OneTrack
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Respect for a Nation's Flag should be universal (with a few exceptions, of course...).
While I was serving with the UDR in N. Ireland, our platoon was sent to protect a polling station during one of the many elections during the early 70's. When we were setting up our position in the local Parish Hall, our Platoon Sergeant (Pat Brannigan...yes, a N.Irish Catholic) discovered a Union Jack rolled up in a ball and stuffed into a corner on the floor by the previous occupiers the evening before, who were a Scout Troop.
Pat picked up the flag and went straight to the Parish minister and ripped him a new one. Pat probably had no great love for the Union Jack, but he did have a basic respect for what it was, which was a nation's flag.
I served with D Company, 9th County Antrim Battalion, Ulster Defense Regiment after leaving the Regular Army. D Company was the mainly Catholic company, whereas B Company was comprised of Prods and ex-B Specials and RUC. I was put into D Company because of my very Irish first names, Patrick Michael Neil.
They weren't allowed to ask what religion you were (I'm a Protestant), so I was put into D Company just in case.
The Irish are natural soldiers, btw...I have never seen such professionalism from what were essentially part-time soldiers.
The situation in Northern Ireland is very complex....There is more to it than the Immaculate Conception, Provos, Loyalists, Brits and beer. The Irish are extraordinarily talented people, driven to self-destruction by their past and their various destinies.
The flag of the Irish Republic is referred to by Loyalists as the "Green, White and Gold". It is actually Green, White and ORANGE. It represents PEACE between the Green and the Orange. I cannot think of a more appropriate flag for that tortured island.
While I was serving with the UDR in N. Ireland, our platoon was sent to protect a polling station during one of the many elections during the early 70's. When we were setting up our position in the local Parish Hall, our Platoon Sergeant (Pat Brannigan...yes, a N.Irish Catholic) discovered a Union Jack rolled up in a ball and stuffed into a corner on the floor by the previous occupiers the evening before, who were a Scout Troop.
Pat picked up the flag and went straight to the Parish minister and ripped him a new one. Pat probably had no great love for the Union Jack, but he did have a basic respect for what it was, which was a nation's flag.
I served with D Company, 9th County Antrim Battalion, Ulster Defense Regiment after leaving the Regular Army. D Company was the mainly Catholic company, whereas B Company was comprised of Prods and ex-B Specials and RUC. I was put into D Company because of my very Irish first names, Patrick Michael Neil.
They weren't allowed to ask what religion you were (I'm a Protestant), so I was put into D Company just in case.
The Irish are natural soldiers, btw...I have never seen such professionalism from what were essentially part-time soldiers.
The situation in Northern Ireland is very complex....There is more to it than the Immaculate Conception, Provos, Loyalists, Brits and beer. The Irish are extraordinarily talented people, driven to self-destruction by their past and their various destinies.
The flag of the Irish Republic is referred to by Loyalists as the "Green, White and Gold". It is actually Green, White and ORANGE. It represents PEACE between the Green and the Orange. I cannot think of a more appropriate flag for that tortured island.
