Michael D Higgins insists he is President of Ireland, refuses to commemorate partition

I was quoting you.

......are you suggesting that the only connection between the 11th Night bonfires and the 12th of July parading is that there may be some crossover of some people?!?

Come on now, let's not go down the road of absolutely shame-faced b*llocksology

I doubt anyone is celebrating a military victory. It’s everything else you mention but it’s more about a chance to connect with your community and enjoy and feel pride in the level of skill on display

So what exactly do you think the connection is?

I can guess that is directed at me but maybe you could name me so as I can report you.

I assure you I am not spelling names wrong on purpose. Do you realise just how difficult it is for non Irish people to pronounce or spell your language.

when I am reply to people with Irish names on email I find I copy and paste their name to respect them by trying to get there name correct.

I had an email yesterday from Caoimhe.

Not at all, you could interpret it that I am more likely to give a free pass to ignorance than to malevolence. But that is just another opinion on why I picked that one out.

WTF?

I was referencing Unionists who are other to the Orange Order whose culture celebrates the 12th of July.

There are many Unionists who don't celebrate the 12th. And as data shows the Orange Order is diminishing in membership.

No difference between email and writing on a forum. You also have the benefit of being able to google them.

Of course I do but I can’t be arsed. You will see my English is only a little better than my Irish and contains fairly ropey grammar and spelling - but I know that doesn’t upset you as much. I will try to do better in the future.

Ok the map was harder to find than I thought. This is not a great one below but at least it shows the catholic shops. Now you tell me honestly, are they trapped in their houses for the 7 minutes the parade takes to pass as it makes its way along this almost exclusively unionist direct arterial route into city centre. There are endless roads other than this one for residents to use for the 7 minutes And those that can be bothered, do a street view and have a look at the mainly shops that aren’t even open at the time the parade passes.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jul/13/3000-police-northern-irelands-marching-season

So when you said

You were being entirely disingenuous; the reason one might discuss the 11th Night along with the 12th Parades isn't just because there may be a crossover of some people.

More disingenuous debate; if you had said the, 'map' you were going to provide was a zoomed out one lacking in detail, which actually DOES show that people were blocked in by the parading (but not for long enough to matter according to you), while pretending that the bunch of hangers on just teleport out of there and the disruption only lasts seven minutes....and then ultimately you were going to tell me to go on street view and look it up myself.....well I'd say that's a pretty sh*tty standard of evidence and would've told you not to bother wasting your time.

Even then, your own awful evidence demonstrates an entire cul de sac area which has two roads by which one could enter and exit....both blocked by your parade. It's bloody hilarious when you go to all that effort to prove my point for me. Please do tell me which of the endless roads one could use to get out of the Mountainview area which would bypass your parade?

You are absolutely correct flinty. I am not sure of current status of this parade but a few years ago the blockade went in maybe an hour before the parade. During the blockade both unionist and nationalist residents of the area had one of the many roads that surround them blocked. Each was slightly inconvenienced by the codology. Each no doubt felt the blockade was because of the others intransigence. And to some extent it was. If there was a little bit of tolerance of each other then no security operation would have been required

Are the readers of the thread getting a dose of what our people have been putting up with in the north for the last hundred years? Only it was much much worse until Drumcree when these people were brought to heel.

It would be much easier to differentiate the parades from the bonfires if there was any attempt to differentiate them by the Unionist community. For example, can you name any Unionist political or community or bandsmen represenative in your apparent exemplar of community relations (Kilkeel) who, for example, has openly stated that the burning of effigies and flags on bonfires is entirely alien to Protestant culture and should be treated as such ?

I can easily, openly, and without the slightest bit of hesitation say that the attack on an elderly man's house is contemptible, loathsome, criminal, and deplorable. Will you be so willing to admit that the bonfires in which Irish flags and effigies are burned are a sectarian, bigoted, hateful display of utter thuggery and ignorance by the simpletons who engage in it ?

And if you can easily state that, then why is it so hard for those who you would have us believe are capable of differentiating the parades and the bonfires to state it?

So we are not talking "trapped in homes" then? You are referring to people who can't access the main road due to a security operation being in place because people don't want the other culture passing down the main road. Until there was republican agitation, this parade took 7 minutes and only used one side of the road allowing free movement in and out of that area at all times. It is not the parade that prevents people coming and going from that area of town.

One of the few places i remember people being blocked in their homes was loyalists during the holy cross dispute - but even they were not blocked in their homes as they could access their back doors freely. and of course, like the Ardoyne folk, if they had not tried to prevent people from the other community travelling along their road then they would not have had any problems.