I GATHER that my family name, Timmis, is an English form of the Irish surname ‘Timmins’, so it may be that, centuries ago, my forebears came from the Emerald Isle.
That makes me take an interest in the recent ripping-down of Edward Colston’s statue, in Bristol.
My own suspicion is that this was done by vandals who simply enjoy vandalising stuff but, hey, let’s swallow what the TV companies want us to believe and accept that it was because Colston had promoted slavery.
So, where does that leave us in Warrington?
We have a statue of Oliver Cromwell.
Wasn’t he the man who, as well as promoting democracy in England, the same Lord Protector who sought to quell Ireland by forcing large numbers of Irish people into virtual slavery in English colonies?
The Independent, recently, and the Irish Examiner, some years ago, have discussed this matter.
If local folk follow Bristol’s example, Cromwell’s statue is in a handy spot to be slung in the Mersey, once vandals have pulled it down.
They might do this because slavery is slavery, and wholly unacceptable, whether the victims were black people from Africa, or white people from Ireland.
Surely the lives and dignity of all people matter, no matter what the colour of their skin, so should our happy and ethnically-mixed community in Warrington still be celebrating the man who sold the Irish into slavery?
That’s a very difficult question to answer.
BOB TIMMIS Warrington
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