derryman
County: Derry
Posts: 1032

574535 Administrator I do believe it is time to lock this it has deteriorated to Kindergarten level.

Thats an awful slur on Kinders.

dhorse (Laois) - Posts: 11374 - 26/02/2010 20:57:10    574546

derryman
County: Derry
Posts: 1032

574535 Administrator I do believe it is time to lock this it has deteriorated to Kindergarten level ..................Why derryman

tomaoo7 (Dublin) - Posts: 5896 - 26/02/2010 20:59:07    574550

unlike you ta32 i did my bit but i dont go harping about it and dell do you not know anything about irish history

hipster (Dublin) - Posts: 2509 - 26/02/2010 21:06:37    574556

derryman
County: Derry
Posts: 1032

574535


I kinda agree with you there only if it starts getting out of hand.

Dellboypolecat (Tyrone) - Posts: 15069 - 26/02/2010 21:23:38    574568

Its not getting out of hand but some posters should desist from using abusive comments !! Can anyone say that the "war" that went on for over 30 years was worth it ? Are we any further on now than we would have been without it ? Population-wise the Catholics in the North will hold the whip-hand in the not too distant future, so was it worth all the deaths and suffering ?

Cavan_Slasher (Cavan) - Posts: 10253 - 26/02/2010 21:44:34    574583

hipster.
i never said i done anything. i just let my beliefs be known. unlike u , u say u played your part. why do u feel the need 2 say that.
no wait . i will tell u , u are never done anything , because u would not be on here harping about it.

ta32 (Tyrone) - Posts: 4907 - 26/02/2010 21:47:31    574587

hipster.
another thing i know my irish history, unlike some.

ta32 (Tyrone) - Posts: 4907 - 26/02/2010 21:50:19    574593

i voted for the goodfriday agreement thats my part in it

hipster (Dublin) - Posts: 2509 - 26/02/2010 21:52:43    574600

Cavan_Slasher
County: Cavan
Posts: 4025

574583 Its not getting out of hand but some posters should desist from using abusive comments !! Can anyone say that the "war" that went on for over 30 years was worth it ? Are we any further on now than we would have been without it ? Population-wise the Catholics in the North will hold the whip-hand in the not too distant future, so was it worth all the deaths and suffering ? ..............Its going to go off again- Do you really think the unionist are going to be part of Ireland

tomaoo7 (Dublin) - Posts: 5896 - 26/02/2010 21:54:18    574605

so ta32 you are dell then

hipster (Dublin) - Posts: 2509 - 26/02/2010 21:56:32    574610

hipster.
so did i . and i will continue 2 push 4 the current peace process.

ta32 (Tyrone) - Posts: 4907 - 26/02/2010 21:56:59    574613

Cavan_Slasher
County: Cavan
Posts: 4025

574583


Great there is peace now am glad for one but do not think it was worth killing poeple that never got involved or going minding there own business as we lost children, women and men through shootings ,bombs etc and why these poor souls and it has proved nothing . So not worth all these deaths and suffering.

Dellboypolecat (Tyrone) - Posts: 15069 - 26/02/2010 21:58:09    574614

hipster.
no am not dell. i have a mind of my own.
i will not take abuse , or someone telling me what i do or do not know.
one thing i will tell u now. i do not lie.
i speak as how i see it. i am sure u respect that .

ta32 (Tyrone) - Posts: 4907 - 26/02/2010 22:01:34    574618

tomaoo7
County: Dublin
Posts: 5142

574605 Cavan_Slasher
County: Cavan
Posts: 4025

574583 Its not getting out of hand but some posters should desist from using abusive comments !! Can anyone say that the "war" that went on for over 30 years was worth it ? Are we any further on now than we would have been without it ? Population-wise the Catholics in the North will hold the whip-hand in the not too distant future, so was it worth all the deaths and suffering ? ..............Its going to go off again- Do you really think the unionist are going to be part of Ireland

Toma007, well if they respect the democracy that they have held so dear this last 40 years then surely they will accept the democratic vote if thats what the people wanted

Slasher, decent questions and in my opinion the answers are no and yes. I do not think that the loss of approx 3,500 people is worth anything although I am sure ther are those who would argue against that. The second question however is a different proposition. I do not think that we would have got to this point had it not been for the violence. I am sorry that this was the case but considering that Unionists at that point were confident that they had a "Protestant State for a Protestant people", was this mindset ever going to change without some form of challenge? Bearing in mind that early attempts at peaceful demonstration for Civil Rights were met with brutal force, a fact recognised by the British government when they sent in their troops. However, Unionist manipulation of the British Government in turn caused a rethink in their thinking and soon the army became the oppressor instead of the protector. This was in my mind the pivotal moment. This is the period where Nationalists/Republicans where forced into a decision, peaceful resistance or violent resistance. At that point in time I do not believe that peaceful resistance would have achieved civil rights. I also accept that the violence, although initially directed at the security forces from Republicans did descend at times into sectarian violence. I have spoken to a few "old" republicans at length about the subject of sectarianism and was struck by how non-sectarian a lot of them were. This is not to say that there were not those who were sectarian. I found that a lot of them felt guilty and ashamed of operations where innocent people were killed be they Catholic or Protestant. There were also men who did try an justify certain attacks on innocent Protestants as a warning to Protestant paramilitaries to stop targeting innocent Catholics. I remember one senior Armagh republican talking about the Kingsmill massacre. He said that it was regrettable(his words) but that the attack was as a result of numerous attacks by loyalists in the weeks preceding and that sad as the deaths of those men was it stopped innocent Catholics being killed in South Armagh!! I do believe that although the attitudes of Unionists were hardened by Republican violence, in the end up a realisation on all sides that the violence was cyclical and indefinite unless things changed. Republicans and the British Govt were the first to realise this and only when the British Govt really started to put the pressure on Unionists to accept that change was inevitable did the conditions become right to promote change. Unfortunately, I do not believe that we would have what we have now without having experienced what we did. Its up to every person to decide for themselves whether it was worth it!

omaghredhand (Tyrone) - Posts: 3656 - 27/02/2010 13:24:05    574675

Thanks Omaghredhand for your analysis !! Are there others with different opinions ?

Cavan_Slasher (Cavan) - Posts: 10253 - 27/02/2010 13:40:57    574691

Dellboy and Toma00, interesting posts lads. I wonder how anyone with a close relative who died feels about the whole thing now !!

Cavan_Slasher (Cavan) - Posts: 10253 - 27/02/2010 14:18:15    574709

Cavan_Slasher
County: Cavan
Posts: 4031

574709

I wonder how anyone with a close relative who died feels about the whole thing now !!


They be asking the same quiestions as you why did this happen ?

Dellboypolecat (Tyrone) - Posts: 15069 - 28/02/2010 17:39:46    575210

Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern today said the threat from dissident republicans is as great as it was during the Troubles.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio this afternoon, Mr Ahern said the groups were trying to escalate events in the North.

"I don't think it's so much that their support is growing. The information we have is that while it used to be that these groups, particularly the Real IRA and Continuity IRA, were separate groups there seems to be an effort in recent months to bring them closer together; there seems to be cross-fertlisation," he said.

"It is a more worrying trend, because clearly their capability is growing."

Mr Ahern said there had been 13 major events since last September.

A police station was attacked in Craigavon last night, when a suspected mortar bomb was fired at the building. On Monday, a car bomb exploded outside Newry courthouse in Co Down. No one was injured in either attack.

Dissidents also claimed responsibility for the murder of a man in Co Derry earlier this week. The body of Kieran Doherty was found dumped on the roadside outside Derry city.

The attacks are just the latest in a wave of incidents. Last week, there was a failed mortar bomb attack at a police station in the village of Keady, Co Armagh. Dissidents killed two British soldiers at Massereene army barracks, Co Antrim last March and two days later shot dead police constable Stephen Carroll in Craigavon, Co Armagh as he answered a call for help.

In January this year a Catholic police officer was seriously injured when a booby trap bomb exploded under his car in Co Antrim while a number of police stations have been shot at in recent weeks.

He said the groups were trying to provoke the British authorities into responding by escalating the security threat level.

"What they are really at is to try and bring back troops onto the streets in Northern Ireland and to destabilise the efforts by the political parties to bring final peace to the North," he said.

"The threat here on this island is as dangerous as it was at any time during the Troubles

dubsforsam09 (Dublin) - Posts: 205 - 28/02/2010 17:45:26    575222

If Dermott ahern and his Republican party really want to influence the events of these 6 counties he will now begin direct dialogue with the Unionist parties and assure them of their identity in a restored united Ireland. But it behoves these great concerned Politicians to attack the only party who appears to be the only one that is actively working towards a lasting peace in Ireland.

derryman (Derry) - Posts: 3246 - 28/02/2010 18:28:22    575281