Mayor of Lisburn Offends Many at Seattle's St. Patrick's Day Parade
By JOHN KEANE
SEATTLE - The 2005 St. Patrick's Day parade was the largest such parade ever held in Seattle. Approximately 1,600 people marched and thousands of spectators watched the tremendous event that required a huge amount of planning and coordination, all carried out by a too-small group of dedicated volunteers. To get an idea of the size of the event, over 130 photos from the parade can be seen online at www.irishclub.org.
While the parade was a tremendous expression of "Irish Pride", many people were deeply offended by the decision of the Mayor of Lisburn, Northern Ireland, to march in the parade while carrying a Union flag. His actions were undoubtedly provocative and inappropriate, and among those most upset were the organizers of the parade because the mayor was deliberately ignoring their expressed wishes in regards to the flag.
Each year, in an effort to encourage and strengthen ties of friendship and business between the Seattle area and Ireland, city officials are regularly invited to visit from Ireland to participate in Seattle's Irish Week events and activities.
In previous years, the Irish Heritage Club has helped host visits to Seattle from several Lisburn mayors, in addition to the Irish ambassador, Irish government ministers, elected officials and mayors from Galway, Sligo, and Derry, as well as other Lisburn officials. The 2004 Mayor of Lisburn also marched in Seattle's 2004 Parade. None of these previous visitors has ever abused Seattle's hospitality.
Last September, after he had been issued and accepted an invitation to participate in the 2005 celebrations, the Lisburn mayor raised the issue of the Union flag being flown at the parade. He was told in writing, “such actions would seriously hurt cross-community and cross-cultural interests in Seattle.
“They would do serious damage to Seattle's Irish community, which has successfully managed thus far to avoid the divisions other Irish communities in the U.S. have experienced because of the problems in Northern Ireland.”
The committee was led to believe he had agreed to abide by their wishes. Their concerns were also stressed to him in person at a meeting in Lisburn just before Christmas and they were again led to believe that he would respect their wishes.
The Irish Heritage Club also assumed that an elected official, representing his city and hoping to build business and other ties with Seattle, would have the common sense and decency to always act appropriately. In this instance they were mistaken.
It became obvious on the day before the parade that publicity arising from confrontation was the mayor's main goal and not the building of business ties. The committee's concern then became how best to minimize the publicity he sought and it was decided that trying to withdraw the invitation would only provide him more publicity. In hindsight, the original invitation to the 2005 mayor of Lisburn was a regrettable mistake that won't happen again, but at that point it was too late to do anything about it.
Many believe that the parade committee could have stopped him by simply telling him he couldn't carry the flag. However, he was insistent on his “right” to carry “his” flag. The organizing committee does not believe that they have the right to censor participants, and participating groups have never been censored in Seattle's St. Patrick's Day parade.
There are always groups in the parade that offend people with their messages. Complaints have been received in previous years about banners carried in the parade by the Committee for Truth and Justice in Ireland, the Seattle Irish Gay and Lesbian Association, Noraid, the Saints of Seattle, and others.
There is little doubt that the members of all of those groups would strongly resist any efforts to censor them. It is a public parade on a public right-of-way, and the parade committee does not believe it has the right to eject or censor anyone because of a banner or flag.
Some people also appear to believe the committee should have forcibly removed the flag or physically prevented the mayor from marching. Such actions could be construed as physical assaults and would be illegal as well as being irresponsible. In addition, it would have given him more publicity, which is what he obviously wanted.
The reaction from some people at the parade must also be condemned. The Irish Heritage Club president, a Presbyterian Minister originally from Belfast, received personal abuse from a few bigots (there is no other accurate term to describe them), including from one person who called him a "Protestant bastard."
The Irish Heritage Club president was forced to leave Northern Ireland because of Loyalist bigotry directed at him on account of his friendships with Catholics. It is unconscionable that someone who has contributed so much to Seattle's Irish community should have to endure similar bigotry on the streets of Seattle, even if it was from only a few people.
The parade committee suggests that complaints about the Lisburn mayor's action on March 12 be addressed to the mayor at mayors.secretary@lisburn.gov.uk or to Councillor Cecil Calvert, Mayor of Lisburn, Lagan Valley Island, Island Civic Centre, The Island, Lisburn, County Antrim BT27 4RL. Contacts for other Lisburn officials can also be found at www.lisburncity.gov.uk.
Lastly, the committee also suggests that those who believe they could have done better in handling this incident should consider getting involved in organizing the 2006 Parade. It's too easy to stay on the sideline and take potshots, but anyone can do that and it accomplishes nothing. The real heroes are those who get involved and try to accomplish something, even if they sometimes make mistakes.
|
