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Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland
  Orange Standard

Bank Of Ireland Against Our Culture

By Lord Laird of Artigarvan

Article 4 ~ November 2004

The Bank of Ireland is not treating its customers in Northern Ireland with equality. This has come about through the recognition that the Bank has opted to put the Irish language as well as English on many cash machines.

The difficulty that I as an Ulster-Scot have, along with many customers and even some members of staff, is that inclusion of Irish appears to be a political and cultural stance which excludes us.

In the Northern Ireland of today many of us work very hard to create a society where there is fairness and where everyone of whatever background is treated equally. The Belfast Agreement called this parity of esteem and equality and it recognises that Irish and Ulster-Scots represent the two major identities on this island. Whether one agrees with the Belfast Agreement or not is not the issue. The concept of equality has been given legal force in Section 75 of the Government of Northern Ireland Act and is also supported by Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

When the Bank of Ireland decided to offer Irish and not Ulster-Scots as well they were making a cultural and political statement. The Dublin-based Bank told me that they only offered Irish where there was a demand. This will be a surprise to residents in East Belfast to learn that the Bank has decided to include Irish at Connswater and at Castlereagh. I know of no case of people in that area being only able to speak Irish and not understanding English - so the Dublin officials in the Bank have made a political judgement by including Irish in East Belfast but not Ulster-Scots. I am sure that the same point could be made for other areas of Northern Ireland such as Ballyclare where again the Bank has included Irish but not Ulster-Scots.

This action was not taken by some ill-informed small company but by a major part of the Irish Establishment controlled from the Republic. The effect is to show that the Bank clearly values its Irish customers more than those who are not Irish.

I have no difficulty in a profit-led organisation taking a political, cultural stand. But I think that those in the society in which the Bank operates and draws profit are entitled to know the facts and be allowed to draw their own conclusions and act appropriately.

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