Operation Banner

[The Agrarian]

Operation Banner: Military veterans attend parade

The event marked the 50th anniversary of troops being deployed in Northern Ireland.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Hindsight]

Operation Banner: Military veterans attend parade

The event marked the 50th anniversary of troops being deployed in Northern Ireland.

www.bbc.co.uk

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0007k69

I have found this series broadcast this week interesting and informative. I have a couple of episodes to catch up. We Fen folk do not really understand sectarianism. Regards.

 

[The Agrarian]

Troubles trauma - the hidden legacy of violence

Thousands of people in Northern Ireland live with mental health after effects of decades of conflict.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[The Agrarian]

Have started listening to Ruth's audio, but not finished yet. She picked a point in time - 1969 - but that's only very recent. My uncle told me recently that he used to have to walk home an alternative route from school, so as not to meet the Catholic kids coming from their school, as he feared being beaten. His two older brothers were half a dozen years ahead of him, and had left school, so he had no one to back him up. We're talking about early 1950s. It goes back many hundreds of years. Sectarianism is hardly isolated to here though. There'd have been plenty of sectarianism in Britain over the millennia, when the Saxons, Celts, Romans, Vikings, Norman's and so on were mixing. Today I imagine you can find plenty of examples of Indian vs Pakistani vs Carribbean vs white Briton...

 

[Hindsight]

Have started listening to Ruth's audio, but not finished yet. She picked a point in time - 1969 - but that's only very recent. My uncle told me recently that he used to have to walk home an alternative route from school, so as not to meet the Catholic kids coming from their school, as he feared being beaten. His two older brothers were half a dozen years ahead of him, and had left school, so he had no one to back him up. We're talking about early 1950s. It goes back many hundreds of years. Sectarianism is hardly isolated to here though. There'd have been plenty of sectarianism in Britain over the millennia, when the Saxons, Celts, Romans, Vikings, Norman's and so on were mixing. Today I imagine you can find plenty of examples of Indian vs Pakistani vs Carribbean vs white Briton...

Yes, my comment about sectarianism was not meant in a derogatory way. Just that in my young life in the Fens I was not aware of such things. Religion played little part in our lives. Innocence.

I became more aware as my slightly older cousin joined the Army in around 1973 and served several tours in Northern Ireland.

And then I met a girl at University who became my wife. She was from Lanark. And she told me about her childhood growing up in Lanark and keeping clear of certain streets as that was where the Catholic children lived who would set about her if she ventured into their street. In those days I found it most strange.

I found Ruth's audio quite moving. Especially the interaction with her parents.

Best wishes.