Northern Irish Unionists views of Ireland, Belfast City, 1969

Kevin O’Kelly speaks to Alex Scott, his family and friends, all of whom live on the Shankill Road. They give their views on the Pope, Catholics, civil rights, the Northern Ireland government and keeping their own religion.
Their attitude to the present crisis is formed by their experience of living in the Shankill area and their religious views. The Scott family and friends talk about the divisions that exist between the Shankill and the Falls Road. They talk about the prospect of being governed by Catholics, which is not something they would like. They feel that whoever is in power does not really matter to the people. They argue that what people are concerned about is keeping their own religion. They discuss their impressions of Catholicism, the power of the Pope, and birth control.
They are all in agreement that Captain O’Neill’s visit to Dublin was the starting point of the trouble. One man describes O’Neill as a “traitor” for protestants. They also discuss the benefits to Catholics of being part of the North Ireland and the United Kingdom.
The topics covered are similar to the discussion that took place on the Falls Road between O’Kelly and a Catholic family.

[@punkrocker6431]

Funny the way they blamed the older ones being bitter, and now we would blame their generation. Never ending cycle

[@cormacmacallister1474]

Was thinking this myself! Wasn't aware there were riots in Belfast following the partition either! Very informative

[@padruigmacrodain]

Tá an ceart agat. Very true. Spot on.

[@studslannigan6286]

Only gave you a like so it was '67 ...a very good year😂😂

[@RobertK1993]

Theses Ulster Protestant really are secatarian

[@marcanonime8078]

Thank you for uploading this fascinating footage.

[@victorsauvage1890]

Shows what is possible in evolutionary growth -- (We have gone backwards.)

[@adamkentisaac]

Alex Scott is the most professional-looking unemployed person I've ever seen.

[@addictedtocraic]

Civil Rights protesters wanted equal British rights, not a United Ireland. It was Paisley introduced that myth that has endured to this day.

[@RobertK1993]

Some where Irish Nationalists

[@padruigmacrodain]

@@RobertK1993 True.

[@vincenthigginbotham8729]

Yes Paisley has a lot to answer for Terence O Neill was trying to get around the problem but he got shot down

[@foraustralia2558]

​@@RobertK1993 Irrelevant .. as Harold Wilson made clear to the Protestants Of NI .. stop spongin off Britain.. if you are in Britain ALL have civil rights.. end of storey

[@jmccullough662]

But the IRA capitalised on the discontent and used the opportunity to start their war for a united Ireland.

[@padruigmacrodain]

There is no such thing as having too many children. I know a Roman Catholic family in North Kerry with twelve children. All loved, cared for and reared well. Nothing wrong with it.

[@padruigmacrodain]

@Laurence O'Connor no, that's a family that elected never to bring the demon of contraception into their married life and welcomed the twelve glorious offspring that God rewarded them with. And now the father whose wife recently passed has an entire network of children and grandchildren to rely on and that is a serious advantage to a fella in his old age. Of that you can be almightily sure.

[@studslannigan6286]

Protestants ..whatever that is ...are only bitter and jealous cos ...WE ARRA PAPAL with high quality sperm🤗

[@Optimus18]

So utterly frustrating that the unionist mentality often steers them to obsess over what they perceive to be the culture and private lives of 'Catholics' ...and their assumption that everyone who wants a completely free Ireland is a 'Catholic'. It would be funny if not so tragic when you see people - who are quite possibly not particularly religious themselves - fixate so much on what they perceive to be religion and every word that comes out of their mouth is influenced by it.

[@rabburns1382]

My cousin is one of 12 children, from a Belfast family......of PROTESTANTS. .Ah ha ha ha ha ha

[@RobertK1993]

Nothing wrong being Protestant or Catholic

[@Hipit55]

Fast-forward to 2023 Unionist domination is over and despite decades of discrimination Catholics are now the largest single group in Northern Ireland with more elected political representatives in government than any other group.

[@katoness]

The establishment have always known how to divide and conquer. They still continue to play that game, I wish people would wake up!!

[@victorsauvage1890]

Yes

[@liamkatt6434]

For 'don't let the Catholics take over' read 'don't let the Catholics feel equal in any way'.

[@LurganGoon91]

Equally as poor and unemployed?

[@studslannigan6286]

@@LurganGoon91 Aye okay ..Let's never have a Roman Catholic about the place@ Basil Brooke ...we are the papal😂😂...Sinn Fein rule the roost ye planters🤗🤗🤗

[@LurganGoon91]

@@studslannigan6286 ok sure

[@Ohh-Johnny-boy]

Ahh the poor Catholics, my grandparents and there parents before them were equally poor as any Catholic, and Protestants remember how they were treated in the south, no equality then just murder and discrimination. The new Irish will be your problem not Protestants the globalist EU will make sure of it. #irelandisfull

[@kevinjackson292]

In England in this year of 2023 listening to this by people claiming to be British is truly shocking. Unionist Sectarianism is very wrong.

[@Mistyfire]

Fascinating

[@janetcw9808]

I always want to know what happened to all the characters in their lives x

[@ManannanmacLir69]

They all died of cancer including the poor baby.

[@Dannydantimpat]

@Janet Carr Wharton They probably continued to believe that it’s they who were discriminated against , fell for the DUP lies , and save up to buy flowers for the queen of England and then wonder why they are poor .

[@studslannigan6286]

Joined the UVF and killed hundreds of Roman Catholics for sure.

[@RobertK1993]

​@@ManannanmacLir69Awful if you wish that.

[@ninelivecat]

There is a lot of wisdom here from an Irish Catholic

[@MacCionnaith]

Just goes to show that most tragedies could be avoided when people discuss their problems calmly rather than letting emotions rule them.

[@studslannigan6286]

Are you serious ...unbelievably thick and just full of ignorance...Civil Rights for Protestants🤣🍊🤣🍊🤣🍊🤣

[@charliem5332]

God they were terrible naive

[@ManannanmacLir69]

That's what all governments and bankers rely on.

[@LionXV1]

Naive about what?

[@RobertK1993]

@@LionXV1 About Irish Roman Catholics

[@LionXV1]

​@@RobertK1993 about which aspects of Irish Roman Catholics? They said a lot of things, some of which was true.

[@wolfthequarrelsome504]

"They do what the pope says". No Catholic told her that.

[@studslannigan6286]

...and if the Pope says NO we'll have another go around the green grassy slopes of Ardoyne 🤣🤣🤣

[@RobertK1993]

Presbyterians are fearful of Roman Catholics more than Anglicans but this ignorance in 1960s is amusing.

[@studslannigan6286]

@@RobertK1993 What the hell are Presbyterians afraid of??? The United Irishmen of 1798 were all about Catholic Protestant and Dissenter and the British used the old Divide and Rule tactic for their very own monetary benefit do defeat these noble aims. The Irish Flag represents all of the people of the 32 Counties traditions so come join us folks....UNITED 32 FOR ALL.

[@victorsauvage1890]

Beautiful people

[@dcog2882]

"There's hundreds of us can't get houses too" . Compared to the 10s of thousands of catholics that couldn't get a house because of the bitter protestants landlords and the corrupt housing even to today .. falls road 2 bed house roughly 600 a month 100ft across the road on the Shankill the same house go for 300 a month ..

[@thomassmith7374]

Your talking nonsense. Most of the private housing on the Falls and Shankill rds are owned by Dublin property developers. Are you honestly saying that the Dubliners are favoring Shankill protestants over their Falls rd Catholic counterparts 😂

[@ropaul8006]

It doesn't matter anymore. Both of you will be a minority

[@punkrocker6431]

@@thomassmith7374 think hes talking about the 60s, you know.. In relation to the video you just watched

[@thomassmith7374]

@@punkrocker6431 I think hes talking about todays housing market. Very few people owned thier own house on the falls and shankill rds in the 1960s and im sure that Dublin property developers wernt in the Belfast housing market back then either. Investors from the irish republic and further a field didnt start buying in N. Ireland until the Good Friday Agreement.

[@henrypierce8900]

​@@thomassmith7374 thank you thomas. Astute observation!

[@padruigmacrodain]

The angry young fella on the left could easily be a southerner, physically speaking. Looks like a Clare hurler. The paranoia in these people really is something else.

[@RobertK1993]

We they are Ulster Scots Presbyterians are most anti Roman Catholic of all Irish Protestants.

[@ciaranlarkin1035]

Is that not Steve Staunton 😮

[@johnmcgrath1929]

They all look Irish...no difference there.

[@studslannigan6286]

@@johnmcgrath1929 All look Irish? please explain that idiotic comment.

[@RobertK1993]

Don't compare Clare Hurling team this bigot.

[@tommybut2123]

capt oneill was a good man

[@raymondhaskin9449]

He was an awful leader that resigned when faced with a challenge.

[@howardmckeown7187]

he was my neighbour

[@sentimentaloldme]

​@@howardmckeown7187 I thought he was a very nice man.. Obviously he knew what was coming down the tracks so he resigned..

[@TheLastAngryMan01]

He once made a comment to the effect that it was frightfully difficult to explain to Unionists that Catholics having a fairer chance of a good living would prevent them having “fifteen children on state assistance.” So he was a bigot, just a bit more enlightened than the types who eventually brought him down.

[@geometricstranger7198]

Looking back, their concerns about the Catholic Church were completely valid. I'm from the Republic, and I am delighted that the church is losing power every day - religion and state should be separate. Most young people in the ROI and NI don't give a shit about religion anymore thankfully. I wonder how that will impact future relations between the two states.

[@biffin62]

Annoys me when people say so often that the conflict in Northern Ireland had nothing to do with religion. If everyone had been Catholic or Protestant or Buddhist would they still have been kicking the bejesus out of each other? Somehow I think not! Conflict arises from difference. Religious difference equals cultural difference and can run deep as it cuts into people's own insecurities about their inherited beliefs. To belong to a religious creed is an act of violence against mankind and leads to violence. As Krishnamurti said; "Truth is a pathless land". An Ireland of ex-Prots and ex-Catholics can be a land of peace and unity and, like you, I'm glad it's heading that way.

[@peacehope7365]

Yes, I can actually understand why NI protestants were very nervous of a united Ireland in the days when the ROI was a Catholic bastion, effectively controlled by priests. But, thankfully those days are gone. Ireland is a much more inclusive country now, and a united Ireland is the sensible course, when everyone is ready for a peaceful transition ☮️

[@RobertK1993]

@@peacehope7365 They themselves where under Orange Order Presbyterian rule no different fool hate dul anti Roman Catholic bile LED by Ian Paisley mouthpiece.

[@RobertK1993]

@@peacehope7365 They themselves where under Orange Order Presbyterian rule no different fool hate dul anti Roman Catholic bile led by Ian Paisley mouthpiece.

[@2randomblackmen]

My father was an Atheist for 20 years before he went back to the Catholic Church. One of the things he taught me was that no matter what, people believe their own bullshit. Everyone will find some other excuse to hate and then kill one another, even with religion out of it (if not especially). Communist Atheists and Fascist Atheists (like many N*zis) killed millions of people over ideology, class or ethnicity. The Northern Ireland Conflict had religion as one facet. It went beyond that, Unionists just used the old, contrived BS fear mongering of what happens when Catholics gain power. When Kennedy was elected in the US, Protestants (and Atheists) said the Pope would rule the US. That did not happen. You may champion religions like the Catholic and Protestant churches losing power, but Nietzsche’s warning about the Death of God. Religion, for all it faults, still was able to hold people back from their worst excesses. Because people in the 1890s were less religious, he warned the 20th century would be the bloodiest century, and with figures like Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot. Along with both World Wars, I think it’s to fair say he was not wrong. Religion is merely another excuse, and even a lazy criticism that has been used to start anti-Christian, anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim campaigns such as in the USSR, for why people cannot get along. Ethnic, cultural, linguistic, political and social distinctions will still be there, as they are in Northern Ireland.

[@tommybut2123]

smoking under weans nose

[@jazzkat8322]

Bloody pesents.

[@peteymax]

Normal back then, no different to most smokers

[@jazzhands7771]

​@@jazzkat8322 Pesents?

[@patrickmac2799]

It's sad that they seem to want to believe that the demise of NI's economy can be blamed on someone. This is a typical division of the working class.

[@RadioNul]

get the second hand smoking in early

[@ffi1001]

Funny how the English accent has changed but these NI accents sound the same as now as they did in 1969🤷‍♀️

[@wolfthequarrelsome504]

And 1690.

[@hayleys1260]

I love the Northern Irish accent better than any variant of English in the world. Beats the lazy Canadian and American drawls I've grown up with, it sounds like music in comparison.

[@rahan9886]

3:55 girl was thirsty but there was an empty cup

[@ManannanmacLir69]

The poser father smoking around the kid as well. Pure ignorant knackerz. They relied on the ignorance of the working classes to get them to fight each other.

[@LionXV1]

@@ManannanmacLir69 Smoking wasn't well known to cause health issues back then. How exactly are they ignorant?

[@ManannanmacLir69]

@@LionXV1 Sit down son. Let me show you how the world really works kzbin.info/www/bejne/emPXZaiVqaqYnK8

[@abegley27]

Fascinating to hear their concerns about the influence of the Catholic church when 50 odd years later the republic would legalise gay marriage and abortion well before Northern Ireland. It's the loyalists in the north who were and still are the main opponents to such progressive policies. And of course, they're a minority now but still disrupting political progress for the majority of people in NI.

[@maxpower1337]

I feel less welcome in north of Ireland than England like a lot of people of roi unfortunately.

[@grahamfleming8139]

7 out of9 counties of Ulster are now European 🇪🇺 and Irish

[@saoirseclarnimhuiris7910]

I have been described as talking klygon when speaking Gaeilge! They possibly only understood f*ucking moron!

[@greensam7074]

The Reverend Ian Paisley A Godly man, a man of peace, a cultured man, a gentle man, a quiet, thoughtful man, a man of reason, a man who listened to both sides of an argument and applied common sense, an empathetic man, an unbiased man, a man who believed in religious freedom for all, a man who believed in equality for all, a man who preached the true words of God ………… love thy neighbour, turn the other cheek, etc etc. Whoops, sorry, thinking of a different man, in a different country, under tyrannical British rule, yet he really was a man of peace, love and harmony……….. Mahatma Gandhi ❤❤❤❤

[@foraustralia2558]

Mahatma Gandhi... did not think the Briitish were Tyrannical ... and he said so .. He said he would use the better part of the British & British peope to shame the establishment to free India without violence That would not have worked with most empires in history ... ie Hitler / Stain etc

[@studslannigan6286]

@@foraustralia2558 Your comment is seriously lacking in English grammar and needs taken out and shot🤣🤣🤣

[@studslannigan6286]

@@foraustralia2558 Briitish peope...Stain ...is that Stalin or British peope🤔🤔🤔

[@summerdayfly]

I know alot of protestant people who would have no problem with an united ireland and l know alot catholics who want thing's to stay as they are!!!!

[@FionanOMurchadha]

They Irish Unionist people may have turned their back on the Irish nation but we will never turn our back on them☘

[@saoirseclarnimhuiris7910]

Cinnte. I'd just give them the finger instead!

[@FionanOMurchadha]

@@saoirseclarnimhuiris7910 na they are apart of the Irish nation what do you think the flag means? 🇮🇪

[@damiendeery5765]

These people are clueless..😁

[@christyb271]

Jimmy Saville proud Roman Catholic to the end raised up by Irish Jesiut priests gave him a first class education.

[@wolfthequarrelsome504]

You knew him well, it seems.

[@Iguazu65]

Kincora. Look it up.

[@RobertK1993]

​@@Iguazu65 DUP cover up that

[@RobertK1993]

Jimmy not Irish though

[@MsRustynuts]

Having too many kids that they can't feed or look after,🤣🤣🤣

[@georgebrowne5935]

I am always amused by Unionists in Ireland. They were immigrants to Ireland, and the Irish Culture must change?? No other People in the World would tolerate this. The British Government were responsible for all this fiasco, the immigrants were told they were more special, and merely took advantage.

[@skog44]

Everyone in Ireland is of immigrant stock from 9th and 10 centuries. Many are from the Vikings that established trade networks out of Dublin. Even the Normans are Vikings.

[@hayleys1260]

It's what muslims are doing in every country they immigrate to, en masse, lately tens of thousands of them illegally, especially to the UK and Ireland. They infest, then demand the local culture change for their bronze age beliefs. Exactly the same as what you're describing.

[@fyrdman2185]

They weren't immigrants though

[@jackietreehorn5561]

India has something like 200 different cultures and religions and all get on fine in majority.. Ireland has two and can't agree on anything lol...from the north myself

[@foraustralia2558]

The KEY issue in NI was always Civli Rights.. and ironically British public opinion & the Govt was on the Catholics side right until the IRA started dropping squaddies..Though pompous incompetent British handling of it all ... let everyone, particular the Soldiers down as well .... NI protestant attitudes & bigotry had been unknown in the mainland for 150 years ( except Glasgow )

[@studslannigan6286]

Started dropping Squaddies???? was that before or after the brits started dropping Irishmen, women and children🤔🤔

[@studslannigan6286]

Explain Glasgow. I know something about that city.....

[@foraustralia2558]

@@studslannigan6286 Well its not same level as NI .. & in fact in the last 20 years much of the Rangers ? Celtic carry on has reduced..

[@foraustralia2558]

@@studslannigan6286 You dont know your history.. British army in 68 didnt drop any IRA in fact it is now acknowledged by both of them that they worked together to end the Bogside war & remove the local police / UVF from the picture .. Cant change facts.. sure it turned out badly .. but they were caught between the ProdS & the Catholics.. Once ( some elements) of the IRA attacked them directly as part of thier agencde Rather than doing what they should have been doing to protect their community NEVER forget that then PM Harold Wilson stated POWER SHARING .. with the Sunning dale agreement Which only a full blown Orangeman UVF / UDA insurrection managed to destroy

[@studslannigan6286]

@@foraustralia2558 Well the old Rangers spent decades cheating and robbing Scottish football and they paid that price ...deservedly so ...KARMA 1872-2012🤗

[@stamfordmeetup]

Jimmy Saville was RC, sums it up.

[@padruigmacrodain]

That is a disgusting comment. Shame on you.

[@wolfthequarrelsome504]

...and never even once entered the Kincora Boys Home. Imagine.

[@gowesht9695]

Gary Glitter was prod, sums it up

[@padruigmacrodain]

Northern Irish Unionists have lived in Ireland all their life. They just live in that part of Ireland which remained in the United Kingdom after 1922. The title of this footage is entirely erroneous and misleading.

[@jay70328]

So, by your argument, they live in the United Kingdom, and not Ireland? 😂

[@padruigmacrodain]

@@jay70328 No, they live in that part of Ireland which remained in the United Kingdom after 1922, just like I said. I.e. They both live in Ireland and the United Kingdom simultaneously, is that not what living in the Six Counties of Northern Ireland amounts to?

[@jay70328]

@@padruigmacrodain that's like saying living in Strasbourg means you live in Germany, or living in California means you live in Mexico. Northern Ireland is in the UK, and *on* the island of Ireland. But they (we) do not live *in* Ireland. The land is not a part of the country of Ireland, at least not for now.

[@padruigmacrodain]

@@jay70328 Actually, you do live in Ireland, what you call the island of Ireland, I call Ireland, what you call Ireland, I call the Irish Republic. The Irish Republic has no moral right, nor ever has had any moral right, nor ever will have any moral right to hijack the age-old name of our island home and simply appropriate it for itself. You can use the term " island of Ireland " all you like, personally I consider it dumb, stupid, even nauseating, ( and of course, it is very much of recent origin, I grew up in the South in the 1980s ( born, for the record, in '77 ) and that term was practically never used, it only caught on in the late 90's/ Noughties ) so to re-cap, Northern Ireland is simply that part of Ireland which remained in the United Kingdom after 1922 and the country which is now the Republic of Ireland is simply that part of Ireland which did not. Northern Unionists will always be Irish Unionists whether they like it or not, they are simply those Irish Unionists who won out as opposed to those former Irish Unionists and their descendants, south of the present border, who did not.

[@jay70328]

@@padruigmacrodain I remember once when I was around 8 years old, my brother and I were playing Lego. I had a police station and he had a fire station. We were setting up our Lego town, and he said "the flags go this way because the wind is blowing this direction". I proceeded to point my flags a different direction and said "my wind is blowing this way". We still laugh about it too this day. That is basically your whole argument, that YOU find it nauseating, and YOU find it dumb etc. No one cares what YOU think. The facts are the facts, and NI is NOT a part of Ireland.

[@Saddam_al-Husseini]

Me as a Catholic: 😳

[@footballspecialmineral6139]

A woman mother sister aunt female talking of other women female aunts sisters as if there not women aunts sisters mothers

[@PatrickJOHanlon]

I would like to know if there is such a thing as a SIN in the Protestant Religion

[@saoirseclarnimhuiris7910]

They are just sh*tting themselves in fear of being as badly treated as they did to us Northern Fenians in the occupied six counties! Tá ár lá tagtha mo chairde!🇮🇪🇮🇪💚💚💚

[@Copium6921]

I find it sad that Catholics and Protestants fight we are all brothers in Christ

[@fyrdman2185]

It's not really about religion now is it? It's an ethnic conflict between British particularly Scottish against the Irish.

[@jackietreehorn5561]

​@@fyrdman2185wouldn't say that, there are more peace walls post gfa than before in Belfast and Derry

[@tommybut2123]

bllsht ignorance

[@JMc-ki7kq]

"Northern Irish unionist", what other sort of Northern Irish person is there? Nationalist don't call ourselves Northern Irish. In fact if I ever be asked the question in a form I would tick British before I would ever call myself Northern Irish. It's a disgusting term to have attached to you.

[@TheDrednaught]

Lol

[@ffi1001]

What the hell are you saying. You lot are oddballs. A man has a welsh accent then people refer to him as the welsh guy he doesn’t snap back ‘I’M BRITISH!’ Ask a Scot he’ll say he’s Scottish only you fools in NI shouting I’m British! Whining about it. You’re Irish man get over it

[@tc2664]

J Mc I'm Irish and I actually do agree with you that Unionists should only be classed as being British because if they suddenly come out classing themselves as being "Northern Irish" which is connecting themselves with the Irish identity after spending hundreds of years not associating themselves with anything to do with the word Irish then it's a bit worrying for Unionism / Loyalism.

[@RobertK1993]

@@tc2664 Unionists and Loyalists are snowflaked offended by differences

[@matthewlav2734]

@Fíonán Murphy British isles

[@footballspecialmineral6139]

Orange 🍊houses are warm but there homes are cold

[@RobertK1993]

Ulster Unionists are fools they think Northern Ireland wasn't backward like Republic of Ireland in 1920s-90s

[@kindnessfirst9670]

Dividing people by religion makes almost as little sense as dividing them by so called "race".

[@drumnoisemccringlelovins4621]

In the beginning Britain had to fight the celts off many times ; seems like you kinda have to go way back to understand the history fully; I like the celts and Irish better ; but sometimes I like Brittain for instance they abolished slavery a lot earlier than America so in some ways they do ok I don’t really know seems like a wretched hive of lizards to me but I guess I don’t really know I just know I like the tv shows they do lol

[@drumnoisemccringlelovins4621]

European tv is great the architecture is better and everyone smokes and drinks I love it lol

[@drumnoisemccringlelovins4621]

I figured out what’s going on Irish people are from China lol

[@siofra3819]

The English help start slavery. When they stopped it after getting rich from it they owned 30% of Africa had to make their money back some way

[@wolfthequarrelsome504]

The Catholic church abolished slavery in the 4th century.

[@footballspecialmineral6139]

Orange 🍊porridge we are the ready breks there ignorance can not be matched non pareials