Advertising Ulster-Scots

It was announced during the week that £3 million has been set aside to promote unionist culture in an advertising campaign which aims to attract more tourists to Northern Ireland. At the time of writing, there is no press release on the Department of Arts, Culture and Leisure’s website and the, very short, BBC report is vague. Simply put, there has been a small increase in tourists to the North: Tourism Ireland are responsible for promoting Ireland in ad campaigns; unionist politicians have criticised those for not reflecting unionist culture and there is now a move to “an island of Ireland brand” which will include Ulster-Scots culture.

You can see the problem straight away. What is Ulster-Scots culture? If it is a language – which I would dispute – then how do you represent that visually? Then, of course, if you accept there is a language, does speaking it make you an Ulster-Scot or a unionist? No, would be the answer from many from the Catholic/nationalist background in north Antrim who speak the remnants of Scots in Ulster.

Is Ulster-Scots defined by religion? Many of its unionists supporters seem to think that to be Ulster-Scots and to be Protestant are one and the same. (Who, I wonder, might be the Ulster-Scots’ Douglas Hyde?) Yet there are many unionists who do not see themselves as Ulster-Scots and many nationalists from an Ulster-Scots background (my mother is a McDonald) who do not regard themselves as unionists. So, how does portraying Ulster-Scots reflect unionist culture?

What symbol or symbols then would best represent unionism to tourism? The UUP once ran an election ad – if memory serves me right – of fish and chips with the tag “Simply British”. It was not a success. Tourism Ireland has ruled out Orange parades and the Eleventh Night which removes the Lambeg from the equation. Sword dancing could qualify but it might make visitors think they are visiting Scotland. There are many fine novelists, poets and playwrights from a unionist/Protestant background in the North but I am not sure that all the living ones would welcome the tag ‘Ulster-Scots’ or that the term ‘unionist’ would best describe some who have gone to their eternal reward.

The problem seems to me that the idea of unionist culture is one that is being defined by the DUP, a party that has a very narrow, impoverished understanding of culture and unionism. Remember, for example, that many other Protestant churches are all-Ireland bodies and hold all-Ireland synods: the Church of Ireland; the Presbyterian Church in Ireland; the Methodist Church in Ireland. (No mention of the ‘island’ of Ireland.) These organisations predate partition and, while many of their members in the North may have unionist views, not all members in the South do. (The most famous example of that is Fianna Fáil’s Martin Mansergh who is CoI but no unionist.)

All aspects of local culture and all languages in the North should be reflected in tourism ads. If we want to attract tourists, we need to offer something unique and different – if only to distract them from the bad weather and food. No political party or grouping has exclusive rights to culture, be it language, sport or music. We are mongrels and should be proud of it. Our tourism ads should reflect the fact that we share more than the DUP or Sinn Féin would like to pretend – and more than we perhaps always realise.

There is, of course, another issue which needs to be addressed in the tourist debate. Many visitors to Ireland, north and south, the island, come from the US and mainland Europe. It, Ireland, north and south, the island, is a small place but they need two currencies: euro and Stirling. It would make much more sense if they could do everything – from buying their pastie supper to visiting Carrickfergus castle – with just one. Ulster-Scots for euro, anyone?