Loyalism Is Not For Sale!

When will it finally sink in with the press and others that Loyalism is not for sale?

A Sunday tabloid has once again printed headlines based on innuendo, hearsay and outright fiction. The latest 'exclusive' purporting to be respectable journalism refers to £10 million CIT funding. This time, bizarrely alleging the funding is a pay off package to stop recent civil disturbances in reaction to the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol and two-tiered Policing and Justice. This is just another in a long line of erroneous and mischievous 'pay off' stories from the same journalistic source over much needed and beneficial community funding. Funding which was agreed as far back as 2015! It is worth noting it was the same origin of credible journalism which recently reported 'security sources' informed them that a well known supergrass was dead.

Instead of taking what we read at face value as the truth (which should be a cornerstone of journalism), especially in the current climate, the unionist community should look past the duplicitous headlines and untruths to reveal the true intent which belies an anti-unionist and loyalist agenda. Care must also be taken when reading recent outbursts on PUL social media pages and groups by those who promote these untruths in order to try to discredit genuine loyalists by further pushing this republicanism benefiting Anti-British media agenda, what strange bedfellows they make. 

Nationalist driven agenda media, as well as those actors who may 'plant' stories in the press with the intention of threatening to choke loyalist communities of resources should come to terms with the simple, honest facts:

Opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol cannot be fixed with money. 

Two-tiered Policing and Justice cannot be fixed with money. 

Loyalism is not, and never will be for sale.

Republicans use cover of National Pandemic Emergency to launch sectarian attacks

While the majority of people in the United Kingdom continue to heed medical and Government advice by adjusting their lives to help combat Covid-19, Irish Republicans look to have seized the global pandemic as an opportunity to carry out attacks on Protestant and Unionist community halls. It does not matter a jot that the banners on these halls pay tribute to the brave frontline NHS workers who hail from right across the community.

It does not matter a jot that those members of Orange Lodges, Apprentice Boys Branches and Bands in areas like Ballynafeigh and Dunmurry have been part of local Covid community responses providing food parcels and support for those in need regardless of religion or political affiliation. All that matters to these Republican thugs is the opportunity to try and intimidate Protestants and make them feel unwelcome from living in such areas.

Where is the condemnation from Nationalist political representatives?

Perhaps the gloating behaviour of well known Sinn Fein activist Dominica McGowan (something she fails to disclose while appearing in media programs such as Talkback as a 'neutral resident') and front for the South Belfast Residents Against Flags hate micro-group Dominica McGowan is an indicator of Sinn Fein's attitude at further attempts to 'green the North'. Unionist Truth Forum suggest Ms McGowan (a practising psychotherapist and hypnotherapist) seeks counselling from a peer to tackle her own inherent issues towards her neighbours and fellow members of society.

The history of Ulster - A people seperate from the rest of the Island.

Setanta - Ancient Hero of Ulster

Historically there has never been an independent, united state on the geographical island of 'Ireland'; there is no historical precedent for Irish nationalist / republican demands for a united Ireland. It has never existed and does not exist today.

Ulster has always been culturally separate and distinct from the rest of the island. Ulidia, from where the name Ulster derives, existed long before an Irish nation came into being. In reality, the Irish perception of themselves as a nation only emerged into the Irish psyche in the 19th century with the fusion of Catholic emancipation and Gaelic nationalism under Daniel O' Connell.

Ulidia had it's own capital - Emain Macha, kings and border (the Black Pigs Dyke) in ancient times. The people were the ancient Cruthin and Ulaid - as recorded by a Greek geographer in the 2nd century A.D. This nation came under attack from Gaelic lead peoples from Ireland. The semi historical / mythical Tain describes this period telling how Ulster people came under attack by peoples from the south in a cattle raid and how Ulster was defended by her ancient hero - Setanta.

Setanta - The Hound of Ulster

Setanta was later renamed Cuchulain by Gaelic Invaders

Ulster is not to be confused with the English province; it was under Elizabeth the First that the Provinces were drawn up as administrative boundaries. Irish nationalists who refuse to recognise a separate Ulster and proclaim they do not recognise 'British borders in Ireland' will often dishonourably dismiss Ulster as merely an Irish province - recognising a 'British border in Ireland' . Unfortunately a debate by the 'Northern Ireland' parliament in the 1960s to counter this confusion by renaming the country Ulster - it's rightful name - never came to fruition.

Gradually the Ulster capital fell (around 450 A.D.) and Ulster became a much reduced nation as it's border moved eastwards. In fact many of these ancient Ulster people, who the Romans called Scotti, fled across the North Channel and gave this name to Scotland. It was these peoples who had absorbed Gaelic from their overlords that gave parts of Scotland this language.

In 637 the Ulstermen / Ulidians were defeated at the battle of Moira, and although they retained independence in the east of Ulster, this was the end of ancient Ulster.

The Battle of Moira

Viking raids on the Island were followed by the Normans, who had recently seized the crown in England. These had been invited by a deposed king in eastern Ireland and the then Pope who had instructed the English crown to civilise Ireland. Irish nationalists often speak of 900 years of English interference in their affairs; in reality the 'invasion' of gable wall myth was by Norman French who were accompanied by many Welsh - in fact Walsh is the most common surname in Ireland.

This 'English invasion' reflects how myths can become official Irish history. In reality those who came to Ireland did so by invitation, were French not English and stayed under the authority of the Pope.

Ulster fell to the Normans in 1177 A.D., then to the Gaelic led clans in 1381. However resentment against the Normans and further English conquest continued and Gaelic rebellion resulted in 1594. Eventually the English forces were victorious in 1601. This led to the Plantation of Ulster in the 17th century. Many who came to Ulster were from Scotland who were, not displacing the natives, but returning to the land of their ancient forefathers. In fact many intermarried with those in Ulster as comparison of surnames and religion today testifies. The settlers were mainly Presbyterian.

James II who had accessed the English crown, was forced to abdicate and William, Prince of Orange, was proclaimed King. In 1690 William defeated King James at the Battle of the Boyne, an event still celebrated in Ulster today as it allowed the Ulster people to remain a free people.

The Battle of the Boyne

18th Century laws discriminating against the Presbyterian religion and forbidding Presbyterians from holding public office led a quarter of a million Ulster people to flee to America- particularly to Pennsylvania, W. Virginia, Kentucky and Carolina. The Americans called these people 'Scotch-Irish' - in those days Americans appreciated the difference between Ulster and Irish people.

Ulster people were in the vanguard of the inception of the new nation. They were the first pioneers west of the Appalachians. They were predominant in the declaration of Independence of 1776. The declaration was in the handwriting of, printed by, first publicly read by, and signed by Ulstermen. Ten Presidents have been of Ulster descent. Ulster has also influenced place names and music (bluegrass).

Ulster people were predominant in the revolutionary war such that Washington declared 'if defeated everywhere else I will make my stand for liberty among the Scotch-Irish of my native Virginia'.

A revolutionary poem by W.F.Marshall is evocative of this contribution:

Hi Uncle Sam
When Freedom was denied you

And Imperial Might defied you

Who was it stood beside you

At Quebec and Brandywine?

And dared retreats and dangers

Red Coats and Hessian Strangers

In the lean, long rifled Rangers

And the Pennsylvania Line!

Hi Uncle Sam
Wherever there was fighting

Or wrong that needed righting

An Ulsterman was sighting

His Kentucky gun with care:

All the road to Yorktown,

From Lexington to Yorktown,

From Valley Forge to Yorktown,

That Ulsterman was there!

Hi Uncle Sam
Virginia sent her brave men,

The north paraded grave men,

That they may not be slave men,

But ponder this with calm:

The first to face the Tory

And the first to lift Old Glory

Made your war an Ulster story:

Think it over, Uncle Sam!

An attempt at uniting the people of the Island under the United Irish rebellion of 1798 failed as it descended into sectarian in-fighting, Protestants not fitting the definition of Irish. The whole island, governed by London, was made part of the United Kingdom in 1801.

Catholic emancipation movements were formed and this fused with the Gaelic nationalist movement of the late 19th century to galvanise demands for a Gaelic, Catholic Republic. As Ulster people are neither Gaelic nor for the most part Catholic, they obviously wanted nothing to do with this - a point mostly ignored by Irish nationalists. Irish Republicans will often extol the Republican idealism of Patrick Pearse (one of the instigators of the Easter 1916 Rising and signatory of the Proclamation of Independence). Whilst therefore paying occasional lip service to the notional ideal that 'all who came to 'Ireland' - Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter - are Irish', they eulogise a man who defined Irishness as Gaelic and Catholic - betraying the underlying sectarian ethos of Irishness and Irish Republicanism.

The London government tried to appease growing Irish nationalism with a Home Rule Bill - to give Ireland limited self-government. The Ulster people mobilised to resist this, forming the Ulster Unionist Council and the Ulster Volunteer Force in 1912.

Edward Carson inspecting Ulster Volunteers

The First World War intervened and many Ulster and Irish men fought in the trenches. The 36th Ulster Division formed out of the UVF played a major role in the Battle of the Somme. The heavy losses affected all Ulster and the event has passed into the psyche of Ulster people.

Charge of the Ulster Division by JP Beadle

The Irish then fought a war of Independence and in 1920 the Government of Ireland Act recognised the existence of two peoples and nations by setting up two states on the island, although Ulster was erroneously labelled Northern Ireland. This constitutional position by and large remains today. Therefore whilst Irish nationalists talk of the 'partition of Ireland by the British', the island never was one nation to be partitioned. It was merely governed as a whole under the British crown - ironically again Irish nationalists in Ulster are trying to recreate a British state of affairs on the island. When the Irish seceded from the United Kingdom, the Ulster people went there own way through their own inalienable right to national self-determination.

Double standards from the Charities Commission?

The Charities Commission are facing criticism and refuting accusations of acting in a "political manner" after issuing warnings to a number of community organisations in North Belfast following recent media coverage surrounding a wide variety of public spirited Civic Unionists signing a letter urging the Ulster Unionist Party to respect the deeply held wishes of the local Unionist and Loyalist community by reconsidering running a 2nd Unionist candidate in North Belfast (thus possibly costing a Unionist seat to fall into the hands of the Pan Nationalist Sinn Fein - SDLP electoral pact created for that very end) and to stand aside for the greater good of Unionism. Community organisations to whom some of the Civic Unionists are affiliated were "given until November 18 to familiarise themselves with guidance published on its website, confirm any posts which breached the guidelines had been removed and make sure all staff were aware of the organisation's obligations as a charity".

In order to closer examine the ongoing criticism of the Charities Commission and growing accusations of bias against the Unionist and Loyalist community, Unionist Truth Forum have carried out a brief investigation into previous instances where recognised representatives within the Nationalist community sector have contributed to discourse within the political arena. One such instance involved an open letter, signed by a number of self styled civic Nationalists, to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland Leo Varadkar urging the Irish Government ensure that their "rights are protected" which subsequently garnered widespread coverage throughout all sections of the media. We also cross referenced some of the signatories denoted as coming from community backgrounds via the Charities Commission website to find signs of correlation, and we have some surprising (or perhaps not surprising) findings

 

One of the first signatories we cross referenced was none other than Mark Thompson, well known spokesperson (some might say Republican propagandist) for Relatives For Justice and no stranger as a contributor to the BBC Radio Ulster Talkback programme. Our investigation reveals that Relatives For Justice are registered on the Charities Commission Register of Charities. Many will no doubt be surprised that RFJ with its history of allegations of being only interested in what it would term 'victims of state violence' receives charity status at all, but our focus is solely on the comparison of Mr Thompson's signature on an open letter with a heavy political message to that of public spirited North Belfast Civic Unionists who also signed an open letter. As a side note, another signatory to the letter with a role within RFJ is Andree Murphy. Ms Murphy is also of course better known for airing her Republican views as a political commentor on Talkback.

Another signature on the 'Letter to Varadkar' from a community level which immediately springs to mind is none other then Gerard Rice who sprang to infamy during the 'Lower Ormeau' Concerned residents campaign of concerted attempts to deny the right of the local Protestant and Unionist and Loyalist community's cultural expression along a stretch of the Ormeau Road. Mr Rice subsequently went on to hold a well known community role with the 'Lower Ormeau' Residents Action Group. A quick cross reference also reveals that LORAG are also in the position of holding Charity Status with the Charities Commission.

As a result of this investigation's findings, Unionist Truth Forum are calling on the Charities Commission to publically clarify its position with regard to those signatories from Nationalists within the community sector and what, if any, action taken comparible to that of warnings given to PUL community organisations has been taken by the Charities Commission. If not for much needed reassurances to the Unionist and Loyalist community of transparency and impartiality, then at least to ensure the Charities Commission retains more than a shred of credibility

Sinn Fein up to Dirty Tricks?

With an election drawing near, arguably one of the most important elections for Northern Ireland in recent times.... the political parties of Northern Ireland are, as expected, working around the clock to erect election posters, canvas doorsteps and take part in debates up and down the country to ensure their individual messages are heard loud and clear by the prospective electorate... this is how a typical election 'should' be fought, hard work, pounding the pavements and promises.

This is a crucial election for the long term security of the Union and more importantly, Northern Ireland's part therein.
Understandably it is vital that we maximize registered unionist voters and focus on returning the maximum unionist representation back into the House of Commons.
How you vote is entirely up to you, as is every voter's hard fought and earned inalienable right to do so.

Sinn Fein on the other hand think otherwise.

Not content with the threat of violence over the years to swing decisions when things maybe don't go as planned, the murderous hierarchy of the IRA/Sinn Fein killing machine have been very vocal on the need to maximize their vote to achieve the ultimate goal of a united Ireland, or at best, a border poll, so much so that they have been accused of engaging in a campaign of vote rigging/theft for a number of years now, seemingly unchallenged.

In June 2017 the SDLP and People Before Profit lodged an official complaint with the Electoral Office and the PSNI concerning the voting patterns in the Foyle constituency where Sinn Fein's Elisha McCallion 'won' the seat by a small margin of only 169 votes.
Whilst the celebrations started in Sinn Fein HQ to mark another 'hard fought' victory in the local election, it soon became clear that all wasn't as it seemed in Foyleside.

Typical proxy votes in the constituency were on average 7.8 per 1,000 for the candidates not connected with Sinn Fein.
For Elisha McCallion however the proxy votes were considerably higher in number.... 4 times this amount to be exact...27.8 per 1,000 voters in favor of Sinn Fein, or so we are led to believe.
In fact, in some Sinn Fein constituencies the total proxy vote number was as much as 19 times the national average.

Gregory Campbell, in only April of this year, warned again of the need to properly scrutinize the proxy vote system, given the obvious 'anomalies' as seen in the local elections of 2017.

Only a few days ago, a folder containing around 150 proxy votes and registration forms, along with a template and addresses of those still eligible to vote were found in a bag, in a chip shop in Foyle, the very constituency in which the previous claims of skulduggery originated.

This is a very concerning revelation, but sadly not one that hasn't been brought to our attention before.
With the importance of this election amplified ten fold given the insecurities bestowed upon the union with the signing of the betrayal act by Boris Johnson, its crucial that allegations such as these are investigated and such culprits dealt with using the full force of the law to ensure a fair and even Westminster election.

Don't Be Conned

Members of the public arriving at the Con Club in East Belfast to attend one of a series of public meetings for the unionist community to discuss their fears around the Betrayal Act 

With the recent Betrayal Act proposed by Boris and his cronies galvanising a renewed unity of unionists and loyalism in Northern Ireland and further afield the local gutter press has made it very clear that their agenda will be to attempt to drive division amongst the rank and file loyalists in Ulster.

The Sunday papers are alive with fanciful stories of Commanders stepping on each other’s toes, turf wars between the UDA and UVF and even plainly stating that, without justification or proof, that any congregation of like minded unionists, the likes of which was held in the Conn Club last week will most probably descend into wanton violence, the likes of which the country has never seen. Taking the biscuit however has got to be the 'sensational exclusive' of how one of the main reasons for a convicted drug smuggler's descent into her personal hell (sic) in Peru stemmed from fleeing loyalists to that well known reclusive place of refuge and sanctuary, Ibiza.

One of the main proponents to peddle this poo is Richard Sullivan, ‘Journalist’ for the Sunday World and other works of fiction.
Richard has no fewer than five stories in this weeks rag, all of which are a testament to his amazing imagination and complete disassociation with reality.

Of course, no edition of the 'Sunday Stickie' would be complete without the bar stool ranting of the self appointed voice of the people himself, champagne socialist Jim Mcdowell whose email address featured under his column header is aptly titled mcdowellsworld@outlook.com. Jim must surely live in a different world if he believes the wide range of people who attended the unionist event in the Con club last Monday night (some from as far afield as County Fermanagh) from all walks of life including women, armed forces veterans, loyal orders and an array of political parties are "mafia", and, the 1974 Ulster Workers Council strike was a "euphemism for a street campaign of balaclava-clad bullying and intimidation". For someone who falls back on his working-class unionist background when the occasion suits, no-one does falsely stereotyping and caricaturing of that community better.

Do not be taken in by these fables which are only of worth and merit in the land of Hans Christian Anderson, as more of these desperate attempts to weaken the growing spirit of united unionist resolve will surely appear in the coming days and weeks.

Don't be fooled by agenda media.
Don't be Conned.

UNITED WE STAND.

Was 'Territorial marking' enabled in Belfast's City Cemetery?

This is the sight which greeted a seventy five year old Protestant lady on a visit to her father's grave in the City Cemetery last Father's Day. Speaking to Unionist Truth Forum, the pensioner told of her discomfort and unease at being in the area on seeing a tricolour mounted on a plot in the middle of what is a council owned cemetery where countless deceased from the Protestant and Unionist community lie laid to rest.

To add further insult to injury this lady reported facing dismissive and unconcerned attitudes when she contacted Belfast City Council to raise concerns at this ostentatious Republican
display, eventually telling her they had no power to remove the flagpole. She went on to tell us there were smaller Irish Republic Tricolour already on the graves (which, too her credit, she did not have an issue with) so why the need and to fly a large Tricolour from an affixed pole and acquiescence from Council staff to its presence?

Unionist Truth Forum are aware of sensitive Flags and Emblems policies in cemeteries maintained by other councils, the question we ask of Belfast City Council is, do BCC have such a policy in place and if not why not?

Given the cacophony of disgust from Sinn Fein's Mairtin O'Muillor, Alliance's Emmet McDonough-Brown and Paula Bradshaw and Claire Hanna and Nicola Mallon of the SDLP in recent days over the erecting of our National Standard (Union Flag) and the Northern Ireland Banner(Ulster Flag) in parts of South Belfast in the run up to the annual commemorations of the Battle of the Somme, we ask them to clarify their position on this Republican display in a cemetery where so many who fought on the Battlefield of the Somme now sleep.  Does this "marking of territory have the support of paramilitaries" in West Belfast Marty?
Is this "an attack on shared space" Emmet?
Is this "a poison on our society" which "we need to get to grips with Nicola"?

We in the Unionist community would love to have the same rights of equality (equal rights, social and cultural diversity) as those who fabricate it demand. Shared space means shared space. Equality means being equal, especially in status, rights or opportunities
The Unionist community live here too.