Sham/shame/Shamrocks - why the name?

I created this blog in order to respond to a blog that was limited to "team members". I feel that such propaganda as appears to exist on this particular blog should not go unanswered.

So here is the response I had attempted to make to the above blog:

You ought to keep up with current events, never mind historical ones. The PSNI always employed Roman Catholics. From the minute the Royal Ulster Constabulary was created (from the Royal Irish Constabulary), it held 1,000 places specifically for Roman Catholics, out of a mandate for 3,000 in total. That roughly reflected the population ratio at the time (in terms of religious make-up). I believe through its history, the police force in Northern Ireland had anything from 8% to 12% Roman Catholics. However, many boycotted the force simply because it was a government institution (as most police forces are throughout Europe).

Another reason the numbers were so low was because of the IRA, as you rightly pointed out. Intimidation of RCs and murder of Roman Catholic police officers dissuaded RCs from joining up in all but the smallest of numbers.

Thankfully though, for the last five or six years, RCs have been free to join and representation has already increased to the highest it has been in the history of policing in Northern Ireland.. since the RIC anyway.

The glib attitude you take to Paisley's speech ignores completely the fact that so many have died or suffered at the hands of Sinn Féin. If you feel that Paisley has something in common with leaders in apartheid South Africa, then that is but one side of a coin which carries on its obverse the similarity between the likes of Gerry Adams and Adolf Hitler - both used ideas of racial superiority and attitudes of fascism.

'Shamrocks' appears to be a male from Los Angeles in the United States of America. I'm tempted to say, "Who'd've thunk it?!"