This is going to be unpopular but for me and my family it’s true. It takes more than two generations to believe that the state created and organised with the impression that you and your family are “leaser than” and “litters” believes you are equal and valid

My grandfather was a huge proud gentle man. He was humiliated out of several jobs here because of who he was, he had a “planter” surname that allowed him to hide in plain sight. But that man loved his children something fierce, he cried every time he left for liverpool

I went to university with the weight of this on my back. Do well, don’t let yourself down, don’t be out drinking don’t be what they told us we were. Show them, be good, don’t miss a class - the eyes of everyone who worked so damn hard to get me there were on me all the time

When I graduated my daddy stood up in Whitla hall and clapped so loud and let out a wee yelp. The woman behind him hissed at him to sit down, he did obediently. Mummy was furious at how rude she was and how meek he was. That’s only partly down to class

I come from two huge catholic working class families 23 aunts & uncles. I am very lucky in so many respects, they hoisted me and my cousins on their shoulders but the feeling that they helped us shoehorn our way up in spite of what we “are” is hard to shake. Uppity catholics.

There are many perspective and communities that are unheard here - this is very much one of them.

This is what is stirred up in me after a week of listening about “unionists/loyalist anger” it’s about a lot of things, I get that hard to shake the impression that some of it is loss of being at the top and people like my family, working class catholics, quiet & at the bottom