Idiots Guide to the DUP

annpl, you have much more knowledge than me, clearly.

My comment re Paisley was based on what I had presented to me on TV many years ago, a ranting, bigot.

"Never shy of making a bold statement, he once said of Catholics that “they breed like rabbits and multiply like vermin"

It is so crazy that the DUP can hold back our actions when they are just 10 MP's and they are not even sitting in their own parliament.
They do not come across well at all.

I’ve asked on another thread

Does anyone know what the £10 billion bung been spent on?

I have a lot of knowledge having been born in Belfast and being 17 in 1968. But there are gaps.
Paisley possibly did say that grapefruitpip and if he did I'm sure he regretted it. He worked very hard alongside Martin McGuinness to change things here. His wife recently wrote to the DUP asking them to compromise on demands made by Sinn Fein who are refusing to go back to Stormont until they have reassurance that their demands are met.
I'm not defending him. He should not have said it. He has very strong anti Catholicism views too. But I know he worked hard for all constituents of whatever religion. I could also criticise much about Martin McGuinness. And SF. But I don't have the energy or see the point.
As for Brexit I can't see an outcome that will work for SF and DUP. I do wish people would stop voting for them.

I expect you understand more than most just why they continue voting for them.

How on earth can anyone be " anti Catholic"?

It's like saying I'm anti Chinese or anti Gay.

It's preposterous.

Paisley didn't say just one thing. I'm prepared to accept that news reporting was biased, but he certainly made many confrontational speeches. I agree he mellowed in his last years, but it doesn't alter the fact that he was as responsible as hardline IRA members for the conflict. Personally, I still find the current DUP's views abhorrent.

It's preposterous to assume that all Catholics are IRA sympathisers. Friends from NI now living in England have told me how relieved they are that nobody cares whether they are Catholic, Protestant or have no religion at all.

How on earth can anyone be " anti Catholic"?

Quite easily in Northern Ireland.

It's nothing like saying I'm anti-Chinese or anti-gay. It's a political divide in NI.

Where have you been for the last God knows how many years Grapefruitpip?

Does anyone know what the £10 billion bung been spent on?

Steady on.

It was only £1 billion

Apparently spent on health, infrastructure and education budgets.

They didn't just pocket it for themselves

Grapefruit - I was brought up to be anti Catholic. My father was a Glaswegian Presbyterian and my mother came from near Liverpool and was Methodist. This was common in the post war years and did also cause prejudice against the Irish - hence in the 60s landlords used to advertise "no blacks or Irish". This sectarianism has largely disappeared now except in Northern Ireland.

Indeed! My parents were anti-Catholic, as were many people on Merseyside. Although many people were Catholic and had Irish roots, I only knew one Catholic until I left home - a boyfriend, of whom my parents very strongly disapproved (as his parents disapproved of me).

Thank goodness, that kind of thinking has largely disappeared because it really is preposterous.

Did I say anti Catholic somewhere? If I did I didn't mean to. He was anti Catholicism, different thing. He had friends who were Catholics. Yes he made inflammatory speeches, totally wrong. Equally responsible for the troubles? hmm Do you know the horrible things terrorists did?

Bigotry is not confined to one side in NI. There are those who are anti Catholic and anti Protestant. It's how they are brought up and it's mostly in segregated housing areas, I believe. You won't find it in the more affluent areas.

Growstuff all Catholics are not IRA sympathisers, yes that's true of course, nor are all Protestants paramilitary sympathisers.

A big factor in the divided society in Northern Ireland has been the religious apartheid in schools. From the age of four or five children are segregated by religion (which these days is often only the religion their parents were raised in).

They are sent to different schools with different uniforms and indoctrinated by being taught "we are right and they are wrong" to see any other child either as "one of us" or "one of them".

This is tragic. Numerous surveys over the years have shown that the vast majority of parents (over 90%) would like to send their children to integrated schools by only 7% have that opportunity.

Segregation of children is wrong. Why does this nonsense persist? I have heard the Catholic Church blamed, but perhaps it also suits the agenda of the DUP and militant unionists to maintain these dreadful divisions from one generation to the next.

Gonegirl
I wondered when someone was going to ask ?
Your post @15.23.

sorry to put my oar in as a newbie
but I never wanted us to leave the eu in the first place
all best
painting

Having grown up hearing Ian Paisleys voice on the news and associating it with the bombing campaigns I feel ill even remembering him.
I didn't know which side he was on when I was young.
Could not bear his voice. He sounded so mean and full of hate.

I hope the DUP do not incite more violence by being so intransigent,
I can see both sides have their points of view but it has been lovely to have peace in N Ireland and I am sure no-one there wants to go back to the old days.

Can't they be dismissed for not turning up to their own Parliament at Stormont?

My brother, Patrick did a wonderful impersonation of him ?

Slightly off topic here, but religious bigotry is rife in some parts of lowland Scotland too - not helped by the Scottish Govt funding Catholic schools across the country. In the region that I work in, Catholic schools are not allowed to teach sex education in the same way as non denominational schools and teachers have to be baptised Catholic in order to work there. The links with the less attractive sides of Ireland/N Ireland are very much in evidence and that’s before you get to the bigotry that exists in certain football teams. It’s absolutely shocking that we still have state funded religious segregation here.

Here here Sir

Brought up in the West of Scotland, I couldn't help being aware of anti-Catholicism. Education was segregated and I never met a Catholic socially before I went to University and to my surprise they were just like me except that they went to a different church. Ignorance of 'the other' is at the bottom of all prejudice and as long as children are educated separately prejudice will never be eliminated.

It wasn’t that long ago that Catholic’s and Protestants were only allowed to work in certain places too - the divide was rife. There are certain towns in Lanarkshire where the green traffic lights are routinely smashed by the Protestants and others were tricolours are flown to show that Rangers fans are very definitely not welcome. Utterly bizarre.

He has very strong anti Catholicism views too

Note the use of the present tense, hence my question. I am not referring to the past as I have a reasonable grasp of some of the history of Ireland.

I wondered, indeed I am still wondering ,when somebody was going to read posts properly

Here's another delight from Paisley. And yes the other quotation he did utter.

“Catholic homes caught fire because they were loaded with petrol bombs; Catholic churches were attacked and burned because they were arsenals and priests handed out sub-machine guns to parishioners”

with all due respect Sirchengin It has been a very long time since only catholic teachers were allowed to teach in catholic schools in Scotland.I left school in 1969 ,I was taught history by a Polish jew ,geography by a moslem (one of my classmated went on to marry that teachers soon and convert to Islam) had protestant teachers for several other subjects.I went to a convent school ..originally built at the turn of the 20th century by the catholic church and originally only staffed by nuns .By the time the 60's arrived less than half the teachers were nuns .Nowadays I dont think there are any .
Bigotry isn't taught in schools its taught at home ,schools dont take babies in prams on Orange walks or teach them rebel songs from the days of the Irish rebellion ..thats entirely down to families .I was raised a catholic by parents in a"mixed" marriage .Neither my parents nor my siblings are bigotted against any religion