The most ironic statement I ever heard came from one who blithely opined ‘Kaffliks canny get on in ra polis, ye’ve got to be a Mason tae get promotion’.
The look of utter bewilderment on his wee rat face when I pointed out the Chief Constable of Strathclyde Polis ie the big kahuna, top dog, numero uno, at that precise moment was one Patrick Hamill, a well known Catholic and no friend of Freemasons, was almost worth seeing after having to endure his slevvering nonsense.
In short I agree with you, it’s a tactic used to further Catholic ideology in an attempt to prevent the faux Irish culture being absorbed by us big bad Brits.