We have seen the flight of the infamous 'C company'. Not that they were unique in criminality and in preying upon their own community. However, not long ago it was possible to drive by their drug supplies store in the lower Shankill, which remained blatantly 'open for business' even after police raids. Young people from all over Belfast could obtain supplies courtesy of C company.
Young Catholics were as warmly welcomed as young Protestants – providing they had ready cash.
Caution seems to have been thrown to the wind as prostitution rackets helped fill the coffers. Older people and decent younger people who wanted to live in peace became fearful – not of the IRA but of the gangsters who were calling themselves loyalists. A UDA spokesman once proclaimed that their loyalty was to the people. Such a loyalty is incompatible with this kind of behaviour and would instead place the welfare of the community at the heart of all their activities.
Gusty Spence spoke 30 yars ago of a once proud Shankill Road that had been the heart of loyalism, then lying torn and bleeding. He spoke of poverty and squalor, of slums, deprivation and suffering and said he would not disagree with those who spoke of 50 years of misrule. Most of the pain came from neglect and from the planners who destroyed communities. Not
only were his words unheard but loyalists more recently began to plague and destroy the Shankill Road. People were driven from their homes, some were
burned out and others were murdered. This is not the heritage we prided ourselves on. People in these areas were once proudly independent despite the squalor. There were socialists, radicals, liberals as well as orthodox people of all shapes and sizes. They were not afraid to say what they thought or to oppose unjust orthodoxies –
such people still exist but have largely been cowered into silence by unscrupulous people who masquerade as loyalists. It was once about defying tyranny and despotism but some loyalists have become despots themselves. In more recent times this radical
tradition was evident when, for example in 1993, the Combined Loyalist Military Command, comprising UDA, UFF, UVF and RHC, in six principles defended "the right of anyone or group to seek constitutional change by
democratic, legitimate and peaceful means". That frightened some people – it always does – but it represented all that is best in loyalism. After the flight of C company change seems inevitable but could be for better or for worse. Catholics worry that loyalists will seek to sort out
their own problems by attacking easy targets – innocent Catholics.
There is however another possibility, one that requires courage, integrity, intelligence, determination, compassion and hard work. Loyalists could
finally redeem the name of loyalism by being true to all that is best in their tradition and by working for a better future for all and especially for the weak and powerless. They could seek to end the infernal sectarianism that has diminished us all. Just because others seem oblivious or indifferent to the needs of working-class loyalist communities is no
excuse for doing nothing. There is everything to play for and nothing to lose by pulling up our socks and getting down to the job of building the new Ulster.
Not all loyalists fall into the same category and some have done sterling work in trying circumstances but many must feel they face a losing battle.
The Shankill and Sandy Row have been characterised by deprivation and lack of achievement. This is true of many inner city areas but the guns could be put aside and a new kind of war fought. This new war would be waged against poverty, educational disadvantage, hopelessness, drugs, health inequality, job disadvantage and so on. People in these areas have asked why their areas remain unkempt with high levels of social and economic problems while
adjacent nationalist areas appear to enjoy relative affluence. Our
reaction should be a positive one, getting down to the job of making things better and bringing criminality to an end.
Loyalists now have a chance to clean up their act and establish real prosperity, justice, pluralism, inclusion and hope for all. If nationalists seem at times to be promoting a mono-cultural agenda, loyalists should be promoting dialogue, shared space, integrated education, equality and pluralism.
