A Shattered Union Cometh

Europe is on the verge of collapse, whether violently or just in a disinterested and bitter, but altogether peaceful, breakup of the eurozone and several european institutions, remains to be seen.

Everyone has different opinions on why the European project is failing at heart, even those for whom, the breakup of the EU is unthinkable. Yet this is what happens, poor fiscal policies in member nations and a one continent wide currency that treats its constituent economies unfairly, coupled with unsustainable government entitlement systems as well as the Joe ignorent public, lulled into reliance on the state transfiguring into the much feared unthinking 'mob' pulled straight from the tales of the great ancient republics of Greece and Rome once the state fails to meet unreasonable demands in the face of crippling past failures of the state. The Greek crisis and its second bailout is, in the eyes of nearly every onlooker, delaying the inevitable. Greece will fall and fall hard, and the European Union, utterly unwilling to admit any of its policies or decisions were in err, has not let the Hellenic Republic go to save itself. If it had, it would have been called selfish and cruel, but the European farce would have at least been preserved for longer. As it stands, Greece will fall, as will other struggling states, including, likely, the Irish Republic (give or take our own fiscal and governmental shenanigans with a different party in nearly two decades finally being in power)

The immoral decadence and refusal of self responsibility of the western Liberal dream will be the death knell of Western Europe as a whole as our eastern European cousins will look on as we commit self destruction. They themselves will likely work with Russia, as the west becomes more akin to a horde of roving barbarians then a civilization to be envied in the coming century.

No one can say with certainly when exactly the fall will happen, or what will occur when it does. But I feel it will have these notable characteristics; There will be a great sense of urgency and crisis in Brussels and the overall European Government which the average man and woman will only vaguely take notice of, crisis policies will be enacted calling for harsher taxes and more centralisation, peacekeeping forces will be deployed to various parts of Europe to prevent anarchy and to bolster failing institutions, likely resulting in inflaming the local populace even further by the unexpected, and in many eyes, unjustified deployments, far right and far left political elements will start gaining voice in the public arena across the continent, at least one or two European governments, most likely centre right governments, or centre left ones with a strong patriotic voter base, will voice dissent publicly and rumours of secession will become increasingly common, and pretty soon in either a velvet revolution of otherwise peaceful but bitter acknowledgement the EU will collapse, or frustrated nation states will start removing themselves from the Union by force, and this will all happen within the space of a year or two and nobody will have any clue what has just occurred or why everything is on fire. Behold the fruits of Revolution!

In either case, God help us all for what will occur after the break up will be beyond prediction.

Our Lady, Queen of Ireland, pray for us.

Do your country a favor, Protest INTO

The Irish National Teacher's Organization is stirring up some rather foul smelling broth with regards to Irish Private education.

This will come as no surprise to others who pay more attention to the Education shenanigens in Ireland, but I'll keep this brief. INTO is currently protesting a law that gives Schools some leeway to choose the teachers they employ based on religious beliefs and sexual orientation (particularly Religious Private Schools, you know, those silly little Catholic Grammar schools that nobody cares about? Silly mediaevalist institutions that they are, I mean really.). Citing the law as discriminatory, and denouncing the concept of schools being informed by a religious ethos to be unacceptable and also citing that a fair percentage of Irish Principals supporting a revamping of The Irish Private school system to remove it from its Catholic Roots. (If some reader could be kind enough to find me a an appropriate link of exactly what law they are talking about I would be most grateful, I wish to look it over myself out of curiosity, or part of the law, this sounds like one of those subsection clauses in legislation that deal with particularities)

Why yes, how utterly unacceptable it is to find that a private educational institution has the capacity to discriminate prospective employees before hiring them. Why, letting Religious Private Schools at that being able to hire teachers that reinforce their socio-ethical, moral and religious values, that is even more preposterous! Shocking even! Loathe the day when such a thing should come to pass! Why, its almost as if there is an incredibly ancient history and tradition spanning centuries upon centuries of Religiously informed Academia driving forth intellectual, technological, philosophical progress and refinement across the entire breadth of human civilizations. But that is silly, fantasy talk, this is the 21st century! We are so much more enlightened and cultured then those brutish, ancient rubes on whose shoulders we stand! Truly we are a society to be envied were tolerance and acceptance is paramount at the expense of the virtues that got us to where we are!

Ok, yes, I am bitter about this. Very bitter. I love education, and have strong opinions on it, its role in society and whatnot but they are apparently as irrelevant in the south as they are in the North. This kind of thing really boils my blood, the deconstruction of the education system, in favor of modernist nonsense thinking, on the basis that religious education is 'discriminatory'.

Really? Thats what they're going with? HEAVEN FORBID! Heaven forbid that an extremely successful system be allowed to continue because they have bloody standards! Next you will be telling me that University level education will become a 'right'!

Sorry for the delay in updates, and the shameful expression of invective that greets you in your blog updates with this post, but this thing is just a right thorn in my side, especially after the debacle here int he north with the 11+ and Catrina Ruan the hypocritical Sinn Fein Education minister who tried to deconstruct our segregated system (in fact the current Sinn fein minister is trying to go further with it), as imperfect as it is, by uh, forcing the communities together into schools. Yes, I'm sure that will heal all wounds, by crushing the offending parties together. I cant see anything negative resulting from this. At all.

A successful visit

Her Majesty the Queen of England's visit to Ireland has concluded and deemed a diplomatic triumph.

And so far I am inclined to agree, but at the same time breath a sigh of relief that she is gone back to England.

I will not focus too much on the particulars of her visit, but I will comment that small touches such as wearing green upon leaving the plane as well as starting off her key speech with a greeting spoken in Gaelige went a LONG way to endearing the Irish population to her. Her visits were cordial, projected disturbances and protests minimal and non violent (mostly), and hopefully Sinn Fein's misjudging of the public mood over this will upset any progress they make down south.

Now with that said, lets get the elephant out of the room. That elephant being the painfully obvious west-briton sentiment in the Irish media, to which Her Majesty was the darling of the hour.

Do not misunderstand me, I am greatful the visit went so well AND that the media tried pushing the positive effects of the visit (the resulting boom in tourism that this will likely cause plus finally having good stories about Ireland being told in foreign media outlets, confirmed by reports from irish Embassies worldwide. Thank God, nothing good about Ireland being said by foreign newsgroups for near 3 years now), but what disgusted me was their attitude towards their urging, and how aggressive it was. They kept pushing the angle that this was a historic visit (it was), but their slavish devotion to this as well as pushing the 'cultural links with Great Britain' (of which there are innumerable, but not something you want to remind the public about if you plan to make us keen on the British monarchy as the same historical poison taints our view of it and pushing the link of monarchy with Britain wont make the modern Irishman more keen on it) reeked of west-britonism, and it did nothing to convince Irishmen that royalism and monarchism really isn't a 'British' thing. Which does not help the Irish Monarchist cause in any light.

Good relations with Britain is necessary economically and perhaps socially (a great many Irish families have members working across the Irish sea) but the west britonism in the media would have us stop speaking Irish for economic integration and 'cultural exchange' by destroying whats left of Irish culture to improve those relations. Which I will never stand for.

One historian brought before the newscaster at the beginning of the visit commentated on how 'there has always been an undercurrent of royalism in Ireland' of which that is 100% true, but then went on to immediately associate that royalism with britain by using the last visit of a British Monarch to Ireland as her one and only example. Really!? Then what of the jacobites? the war of the three kingdoms? the flight of the earls? The blatant monarchism in Irish Catholicism, the actions of Irish Monarchists on the continent both before and after the flight, THE FACT THAT THE MAJORITY OF THE NATIONALIST MOVEMENT IN IRELAND BEFORE THE FIRST WORLD WAR WAS DOMINATED BY IRISH DUAL MONARCHISTS AND NOT BY BLOODY REPUBLICANS!?

Oh and never mind the brief reinstatement of the Council of the Chiefs of the Name officially recognised by the Republican Government before a Scandal forced their dissolution, or how every Irishman is descended from ancient Kings, why those crest must be mere decoration, right? No, sure, it only is relevant if we link royalism with the British Royal family and nothing else.

Its not as if any other royal family has links to Ire-oh wait, there was that one Sovereign Prince fellow wasn't there?

To hell with it, I will do it if they would not. I will start digging up resources and Focus on Irish men, both Nationalists and before the rise of Irish nationalism, who were monarchist, royalists or otherwise disassociated with Britain and associated with Monarchism. If only to, if futilely, dispel the myth of Monarchism being a 'British' thing.

Restoration III: The Church and the Role of Religion in an Irish Monarchy

If there is one aspect of a potential Irish restoration I constantly harp on about as being vital, it is the role of a religious revival in Irish society. And one of the key reasons i've been putting this is off is how incredibly difficult it will be to approach this without coming across as akin to one of those anemic liberals or even some of the more schismatic Catholic elements who say the Church should do this sort or that sort to suit my own interests and sensibilities. That and a fear that my own shambles of a catechizes will discredit whatever I do say.

On top of this is the concern that detractors will point to the heights of Catholicism in Ireland's past and the government cover-ups and the wonton sexual abuses and psychological damage to Irish folk back then crippled us as a society and damaged us to the point of being fascistic automotons. After all, all those famous books written about Irish life back then from liberal leaning authors were completely accurate despite the fact that most of them were absolute fiction bar a few memoirs?

Oh wait terribly sorry, it turns out most of those works have been deeply challenged as inaccurate many times over and are inherently biased. Moving right along then.

It is impossible for me to say exactly why the Catholic Church specifically is necessary for the task of restoration until the role of religion is clarified. In the past Ireland was, ok admittedly, still is a religious country even though it is rapidly becoming secularized. Religiosity defines the Irish character, the Irish Character is, in turn, mocked for its religiosity... and drunkenness, and wife beating, and our odd way of thinking and turn of speech. Whoever said the Irish stopped being acceptable targets in media for comedy? A fool most likely.

Religious revival is neccessary in turning over the dominant Anglo-Americanised culture that has stamped itself across the english speaking world. It is neccessary because with religiosity comes morals and character, inconvenience for politicians and societal rules that are contrary to what has become the norm. The average Irishman and Irishwoman, when they hold deep moral convictions, are going to feel very alien in the dominant, and foreign, culture that surrounds them. And such unifying moral convictions can only come from an organised Religion to inform, preach and uphold them. Should a Religious revival occur across the country, and God willing it does, the dominant anglo-americanised culture will no longer satisfy the Irishman. The west britons calling for a downgrading of the status of Gaelige in Irish institutions and education will sound more and more like the bleating goats they are, an identity crisis will have emerged. We are no longer in the De Valera era and aggressive nationalism is no longer widespread in Ireland but passive nationalistic pride still remains. Well thats what liberals call it, I'd call it cultural pride. As you know, having celtic styled artwork decorating Churches is so 20th century...

The end goal of such a religious revival is of course, if I am forgiven, for thinking of it in politically manipulative terms, is to create real politics, (not to be confused with Real Politik), and by that I mean politicians with backbone, audacity and character. I was extremely mad at Fine Gael handing over the public sector to their Irish labour bedfellows after the general election because it is the perfect example of shameless politics that boils my blood so. If ever I needed reaffirmation of being a Monarchist I need only look south of the Border... or North to Storment. What this achieves is genuine intellectual political conflict to shake the passive Irish mind from its stupor and it is then monarchism can really be spread as an actual alternative amid such a furious storm of political thought brought on by the spread of solid moral values.

The Catholic Church is the perfect institution to achieve this end precisely because it is not an Irish specific institution. A revival of the Catholic Church, (once His Holiness is done with his Reform of the Reform and a couple hundred dozen Inquisitions are completed), will be explosive in Ireland, for one thing most Catholics in Ireland are Lukewarm, on the fence as it were between being a genuinely religious nation or something akin to the average religiosity of Scandinavia. It also helps the Catholic Church still enjoys a predominant position and favoritism of the Irish Government, even if it is unstated. It also helps that Roman Catholicism has a long history of complementing native cultures once conversion has been achieved, (Ireland entered a golden age of intellectual advancement after it converted) although this is not universally true for the cultural identities of some nations who had violent conversions (Lithuania), so the Catholic Church as a worldwide institution not subject to Irish petty politics and governmental chest pounding can wreck merry havoc on the current poisonous cultural attitude in Ireland and set the stage for real challenge and change in Irish politics.

Again, as stated before, for the case of Irish Monarchism, the Catholic Church's position is an immense gamble precisely because it cannot be controlled. If she does not clean house to wipe away the filth of modernist heresies and liberal poisoning of the clerical mind in this country, all it would take would be for a few liberal bishops to condemn the Irish Monarchist movement as 'un-Catholic' to set back the Restoration for 5 decades if we are fortunate. (Then again mind you, there are plenty of faithful clergy in the Catholic Church who are committed republicans even if they are not overtly political, thus increasing the risk of the gamble) The Church need not actively support the movement, all monarchists need for the Church to do is not to oppose us, that leaves one less moral backing for our republican opponents. (and yes as a Roman Catholic I am inherently biased in favor of the Church, but what I say still remains true)

Now with that said and a best case scenario is achieved and a Native Irish Monarchy is restored, it is in my opinion that religion should remain an overt an active part of the Irish lifestyle. Naturally in such a best case scenario the Church itself would handle these matters, so that leaves the public sphere to deal with.

It is the opinion of this monarchist that the Irish Monarchy would recognize religion's role in the public sphere, this will of course mean that non Catholic religions would also be allowed to be active in the public sphere (more on this in subsequent posts on divine supremacy and the toleration of heretics). The Irish Monarchy would by necessity, much like the republican government beforehand, recognize the special role of the Catholic Church as the religion of the overwhelming majority and take account of that. Even going so far as to make it the state religion precisely to emphasis religion's role in monarchy and in the nation as a whole (more on this in the coronation post), the alliance of alter and throne is as old as monarchy itself and even religion, and I see no reason why the Irish Monarchy should be different in this regard. In fact with the added effect of having a strong monarchy with a leashed Dail giving Ireland the benefit of notoriety and prestige int he great family of nations, the establishment of a State religion in today's world would be a flippant and welcome middle finger to the current republican world view and a direct challenge to the republican ideal.

Again, there is no set guarantee that the revival of religion will make Irish minds more susceptible to our many mysterious monarchical machinations, but at the very least it will provide a forum to dispel myths of monarchy being a decidedly 'protestant thing' precisely because any monarchist movement in Ireland as a whole would be overwhelmingly Catholic to begin with.

I) Rex Hibernie. Imperator Scotturum.
II) Clans and the Role of the Church
III) -
- Supplementary post: Divine Supremecy and Tolerance: The Neccessity of State Religion and toleration of Heretics
IV) The Legislative Process in an Irish Monarchy
- Supplementary Post: Monarchist Economics and Dynamic Politics
- The Role of Chieftans and other Lords
V) The High Coronation, the true All Ireland Final
- The Role of the Council of Chieftans, Dynastic succession issues and legitimacy
- The Role of the Church
- The Role of the Monarch and the Royal Family
- Lords, Statesman and Farmers
- Final comments on the Coronation
VI) And all the world is a stage... Foreign Relations and the Role of a Monarchical Ireland in Europe and Elsewhere.

Open Letter to my fellow Irishmen

My fellow Gaels, be you Republican, Nationalist or otherwise count yourself as an Irish Patriot, I feel the need to address this letter to you with regards to upcoming events involving the British Royal Family. It is a plea, rather then a demand, for civility and good character.

As you all know, I am no advocate for the rejoining of Ireland into Great Britain. Far from it, my Monarchist sentiments are separatist and nativist as should be clear to all who read my blog. So I am not going to talk about such an issue.

Rather this is a plea, with regards to agitation amongst Irish Republicans in the Republic of Ireland, towards the Queen of England's state visit, and an encouragement of Irish Nationalists and Patriots to not fall into the pitfall of old hatreds.

To this I will seek to convince you how Her Majesty's visit to Ireland, benefits Ireland as its status as a Sovereign nation rather then a subject one. And to do that I must point out the difference between a visit by the British Monarch to Ireland 100 years ago, and the visit this year.

The difference is simple yet incredibly important. 100 years ago, the British Sovereign visited Ireland as its King and Head of State. Its ruler. At such a time we were very much subject nation. The visit was, in that sense, a personal one of a ruler to his subjects. This Year's visit is one of a stately nature.

By engaging in a State visit, Her Majesty the Queen does not wipe away or invalidate the grievances of the past and that we should all forget the bad stuff ever happened on either side, such as the rather rude telling off those West Britons in the Irish Media has been keen to pile on the already miffed Irish Republican community, rather, the State visit does something much more important for the Republic and one Irish Patriots should be more then happy with.

It is official, symbolic recognition by Britain of the status of Ireland as a Separate entity and Sovereign State. It is, while not written and certainly unspoken, the admittance by the British Government of the loss of Ireland as a territorial claim in any event, which coincides nicely with the past admission of the 'no selfish or strategic interest' we have heard with regards to the Northern Territory.

The visit of a reigning sovereign to Ireland is not an infraction upon the nation's sovereignty or a bold claim by said sovereign to Ireland. This is foolish thinking, one need not only look at the recent visit by the Sovereign prince of Monaco and his fiancée to Ireland, or the visit of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Llama. Both of whom are in fact Sovereigns, one Ruling and one in Exile. Instead, I would advise my fellow Irishmen to capitalize on this visit to show to the World the worth of Ireland. I beg of you to not engage in any plans by organisations to disrupt the visit, cause damage of a physical or proprietary nature to your fellow Irishmen wherever the Queen visits with her Husband, as this will hurt our nation's prestige by engaging in selfish activities that will no sooner help you reclaim the North of Ireland then help Cain finish his wanderings.

As an added plea, to Irish Republicans in particular, with regards to the upcoming Royal wedding. I will not argue you should care for the Joy of England, because that would be inane and irrelevant to you, in fact, I fully believe the wedding should not matter to you by principle. What instead I am asking you to do, is to refuse to attend the rival street parties being organised by British Republicans to protest the Royal Wedding celebrations, they have invited republicans from across Europe to join them.

I will not speak much about them, or their plans for they also have little to do with you or your goals with regards to Ireland. So you may wonder, what then, was the reason why I beg of you to refuse to join these Republicans in their activities? Surely they are as republican as you are? And this is where I am going to have to say no. They are not the same as you, at the very least, not the same as you from where you consider yourselves. For while Irish Republicans consider themselves the spiritual successors of Wolfe tones and the Irish Volunteers of the Easter Rising, the British Republicans are descendants of a much darker, deadlier beast. A shadow daemon who's name is still anathema to any sensible Irishman.

The British Republicans are the spiritual successors of the Arch Heretic, Oliver Cromwell and his Despoiler New Model Army which ravaged Ireland during the Jacobite Wars, banished our nobility and started the centuries of woe we romanticize in earnest.

If you care nothing of the British Monarchy, you certainly care for Ireland at the least. And I beg of you, not as a monarchist, but as an Irishman, for civility and principle. Do not lend credence to the British Republican movement, for by extension you put your lot in with Cromwell. And truly believe the ends of Revolution justify the means of Revolution. Which in this context I truly, in my heart, do not hold that most of you really believe such.

Happy Good Friday,

Servant of the Chief

Dia agus a choimeádann tú, slan go phoile

Princely Visit to Ireland

(Apologies for my absence, University work is piling on and I had some personal issues to get over before I returned to regular blog updates. I have several pieces I wish to discuss backlogged on top of my already backlogged issues that I probably won't get to discuss in detail before the next interruption to regular blog business. I beg your forgiveness and thank you for your patience) I was of course, more then a little delighted when I was made aware of the Princely House of Grimaldi's visit to Ireland. However, sadly mostly to do with issues I have already mentioned, I could not indulge my innate monarchist urge to glue myself to the news of the event and follow it as enthusiastically as I would have loved to do. The Visit had the usual formalities one would expect of state visits, guards of honour, exchanges of gifts, meeting the public, etc. And frankly most news reports I've seen over the matter have been resounding positive... if somewhat muted. This of course bothers me because it is nowhere nearly as big an issue as I would have liked it to be. ''Oh its just an official state visit by a reigning crowned Head of Europe, its not as if we need to publicise this all that much, why its not as if the Irish public are deeply unhappy and depressed during this recession, our economic enslavement to Europe and the slovening cynicism of our crapsack of a political governing system and desperately need something positive to keep their minds off of it all.'' You can see why I am displeased by the lack of exposure in practical terms. Britain has the Royal wedding to look forward to, we had a Royal visit, why couldn't that have been a scene of goodwill and wholesomeness in the Irish view? Because the media didn't want it to be too exposed.

Actually, I'd like to take this time to mention how much I actually like the design of the Irish Defence Forces Officer Uniforms. Reserved but dignified, if a little utilitarian. Makes for a nice contrast with the uniform of the Monegasque officer as the Sovereign prince is welcomed at McKee Barracks to a 21 gun salute and inspects the Irish Guard of Honour respectively. Although in my humble opinion things could've been better if the Republic hadn't of disbanded the Blue Hussars.

However, catching up, I am delighted to report the state visit was a resounding success, and the Irish public were introduced to reigning monarchism that could not be simply be campaigned against or capitalised by Irish Republicans. After all as I often point out in Ireland, however erroneously, monarchism is associated with Britishness, Britishness is un-Irish, therefore monarchism is un-Irish, or stupid, or just evil to those who don't care about patritoism enough to worry about their own damn culture. This cannot be done against His Serene Highness Prince Albert II, nor the Princess-to-be.

Pictured left-to-right: Mr. McAleese, Mrs. McAleese President of Ireland, His Serene Highness Prince Albert II and Charlene

Afterall, the House of Grimaldi is Roman Catholic isn't it? Suddenly the religious issue the more sectarian of Irish Nationalists have against the House of Windsor and their perception of Monarchism is thrown aschew. For most Nationalist this doesn't prove that monarchism isn't un-Irish, but it goes a long way to shake a rather ugly, unspoken, underlying belief that being a monarchist is 'un-catholic'. (This is an ugly disease of a belief that isn't pushed too strongly by the Republican movement in Ireland but it is pushed nonetheless, however covertly), Now there was the real kicker, the Sovereign Prince is, afterall, the son of an American woman of Irish and German descent, Princess Grace. Now the republicans are presented with a real problem when it comes to His Seren Highness, they cannot say he is un-Catholic, and given the Irish Attitude to welcoming even the most distant of Irish descendents, could they really say that the Prince is not Irish?

Not after attending a traditional music session in County Mayo, his ancestral home through his mother they can't.

Now, the more machievelian side of me plans to exploit this wholesale in my dealings with Irish Nationalists not convinced of the Monarchist Cause, the sort who equate monarchism with Britishness. And yes, I am sad to say, no matter how unjust people think it is, it is a given fact, there is a resounding unbelievable resentment towards 'west britonism' in Ireland, and this is the result of History, and while I'm pretty sure most Irishmen don't resent the English or Britain in general nearly as much as past chuvanism would imply. They still absolutely resent being even remotely considered 'British', which is highly ironic given the current prevalent Anglo-American culture in Ireland that is slowly poisoning us. Also you may think it unseemly of me to use the nature of the Sovereign Prince's ancestry via the good Princess Grace as political ammunition against republican nationalists here, and you'd be right, but I have to do it anyway. Irishmen respect family a tremendous deal even if it isnt overtly admitted in public *cough*political-families*cough*, and sometimes the only way you can get through to them is with a living example of how its possible to be a good catholic, of Irish descent AND a Monarchist to break through the revolutionary twattle that has brainwashed the majority of the world as well as the Irish. Sides, I need something to counter the blather over the American President's Irish Descent which the news machine in Ireland is already warming up for his potential visit.

In my next few posts I plan to deal with a few nagging issues, firstly the Issue of Jacobitism in Irish Monarchism, which I have recieved interest from a number of readers for my views on the Irish Jacobite Cause. As well as that a study on the origins of Irish Nationalism, and how my study of it has actually help foster my dissent from the 'traditional' republican view of Irish Nationalism. (Ironically enough this was also the subject of my more academic concerns in University recently) As well as my other project studies such as my Restoration series, which looking back on, needs some re-working.

Slan Go Phoile

The State of the Republic and is St.Patrick's Day worth it?

This has been a long time coming, but it doesn't matter now, for I should've seen it coming. But count me for a fool for believing Fine Gael would keep some of its integrity and not coalition with Labour for the Dail.

Now before I go off on a tangent, let me make a few points clear:

- No. I fully expected Fine Gael to break most of its promises when it got into power. I expect

all parties to do this by default, its up to them to prove me wrong. We are in a Republic afterall, why do we lie to ourselves when we think our parties will be truthful with us? Or honest with themselves?

-Yes. I am well aware that Fine Gael went into coalition with Labour many times in the past, but thats why its so outrageous now.

Want to know why? Because in all of those time Fine Gael went into coalition with Labour, they were not the second largest single unified party in the Republic.

When you look at it that way, suddenly Labour being in coalition doesn't seem so samey now does it?

It was obvious from the start they were going to have to toe the EU/IMF line economically, but the biggest betrayal of this coalition is giving Labour control fo the Public Sector.

Thanks for standing up to the bullying Public Unions and unrealistic expectations in a time of global economic downturn.

I am no fool, I know politics involves a shameful amount of compromise, but when compromise is the expected rather evil rather then the necessary evil, your system is dead. I am fully prepared as to right now, declare that the Republic of Ireland is dead on its feet as a Sovereign power and as a viable model of government for anyone with a conscience, for within twenty years we will be little more then a back water province full of dependent unless something miraculous, or disastrous, occurs.

While we're on the Republic, good news is Her Majesty the Queen will make

a State visit to Ireland soon. No I am not an advocate of Ireland rejoining the commonwealth, that is ABUNDENTLY clear to anyone. What I am in favour of is treating our closest neighbour's Sovereign with the respect a foreign Head of State deserves, despite the grovelling of traitorous knaves who consider themselves 'west Britons' and moaning of Republicans who could not give a damn about the North of Ireland most days but suddenly do when the Queen shows up.

As Well as this, joyously, His Holiness Pope Benedict

XVI is expected to visit Ireland in June, it is not sure if this visit will be Formal or ecclesiastical, either way by that point, Motu Proprio, (and whatever document he is currently writing, according to Roman whispers, that reinforces Motu Proprio and forbids Bishops from interfering with

traditional Latin masses and their practice), will have been in effect since Advent 2011, and will be a delightful display of traditionalism. As you know I have been concerned over the loyalty of Irish Bishops to his Holiness and the rebellion of Liberal clergy against Motu Proprio, I am of the opinion this

visit will be an attempt by His Holiness to not only repair the damage done to the Church of Ireland and the Irish people by clerical abuse scandals, but also to reinforce His Authority in the Church to quash rebellion by his Holiness' presence.

The News of His Holiness, the Dali Llama's abdication is, to this Monarchist's ears, unwelcome and saddening and unexpected, you can read more here at the Mad One's Blog. Equally unexpected, but definitely welcome, is the announcement of a visit visit by His Holiness planned for April Next year. The small Buddhist community in Ireland will doubtlessly be overjoyed.

Speaking of Joy, now onto my distinct lack of it this day.

St.Patrick's Day is not a Holy Day of Obligation, but it is a first class Feast day allowing people to abstain from their, er, abstaining or fasting during the Lenten Period.

Nobody knows this. Most do not even care.

Nothing gets my goat more then my countrymen actively promoting the horrible stereotypes about themselves as something positive (and most of them do this) and reveling in the mediocrity that defines this island with its pre-industrial level population (a meagre 8 million if you include the North, most CITIES have more people then us. I do not care what anyone's arguments are, Ireland is not a modern first world nation by objective standards) There are scoundrels decrying the Irish Language as a dead thing and wishing for its removal fromt he curriculum, all the while certain backtrackers int he Irish times openly argue for Ireland's rejoining of the Commonwealth.

Doubtless some of you think thats a good idea, but most of you arent an Irishman, this is symbolic suicide for us and our culture, given the anglo-american culture Ireland has been suffering under in the modern age, how would rejoining the commonwealth benefit us beyond materialism? We'd only become slightly less indebted servants then we are to Europe.

But this is getting off track, this St.Patrick's day, I will not go out to the parades, for there is nothing Irish about them any more, nor will become a drunken wreck, for not only do I not drink but it would be adverse to the spirit of the celebration to begin with. St.Patrick's day is now an 'International' celebration where everyone is 'a little Irish'.

Oh alright then, so Thanksgiving is an International holiday, where we all gourge ourselves on food and are all 'a little American' and giving thanks to... God only knows who. Ironically enough some scoundrels in the Irish Times actively suggest we take on a thanksgiving-esque holiday as a 'meaningless' holiday as if it was a good thing.

I am not adverse to St.Patrick's day being celebrated outside Ireland, there are MILLIONS of people with Irish Descent, with full right to feel Irish on this day. What I am adverse to is the downplaying of Irishness to being little more then plastic bloody shamrocks blue-tacked everywhere and nothing else while the carnival dancers go about their merry way. Why the hell do we have to borrow cultural staples from Latin American countries? Are we that bankrupt? Yes or no doesn't matter, we just can't be Irish.

I am not about to Argue against Drinking, for I see nothing intrinsically wrong with it, or the practise of drinking during celebrations, its a practice older then recorded history, nor will I deny drinking is not part of our Culture, because for better or for worse it definitely is. But By God in Heaven and all of the Saints and Angels! If the Bavarians can control themselves during Octoberfest and still keep it recognisably Bavarian and German why can we not!?

Also it doesn't help that Raidió Teilifís Éireann has gone out of its way to cartoonise this Holiday http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HDSEqlw5sw&feature=featured

Is St.Patrick's Day even worth it anymore? I am so utterly disheartened that this day has been so actively maligned and parodied and cartoonised by the culture often associated with, that my very blood boils every time I turn on the news and see the intensely pathetic false patriotism and pride on display around this country, all the while the ignorent go about in their alcohol induced, vomit ridden hangovers and the evil who know exactly what they are doing, deconstructing the very meaning of being Irish with this holiday, smiling from behind their keyboards.

For what its worth, I am of course your very unhappy Servant of the Chief, and I wish you all a Happy and Holy St.Patrick's Day. Slan go Phoile

Ash Wednesday

Have a good Lent! I would be happy to pray for those who request it.

Rebellion in the Irish Church

Just when you think you've hit rock bottom...

The New translation of the Roman Missal is set to hit Ireland From Advent onwards, this missal, to sum it up simply if somewhat inaccurately, would enforce a stricter interpretation of the Second Vatican Council, slight reforms in the procedures and layouts in Novus Ordo Mass, and a greater liberalization of the Latin Extraordinary form (or so I'm led to believe, I welcome people to correct me in the comments if they feel I am in err).

This new Missal has got alot of liberal Catholics everywhere worried, which is what originally made me so interested in it, and I am rather shocked to learn that organizations of priests in America are advocating outright rebellion against Rome should this be implemented. The sad thing is there is an element of this rebellious spirit in the Irish Church too but I am ignorant as to its full extent, as I am fairly certain my own parish priests would submit to Rome is push comes to shove. But this element of rebellion is troublesome.

Outside of the obvious religious and social concerns I have over these developments, regular readers will recall I have previously stressed a renewal and strengthening of the Catholic Church in Ireland is needed to institute traditional conservative mentalities among the Irish from which any movement to re-establish a Gaelic monarchy can possibly be facilitated, and my own support of what I viewed as an Inquisition into the Irish clergy in the Apostolic Visitation, (again inaccurate but I liked viewing it as such), from which we have learned one of the Bishops say the Irish Church has less then ten years to avert disaster. Which when you think about it is a generous portion of time compared to the rest of Europe. Without a Strong degree of Religious Unity Ireland will sink that much faster into the pit of secularism and I do not need to point out the intrepid dangers of such a path.

Keep in mind, it was Ireland's conversion to Christianity that gave Gaelic civilization a desperate revival it needed when the rest of Europe was in its dark age, it didn't fix the problem of Irish Society being so stagnantly conservative that we were using armour and weapons designs in the 1400s that dated back to La Tene Celtic culture. If the Church can revitalize and consolidate itself, we will have a real chance to start the counter revolution properly in Ireland. Otherwise Apathy and death await the country.

I am under no illusion about these schismatics, should they as a group split from communion with Rome and go full liberal backwater, they will die out incredibly faster then the Protestant movements are. I honestly believe these to be hollow threats to scare Rome from putting its foot down as it inevitably will, sooner or later.

God, I hate Hollywood

Note: The reason why I have not updated about the State of the Republic is because I needed some time after the election to calm down lest I write naught but insane drivel and make a damn fool of myself. In the meantime, lets talk about what seems to be big on the Monarchist Blogosphere right now, Monarchy in the Movies. Lets have a rant about that first.

I went to see the King's Speech last week, and if nothing else about it, it made me laugh with the interactions between His Majesty and his speech therapist. But you can read other blogs about in depth reviews of movies and the subtle untruths and liberal whitewashing strewn throughout it, I wont waste my time reviewing it in depth here. Not this is about how monarchy and anything traditional is represented in movies these days. BraveHeart, Robin Hood, Kingdom of Heaven and now an upcoming movie entitled Ironclad.

In these movies, even the romantically entertaining ones such as Braveheart and Elizabeth: The Golden Age which usually portray ONE of the monarchs as the good guy, (except in Braveheart where the portrayed Robert the Bruce as a cowardly slave to his ailing father's will who betrayed William Wallace at the crucial moment and reaped the crown anyway), The same God damn annoying tropes are seen again and again and again and again. The kings are useless, evil, or nothing without a crass, classless friend to poke them along (did I mention Braveheart made it seem as if William Wallace started off the rebellion as a Peasant?), the Heroes are cynical sceptics of the contemporary government system and, (if it has a religious bent such as in the Season of the Witch) They are also sceptics religiously by default BECAUSE GOD FORBID WARRIOR HEROES IN THE MIDDLE AGES NOT BE SCEPTICS. Another Annoying trope and one that does not limit itself to the its representation in movies set in the middle ages is the uselessness of priest characters. If they are not Fanatics, they are somber, brooding, unhappy delirious, insane or otherwise extremely unlikeable persons who NEVER answer a sceptical character's questions. Ever. Its a rule, even when the priest characters are presented as good they are never able to answer a question that even I, poor sod of a Layman could answer, A priest is a man who dedicates his life to such questions and he wouldn't even attempt an answer? Really!? Also don't get me started on supposedly Catholic characters believing in the Rapture. This trope is endemic in any and every exorcism movie, especially the latest one, The Rite which I have to admit was a little entertaining but who's glaring flaws annoyed the hell out of me.

And now this new movie, Ironclad, it has told me enough from the teaser advert and promotional poster alone to tell me it is Kingdom of Heaven meets Robin Hood. Disillusioned sceptic of a crusader returns home and rebels against his king who is of course a ruthless bloody tyrant who rules arbitrarily and the hero will fight for democracy and freedom and tolerance and blah blah blah, God why can't I go to the cinema and just be entertained anymore?

If nothing else, the new Batman Movies are in my own view immensely entertaining, but it is a sorry state of affairs when professional entertainers can present comic book characters in faithful if original lights and not History.