Marching
We're used to parades in Scotland.
You can call them marches if you like, but the biggest parades here right now are on behalf of Scottish Independence and they don't involve marching. People walk. There's a bit of music and a lot of flag-waving and there are weans in buggies, folk in wheelchairs and even people on motorbikes. There are speeches and concerts afterwards and folk generally have a great day out. It's a rare way to see the country and meet other people that support independence the way you do.
But we're open to most kinds of walking/marching/parading/protesting in Scotland. What we're not up for are violence, confrontation, intimidation and abuse, so you might want to consider these ideas when planning a march:
1 You can march but you have to get permission from the local council.
2 You can say where you want to march but you won't be allowed to arrange the route of your march so you pass churches of a faith you don't like.
3 You can have music, but you're not allowed to sing songs that other people - especially other religions - find offensive. FIFA no longer allows football fans to sing about being 'up to our knees in fenian blood' and we won't allow it either.
4 You can wave flags but you're not allowed to rip other people's flags out of their hands or burn them or tear them up. The police will take action when they see this.
5 You can't plan to turn up at another group's march and set about causing disruption. Their march has nothing to do with you. The police will take action on this too.
6 You especially can't expect to get drunk on a march and behave like an arse and not end up in the jail.
A lot of us don't really understand why you think these marches are important. We think we live in a mixed community, with people from many different backgrounds. Yes, there are people here from Ireland - from the North and from Eire - but there are many people from many other places like Pakistan, India, Poland and all the other countries of the EU. Some of us don't regard Ireland's religious 'problem' (if that's what it is) as important enough to merit so much marching. The only place you'll see EU citizens marching in Scotland (and it's not even marching) is in a parade for Scottish independence.
We also want to protect our police officers in all this. A few may like the overtime they get in walking with a march, but it's pretty nasty going out to your work knowing you might be facing aggro from a total stranger, just because you're enforcing the law.
At the end of the day. it would please a lot of us if you would rent a stadium and march round and round the pitch. That way, the roads wouldn't have to be closed and there would be no aggro in the streets. But you won't do that, will you? That costs money.
And it doesn't get you the publicity of a street march, the chance to get into a tangle with some arsehole who has come straight out of the pub to confront you. It doesn't allow you to spit on some totally innocent woman trying to cross the street where you are marching. It doesn't get you on the BBC news.
It also boots an independence parade involving many more people but with no trouble involved off the news.
Which brings me to my main point: are you people daft?
Those of us working for Scottish independence never expect to get a chance to say a word in the media. We've accepted that and we're developing our own media outlets. Also we have mainstream politicians out there explaining our views.
But whether you're in the Orange Order defending Protestantism or in an Irish Republican group (representing what exactly?), you're being manipulated by the press: they give you headlines but they do not ever explain what your organisation is about.
You can call them marches if you like, but the biggest parades here right now are on behalf of Scottish Independence and they don't involve marching. People walk. There's a bit of music and a lot of flag-waving and there are weans in buggies, folk in wheelchairs and even people on motorbikes. There are speeches and concerts afterwards and folk generally have a great day out. It's a rare way to see the country and meet other people that support independence the way you do.
But we're open to most kinds of walking/marching/parading/protesting in Scotland. What we're not up for are violence, confrontation, intimidation and abuse, so you might want to consider these ideas when planning a march:
1 You can march but you have to get permission from the local council.
2 You can say where you want to march but you won't be allowed to arrange the route of your march so you pass churches of a faith you don't like.
3 You can have music, but you're not allowed to sing songs that other people - especially other religions - find offensive. FIFA no longer allows football fans to sing about being 'up to our knees in fenian blood' and we won't allow it either.
4 You can wave flags but you're not allowed to rip other people's flags out of their hands or burn them or tear them up. The police will take action when they see this.
5 You can't plan to turn up at another group's march and set about causing disruption. Their march has nothing to do with you. The police will take action on this too.
6 You especially can't expect to get drunk on a march and behave like an arse and not end up in the jail.
A lot of us don't really understand why you think these marches are important. We think we live in a mixed community, with people from many different backgrounds. Yes, there are people here from Ireland - from the North and from Eire - but there are many people from many other places like Pakistan, India, Poland and all the other countries of the EU. Some of us don't regard Ireland's religious 'problem' (if that's what it is) as important enough to merit so much marching. The only place you'll see EU citizens marching in Scotland (and it's not even marching) is in a parade for Scottish independence.
We also want to protect our police officers in all this. A few may like the overtime they get in walking with a march, but it's pretty nasty going out to your work knowing you might be facing aggro from a total stranger, just because you're enforcing the law.
At the end of the day. it would please a lot of us if you would rent a stadium and march round and round the pitch. That way, the roads wouldn't have to be closed and there would be no aggro in the streets. But you won't do that, will you? That costs money.
And it doesn't get you the publicity of a street march, the chance to get into a tangle with some arsehole who has come straight out of the pub to confront you. It doesn't allow you to spit on some totally innocent woman trying to cross the street where you are marching. It doesn't get you on the BBC news.
It also boots an independence parade involving many more people but with no trouble involved off the news.
Which brings me to my main point: are you people daft?
Those of us working for Scottish independence never expect to get a chance to say a word in the media. We've accepted that and we're developing our own media outlets. Also we have mainstream politicians out there explaining our views.
But whether you're in the Orange Order defending Protestantism or in an Irish Republican group (representing what exactly?), you're being manipulated by the press: they give you headlines but they do not ever explain what your organisation is about.
Comments
Post a Comment