Our Beliefs: Loyalism
We believe for a society ever to be classified as truly progressive and successful, then all its sectors must feel that they are reaching their full potential politically, culturally and economically.
We believe for a variety of reasons working class Unionism/Loyalism has been the one part of Northern Ireland’s society that has been prevented from reaching its potential and as a result, the wider community has suffered and will continue to do so until this problem has been resolved.
We believe that until the paramilitary stranglehold on the community is broken then working-class Unionism can never fully develop. The paramilitaries not only strangle local enterprise through protection rackets, but entrap young people (particularly young males) from their community in a world where instead of being encouraged to develop through education and achievement, they are consigned from an early age to live a life dominated by the local terrorist godfathers, and by anger and fear; more often than not expressed through irrational hatred of difference, which frequently leads to violence, particularly against minorities.
It’s no coincidence that Protestants, particularly working-class Protestants, are underrepresented in the numbers of Northern Irish students in third-level education. The permeation of the culture described above through urban working-class unionist communities has contributed in no small part to young people undervaluing education, with young males once again exhibiting the most severe symptoms. This level of indifference, verging on hostility, to education has in turn has left working-class unionists with few real leaders capable of articulating their views in the political arena, thus allowing the paramilitaries to be seen to be filling a void – continuing the vicious cycle.
We believe that political and civic leaders have a responsibility to clearly demonstrate the advantages of not only traditional education, but also true political enfranchisement. However the responsibility does not lie solely with political leaders. Research has shown that Protestant parents do not impress on their children, to the same degree as their Catholic counterparts, the importance of continuing education.
We believe that the remedy to this situation necessitates young people becoming more self-aware and being given a wider understanding of what the present political process is potentially capable of delivering for them. Self-awareness can only come once young people are confident about who they are – because they’ve been taught about their heritage and understand where they fit into the world.
We believe that politically, loyalist communities are too often being left out of the political process. The result is a feeling that rather than participating in the process, the process is happening to them. It’s up to political unionism to show that this is not the case and that rather than trying to prevent change, unionists can work to make sure the right changes are made. This kind of political awareness will no doubt keep the unionist parties on their toes, but it could well be the challenge that is needed to breathe new life into political movements that are in danger of becoming stagnant.