Restrictions on the materials burnt on bonfires across the North have not seen enough of a reduction in the danger created by the blazes, with towering infernos across the province collapsing onto revellers. This idiocy is shrugged off as DRD are sent out yet again to repair roads and assess the damage caused to local properties which the preventative efforts of the public purse have failed to protect in East and North Belfast. Stepping back from the adversarial debates of what one side gets over the other, the environmental and health impact of widespread celebratory arson seem blindingly obvious but cannot be dealt with in the blinkered world of orange vs green.
Squinting through the blurred lens that social media presents, where BBC photos of riot walls across the city and armies of riot police preparing for the same as last year are looked at as normal; it is obvious that something serious needs to change. The process towards peace which we're told we're doing so great at, as austerity is shoved down our throats from Westminster, seems to have reached a sticking point. A point which can only be moved on from by excavating the real definitions of normality, definitions which have been lost for a long time.
The first of these definitions is that of a festival. A period of celebration, and many do cling on to the culture and community which they believe the Twelfth celebrates, however those many would agree - when this belief inspires someone to drive a car into a crowd, maybe the celebrations have gotten out of hand. It has clearly become time to immediately redefine what the Twelfth celebrates, if those who celebrate it have any level of pride or respect for the culture it represents then they must show leadership and redefine that culture as something positive, not as something aggressive. Violent images of toppling fireballs and black gable walls, or riot vans and children dragged into ambulances do not gain respect for a celebration of culture.
It is time for both sides at Stormont to show leadership, to sacrifice the negative, aggressive and confrontational elements within both cultures and look for policy solutions which can allow these cultures to exist as positive commemorations of a troubled but vibrant past.
A blanket and enforced ban on political flags and symbols on public land would both show respect for the flags and emblems both sides claim to hold dear and reduce the sociological and environmental impact of regalia plastered over lampposts and kerbstones.
Vast restrictions on parades held on public highways, curtailing festivals and celebrations into an area in which they can be properly funded, properly policed and encouraged, and kept away from those who would seek to corrupt a celebration into something malicious. If a festival brings a community together then let it to that, in a contained place where those who wish to can celebrate their traditions without fear of encroachment or abusive elements, and without provoking others by forcing their message, rather than presenting it as something to be proud of and letting others learn in their own time.
There are clear answers if those who can take responsibility. If they understand that there will need to be sacrifices from all parties, if any are to gain an understanding of the traditions and cultures of the others. Unfortunately those who currently hold this power stand more to gain from the public purse by keeping cultures divided and corrupt than from bringing them together as pure forms of themselves. That can change before this festival comes around again if enough people stand up and say it should. There is always an alternative.
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This time last year this blog looked at the Orange Order and their impact upon maintaining the major division in our society, and how it hopes to continue to keep the working class divided to the detriment of both the Unionist and Nationalist worker. Read it here:
http://thetache.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/the-12th-man-orange-order-vs-people.html
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