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The term "Catholic" in the north is often interchanged with the word "nationalist" and can be used as another term to describe someone from the Irish nationalist community without necessarily possessing strict religious or theological connotations. I prefer to avoid the term myself as it feeds into the sectarian "two warring religious tribes" narrative of the "Troubles" and subsequent political tension, which is an insidiously false portrayal of Irish history, as far as I'm concerned, that seeks to relieve a very important third party, Britain, of its primary role and responsibility in the conflict.Originally Posted by Olé Olé
Britain, rather, prefers to portray itself as having been a neutral or peace-keeping referee that was fundamentally external to the discord. The evidence, however, says otherwise. The conflict was one between national identities over disputed territory, or the constitutional status of the north of Ireland, in other words. Britain, in defending, or asserting even, its colonial/imperial and economic interests, obviously played a massive primary role - throughout centuries of Irish history up until modern times - in contributing to the disagreement and violence. Religion became a sort of internal social marker, but sectarianism was secondary to the real roots of the conflict, which were political and national.
As I was saying above, I heard Laura Lacole on the radio in the middle of May discussing her and Eunan's plans for a humanist wedding. She described Eunan as having been from a Catholic family background, although I recall getting the distinct impression from her words that he wasn't particularly religious or devout himself and it seems he was fully open to a humanist "conversion" once she outlined her humanist outlook to him.
I suppose I'd consider my self a "cultural Catholic" (if I was going to apply such a label at all) even though I'm really an agnostic atheist in a philosophical sense. Also, if one is applying for a job in the north, they must submit an equality and diversity equal opportunities form along with their CV or application pack. In England, these forms list a number of ethnicities from which to choose in order to identify your ethnic or cultural heritage and look like the following:
In the north, you might sometimes find a similar section (which isn't a legal requirement, but is recommended by the Equality Commission) to the following on such forms:
But you'll also find the following in all cases, as it's a legal requirement:
I would tick the box corresponding with "I am a member of the Roman Catholic community" there. I know it's not really asking me if I believe in transubstantiation or if I go to Mass every week.
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