How much is due to ignorance though? When the conflict started most people in the free state were sympathetic to the plight of their fellow Irish, folk memories were still raw, people`s experience of injustice and bigotry were ingrained in the fabric of Irish society. Didn`t they even say they would not stand idly by and watch the Catholics get slaughtered. How time changes people eh? As the war continued the political establishment in the twenty six counties realised the revival of Sinn Féin in the north posed a threat to them, thus we had the Anglo Irish Agreement`s attempt to halt the rise of the republican movement. Look at how differently the protests outside the British embassy following Bloody Sunday and the death of Bobby Sands were handled by the authorities. The people who routinely condemn the IRA are the very same people who would have supported them had they faced the jackboots of the RUC and UDR. Hypocrisy rather than ignorance.
“Staggeringly ignorant of the origins of the conflict…” Enough said.
“Staggeringly ignorant of the conflict…” QED.
How much is due to ignorance though? When the conflict started most people in the free state were sympathetic to the plight of their fellow Irish, folk memories were still raw, people`s experience of injustice and bigotry were ingrained in the fabric of Irish society. Didn`t they even say they would not stand idly by and watch the Catholics get slaughtered. How time changes people eh? As the war continued the political establishment in the twenty six counties realised the revival of Sinn Féin in the north posed a threat to them, thus we had the Anglo Irish Agreement`s attempt to halt the rise of the republican movement. Look at how differently the protests outside the British embassy following Bloody Sunday and the death of Bobby Sands were handled by the authorities. The people who routinely condemn the IRA are the very same people who would have supported them had they faced the jackboots of the RUC and UDR. Hypocrisy rather than ignorance.