Double Joy
I love July.
Even though it is generally Philadelphia's hottest month and I really don't like heat, July is a month of victory. July 4th is Independence Day in the US. That was a week ago and has been going on for over 200 years since the Declaration was adopted in my home town.
Two years ago a man flew to Philadelphia to make an announcement that made today's news possible.
>> DUBLIN, Ireland -- Tens of thousands of Protestant hard-liners marched without trouble through Belfast and other Northern Ireland cities and towns Thursday in an annual event that used to involve conflict with Catholics but now shows the effects of a succeeding peace process.
The Orange Order marches each July 12 _ an official holiday in Northern Ireland called simply "The Twelfth" _ in commemoration of a 1690 victory by the forces of a Protestant king, William of Orange, over the Catholic he ousted from the English throne, James II. Catholics have long loathed the parades and said they were designed to intimidate them.
In the past decade, Catholics led by Sinn Fein, the Irish Republican Army-linked party, tried to block Orangemen from parading through or near Catholic districts, frequently triggering riots with both Protestants and British security forces.
But that problem has faded away since 2005 as the IRA disarmed and renounced violence so that Sinn Fein could take part in a new power-sharing government with Protestant leaders. <<
For the whole article << http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/12/AR2007071200845.html >>
By working together for peace instead of revenge and hate Irishmen have overcome a sad and deadly history that has been their burden for over four centuries.
I say bravo and well done.
Even though it is generally Philadelphia's hottest month and I really don't like heat, July is a month of victory. July 4th is Independence Day in the US. That was a week ago and has been going on for over 200 years since the Declaration was adopted in my home town.
Two years ago a man flew to Philadelphia to make an announcement that made today's news possible.
>> DUBLIN, Ireland -- Tens of thousands of Protestant hard-liners marched without trouble through Belfast and other Northern Ireland cities and towns Thursday in an annual event that used to involve conflict with Catholics but now shows the effects of a succeeding peace process.
The Orange Order marches each July 12 _ an official holiday in Northern Ireland called simply "The Twelfth" _ in commemoration of a 1690 victory by the forces of a Protestant king, William of Orange, over the Catholic he ousted from the English throne, James II. Catholics have long loathed the parades and said they were designed to intimidate them.
In the past decade, Catholics led by Sinn Fein, the Irish Republican Army-linked party, tried to block Orangemen from parading through or near Catholic districts, frequently triggering riots with both Protestants and British security forces.
But that problem has faded away since 2005 as the IRA disarmed and renounced violence so that Sinn Fein could take part in a new power-sharing government with Protestant leaders. <<
For the whole article << http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/12/AR2007071200845.html >>
By working together for peace instead of revenge and hate Irishmen have overcome a sad and deadly history that has been their burden for over four centuries.
I say bravo and well done.