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Loyalists object to first mosque in Northern Ireland
Maureen Coleman for Belfast TelegraphProtestant Unionists on Craigavon Borough Council were accused of displaying ignorance today in a row over plans to build a mosque. An Irishman? Ignorant? Faith! I never heard of sech a thing! Outline planning permission has been granted for the construction of Northern Ireland's first mosque, in a field at Bleary, near Portadown. But after objections from some Unionist councillors and local residents, planners were asked to reconsider and a final recommendation has yet to be made. "Faith, man! Are ye daft? 'Tis killin' each other, we are! Who's got time fer the killin' o' them?" Former Ulster Unionist Mayor of Craigavon Fred Crowe said he was opposed to the mosque on infrastructure grounds, claiming it would pose traffic, noise and drainage problems. Oooh! Look, Maw! Outdoor plumbing! He said that residents had been assured that there would be no "calls to worship", but pointed out that chanting could disturb people living nearby. "This mosque would be built near eight or nine villas and although we've been assured that there will be no noise, they are inclined to chant in big numbers, which is bound to cause a disturbance," he said. "Not quite as big a disturbance as when they riot in big numbers, mind yez, but enough to ruin the concentration of a man whose head is already throbbing from the previous night's festivities." "I think that a mosque would devalue the area and introduce people into the community who don't actually live here. I'm as liberal as anybody but there are genuine reasons why this proposal should not go ahead." "I mean, the Papists are bad enough, but North Africans? The only thing we have in common with them at all is our mutual love of explosives." Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-01-16 |
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