My drum's better than your drum

The leader of the British National Party (BNP) is stirring the pot again. This time, Nick Griffin's abrasive remarks have been aimed at Irish republicans, or, as he calls them, “Fenian bastards”. After attending the Ulster Covenant march in Belfast yesterday, Saturday September 29 (a commemoration, one hastens to add, of an effective threat of violence way back in 1912), Griffin posted a series of photographs of the marchers from his Twitter account, exhorting the English public to follow the example set by loyalists in Ireland. However, despite his apparent enjoyment of the event, he was perturbed by the idea that the photos had upset his “Republican stalkers”.

Evidently frustrated by the reaction that he had received from some detractors, in a rather juvenile outburst, the politician said:

So Ulster [sic] pics have upset my Republican stalkers. Tell you what, the bodran [sic] can't match the lambeg, you Fenian bastards.

Predictably, the tweet is now making news headlines and if one actually needed confirmation that his being there in the first place was nothing more than a shameless publicity stunt, Griffin today tweeted gleefully that it was “job done” and off back to the shores of Britain after making front page news in Northern Ireland. Interestingly, this was followed by further commentary on both the largest parties in the Stormont assembly. Griffin said:

Republican grievance machine wants 'apology'. If their skins were any thinner they'd leak green slime all over Stormont carpets they share with DUP sell-out bastards.

Not surprisingly, most of those involved with the Ulster Covenant commemoration have already moved to distance themselves from Griffin and his colourful cyber-rants, while members of the SDLP have even lodged complaints with the PSNI. Others are set to complain to the European Parliament, of which Griffin is an elected member. Griffin may not have heard the last of his foolish behaviour.

There are those among us who might wish to censor Mr Griffin from making such utterances (ahem, Irish universities), but ultimately this creature serves as a jolt to our collective sensibilities, keeping us vigilant against the threat of ignorance and irrationality.

McIlroy's identity is none of your business

WHEN Sunderland winger James McClean made the decision to play for the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) rather than the Irish Football Association (IFA)*, there was uproar. Zealous fans of the IFA decried what they saw as an indefensible, traitorous act. They judged him, levelling scurrilous and unfounded accusations towards the player, branding him a "Judas" and a bigot for expressing his different, but entirely legitimate, national identity.

Others have taken a similar route to McClean. Darron Gibson, Shane Duffy and Marc Wilson are among those who have declared their allegiance to the FAI and each player has inevitably been harassed and harangued into explaining his decision. Those who are on social media fora such as Twitter, will be aware that some have been forced to endure endless streams of abuse.  Indeed, McClean actually made headlines in May 2012 when odious threats were made against him. His crime? Being proud of his identity and having the audacity to indicate his joy at being included in the FAI's squad for Euro 2012.

When the golfer Rory McIlroy said that he'd always felt "more British than Irish", similar furore followed, but from the opposite direction. We had an outpouring of idiotic ramblings from pseudo Irish patriots who ignorantly pondered why it was that McIlroy all of a sudden felt "English" [sic]. The young man was effectively disowned by faux-revolutionaries who say they love Ireland, yet blatantly know nothing of its history and do less still in its interests - the kind who literally give life to Samuel Johnson's famous words that "patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel". The golfer Ronan Rafferty, speaking to the presenters of the 'Off the Ball' programme on Newstalk was sickeningly patronising when he described McIlroy's nationality utterance as naive, as if it was a phase and that he would eventually come 'round to himself.

It is hard not to see the parallels between McClean and McIlroy. Like the footballers who had declared for Ireland, McIlroy was faced with a wave of vicious tweets and public withdrawals of support for hinting that he could opt to represent the United Kingdom instead. Furthermore, like McClean et al, the extent of the backlash led to McIlroy issuing an explanation. 

How McIlroy identifies is ultimately no one's business but his own. Why should he have to answer to a moronic rabble spewing misinformed and ill-judged commentary? He'll probably keep winning without them.

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*non-Irish readers will be excused for their confusion

Like Arnie, I'm back.

A couple of months can sometimes seem like a long time. After several months flying under the radar, I intend to blog regularly in the coming weeks and months.

Stay tuned.