Adventures in Twitterland

Screen Shot 2015-09-09 at 12.35.26

I’ve been in Twitterland for the last half-hour or so. Such an interesting place at the moment. It’s a-buzz with the news of the arrest of Bobby Storey and two others in connection with the killing of Kevin McGuigan.

The people you run into in Twitterland can be quite…eye-opening. For example, there are people who charged me with being ‘a Sinn Féin apologist’.  A few tweets exchanged, it became clear that the tweeter in question didn’t know the meaning of the word ‘apologist’.

Then there are people who ask tough questions. For example, I was asked ‘Do you support the PSNI, yes or no?’  Now there’s a dumb question. It’s like asking ‘Do you support your brother?’  Well, it depends on what he does, wouldn’t you think? If the PSNI carry out their work – for which we pay them – impartially and vigorously, then of course you (and I) would support them enthusiastically. If on the other hand they were carrying out their work with one eye on the political impact of their actions, I’d be less enthusiastic in my support.

And  there are people who ‘know’.  Like one tweeter, who believes George Hamilton is a good and honest man.  Mr Hamilton may well be. I have no reason to declare he’s not. But I’ve also no reason to declare he is. And when I hear him make ambiguous statements that are seized on by unionist politicians, I worry that he is either naive or less than totally impartial. Neither of which would be good qualities in a Chief Constable.

Finally there are some tweeters – and you’ll find this hard to believe – who think that something like Bobby Storey’s arrest will have no impact on elections, particularly the south’s next year. People, this tweeter said, forget. Touching or what? The headline story in the Indo will no doubt be ‘Former IRA  and SF leader arrested on murder charge’. Right, that’s the kind of headline the people of the south will forget. And if there’s a danger they might, won’t they have a stableful of Indo stallions and fillies who’ll keep whinnying reminders in the public ear between now and next Spring?

It’s a dismaying, devious old world out there, I tell you. Enough to make you wonder if politics isn’t a dirty, mud-slinging brawl.

 

,

29 Responses to Adventures in Twitterland

  1. Jim Neeson September 9, 2015 at 12:30 pm #

    When are they arresting Martin McGuinness? They havent many left!!
    Since Stormont is in disarray maybe the Speaker Mitchel is in line for a couple of days rest?
    On second thoughts Barry McElduff could give some advice to the catering staff at Antrim Police Station?

    • Jude Collins September 9, 2015 at 1:05 pm #

      That’s John O’Dowd you’re thinking of – Barry is buns-free…

  2. Séamus Ó Néill September 9, 2015 at 12:32 pm #

    In the world that I inhabit , the RUC/PSNI and Unionism were given a free card into the next round, courtesy of The Good Friday agreement, their antics and serious misadventures into the twilight zone were quickly glossed over in an hurried effort to establish some semblance of normality. I ,carelessly and unthinkingly, went along with this scenario without thinking of the disastrous consequences! The time has arrived ,without prevarication ,to re- examine this whole insidious arena. The Chief Constable is an RUC man from a discredited and partisan force , whose impartiality is certainly questionable….Unionism ,in all it’s grey shades has openly cavorted with,if not having actually established paramilitary organisations and all this now needs a very bright light shone into the murky shadows …..no longer am I prepared to listen to their supercilious hypocrisy, their inferred superiority and their denegration of my entire community…… I’ve had more than any human can stomach !

    • RJC September 9, 2015 at 3:37 pm #

      In Twitterland, Peter Robinson claims that ‘These events were predicted in my statement on Monday’

      https://twitter.com/DUPleader/status/641542848467345408

      While news outlets are reporting Martin McGuinness as saying “I was surprised to learn about the arrest this morning of our six-county party chair Bobby Storey.”

      Some communication breakdowns at the OFMDFM it would seem…

      So, having failed in his efforts to have the Assembly suspended by David Cameron, could the bould Peter have turned to his old mates in the RU… sorry PSNI? Robinson now claims that the DUP will quit the NI Executive tomorrow if Stormont is not suspended or adjourned.

      So Peter was desperately trying to suspend the Assembly, but had no luck at Number 10. He also claims to have had prior knowledge of these arrests. If I don my tinfoil hat, it could appear as if these arrests were ordered by Robinson so as to give him a reason to continue with his desired suspension of the Assembly. But that would be political policing, wouldn’t it? And that couldn’t happen here, could it?

      Just what is going on?

  3. paddykool September 9, 2015 at 1:02 pm #

    I’m not big on Twitter , Jude. Those snappy one -liners need a good comic’s perfect timing .The fact is most out there have problems enough with punctuation and spelling without getting into the mechanics of a perfectly spun phrase. That’s why it doesn’t really work for me… and you do get some binlids who really do think they are VERY funny. They never have to explain themselves either. …just a constant stream of non-sequiturs and oblique phrases lost in a stream . It’s a chatty medium ….like a conversation after a few drinks it can get a bit muddled.
    As for all this shenanigans about Sinn Fein’s involvement in murder, i want the evidence ,still.I’ll judge it all in my own mind on that…the facts …if they can be believed, given that there are a lot of political axes being ground and arrests are being made in a strangely “timely” manner . If i didn’t know better I’d be fitting my aluminium anti-spooks conspiracy hat and seeking refuge in a darkened lead-lined room. If Sinn Fein indeed have been up to some unholy jiggery -pokery , well they’ll have to take their lumps after dissappointing a lot of people who thought they were getting good at this political thing. Then again, they might be the only honest ones in the game . What will they do then ? Can they trust their fellow -unionists in government to disown all their loyalist?orange kith and kin totally and wash their hands of them too. That looks as if it’s going to be the only future possible game .Every one of them are carrying some baggage , but Sinn Fein have tried not to mention it up until now. Sinn Fein’s problem is that they really wanted this political thing to work to their advantage but unionism sees that as a threat .It is.

  4. colm September 9, 2015 at 1:22 pm #

    Jude, you were right a week or so ago when you said/wrote that “they haven’t gone away you know”… speaking of course of the RUC. Sinn Féin are caught in a bind calling for Irish people to support them, even after the obviously political arrest of Gerry Adams before the Euro elections. Hamilton is an RUC man. He joined in 1985 at a time when the RUC men, exposed by a Canadian film crew of murdering Nora McCabe were being promoted in that force instead of doing long prison stretches. Hamilton accepted that evil ethos. The force (not service) he leads should only be known by it’s true name…the RUC.

  5. billy September 9, 2015 at 1:51 pm #

    whata difference a few weeks make in politics eh,thought george was a great fellow after the st,marys hall bluff.

    • Jude Collins September 9, 2015 at 6:29 pm #

      Who told you that, billy? I was at that event (front row, as it happens – we stole someone else’s seats) and I was underwhelmed by his performance.

      • billy September 9, 2015 at 7:20 pm #

        think it was martin saying how he liked him that warm handshake and that,then that paper singing his praises,

        • Jude Collins September 10, 2015 at 7:43 am #

          What paper, billy? You’ve lost me,I’m afraid…

  6. giordanobruno September 9, 2015 at 2:04 pm #

    Jude
    How anyone could consider you an apologist for the IRA is a mystery. You have always been most careful to avoid giving an opinion on the justification of their campaign
    On the PSNI I wonder if you would at present encourage people to bring information to them regarding these recent murders?

    • Jude Collins September 9, 2015 at 6:27 pm #

      I’m guessing that your first two sentences are said tongue in cheek, gio. Taken literally, your second sentence is probably true. I can see why 50 years of discrimination and gerrymander, followed by violent attacks on civil rights marchers, followed by burning of whole streets where nationalists lived, might well have led to a violent response, or as Martin McGuinness put it, ‘Some of us decided to fight back’. But since I personally can’t imagine a circumstance where I’d set out to kill another human being, and I certainly don’t want any other human being to set out to kill me, I suppose I’d qualify as a pacifist. Or coward. Like most people. Re the recent killings, if evidence were to bring to justice those who carried out the killings, definitely yes. That said, I imagine a lot of people’s faith in the PSNI has been shaken by their pronouncements in recent days.

      • giordanobruno September 9, 2015 at 7:57 pm #

        Jude
        As I said; most careful!

        • Jude Collins September 10, 2015 at 7:41 am #

          Well you can call it what you like. I believe I was being frank and honest. But thank you for your graceful response.

          • giordanobruno September 10, 2015 at 9:39 am #

            Jude
            I don’t mean to be ungracious. You are perfectly entitled to share your opinion or keep it to yourself,its up to you. But I don’t think you can dodge the question and get away with saying you were frank and honest.
            All you have done is repeat what you have said before, namely that you can understand how some might have felt they had to resort to violence, though you would not have been able to yourself.
            With respect that is not telling us if you believe the campaign was justified, in its beginnings or in its 30 year duration.
            As I say that is your call, but I have to say you show no reluctance to comment on the rightness or wrongness of other military actions, particularly British ones.

          • Jude Collins September 10, 2015 at 12:52 pm #

            I really don’t know why I bother so much with you, gio – there are so many more positive people commenting on this site. OK. Do I believe Ireland has a right to govern itself? I certainly do. Do I believe the gerrymander and discrimination would have stopped had there been no response from republicans? No I don’t. It’s a grim fact of life that any country with an army believes in the use of violence to achieve its political ends (D Cameron provided us with a nice example only t’other day). So I’d say republicans were as justified in their violent campaign as Cameron, Obama, Russia – need I go on? I’d simply add that ‘Do you think X was justified?’ is a pointless exercise, as pointless as ‘Is your ceasefire permanent?’ ‘Do you condemn such-and-such?’ The questions are intended to back the person on the receiving end into some sort of corner. So give it a rest, gio. I don’t think it adds much to your stature.

          • giordanobruno September 10, 2015 at 5:18 pm #

            Jude
            You introduced the topic of your status as apologist for the IRA in your blog. I merely commented on what you wrote.
            You have plenty of commenters providing the “well said Jude” “stick it to the man” responses. I’m just trying to dig a bit deeper. When I agree with you I have said so.
            Your answer once again is carefully wrought to avoid committing yourself, but you seem to be saying the PIRA canpaign was justified, yes?
            Finally I am not trying to back you into a corner. You frequently condemn military actions by others so I think it is reasonable to ask about your opinion of our own recent conflict. If you think it was right and just why not just say so.

      • Ryan September 9, 2015 at 8:00 pm #

        “I can see why 50 years of discrimination and gerrymander, followed by violent attacks on civil rights marchers, followed by burning of whole streets where nationalists lived, might well have led to a violent response, or as Martin McGuinness put it, ‘Some of us decided to fight back”

        The Civil Rights Movement was being violently attacked and at the head of those Unionists mobs armed with clubs, sticks, bats and stones was none other than the Rev. Ian Paisley, backed up by the RUC and the B Specials. Reality is Unionist Stormont (and then the British Government) made violence and conflict inevitable.

  7. Iolar September 9, 2015 at 3:35 pm #

    Today we have an ultimatum from Unionists, nonsense from Mr Nesbit and candour from Mr Cameron. Ratepayers in Strabane may lose one million pounds if they do not choose a name for bridge that meets with DUP approval and Invest N I will provide one million pounds to support a private company to open yet another call centre. As for due legal process, “…Just what are they guilty of…They will think of something in time.”

    Second rate politicians remain a legacy of institutionalised sectarianism.

  8. Argenta September 9, 2015 at 6:44 pm #

    I presume the mural artist-in -residence in West Belfast has been put on standby for an urgent commision on the release of Mr Storey and friends!Maybe he’s only required when Gerry Adams is released from police custody !

    • Jude Collins September 10, 2015 at 7:44 am #

      Are you opposed to murals, Argenta? Or do you think we should take all opinion from the VO, Irish Times, Sindo etc?

      • Argenta September 10, 2015 at 12:17 pm #

        Sorry,I forgot that we must not make fun of The Great Leader!!Can we assume that you are a fan of murals,Jude?I think a lot of us take our opinions from different sources and appreciate not being told what papers we should or should not read.

        • Jude Collins September 10, 2015 at 12:46 pm #

          I don’t remember telling you what paper to read, Argenta.Maybe you’d just remind me? ‘Different sources’ , eh? Now there’s a wide spectrum. You couldn’t be any more precise than that? Besides, I always think it’s better to make your own opinion rather than take someone else’s.

  9. alex September 9, 2015 at 6:49 pm #

    Does any main stream Republican seriously have any confidence left in the PSNI?
    I don’t, and I supported backing them.

    They really are the RUC with a different name.
    When Jock Davidson was shot the PSNI said they didn’t want to speculate who had been involved but when Kevin Mc Guigan was shot they done nothing but speculate and have effectively given unionism carte blanche to do and say what they like with the political process.
    The danger in all of this is that it lends itself to those who say politics does not work and the only thing that the British understand is violence. Dangerous times ahead.

    • Jude Collins September 10, 2015 at 7:44 am #

      I think you’ve put your finger on it, alex

  10. gendjinn September 9, 2015 at 7:33 pm #

    Jude,

    I don’t know, was just on skype to the parents and brought up the current fun in the north. The response I got was “I just change the channel when they start talking about the north.” If you’ve lost the attention of the pater, I don’t see how you haven’t lost the attention of almost everyone else. If it hadn’t been coming for a few years, I’d have been surprised.

    The other thing – everyone but the FGers/west Brits knows that the PSNI is just another corrupt political tool of the Brits/Unionists. Any doubt on that score was removed with the Adams arrest in the run up to the election last year. They go back to that well again and it’s just going to increase people wanting to vote for SF.

  11. Ryan September 9, 2015 at 7:43 pm #

    Ah, the first thing you’ll notice about Twitterland Jude is those that accuse you of being a “Republican sympathizer” or a “SF apologist” are usually “Loyalist sympathizers” or “DUP apologists”. Unionist hypocrites, for short. I’ve had my fair share in my time, I’ve been accused of supporting “IRA terrorism” by people who sport photos of Billy Wright and UVF emblems. I’ve been accused of being a “Hypocrite” by DUP activists and voters. The best has to be that I was accused of being an “IRA terrorist” (even though I was only 8 when the GFA was signed) by someone who sports UVF photos and calls the hundreds of Catholic civilians murdered by the UVF/UDA the “Nationalist electorate”, in some sick attempt to justify UVF/UDA murders.

    I read on twitter that Mike Nesbitt and Peter Robinson were informed of Bobby Storey’s and the two other republicans arrests a few days before they actually happened. That raises very serious questions. Everyone knows that RUC elements are still within the PSNI and that goes against the whole purpose of a new police force that is unbiased and acts without fear or favour.

    I think we can all agree that the most recent crisis at Stormont has more to do with Sinn Fein in the South than in the North. Fine Gael and Fianna Fail would just love for violence to break out and for Sinn Fein to be entangled in it. We cant have Sinn Fein becoming the third largest party now, can we?…

  12. Belfastdan September 10, 2015 at 12:39 pm #

    I just wonder if ever Peter will be asked about his role in Ulster Resistance (does he still have the red beret) and why they never decommissioned their arms.

  13. Iolar September 16, 2015 at 9:26 am #

    “Confound their politics, frustrate their knavish tricks…”

    It should come as no surprise that there are many people who do not accept that there is a divine right to rule, just as there many people who do not accept that the Secretary of State is a neutral representative in the on- going farce on the hill.

    Reconciliation is opposed with indignation, consternation and suspicion. A legion of failed politicians is busy currying favour in the race to excavate comments made by Mr Corbyn many years ago, in order to undermine his opposition to Tory austerity policies. He has destroyed the myth that there is no alternative to austerity for individuals who are obliged to work for a living, a myth created and nurtured by rogues and renegades.