Post by earl on Apr 4, 2008 16:26:40 GMT
My heart genuinely goes out to the average working-class Protestant. There is no-one there to represent them. Throughout history, the Unionist elite used sectarian scaremongering to prevent the working classes from both communities getting together to sort out their common ills. They used the divide and conquer techniques that served the empire so well on their own people to keep hold of the imbalanced social structure of NI. Such was the effect of this scaremongering, that a lot of genuine social orientated movements were painted as IRA fronts to prevent working class Protestants from getting involved.
Now, the working class Protestants are left to rot. As Setanta has pointed out, the Catholic working class have been invigorated with certain opportunities that may not have been fully available to them before, but there is no motivation amoung the WCP's (I'm abbreviating it to save my fingers!).
Some of the reasons can be attuned to the social history of both communities. Traditionally, WCP's would have been more into skilled labour and the armed forces. Some of this mindset probably coming from the indoctrine of Scottish Protestantism where hard work is one of the guiding principles, and goes hand in hand with a strong faith.
Catholics/Irish have had an oral/written tradition dating back to Celtic times. This mindset lends itself well to the modern environment, where skills with the gab and pen are more sought after than skills with the hammer.
The assembly needs to look after the most vulnerable in NI's society, regardless of religion, and it is the duty of both SF and the DUP to reach out to these communities, and get programmes into place which will help them.
Now, the working class Protestants are left to rot. As Setanta has pointed out, the Catholic working class have been invigorated with certain opportunities that may not have been fully available to them before, but there is no motivation amoung the WCP's (I'm abbreviating it to save my fingers!).
Some of the reasons can be attuned to the social history of both communities. Traditionally, WCP's would have been more into skilled labour and the armed forces. Some of this mindset probably coming from the indoctrine of Scottish Protestantism where hard work is one of the guiding principles, and goes hand in hand with a strong faith.
Catholics/Irish have had an oral/written tradition dating back to Celtic times. This mindset lends itself well to the modern environment, where skills with the gab and pen are more sought after than skills with the hammer.
The assembly needs to look after the most vulnerable in NI's society, regardless of religion, and it is the duty of both SF and the DUP to reach out to these communities, and get programmes into place which will help them.
