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Issue
No.12 Spring 2003
Border
Voices
Cameron Mitchell
speaks to Charley McAdam
The experience of the
protestant community in Ulster’s ‘lost counties’, particularly
Counties Monaghan and Cavan, has been one of absolute and relative demographic
decline. Since the revolutionary period of 1912 –1926, when Protestants
endured a political, physical and economical assault, the protestant population
has dwindled by some sixty percent. Exclusion
from the Northern Ireland state left many feeling isolated and vulnerable.
The
dilemmas of these Protestants were accurately depicted in Darach McDonald’s
novel, The Sons of Levi (Drumlin Press), a tale illustrating
the plight of a Protestant family living in the Drum area of County Monaghan.
Although fictitious, the story is based on actual events of Protestants
who felt betrayed by the Ulster Unionist Council and anguish of their
new minority status.
McDonald explains that the suffering of these “Ulster Protestants
left in the Irish Free State have been virtually ignored”, and that
“What happened to them in those early years is vitally relevant to
today in the hopes of peaceful and constructive relations between the
communities on this island”.
Charley McAdam of the Border Minority Group invited me along to Monaghan
Town during the preparations of a local Robbie Burns celebration to chat
about the adjustments that the Protestant community has made since partition.
Charley, swift to enlighten me that he’s actually a ‘Cavan Man’
and a keen enthusiast of the Ulster-Scots traditions, explained that although
there is less feeling of isolation nowadays, his father’s generation
would have felt immensely alienated, “They believed it should have
been the nine counties of Ulster [Monaghan, Cavan and Donegal] though
the younger generations, like myself, are more used to it. We still have
a cultural link with Northern Ireland, but there is still a vast difference
between Monaghan and the likes of Antrim, we can’t celebrate our
Protestant heritage as publicly here as Protestants can in the north”
I asked Charley how the Protestant culture was effected by partition,
“The Protestant culture basically went underground, it was only tolerated
if it kept to itself. When it came to mixed events Protestants would only
be accepted as long as they didn’t bring their culture with them
– try to blend in”.
The blame lies on the negative images of Protestant violence and marches
in Northern Ireland, “An Orange gathering this side of the border
is far removed from the type of event you might see on the news coming
from the north. It means that although Orange events here are very positive
and family orientated, some people who hear about such events might think
that the participants are bigoted. However, that is not true as anyone
who has attended can tell.”
Charley believes that the “Irish Government could do more to promote
the Protestant culture” and that, “The border is there, Dublin
is our [Protestants] capital as well. A few years ago an attempt was made
to organise a parade in Dublin but political circumstances made this impossible”.
He recalled an Orange service he once attended in Dublin in a “small
hall hidden in the back streets, without any visible signs or banners”.
Charley continued to describe that before the service, when walking down
O’Connell street he came across a “large exuberant and intimidating
parade” by young Sinn Fein supporters, “I couldn’t believe
that our quiet religious service had to be hidden away from the public
while Sinn Fein were allowed to march through the City centre”.
Nowadays, sectarian attacks and intimidation are relatively uncommon in
the Republic. Charley told me that, “Generally there are good community
relations, but what lies beneath the surface is hard to tell. Just recently
there were attacks near Castleblaney on a school and a church.
Some time back, the memorial outside the courthouse in Cavan had the name
of an IRA hunger-striker inscribed on it. This is not a welcoming sign
for the minority population and I suppose it gives respectability to the
attacks on fellow Protestants north of the border. Charley’s work
involves creating better community relations and promoting the Protestant
culture around Monaghan, “I believe that Protestants and Roman Catholics
can equally enjoy the Ulster Scots festivals that we run. We are trying
to show that there is another culture, not just Irish dancing and Gaelic
football, and we leave it open for everyone to participate. Roman Catholics
have attended and enjoyed our events in the past, and we hope that many
more will come to our events in the future”.
Speaking to Charley I got the impression that he is confident in his identity
and heritage. He says simply that; “I am proud to know my Orange
background and proud to be a Protestant”.
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