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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, MARCH 19, 1982
PAGE 21
be delivered into the hands of their hereditary Catholic enemies,
then the crown, in respect of that transaction, is felt not to be
the true crown--the Protestant one, to which Protestants owe and
freely accord their loyalty. And, since it is not that true
crown, but something masquerading in its place, it not merely may
but must be defied and set at naught.
The Ulster Protestants did defy Parliament directly (and the crown indi
rectly) during the Homelftile crisis early this century, refusing to become
a part of independent Ireland. Again, in 1974, the Ulster Protestants re
sisted the implementation of a Protestant-Catholic power-sharing plan for
Northern Ireland devised by the British Par1iament. Right now, they are
dismayed that Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (who many thought at first
would clean up on the IRA) has been willing to talk to officials of the
Irish Republic on future plans for the divided island.
It� not�� imagination to envision Ulster Protestant alarm over
� 1mpencffn � visit of the Pop� to the Queen, the living head of Protestant
ism in Britain. One can certainly expect fiery words from Ulster firebrand
Ian Paisley, condemning the Pope's reception in England as the beginning of
a sellout of Protestant interests.
How Long Will Britain Stay On?
In the meantime, the British public is tiring of the continual bloodshed in
Northern Ireland, with young British soldiers caught in the deadly middle.
How much longer can British forces continue their thankless task? O'Brien
writes:
Public opinion [in Britain] is favorable, not so much to a united
Ireland in its�lf as to anything that will enable Britain to dis
engage from Northern Ireland. If a united Ireland will do that,
then bully for a united Ireland.
This is not surprising.
Britain derives no benefit from being in Northern Ireland. That
province is a considerable drain on the ailing economy of the en
tire United Kingdom. British people are tired of having their
soldiers and ex-soldiers murdered or maimed, tired of being them
selves denounced as oppressors, tired of threats, tired of inter
national pressure. They want to get out if they can.
What if a future British Prime Minister should announce the recall of
British troops, hoping that the gamble would force the people of both
halves of Ireland to create a united Ireland? Answers O'Brien:
If they were faced with such an attempt, Ulster Protestants would
not turn toward a united Ireland: t 9 �Y would turn against
Britain.
Their whole history and tra 1tions and patterns of
behavior, including recent patterns (e.g. 1974 and the rise of
Paisleyism), imply that. The basic conditions of Protestant loy
alty to Britain would have been breached. Protestants would turn
en masse toward a policy that a minority among them now advocate:
� independent Northern Ireland.
Then the real trouble would begin.
The impending and then actual departure of British administration
and British troops would create a major erisis: the greatest