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Martin McGuinness RIP - 12 Like(s)
Republican. Freedom fighter. Peace maker. Statesman. Ireland salutes you !!! Martin McGuinness RIP. May your dream of a united Ireland one day be realised.

REDANDBLACK30 (National) - 21/03/2017 08:00:32

James McCartan Senior RIP - 9 Like(s)
link Very sad news of the passing of James McCartan Senior. Truly a Down legend. Double All Ireland winner in 1960 and 1961. National Football League winning manager in 1983. Condolences to the McCartan family on their sad loss, they have given so much to Down football down the years.

REDANDBLACK30 (National) - 14/08/2021 16:17:17

Come On Engerland.....Peoples' Views??? - 5 Like(s)
Why would anyone want to support a country that still occupies part of its national territory after hundreds and hundreds of years of colonialism and imperialism causing so much misery and suffering on this island?? Judging by the newspaper reports from Europe after the semi final the English are very unpopular right across Europe due to their arrogance, lack of respect for other teams anthems etc. The Irish have a lot more reasons to hate the English than most!!! They are like the Unionists in the North in that they will never win any popularity contests. They share the same imperial mindset. The way their fans carry on you would think they had been dominating football for years not losing in the last Euros to the mighty Iceland!!! The vote for Brexit and their conduct showed the imperial character of the British has never left them. Its just their empire collapsed and they are now no longer a key player in World affairs. Hopefully they don't win on Sunday and I don't believe they will. They haven't faced a team half as good as the Italians so far. If Italy get an early goal they will win comfortably in my opinion. England 0 Italy 3. Forza Italia!!!

REDANDBLACK30 (National) - 09/07/2021 10:57:13

Non-Gaa Forum - 5 Like(s)
It is long past time that the Irish and British governments stop pandering to the DUP and Unionism. They need to be told in no uncertain terms that the alternative to Stormont is joint authority and a border poll. Unionism has caused enough trouble, evil and strife on this island over hundreds of years. Enough is enough.

REDANDBLACK30 (National) - 28/10/2022 14:56:22

The GAA And "Northern Ireland" - 4 Like(s)
There is poetic justice in the fact that Unionism is imploding on the Centenary of the rotten statelet it founded a Century ago.

REDANDBLACK30 (National) - 28/05/2021 13:59:22

Down V Mayo - 4 Like(s)
Best wishes to Mayo for the rest of the year. Hope that you now go all the way and win the All Ireland. I was very proud of the Down team last night we showed real fight throughout but we were wasteful and had a nightmare on frees and Mayo were much more clinical and deserved their victory in the end. Was nice to see Mayo in Pairc Esler. Fair play to your fantastic fans, really good natured and travelled in huge numbers. Best fans in the country is definitely a fair assessment. All the best for the rest of the year.

REDANDBLACK30 (Mayo) - 23/06/2019 11:15:46

Roscommon GAA thread - 4 Like(s)
Well done to Roscommon on three wins out of three in Division 1. Remember going to Hyde Park for a match which Down won by 5 or 6 points in Division 2 would have been 5 or 6 years ago. I think Roscommon still got promoted to Division 1 despite that defeat. Roscommon had a great support that day. Good luck to Roscommon for the rest of the year!!!

REDANDBLACK30 (National) - 20/02/2023 09:10:39

Kerry V Tyrone - 4 Like(s)
With Kerry form is temporary, class is permanent. They always seem to produce class players. They arent a team that you want to be messing with on a regular basis unless you are the current invincible Dublin team!!!! That's why we in Down have fought a guerilla war against them down the years. Play them lots when you have a great team like in the 1960s, hit and run. Then reemerge in 1991 when they are at a low ebb and beat them again. Then disappear in the 2000s when they are going really well. Then in the ultimate rope a dope lull them into a false sense of security and stun them again in 2010. Disappear and don't push your luck you have now made them angry!!! Avoid them at all costs and be contented with your 5-0 record against the greatest county in GAA history.

REDANDBLACK30 (National) - 13/08/2019 11:52:12

Come On Engerland.....Peoples' Views??? - 4 Like(s)

Replying To KillingFields:  "Illfounded sense of superiority? No. They have a sense of superiority based on their country having ruled most of the world at some stage(rightfully or wrongfully in some cases) Oh you have relatives in england who are bit full of themselves... well of course that means we must dislike the english then..... well i hate to tell you this but you most likely have family in ireland that are a bit full of themselves as well. that isnt a trait determined by nationality..."
Is ruling most of the World at some stage something to proud of?? Is colonising the planet a badge of honour?? Probably the worst thing about the English is how they have no remorse over their evil history. They are not taught about the evils of the British empire and give out awards MBEs/OBEs etc glorifying it. Until such point they say that the British empire was an evil incarnation they will be irredeemable as people. They instead go on about bringing civilisation to these countries instead of how they stole all their resources and brought great misery. They staged a horrifying massacre on the hallowed ground of Croke Park. They have never made a full apology for their treatment of Ireland over hundreds of years. They key point being they do not care, they are not sorry.

REDANDBLACK30 (National) - 09/07/2021 12:37:02

Non-Sport Superthread - 3 Like(s)
The Union is finished and the Unionists need to wake up to the reality that its days are numbered. There is nothing for them under this heartless Tory government. The Shankill road is in the same state of deprivation as Nationalist areas such as Ardoyne under Tory austerity. If we could achieve a socialist 32 county republic with adequate wealth redistribution then perhaps their lives could be improved. How is the nasty election campaign they caused in Belfast going to improve community relations?? They are a community I have zero respect for after all that has gone on down the years but I think they could be accommodated in a united Ireland. They are likely going to be dragged into a united Ireland in a border poll would it not be better to find some reconciliation and accommodation?? They don't seem to want to live with their Nationalists neighbours as equals. With Boris Johnson 's deal they will be symbolically separated from Great Britain what we are seeing now are like the dying stings of a wasp. Surely time to state negotiating the future in an All Ireland forum around a united Ireland.

REDANDBLACK30 (OtherSports) - 13/12/2019 13:17:27

Non-Gaa Forum - 3 Like(s)
Greed is the worst trait the Irish people learned from centuries of British imperialism and has infected Nationalists equally North and South. It is a disgrace in a country that less than two hundred years ago there was a devastating famine that there is such an unequal distribution of income and such callousness. It is also the reason that the unity of the country hasn't been achieved in over 100 years. From the Free State under Cosgrave abandoning the boundary commission in 1925 that would likely have made the Northern sectarian state unviable to clear Ireland's share of Britain's national debt at the expense of Northern Nationalists and calling it a great bargain; to a proportion of Northern Nationalists in the latest census identifying with Britain and holding back Irish unity by about 10 years and inflicting upon their fellow citizens more harm of Brexit Britain and Tory rule. How does anyone identify with a British government that that gave a major tax break to millionaires in the middle of a cost of living crisis?? Unionists are even greedier than Nationalists and often go on radio shows to lambast the poor while ignoring the greed of the Tories who run this place. I watched Prime Time on RTE and it was said that the biggest test of the Republic was how it looks after its most impoverished and vulnerable citizens. While the Republic has obviously done an imperfect just of this it has done a much better job than Britain (benefit levels in the Republic are about three times the pitiful levels of benefits in the North). Far from foreign holidays people in the North on benefits are far more likely to be heading to a food bank. Yet there are unedifying elements to the Republic's economy in that corrupt, greedy Companies have used it as a tax haven. While this may be necessary for economic growth the Republic has sold its soul in some regard. That's my honest take on the present circumstances on this island.

REDANDBLACK30 (National) - 28/09/2022 13:41:16

Non-Sport Superthread - 3 Like(s)

Replying To KillingFields:  "They are relevant because of the history both recent and long term with sinn fein as a party and of certain members of sinn fein. Nobody has said any of the parties are near perfect but flaws of FF and FG very different and cant be compared to SF and its links to terror/criminality elements."
Since partition Nationalists in the North were treated as second class citizens in a corrupt, gerrymandered, rotten, discriminatory state. Violence in that context was inevitable as it was a powder keg atmosphere. Its cynical for parties to use the conflict against Sinn Fein forever more as violence erupted due to Unionist aggression. The people of Bombay Street burned out of their homes, civil rights marchers battered at Burntollet etc. Sinn Fein are now focussed totally on the ballot box to achieve their aims.

REDANDBLACK30 (OtherSports) - 18/02/2020 21:06:17

The GAA And "Northern Ireland" - 3 Like(s)

Replying To thegadfly:  "No way. Not to me anyway. I suppose it depends on personal political views. I wouldn't be that fond of the word "nationalist." I'd prefer to use the word republican. Too many negative connotations around the word nationalist for me. All republicans in the south would probably be of the opinion that republicans in the North are as Irish as the next person. TAL."
Good post. I been to Down games in Cavan good few times last few years ( unfortunately Cavan won them all, arguably Down should have won them all lol) before the pandemic and always felt it was still my country. I do not want partition on this island. Unfortunately there are others that do. A border is a symbol of division. A strong Nationalist viewpoint would be especially expected in Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal as if the Unionists have of wanted all of Ulster in 1921 the British would of given it to them. James Craig opted for 6 counties as there were too many Nationalists in Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal. Shows how artificial the Northern state is. People in the other three Northern counties could easily have suffered the same fate Northern Nationalists have had to endure.

REDANDBLACK30 (National) - 03/06/2021 14:59:53

Jarlath Burns - 3 Like(s)

Replying To BarneyGrant:  "The comment regarding the first is self evident. The descendants of the people who settled here from the other island in large numbers have never been integrated into the Irish nation, nor never will be. The evidence regarding the latter is as plain as the nose on your face in Paris, Brussels, Malmo, London, etc, etc. The alternative to things that will make things worse is not to implement them."
You are absolutely right on this. Unionists as intransigent as they are, are no longer the main problem in the North. The opposite has happened. There should now be a Nationalist voting majority for a United Ireland but a large minority of Nationalists have been integrated/ indoctrinated into the British system. No Nationalist should vote for a state that sought to make them second class citizens but there are many that would vote for the Union. There is undoubtably some partitionist elements in the Republic but Nationalism and support for a United Ireland is higher among Nationalists in the 26 counties than in the 6 counties if you look at the polling. There is still probably 75% of Northern Nationalists that would vote for a United Ireland and with demographic change the number supporting a United Ireland will grow but it is true to say that it is people from a Nationalist background (de facto Unionists) who are now impeding Irish unity. A border poll will always be difficult to win for Nationalism as Unionists vote 96% for the Union, there are few Protestant Nationalists but there are large numbers of Catholic Unionists.

REDANDBLACK30 (National) - 01/03/2023 11:34:56

Come On Engerland.....Peoples' Views??? - 3 Like(s)

Replying To Rolo2010:  "Let me ask you this then. Do you hate an English person who has no interest in football. Would you hate a member of your family just because they were born in England. Relevant question because a lot of Irish people have English relatives."
Maybe hate was too strong a word more dislike. I really dislike England as a country. Even in the Brexit negotiations they believed that Ireland was having too much say and causing difficulties. They have an ill founded sense of superiority. I have relatives in England I don't hate them but some of them are a bit full of themselves. The Nationalist people in the six counties continue to suffer under the yoke of British oppression.

REDANDBLACK30 (National) - 09/07/2021 11:46:47

Non-Sport Superthread - 3 Like(s)

Replying To Offside_Rule:  "Sadly Nationalists will come to realise soon that politicians (and people) in Republic feel the same way. Irish unity will be a complete non issue in the upcoming election. Nationalists realised long time ago that there was a large free state mentality down South where having a 26 County state was job done in some eyes. Hasn't stopped our drive though for reunification and the reestablishment of the Country of Ireland which ceased to be almost 100 years ago. If those people in the South are happy to live in a State that's their choice. Me? I want our Country back as one and not the current state of 2 States and I would like to think any true Irishman (or woman) would feel the same."
Well said. In 1921 the 26 county state was the best that could be got. Britain was never going to permit a 32 county republic. Republicans have lost everything with the threat of an immediate and terrible war. An imperialist nation who believed the Irish were too stupid to rule themselves. A 26 county republic was never meant to be a permanent solution. Certainly not what Tom Clarke had envisaged when masterminding the 1916 Easter Rising. The first armed action of the War of Independence at Soloheadbeg was led by Seamus Robinson from Belfast. A 26 county state will always be imperfect and unsatisfactory.

REDANDBLACK30 (OtherSports) - 12/01/2020 19:02:30

Non-Gaa Forum - 2 Like(s)

Replying To Tirchonaill1:  "Think the higher ranks in FF/FG have had their own way for the last 100 years and Irish unity might upset the cosy golden circles they move in. I'd say there's plenty cosy well off types in the 26 countiestoo that don't fancy adding a million or so more protestant/unionist types to the mix here, but I agree unity is inevitable now. Brexit which the DUP campaigned for of all things had made it inevitable. The old saying of be careful what you wish for springs to mind, the DUP fell for the Brexiters vison of restoring the empire and bringing back control, doesn't look to be much control over there now and the border as agreed by Boris is the Irish sea, they may talk and spin about it but when you look into the practicalities of importing now from Britain it's clear the Irish sea is the border."
The DUP lack a coherent strategy. They thought that Brexit would separate the North from Ireland and the EU but it has had the complete opposite effect. The trade border is in the Irish sea and cross border trade in Ireland has increased substantially. They are currently trying to get rid of the protocol but if they achieved their aims of removing the protocol and getting a hard border in Ireland they would only speed up the process of a United Ireland.

REDANDBLACK30 (National) - 29/09/2022 16:51:29

Down v Monaghan - 2 Like(s)
A great game yesterday and many congratulations to Monaghan on their win and best of luck in the quarter finals. Well done to Down on a very good Championship season that much exceeded expectations. In the first half I felt Down were the dominant side and on the balance of play should have been going in with a five or six point lead with two gilt edged goal chances missed. Another upset looked a distinct possibility after a terrific first half display from Down. Monaghan stayed in the game from frees, a few of which were very harshly awarded by Maurice Deegan. The failure to build up a lead worried me a bit as we had faded a bit in the second half against Monaghan and also in the third quarter against Tyrone. For the first time this season in the Championship Monaghan showed their true class in the second half. Their attacking play which had been dull and inspiring in the first half was transformed and they looked a completely different team as they attacked with great skill and verve. Down found it very difficult to cope with. Unfortunately Darragh O'Hanlon, who has had terrific Championship season, missed two or three frees in this period which we needed if we were to try and stay in touch. Harrison was not serviced as well in the second half but he was still very dangerous when the ball went in and another couple of goal chances went begging for Down. Monaghan ran out deserving winners.So 1 each this season while it was definitely also Connaire Harrison 2 Drew Wylie 0 over the two games. Down have shown much improvement in this Championship. The pride in the Down jersey has well and truly been restored and we can look forward to the next few years with optimism. To Monaghan best of luck in the quarter final. Down and Monaghan have each inflicted some big blows on each other with today and the 19 point hammering last season, while we inflicted a couple of shattering Ulster semi final defeats on you at the Athletic grounds. Monaghan are a class act on and off the field. All the best to you going forward. bl

REDANDBLACK30 (National) - 30/07/2017 10:44:49

Non-Sport Superthread - 2 Like(s)
Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are showing total hypocrisy going on about Sinn Fein and their past. Talk of shadowy figures and so on. Whether you agreed or not with armed struggle all three parties have links to those who used violence to achieve Irish freedom. Fine Gael have links to the Fascist blue shirts. Sinn Fein are far from perfect but they seem to be more in tune with Irish electorate than Fine Gael and Fianna Fail in terms of housing etc. The troubles are a long time in the past time to let it go and focus on policies. This talk of a good of a good old IRA in the war of independence is hypocritical. The old IRA and the provos both used violent methods to try to achieve necessary constitutional change when the ballot box and democracy where being ignored or not a viable option. The British ignored the democratic mandate of the Irish people for an Irish republic in 1918 while the Unionists gerrymandered the electoral boundaries and often had more than one vote in elections. There is historical context for both campaigns. Time to stop using the troubles as a stick to beat Sinn Fein with and move on.

REDANDBLACK30 (OtherSports) - 16/02/2020 11:50:31

Casement Park - 2 Like(s)

Replying To PattyONeill:  "You're only noticing that now? I've known what southerners were like for years."
Polls show that there is consistently a substantial majority for a United Ireland in the Republic. Yes there are partitionist elements but that is not reflective of the population of the Republic who are in the main supportive of a United Ireland. Yet in the North there are many from a Nationalist background who have no sense of Irishness and would cast a vote in a border poll for colonialism and imperialism. There is no majority in the North for a United Ireland primarily because of this cohort of people. This was shown in the most recent census.

REDANDBLACK30 (National) - 22/02/2024 14:33:22