Commemorate 1798 with a 'United Irishmen' Day petition

Cavehill Red

Saw this mentioned on another board and thought I'd give it a bit of an airing here.
Seems like a decent idea to me. Move the June bank holiday forward by a week in honour of the vision of the United Irishmen.
No cost to taxpayer, ideal opportunity for voluntary groups to do something on that day to promote equality, minority religions, the Irish language, freedom, human rights and universal brotherhood (and sisterhood, I guess!)

http://www.petitiononline.com/may1798/petition.html

Nodin

I signed it.












Do I get a pike? Not the fish, the skewery thing.....

topper75

Sure, weren't they all presbyterians*, them boys?

*only messing, only some were.

Cavehill Red

If we can get this introduced, there'll be a free pike for every home!*









*May not be true. Post and packaging charges apply.

Our man in Havana

Is 1798 even relevant today?

Permabear

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What is the point... Seriously?

Cavehill Red

The point, I suppose, is that the June bank holiday itself is pointless.
The point is also that the United Irishmen were non-sectarian.
Their ideals of universal freedom, human rights, and brotherhood between all the people of this island irrespective of creed or indeed we may add gender, sexual preference, skin colour, were incredibly forward thinking for their day and remain unfulfilled yet.
They remain something to aspire to, and instead of another pointless bank holiday we could have a day for voluntary groups to use as a focus to promote all of the above ideals.
Plus, it costs nothing whatsoever to do.
Win-win.

galwayrush

Cavehill Red wrote: »

The point, I suppose, is that the June bank holiday itself is pointless.
The point is also that the United Irishmen were non-sectarian.
Their ideals of universal freedom, human rights, and brotherhood between all the people of this island irrespective of creed or indeed we may add gender, sexual preference, skin colour, were incredibly forward thinking for their day and remain unfulfilled yet.
They remain something to aspire to, and instead of another pointless bank holiday we could have a day for voluntary groups to use as a focus to promote all of the above ideals.
Plus, it costs nothing whatsoever to do.
Win-win.

Put that way, i'd prefer to celebrate it more than 1916.

Nodin

donegalfella wrote: »

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And since when are the United Irishmen considered a threat to anything 'non-sectarian'?

turgon

Does your standard nationalist know 1798 was "non-sectarian," or do they, as I suspect, deal with it in the usual "us vs them" attitude that the "brits" are the eternal enemy and they were fighting for Ireland and all we stand for?

And btw, ideals when it comes to Irish nationalism are irrelevant. The only ideal is that the nationalist knows more than you do, and that if you disagree your a "West Brit".

For example, 1916 promises "religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all." And yet we have a lot of our nationalists still cursing the "prodys."

So no, I dont think we should have another holiday to boost our inferiority complex.


Edit: like take a look at some of the comments.

Our man in Havana

Edit: like take a look at some of the comments.

Very interesting indeed.

Permabear

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Nodin

donegalfella wrote: »

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A vision of a non-sectarian Irish republic for starters.....

turgon

Like the celebrations of the "non-sectarian" 1916 rising, which promised religious liberty?

Nodin

turgon wrote: »

Like the celebrations of the "non-sectarian" 1916 rising, which promised religious equality?

Well as they're seperated by some 200 years and took place with a rather different Religous demographic, no.....

There was a point there?

rockmongrel

Jaysus, people still care about this stuff? I thought we left this in the past.

turgon

My point was that thinking in celebrations of an event oft times differ from the thinking of the people involved in the event.

You will find people who praise 1916 and yet are racist towards protestants.

Sand

Idealistically, the United Irishmen were non sectarian and admirable in their aims. However, in practise it would be tricky to celebrate 1798 given the atrocities carried out by the Irish camp at Vinegar Hill and throughout Wexford.

To be honest, if we are looking for an aspirational Ireland that isnt mired in sectarianism, atrocities, hatred and bitterness then we need to start looking at the future rather than sorting through our past hoping to find some angelic period of history.

oscarBravo

rockmongrel wrote: »

Jaysus, people still care about this stuff? I thought we left this in the past.

We're Irish. We don't do leaving things in the past.

Nodin

turgon wrote: »

You will find people who praise 1916 and yet are racist towards protestants.

I've been in the room with people who knew sections of the Penal law almost by heart, but never seemed to have a problem with Apartheid. We can't be dragged down by the threat of the eternal eejit. We have to take them on if they arrive and either convert or eject them.

galwayrush

Bond-007 wrote: »

Very interesting indeed.

Indeed, looks like we'll need at least another 100 years before the ignorance dies out.:rolleyes:

Permabear

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A Dub in Glasgo

You think not having a monarchy is sectarian?

Nodin

donegalfella wrote: »

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Not as far as I'm aware.

Permabear

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A Dub in Glasgo

Why would it be sectarian when Unionism is a political outlook or ideal?

Permabear

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A Dub in Glasgo

donegalfella wrote: »

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So any nonsectarian solution is an oxymoron in your opinion?

Permabear

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A Dub in Glasgo

Is there a degree of nonsectarian solution then? If not, what makes the present sectarian solution better than any body elses proposed sectarian solution?