Harkening Back To The Good Old Days

Once upon a time, Ireland was entirely in British hands and weren't those grand times?

The Catholics were kept in their places, far at the back of the line, and the Union Jack flew over every public building, to remind all citizens of their Britishness.

What has the peace process brought but more power for the Catholics, who aren't behaving like proper underlings?

What's to be done to reverse this nightmarish tide?

 Where is today's Edward Carson, to rally his troops to combat the threats of Rome Rule?

There's precious little sympathy for the loyalists up in Belfast, rioting every night because the Catholic majority running Belfast decreed that the Union Jack would no longer fly over City Hall 24/7. It's only for special occasions, they've said.

How about making the Irish in the Republic feel the pain?

Gardai are bracing for a planned protest in Dublin, in which disgruntled Protestants from Belfast will ask the government to not fly the Tricolor over public buildings.

Not exactly an Edward Carson moment, like when he brought in guns while the British government turned a blind eye, so that he could arm his Ulster Volunteers in case Home Rule became law. Back then, the Crown did all it could to keep the republicans from gaining access to arms. Wouldn't want a repeat of the debacle in those other colonies, the ones that became the United States of America...where all the people gave themselves the right to be fully armed, to form militias to keep their government on its toes.

What the authorities in Dublin expect from this fool's errand is rioting, much like that which was seen during a "Love Ulster" gathering in 2006.

No surprise that republicans plan a counter-demonstration, with all the threats for violence and mayhem that comes from a conflict that has been simmering for centuries. The peace accords only papered over the cracks, after all, without mending them.

Time is doing some of that mending. As Northern Ireland's economy continues to sink and its younger generation leaves for more opportunities, the Catholic population climbs and threatens to outpace the Protestants.

It's the plan the republicans have held for a long, long time.

The loyalists are rioting in Belfast, to protest the inevitable, but in the end, all the rioting in the world won't change the trend.