly referred to Northern Irish nationalists as “slightly dysfunctional British people”.
She’s probably right about how Adams would react, but such a thing is unlikely to happen; Adams was actually quite correct. I’ve yet to meet anybody in England who sees anyone in Northern Ireland – of whatever creed, religious or political – as anything other than Irish.
Posted by: Greg at October 6, 2003 03:01 PM
When you’ve spent your life being terrorised by the Irish Republican Army you have justifiable cause in denying your ‘Irishness’. It’s only dysfunctional if you have a blind spot for the IRA – which in itself is probably more a mental illness than a dysfunction.
Posted by: Beowulf at October 6, 2003 03:29 PM
In her article ,”Was my family a victim of the Labour Party’s racism?”,Jenny Mc Cartney gives the reader some food for thought on a number of issues. You can imagine my shock when I read the following from Mc Cartney Og:
“The consensus among the party apparatchiks was that Northern Ireland was a dangerously volatile little colony: democracy need not apply.”
Of course any nationalist dog barking in the proverbial street will tell you that this has long been, not only the opinion of a particualr British political party, but the policy of successive British governments when dealing with this part of the world.
If Mc Cartney Og has inherited those amazing super powers of analysis that her oul lad loves to inform us he possesses, then this political Super Girl will follow this statement to its logical conclusion, but perhaps the Kryptonite of British State attrocities will stop her?
However, behind this article lies an issue which consistantly emerges at one time or another. The Britishness of the unionist population of Ireland. Certainly, if unionists wish to be regarded as British it is there right to regard themselves as such, however, beyond their control is the opinion and views of their “fellow country mem and women” across the pond. This is no better illustrated than the coat trailing exercise of New Labour on membership from this side of the water. To the British public they are regarded to be as British, as much as George Bush is as Mastermind champion with a specialist chosen subject of Pakistani Heads of State, 1969 to present.
However, a left of center party (well, New Labour is a start and moving in the right direction) which unionists can embrace can only be welcomed. For too long left of center politics has been thwarted within the protestant population by ultra-conservative unionism. So, should New Labour actively contest elections it will be interesting to see if the Super Politico clann change their S insignia, blue tights and red y-fronts, to a Che Guevara t-shirt and baggy jeans? Feicfidh muid.Posted by: magunus at October 6, 2003 03:39 PM
Would it be correct to say that the ‘Britishness’ celebrated here by unionists bares little resemblance to ‘Britishness’, as defined by the rest of the UK?
Not even City bankers wear bowler hats any more, for goodness sake.
Posted by: Chewie at October 6, 2003 04:36 PM
Just as it differs from any of the other Britishers in the Commonwealth.
And the Orange Order doesn’t define Britishness anyway.
Posted by: Beowulf at October 6, 2003 05:07 PM
of course Adam’s analysis fails as he doesn’t understand what these mainlanders mean when they say ‘Irish’.
He assumes the word has the same conotations for them as for him, it doesn’t.
Mainlanders don’t consider Ireland properly foreign, he needs to understand their comments in that context
Posted by: idunnomeself at October 6, 2003 05:20 PM
Beowulf
I’m not sure I follow your ‘other britishers in the commonwealth’ line. Are you claiming Australian, South African and Indian culture, amongst others, as varying manifestations of ‘Britishness’ or are you just getting a tad confused, forgetting the Empire no longer exists (alas)?
Posted by: Dec at October 6, 2003 07:17 PM
IDM:
As if to prove your point:
Jim Rozenthal (ITV Rugby World Cup Preview): ‘So other than England, Ireland are perhaps the most confident of the British teams at this World Cup…’
Posted by: IJP at October 6, 2003 08:30 PM
IJP
Rozenthal’s got past form on this; during half-time in the 1986 World Cup final when Argentina were leading 1-0 courtesy of a goal from Jos� Luis Brown, Jim proudly announced how Brown was of ‘British descent’. Brown’s grandparents were, it emerged, from Cork.
Posted by: Dec at October 6, 2003 08:43 PM
Ha! Thanks Dec – I knew Brown’s ancestors were from Cork, but not Rozenthal’s comment!
Mind, thinking about it, Cork would’ve been in the UK when they emigrated… maybe that’s why they did!
Posted by: IJP at October 6, 2003 09:51 PM
I can’t wait for the Rugby World Cup – but being stuck in GB, with only ITV for coverage, given the kind fo thing you’re talking about IJP, is gonna take the shine of it a bit..
The BBC, at least, gets most of this stuff right now (although obvously it didn’t always..)
Posted by: Aaron at October 6, 2003 10:08 PM
didn’t the BBc come up with the ‘home nations’ concept to try and get round this one?
can’t wait for the world cup either, will be up early this weekend 🙂
Posted by: idunnomeself at October 7, 2003 10:17 AM
What does “Og” mean?
Posted by: willowfield at October 7, 2003 10:49 AM
Small or little or junior.
Posted by: Big Mike at October 7, 2003 01:36 PM
Young…
Posted by: joe at October 7, 2003 01:59 PM
Small, little or junior bully in this case
Posted by: Wee Mike at October 10, 2003 11:12 PM
IDM,
Only problem with the BBC’s ‘home nations’ idea is they got it *wrong*!
Drives me mad to see the BBC treat the Republic of Ireland as a ‘home nation’! Only residents of the UK pay the licence fee!
And before anyone comes in with the ‘there are plenty of Irish people in the UK’, there are also plenty of Indians in the UK but you don’t see in-depth coverage of the Indian national team!
So, in terms of non-UK teams on the BBC, all or nothing please!
Sky, ITN and so on can do what they like of course, as commercial channels.
Posted by: IJP at October 11, 2003 02:19 AM
User Assistance. This is helping the user with the proper “next step” when performing a task. Less guesswork for the user on what to do next makes for a better experience.
Posted by: Timothy at January 14, 2004 03:28 AM
User Assistance. This is helping the user with the proper “next step” when performing a task. Less guesswork for the user on what to do next makes for a better experience.
Posted by: Augustine at January 14, 2004 03:28 AM
Adhere to Window Models. Document windows, Utility windows, Click-through, Layering, Drawers, Controls. How do users open windows, how do you properly title windows?
Posted by: James at January 14, 2004 03:29 AM
For my Paint application, I created a series of icons to simulate a rendering algorithm. While the application is performing this CPU-intensive task, you can always see the status of the document by the icon changing in the Dock.
Posted by: Sarah at January 14, 2004 03:29 AM
User Assistance. This is helping the user with the proper “next step” when performing a task. Less guesswork for the user on what to do next makes for a better experience.
Posted by: Geoffrey at January 14, 2004 03:29 AM
Adhere to System Appearance. Does your application use all the sweetly colored buttons, delightfully shaded windows, and all the other “bells and whistles?”
Posted by: Griffith at January 14, 2004 03:29 AM
Okay, I just told you what Apple wants you to look out for with window positions, but in the real world, not everyone uses the hiding feature of the Dock, and it is unrealistic to be able to predict where each user will place their Dock at any given day or how large they will have it. However, you can build a feature into your application that allows spacing for the Finder. You can give users the option of where to position their windows and what area of the screen not to cross. I know that BBEdit provides me with this feature, and I wish more developers gave me more control over my windows.
Posted by: Eliza at January 14, 2004 03:30 AM
By building an application that takes advantage of Aqua’s many facets, you help ensure that your application will not only look good, but have a chance of becoming a raging success. After a new user clicks on the icon of your program, the first thing he or she sees is the application interface. I know that when I review a product, I am very critical of its visual design. I usually have a short time to learn the new software, so design and ease of use are very important. Aside from those who marvel at the beauty of the command line, most users tend to react the same way.
Posted by: Digory at January 14, 2004 03:30 AM
At WWDC, I listened to Apple representatives make some excellent points about taking the time to build a 100%-compliant Aqua application, and I think all developers need to look beyond the code and listen to what the folks at Apple have to say
Posted by: Conrad at January 14, 2004 03:30 AM
But limit your animations to whatever is required to communicate the necessary information. Avoid annoying animations that discourage ease of use. Ask yourself, “What do I need to show the user, and what is the cleanest way possible to achieve that?” A good example is the Mail application for Mac OS X. Whenever a new message arrives, the Dock icon changes appearance to indicate a changed state.
Posted by: Cuthbert at January 14, 2004 03:31 AM
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
Discover more from Slugger O'Toole
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
