STOP STUPID PARADING

Posted By: August 13, 2013

Capitol Hill. Monday, August 12, 2013 — The president  of the Capitol Hill-based Irish National Caucus, Fr. Sean Mc Manus , has offered a solution to the troubles associated with parading in Northern Ireland : ” Stop being stupid.”
Her is his statement in full:

“First, full disclosure: I have no personal interest in, or existential need for parading.
Although I have been almost forty-one years in the United State, I’ve never marched in the New York or Washington St. Patrick’s Day parades. (Although in 1973 and 1974 I led the 45-mile Irish Freedom March from Baltimore to Washington, to the White House and British Embassy respectively).

That being confessed, here is my suggestion: Stop the stupid marching in Northern Ireland. I say stupid with all due respect, because if one keeps doing the same thing over and over again, with bad and sad results, then surely it is stupid.

Why should grown ups — indeed, middle age men and women keep doing this?
Does it really need to waste the time of the excellent Richard Haas? Does it need a professional diplomat to resolve it?

All parties should suspend parading indefinitely, or accept parades being banned.
Stop being stupid.”