- First , the north. Did you watch The Nolan Show last night? I watched about twenty-five minutes of it: the part where Nelson McCausland and Danny Morrison were debating the publication of a graphic novel titled Bobby Sands – Freedom Fighter. There are a range of points regarding this work that could be debated, but let’s stick with just two. (i) Unionist politicians have no inhibitions about wearing colours and symbols. Arlene Foster very frequently wears a Crown brooch on her bosom, and last night Nelson was wearing a shirt with broad red, white and blue stripes. Were Michelle Gildernew to habitually sport an Irish tricolour on her lapel or Martin McGuinness to wear a green, white and orange tie, think of the charges of insensitivity that would be levelled at them. (ii) Some unionist politicians will never, ever, concede that the Troubles were the product of fifty years of misrule and the use of violence to suppress demands for civil rights. The IRA must accept total blame for everything, including loyalist and British armed forces killings.
- Tomorrow, the moratorium on media electioneering will be broken. Both RTÉ and the Irish Independent have worked assiduously throughout the election campaign to report on Tom Murphy and the charges of tax evasion against him. Yesterday Leo Varadkar took time out to call him “a gangster” and “a thug”, without providing any evidence for such charges. Today the Independent has a headline ‘Sinn Féin will always be linked with bodies in bogs, says Leo Varadkar’. So you may be sure that tomorrow, when Mr Murphy is sentenced, we will get a full report on what was said and how he looked. The connection they’ve established with Sinn Féin will do the rest.
There are truly times when you feel near to despair. In the north we have such people as Nelson McCausland, suitably attired, attributing all deaths in the Troubles to the “IRA/Sinn Féin”. In the south, on the eve of an election, you have the Minister for Health talking about Sinn Féin always being linked with bodies in bogs, while denying that all parties have a past. (Clearly he didn’t read my blog a few days ago about the nine anti-Treaty men who were tied to a landmine by Free Staters and blown to bits.). And you have Regina Doherty of Fine Gael, telling Gerry Adams that the deaths of clients in his constituency office were his fault.
My one consolation? If these people didn’t see Sinn Féin as a formidable political force that threatens their decades-long hegemony north and south, they wouldn’t go to the bother of finding new and old ways to smear them.
How successful they’ve been we’ll find out at the week-end.
We can talk about equality and the historic reluctance of unionism to share power, but it is the cronies in the south who don’t want to share power today, who want to maintain their elitist control over the coffers of this country. Prodding the wounds of conflict that the population knows well was not one sided will not do them any favours.
Agree with you there Jessica. The likes of Fine Gael think that bringing up the PIRA will make SF lose votes. I honestly don’t see that happening at all. They have been using this tactic for years, literally decades, against SF and it simply doesn’t work. Why? Well I can only speculate. I have family in the South and they certainly don’t see being a member of the PIRA as wrong. I could actually see some people voting for Gerry Adams because of these accusations, whether its because they sympathize with the PIRA or because Gerry Adams is being bullied on this topic repeatedly.
One thing that is certainly true and that is the majority of the South’s population know Fine Gael/Fianna Fail are full to the brim with corrupt scum. So these accusations made against Gerry Adams actually puts Gerry in a good light compared to how FG/FF are viewed.
There’s a programme which goes out here immediately before Newsnight – Scotland 2016. Last night , an Irish Times journalist ( I think his name was Hugh…?) Was on the line from Dublin to discuss the 26 County.Election. He never once mentioned the rise of Sinn Fein but majored on the two established parties , FF and FG and the outlook for Labour. FG, he claimed , had brought Ireland back from the brink but failed to mention their austerity strategies, huge number of homeless, decline of the Health Service and education in collapse.Scottish viewers were given the most dishonest, evasive report that I have ever witnessed and that from a representative of a newspaper that I once valued.
Welcome to the club, John. We’ve been getting it here for the past three weeks, day by day, hour by hour…
The Irish Times have a piece on how Gerry Adams’ canvasser (apparently he has only one) owned the shed where money was found by CAB.
This man is also a life long SF supporter.
All very relevant. Thanks IT…that Adams sounds like a bad one.
Now, where did I leave my ansbacher log on details?…
I see the Belfast Telegraph had a headline about Unionists “fuming” over the Bobby Sands
Graphic Novel.
Unionist papers both sides of the water have headlined Unionists “fuming” “furious” “angry”
anytime a Fenian draws breath, for the past four and a half decades.
If us Fenians persist in breathing, with God’s help, the “fuming” Unionists should spontaneously combust. They are the aboriginal begrudgers.
“Unionist papers both sides of the water have headlined Unionists “fuming” “furious” “angry””
Hardly worthy of a headline, I can barely remember a time when unionists havent been outraged at something or someone who threatens to rock their little orange tinted view of the world.
Only the first step, they may get used to it.
We don’t have many citizens so world renowned or so widely respected among his own community.
Might be a bit soon but why not name the airport at Derry after him?
The city of Derry Bobby Sands airport?
He did also write the song Back Home in Derry.
jessica
The “city of Derry Bobby Sands airport”?
That’ll be part of the reconciliation you are so keen on then?
Indeed, gio. And thank God for the King’s Hall, Queen’s Bridge, Prince Charles Way, Royal Avenue, Windsor House…
“Indeed, gio. And thank God for the King’s Hall, Queen’s Bridge, Prince Charles Way, Royal Avenue, Windsor House…”
Because naming a bridge in honour of a terrorist would be equivalent to all of those.
The ultra-nationalist mindset is a disturbing one.
No, it’s just this daft idea of balance in a divided society…
“The ultra-nationalist mindset is a disturbing one.”
Especially the British nationalist one, eh MT.
Jude
I agree we have a lot of that stuff.
Should we continue to repeat the mistakes of the the past?
How remiss of Jessica not to give you a fortnight’s notice that she was going to introduce a bit of humour.
Sherdy
My reply was in similar vein.
I realise not even jessica would put that forward as a serious suggestion.
“I realise not even jessica would put that forward as a serious suggestion.”
Oh, and why not?
I am starting to feel you want republicans to admit they are second rate citizens and responsible for all of the bad in society.
I don’t believe that and bobby sands election went a long way to moving republicanism away from physical force and towards electoral politics. He inspired people around the world suffering under oppressive regimes such as Nelson Mandela for example.
We should not allow any establishments british or irish to put us down. If unionists are serious about peace, this is the price they are going to have to pay for their role in the conflict which they have yet to acknowledge.
Why not Gio?
There’s maybe thousands upon thousands of streets, towns, bridges, buildings, etc named after the British Royal Family and the British Army and even Unionist politicians. Twaddell Avenue is even named after a Unionist politician (the irony…).
Please don’t use MT’s argument of “they aren’t terrorists”. That would just be wasting both of our times. The British Empire and the history of the British Army/Royal family gives tons of reasons why even a cornflake shouldn’t be named after these individuals.
I don’t know if anyone else has noticed this before but the very roads up at Stormonts grounds are designed to reflect the Union flag when seen from above, say from a plane or helicopter. Not to mention they have a giant statue of a UVF Gun runner Edward Carson up there too.
We didn’t call it the “Orange Statelet” for nothing.
“There’s maybe thousands upon thousands of streets, towns, bridges, buildings, etc named after the British Royal Family and the British Army and even Unionist politicians. Twaddell Avenue is even named after a Unionist politician (the irony…).”
Naming streets after members of the Royal Family or the armed forces or unionist politicians isn’t equivalent to naming them after convicted criminals.
Sorry MT but Bobby Sands or any IRA member weren’t criminals. Nelson Mandela was a “convicted criminal” in South Africa but the vast majority on the planet would strongly oppose such a label being attached to him. Mandela even said Bobby Sands was his hero.
Criminals don’t have streets named in their honour, like the hunger strikers have, in towns/cities in Italy, France, Australia, USA, Canada, Cuba, Iran, South Africa, etc. Parliaments don’t stand up for a minutes silence in memory of criminals like the Indian Parliament did for Bobby Sands when he died. China and the Soviet Union wouldn’t have expressed their disappointment at Margaret Thatcher not saving Bobby Sands life and finding a solution if Bobby Sands was a criminal. Even Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (then a Mayor) sent a letter to Margaret Thatcher condemning her actions and treatment of Irish political prisoners, NOT criminals, Irish political prisoners.
So you see MT, your certainly in a minority, a tiny minority.
Bobby Sands or the IRA didn’t run an Empire for centuries that cost the lives of tens of MILLIONS of people, that were the first to use concentration camps that starved 20,000 Boer women and children to death, that stole TRILLIONS of pounds of other nations wealth, whose soldiers castrated and raped Kenyan men/women by the thousands in the 1950’s, etc Even to this day the very Jewell’s in Queen Elizabeth’s crown were stolen from India and Africa.
But people like you MT, named towns, bridges, buildings, streets, etc after people that have done and supported such genocide and the worst atrocities the world has maybe ever seen and have the CHEEK, the utter cheek, to talk about Bobby Sands?
As the English would say: “On your bike!”
“Sorry MT but Bobby Sands or any IRA member weren’t criminals.”
Eh? Sands was convicted of possession of firearms. That’s why he was in gaol!
He was a member of a terror gang that murdered over 1700 people.
“He was a member of a terror gang that murdered over 1700 people.”
That’s your opinion MT.
The majority of the planet don’t agree and his death was the biggest news story on the planet at the time. If he is good enough to be a hero of Nelson Mandela, he is good enough to be a hero of mine.
If you cannot respect that then tough. Don’t expect anyone here to care about the opinions of intolerant arseholes.
Jessica – please. No abuse – stick with the argument.
“That’s your opinion MT.”
It’s not opinion. It’s fact.
Sands was convicted of a serious criminal offence. He was a member of the Provisional IRA, a proscribed terrorist organisation that murdered over 1700 souls. Those are all facts.
“The majority of the planet don’t agree”
If that is true (and I doubt it), the majority of the planet is wrong.
“and his death was the biggest news story on the planet at the time. If he is good enough to be a hero of Nelson Mandela, he is good enough to be a hero of mine.”
That’s fascinating but it doesn’t alter the facts.
Jessica, Do you hope does the States on the eastern sideboard of the United States will change their names because they are of British origin?
“Jessica, Do you hope does the States on the eastern sideboard of the United States will change their names because they are of British origin?”
I wouldn’t even know what states you refer to Virginia, but I would say it would be up to the people who live there to decide.
Similarly, I would like the people of Derry to decide whether they want the London removed from the county name and not to have it imposed on them by people outside of that county.
Is that a fair answer Virginia?
“The “city of Derry Bobby Sands airport”?
That’ll be part of the reconciliation you are so keen on then?”
Yes, absolutely, I think it would be a very important step towards reconciliation.
Reconciliation is accepting one another’s past and moving on, it is not about demonising republicans gio.
You think Carson’s statue is ok, or statues of British soldiers, the UDR or even the regalia of orange marches to be acceptable but we should not even consider ways to honour one of republicans greatest hero’s in case we upset unionist bigots.
I don’t think so.
Time to move on gio. I also want to see the Irish flag on council buildings and not on lampposts. There are 2 identities recognised in the GFA, not 1
I did not think you were making a serious suggestion jessica.
As you point out we have enough public furniture with names that are divisive in our society. Why would we add more?
“As you point out we have enough public furniture with names that are divisive in our society. Why would we add more?”
If we are basing on equality, we either add more to level the playing field or reduce.
I am not British in any way, yet my birth right, recognised under the GFA is not recognised at political level in the state in which I was born and contribute taxes to. That is unjust.
I want the Irish flag (the flag of my nation recognised under the constitution and the GFA) given the equal recognition it warrants from the GFA, and it should be up to Derry Council or whoever is responsibility to decide what to call the airport. I see no reason it shouldn’t be considered.
Don’t talk to me about division with unionists vetoing Irish language acts and costing millions over one sided flag arguments.
You need to get real gio.
Republicans are here to stay. We are an equal part of this society with unionism and it is time you recognised this if you are going to keep defending unionist rights and saying unionists are not going to go away.
Ditto
It is time this discrimination stopped.
“I am not British in any way”
Surely you are a British citizen? Also, culturally, you speak a British language.
” yet my birth right, recognised under the GFA is not recognised at political level in the state in which I was born and contribute taxes to. That is unjust.”
What does this mean? What “birth right” and how would it be “recognised at political level’?
“I want the Irish flag (the flag of my nation recognised under the constitution and the GFA) given the equal recognition it warrants from the GFA, and it should be up to Derry Council or whoever is responsibility to decide what to call the airport. I see no reason it shouldn’t be considered.”
Which Irish flag? If you mean the 26-county tricolour it doesn’t warrant “equal recogniton” under the GFA. On the contrary, the GFA recognises and reaffirms British sovereignty in NI.
“It is time this discrimination stopped.”
What discrimination?
“Surely you are a British citizen? Also, culturally, you speak a British language. ”
No, I am not a British citizen.
I may be entitled to be a british citizen under the GFA, just as you are equally entitled to be an Irish citizen and carry an Irish passport – or both if you prefer.
I choose to be only an Irish citizen and carry only an Irish passport.
“Which Irish flag? If you mean the 26-county tricolour it doesn’t warrant “equal recognition” under the GFA. On the contrary, the GFA recognises and reaffirms British sovereignty in NI.”
The Irish flag predates partition and represents the Irish nation, not a fixed part of the island.
To recognise the legitimacy of my Irish identity and birth right but not respect the flag of our nation is some would say a breach of human rights and it most definitely discrimination.
It is time this discrimination stopped.
“No, I am not a British citizen.”
Really? Weren’t you born in the UK? Or were your parents foreign?
“I may be entitled to be a british citizen under the GFA, just as you are equally entitled to be an Irish citizen and carry an Irish passport – or both if you prefer.”
There’s no “entitlement” to be a British citizen under the GFA. Under the applicable law, if you were born in the UK to at least one UK-citizen parent, then you’re a British citizen. It’s not a choice.
“I choose to be only an Irish citizen and carry only an Irish passport.”
If you were born in the UK to at least one UK-citizen parent you can’t so choose, unless you formally renounce your citizenship, paying the appropriate fee so to do. “Carrying” only a Southern passport doesn’t matter (though I’d be careful carrying a passport around: it is a valuable document).
“The Irish flag predates partition and represents the Irish nation, not a fixed part of the island.”
Its only legal status is as the flag of the 26-county state.
“To recognise the legitimacy of my Irish identity and birth right but not respect the flag of our nation is some would say a breach of human rights and it most definitely discrimination.”
Not “respecting” a flag is neither a breach of human rights (would love to see the legal case for that LOL) nor “discrimination”.
It is time this discrimination stopped.
“There’s no “entitlement” to be a British citizen under the GFA. Under the applicable law, if you were born in the UK to at least one UK-citizen parent, then you’re a British citizen. It’s not a choice.”
So when the GFA says I can be either British, Irish or both, its just hogwash you say. I am only british and that is it?
Hard to get more divisive than that gio?
Well, I was born on the island of Ireland and I am Irish only, and no brit will make it otherwise.
“So when the GFA says I can be either British, Irish or both, its just hogwash you say. I am only british and that is it?”
You can identify however you please. You don’t need permission from the GFA. But that doesn’t mean you’re not a British citizen.
“You can identify however you please. You don’t need permission from the GFA. But that doesn’t mean you’re not a British citizen.”
MT, someone born in northern Ireland who’s parents were also born in northern Ireland, qualify for both Irish and British citizenship.
Why are you even trying to deny my right to Irish citizenship? I would not try to deny your right to British citizenship, please afford me the same courtesy which we are both already entitled to whether you like it or not.
“MT, someone born in northern Ireland who’s parents were also born in northern Ireland, qualify for both Irish and British citizenship.”
He or she is a British citizen and also entitled to be a Southern Irish citizen.
“Why are you even trying to deny my right to Irish citizenship?”
I’m not.
“I would not try to deny your right to British citizenship, please afford me the same courtesy which we are both already entitled to whether you like it or not.”
I’ve no idea what you’re talking about. I’m not trying to deny anything. You’re the one trying to deny that you’re a British citizen.
jessica
I would be happy to see a reduction in the existing amount of statuary and so on of a divisive nature. Not that easy to achieve in practical terms.
But adding more is silly.
In addition you seem to think a Booby Sands airport would please the majority in the Nationalist community. I don’t know that it would.
Do not forget how little support Sinn Fein had before they abandoned the ‘armalite and ballot box’ strategy.
Are all SDLP supporters going to be in favour for example?
Why not John Hume Airport?
Because Bobby Sands is more famous than John Hume?
“I would be happy to see a reduction in the existing amount of statuary and so on of a divisive nature.”
Partition is divisive gio, like it or not, a sizable population in the north is Irish not british and a significant number see Bobby Sands as a hero.
There are very few people in history that the whole world has stopped and paid attention when they pass, Bobby Sands is one of a very rare few who made such a global impression not only in the media but he gave hope to people in many oppressed regimes including Robben Island.
Like it or not, we are living under forced British occupation, to address the territorial dispute, the GFA recognised two traditions in one state as equals.
Unionists refuse to acknowledge the Irish identity because Britain currently has the reigns of power.
You say constantly, what can we do to accommodate unionists when there is a united Ireland. Well, I am asking you now, what should we do to accommodate the Irish citizens until then?
You seem to object to anything promoting republicanism. We are here now and will be in the future. What do you want us to do gio?
Jude
Maybe he is, but he is also more divisive.
Or do you agree with jessica that the best way to counter division is by creating more division?
“Or do you agree with jessica that the best way to counter division is by creating more division?”
The best way to counter division would be removal of partition and for unionists to reconcile with the rest of our island.
They are going to have to sooner or later.
with regards to carson’s statue – I have long thought that it should have been put in the Ulster museum when the GFA was signed.
Still standing, pointing the way to nowhere, it indicates Ulster hasn’t given an inch and won’t.
Here’s a little something about what everybody including the english thought of carson – and his contemporary oscar wilde.
https://eurofree3.wordpress.com/2014/02/09/edward-carson-1854-1935/
jessica
“You say constantly, what can we do to accommodate unionists when there is a united Ireland. Well, I am asking you now, what should we do to accommodate the Irish citizens until then?”
That is a fair question and I am honestly not sure I can answer it.
Removing statues or renaming bridges might be appealing but it will certainly cause division.
Certainly more representation of admirable figures from the Nationalist community should be actively encouraged to help redress the balance.
But we are a post conflict society and I do not think it will help to name public shared spaces after controversial figures.
Surely there are plenty that would be well thought of by our society in general rather than just one community?
paddykool makes some interesting suggestions below.
Or we could simply avoid all such practice for the next 50 years and choose entirely neutral names for everything.
“You say constantly, what can we do to accommodate unionists when there is a united Ireland. Well, I am asking you now, what should we do to accommodate the Irish citizens until then?” That is a fair question and I am honestly not sure I can answer it.”
Why would that be gio?
Could it be because you have a strong dislike for republicanism from an embedded association of blame for all of the hurt inflicted in a bloody and dirty conflict?
“But we are a post conflict society and I do not think it will help to name public shared spaces after controversial figures.”
We are, and show me any other post conflict society where one side was constantly attacked and vilified after doing the most to end the conflict and embrace peace?
That is what happened in Ireland.
To clarify, I have no interest in what the airport or anything else is called and it would be up to the people of Derry to decide anyway.
But you need to understand the importance to many in keeping all of the blame levelled totally at republicans. We have seen the levels the media will go to, we have had made up reports claiming the IRA control Sinn Fein which now seems to have evaporated at least until needed again perhaps closer to the May elections.
“Certainly more representation of admirable figures from the Nationalist community should be actively encouraged to help redress the balance.”
Lets forget symbols and names and focus on redressing the imbalance of blame for our past first.
I will always be a republican who feels the IRA saved my community. How do I fit in with you gio?
jessica
You have moved on to another point now. I am not sure if you still want to name things after divisive figures or if you don’t care?
The reason I found your question difficult is nothing to do with what you suggest.
It is just that is hard to put toothpaste back in the tube.
By which I mean that all the streets. bridges buildings etc named after Royalty or Unionist figures are long established..To start renaming them en masse would be provocative and unnecessary.Such things cannot be redressed overnight, but over a long period of time the balance can be corrected.
It’s a bit like dieting. All those extra pounds were not piled on overnight and they cannot be shed overnight.
As for the IRA you are entitled to feel any way you wish about them, and I am entitled to strongly disagree.
“To start renaming them en masse would be provocative and unnecessary.”
I don’t think we need to rename streets or undo anything gio, I would like to see London taken out of Derry and the Irish identity given the respect it merits in the north from the number of Irish citizens resident.
“As for the IRA you are entitled to feel any way you wish about them, and I am entitled to strongly disagree.”
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I supported the PIRA then (more so than I supported Sinn Fein by the way) and now that they have gone and have given their support fully to the peace process they initiated, I support their legacy still as well as their wishes to support the Sinn Fein peace strategy.
I don’t expect you or anyone else to agree as it is a personal choice, but you should respect my choice if you want me to respect yours.
“I supported the PIRA then (more so than I supported Sinn Fein by the way) and now that they have gone and have given their support fully to the peace process they initiated, I support their legacy still as well as their wishes to support the Sinn Fein peace strategy.”
You supported the PIRA even though you thought their violence waa unjust.
Appalling.
“You supported the PIRA even though you thought their violence waa unjust. ”
Yes, 1000%.
PIRA did not start the violence, it was started by unionists who brought the British army over to back them up which they did,
I am extremely proud and very, very grateful to all of the brave PIRA men and women who sacrificed so much in a terrible conflict which started before the PIRA existed. I acknowledge that many souls were lost and as with all conflicts, a great many people paid a heavy price.
I can only hope and pray that Britain will have the courage to admit their role in the conflict which they started and to release the evidence of their terror campaign in the interests of ensuring such conflict never again returns or is suffered by future generations in Ireland.
As the british army is celebrated, I look forward to the day when the sacrifices of the PIRA will also be properly commemorated.
From a citizen reaction to british army murders in Belfast and Derry, to becoming the most sophisticated and successful paramilitary army on this planet and to take on a global super power is nothing short of herculean and its stories will be told in film for generations to come, long after Ireland is reunited.
The attempts at vilification will fail as it has done in recent weeks in the southern media.
The people of Ireland know very well there were 2 sides in this conflict and celebrating the British forces and condemning Irish republicans will not be tolerated by the people of Ireland.
As gio would say, the people who agree with me will not be going away, so how do you choose to live with people like myself MT?
Insulting me or my views will not in any way change my opinions.
“Yes, 1000%.”
Shame on you.
“I am extremely proud and very, very grateful to all of the brave PIRA men and women who sacrificed so much in a terrible conflict which started before the PIRA existed. I acknowledge that many souls were lost and as with all conflicts, a great many people paid a heavy price.”
Proud of and grateful to mass murderers. Shame on you.
“Proud of and grateful to mass murderers. Shame on you.”
Whatever, no point going over old ground.
I am quite comfortable with my point of view MT.
If you have a problem with that, then there is nothing I can do, you will just have to figure it out for yourself
Whether you join the willie frazer fan club or move on with the rest of the country is totally up to you.
“I am quite comfortable with my point of view MT.”
Comfortable with supporting mass murder? Shame on you.
“Comfortable with supporting mass murder? Shame on you.”
You said that already MT.
We will never agree on the past, its time to move on.
You have your views, I have mine. It is the future we need to focus on.
Ulster Unionism is nothing if not consistent. Perhaps a good old fashioned book burning is in order? History will not be kind to McCausland and his ilk. Can’t see it being especially kind to austerity era Fine Gael either…
http://oireachtasretort.ie/2016/02/25/the-failures-of-irish-politics/
I think that as far as naming airports , bridges and the like in a future, mythical “equal” society is to begin by simply not naming any more after politicians, soldiers of any ilk or politicians and political opponents.
In an already divided society these are always going to be divisive names foisted on some of us…no mattter which way our politics run.As has been pointed out we already have too many towns , streets etc etc named after divisive characters. from the past ..”Craigavon”…? anyone?.We really don’t need any more of that if we are going to have a “united” future for everyone ( an “united” Ireland or a “united” people …of all colours ,creeds and kinds)….so maybe we could agree on something that might bind some of us together …something we can share in for a novel change..They’re trying to get a bridge named after the actor Jimmy Ellis, for example. He made a mark in his lifetime.Or what about a Van Morrison bridge like they ‘ve done in Liverpool with the John Lennon Airport. Or does Van the Man not make it because he was born a protestant …never mind his great blues music? Maybe Van’s a buddhist now anyway….but he has a home in Dublin ..mind you there’s that bit about him bowing the knee to Her Maj and becoming a “Sir”…that mightn’t go down too well in certain quarters I suppose….Do we have to have any more politicians of any ilk sanctified? There are others …people who may have given pleasure across the board who might merit a mention. What about the Rory Gallagher airport or the Seamus Heaney bridge? Then again some argue that Heaney was partisan ….Let’s think …maybe we could name things after someone from another country entirely …some nice little old inoffensive lady who does charity -work in Peru perhaps? Maybe we could name them like license plates…just a series of letters and numbers..I’m open to suggestions that will get us all out of this dead-end of bickering when another approach….any bloody thing!… might work.
Very good Paddykool.
This obsession with naming things after political and/or religious figures is absurd:
“Here’s a place tormented by religion and politics, let’s add some more!”
I’d love to see more things be named after local artists and significant figures; check this list for a roll call of worthy candidates for playgrounds in Newry:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newry#Notable_people
Likewise Derry as a lot of worthy contenders, why settle for someone because they’re of a certain political mindset?
Less Craigavons more ‘Phil Coulter airports’!
Aw come on, AG…You know why they play Phil Coulter music before the planes take off, of course? Because after 15 mins of that, the people don’t care if the plane crashes or not.
I suppose I’d draw the line at “Puppet On A String”….
Although I am not a Sinn feiner there’s a part of me would love to see Gerry and co get into govt in the free state purely to see if all those who promised to leave the country if such a scenario occurred, stand by their word. Also it would be hilarious to see the cosy set up that exists in the state finally being challenged by others.
Btw, if s.f and other leftist parties fail to make the in roads that they should then they may have to re-think tactics for the future. For starters they may think very seriously about employing a few ‘concerned citizens’ of their own as their opponents have no qualms about using such dirty tricks and the like. Like it or not there are a lot of folk out there who fall for such superficial dramatics and who don’t bother to try and see the wood for the trees.
You couldn’t help but notice Nelson McCausland’s gaudy tie on the Nolan Show.Like yourself, I watched the bit about the comic book out of curiousity to see if he actually knew anything about the form… and then switched off. The idea that Mr McCausland actually bought such a garish tie and quite possibly has a whole collection of them in a series of similar variations stored away in a wardrobe ,says quite a lot about the kind of person he is.
Either he is using it as a personal symbol to ingratiate himself with his fellow travellers in loyalism and flag up (pardon me!) support for his cause, or whether he thinks that it is actually a stylish piece of neck wear…either way he lives in a taste-free zone of his own mind, or he is possibly massively insecure and is constantly pretending otherwise.Maybe both of those things…..
At a time when the Prime minister is waffling on about wearing suits and appropriate dress for politicians, they’d both need to take a long and hard look at their ideas about style.McCausland has a fantasy – version of history backed -up against the inside of his skull.In this version, the Troubles sprang full-blown out of nowhere . The UVF gun-running and sabre -rattling against the government are cast aside as irrelevant.civil Rights weren’t needed because …what the hell we all lived in poverty together and thought it was perfectly fine so why would anyone want to dgo out and demonstrate for civil rights.in his world , they didn’t really need Civil rights in america either ….and as for South Africa …well the whites were right there too! you have to ask yourself why troops were finally brought into the situation too and why people were burned out of their homes..In mr McCausland’s world it was all the nationalists fault.
Si as he sits grinning inanely at anything that might spoil that fantasy,across the table Danny Morrison looks dumbfounded at his lack of insight. Could this man actually live -inside some parallel universe where time spins backwards and night is day.
Maybe Nelson and Regina Doherty had the same history lecturer!
“Could this man actually live -inside some parallel universe where time spins backwards and night is day.”
That’s what happens when your subjected to the Orange Order for long periods of time Paddy.
Now many Unionists could accuse me of being anti-Protestant or anti-Orange or whatever by that statement. I will admit I’m certainly no fan of the Orange Order, I’m no fan of the Taliban or Isis and other religious fundamentalist organisations either.
I asked the question on twitter in a debate amongst some nationalists and unionists: “Does it make you be a bigot for being against a bigoted organisation, such as the Orange Order?” Interestingly the Unionists didn’t know how to answer that one.
Does being anti-Orange Order make you anti-Protestant? Obviously not. The Orange Order has no connection whatsoever with the founders of the Protestant religion or the main Protestant churches. You don’t need to be in the Orange Order to be a Protestant. Its certainly not in the Bible either.
I’m certainly not anti-Protestant. My own great grandfather was a Protestant Unionist (who later converted to Catholicism and adopted Republicanism). I don’t associate as much as I’d like to with Protestant people but those I have shared a drink and worked with Protestants and the vast majority are decent people.
The curious thing about the Orange Order is they say their parading being blocked (in certain areas only, of course) is against civil and religious liberty. Reality is its not. Parading is not an act of worship for starters, I don’t think the disciples went for a wee parade every now and then (and near areas they knew they would provoke people) or Martin Luther donned a sash and marched with a boulder hat lol Nor is there a civil right to parade where ever and when ever you like.
Well Ryan, when you spend all your time dodging reality , indulging in some very odd thinking such as Creationism, making odd moral choices like the Red Sky affair while professing to be a good upstanding Christian …and believing in some very wonky historical story arcs, you might learn a few tricks and learn to giggle like a schoolgirl on television ….but you really shouldn’t still expect aeveryone else to think like you do.The problem is that too many people besides Nelson still remember what really happened and how the sequence of events actually spun out …not the fantasy that he remembers.I don’t need Danny Morrison to remind me , for example , that John Gallagher was shot down on the Cathedral Road yards away from a friend of mine by a carload of B Special policemen…long before there was ever any talk of an IRA. The sound was just like a “Jumping Jack” firework. I suppose Nelson wouldn’t believe that either. That’s the kind of odd place his mind lives inside..Facts only get in the way.As an aside Ryan , i had plenty of Protestant friends too and a very lovely protestant girlfriend at the time…. and it’s not how i choose to judge people anyway.In fact one of myown great grandfathers was a Dublin Presbyterian …not that it makes any odds to my own paganism!!.He could have been a hindu or a buddhist for all that it would have mattered to me . .
you worry about his tie Paddy!!!
have you seen him in this tartan number?
I don’t know how to post pics here so I’ll send you to the original post. http://ansionnachfionn.com/2014/06/19/nelson-mccausland-the-tea-party-escapee/
As I remarked at the time
“tried Tartan finder to see if the multi-cloured number was the Mccausland family tartan – drew a blank – no tartans for the mccauslands – not saying there aren’t any, mind, but . . ..
Put in my family name and 9 came up – 2 for us (the old and the new) and 7 covering all possible occasions for the large clan we belong to. Just sayin’ like.
Could our minister be a poseur? “
ben
“tried Tartan finder to see if the multi-cloured number was the Mccausland family tartan – drew a blank – no tartans for the mccauslands”
Do you ever think you might have too much time on your hands?
Hi ben…maybe his tartan is one of those you get designed especially to order…a bit like those family crests you can get cobbled up on the internet for a few bob ….or a degree from the Bob Jones University of All Knowingness.
Ben
As far as I know the ‘family tartan’ idea was an invention of the early 19th century.
According to some (like Neil Oliver) it was a couple of chancers who conveniently arrived in Edinburgh just in time for King George’s visit in 1822 with big book for gullible rich people.
No doubt there were some differences in kilts from glen to glen or island to island but the elaborate designs that we see today were unlikely to have existed en masse since before the arrival of the Sobieski-Stuart/Allen brothers (I mean, who had the time to sit and weave these patterns while try to etch out an existence in the highlands and islands?)
So, that there is no McCausland tartan is not surprising, it’s all kind of invented relatively recently anyway.
Funny peculiar, all the same, Esteemed Blogmeister, how that most sophisticated electorate(probably indeed a veritable global market leader) of the Free Southern Stateen are so prone to be impressed to the point of being seduced by strange-sounding names which originated in far-away places.
Starting, say, with De Valera and all the way up to Varadkar. In between there was, of course, the likeable likes of Mary Banotti who was the blue-bloused nurse who found her married name not at all a curse (even after she had suffered the trauma of divorce from a low-profile Dr. Banotti ) when it came to impressing the dear Don’t Knows of Dublin North who will, bless ‘em, be always with us.
She (gulp) said so sheself ! So she did, did Mary, Bean Otti. Much, much more catchy, darlings, than, say, dear but undoubtedly dowdy old Mary O’Mahoney.
As It happens, the same democracy-drenched damsel in this dress of Royal Blue was not at all shy about declaring her connection with the Collins branch of her family. (That would be Collins as in Michael rather than in Jude or indeed, Barracks). Now, while there is no reason to believe that the Boomsday in Ballyseedy was part of a legacy issue re the Exterminator known as The Laughing Boy, nonetheless there is ample documentary evidence relating to his virtual doings in the seedy after-dark streets of Baile Atha Cliath /Dublin.
When, f’rinstance, the loci tenens of Michael Collins (for it is he!) in the wee small hours of Bloody Sunday the First / Domhnach na Fola a hAon (1920) legged it between all sorts of odd addresses to carry out a series of, erm, pre-emptive and elective surgical strikes.
Result: The Twelve Apostles: 14. Cairo Gang: 0.
No messing or even Messi there.
It will be not at all un-interesting so, when Dr.Varadkar eventually gets his turn (as assuredly he will) to address the annual anti-Shinner Whinge- In at Beal na mBlath in whinbushy, ambushy West Cork. When he can replace his statoscope with his original stethoscope and forensically diagnose the dearth of a democratic deficit. In, say, the delegated dead of night derring-doings in the heart of Dublin darkness. By that fine broth of a boyo who is the Poster Boy of Fine Gael (sic).
It is, seemingly, an old Opera House/ Ulster Hall joke with a fine basis in fact that in Belfast there are no Jews qua Jews but only Catholic Jews and Protestant Jews.
Remarkably, the same situation prevails down here in Dublin. Just as, say, Alan Shatter is a Protestant Jew (hear that HI-fIdeltiy High School accent, imbibe that toney TCD mind-set) so also is Leo Varadkar a Protestant Hindu (hear that capital King’s Hospital School accent, imbibe that toney TCD mind-set).
Yes, indeed, the King’s Hospital School boy grew up to become a Medical Doctor. I say, chaps, nothing at all of the Trailer Trash about this dashing Vrad the Inhaler.
The King, incidentally, namechecked in the fee-paying rather than free school’s name is, not actually, contrary to a common misconception, Brian Boru whose ashes lie in the bosom of the Cathedral city of that county upon whom Nature has lavished its bounty, but rather (gulp) Charles 11. The same king whose motto was:
-Chucky mo La !
The same.
The same school which was formerly known as (gasp) the Blue Coat School, the same school Leo V. attended and later grew into a full-blown Blue Shirt.
The same school which offers a dozen sports on its curriculum, none of which is of the dirty variety, such as bogball or stickfighting.
The same school which was formerly located in, erm, Queen Street, Dublin.
It has been observed that there is a distinctive similarity between Dr. Varadkar and a certain Dickensian character in so far as ‘he carries his low temperature always about with him, he ices his office during the dog-days and doesn’t thaw it one bit during Christmas’.
One of the OVER-friendly Irish the good doctor is definitely and defiantly not, which is not necessarily a bad thing. While only a tiny minority are familiar with the bedside manner of Dr.V., there is scarcely anybody unaware of his, erm, closet manner.
Indeed, his intrinsic coldness – cold, some say, almost to the point of being calculated – was in most evidence the day he shyly came out of the closet on the low-profile Mimsy O’Call-again Show on the little listened-to RTE Radio 1.
But, lest the impression be erroneously given that Dr. Varadkar is the most noteworthy alumnus of King’s Hospital School, Palmestown, West Dublin, allow one to promptly correct that.
That palm (which is brief for Mother Palm and her Five Daughters) must go to one, thankfully still with us, and who has been described as ‘over six-foot tall, powerfully built, with blonde hair and blue eyes, he has an imposing physique which makes him stand out in a crowd’.
Lady and gentleman, please be upstanding, and put your hands together for none other than…
-John Oliver Weir.
A native of Castleblaney on the Ho Chi Monaghan trail, a member of the C of I, he attended King’s Hospital School during the 1960s. After graduating with distinction he joined the RUC, in keeping with his inherited cultural ethos, and rapidly rose through the ranks, via the SPG, the UVF before finally scaling the heights as a central cog in the, erm, Glenanne Gang.
Here surely be a legacy issue.
Indeed, (dare one say it !) an extremely shapely legacy issue.
Bimis ag faire.
“Vrad the Inhaler” – worth the entrance fee for that alone, Perkin….
Jude
The media never established any connection between Murphy and SF. The shinners did that themselves. Indeed they have never been shy of claiming him as a good republican.
If Gerry had dismissed him as a relic of the past now turned to criminality, the damage could have been minimised..
But they made a rod for their own backs by seeming unequivocal about him.
I think we’ve spoken about this before, gio. I very much doubt if GA wasn’t responding to questions from the media about Murphy when he described him as a good republican. That may mean he was (allegedly) involved in the conflict on the republican side, which if it were true would in GA’s eyes make him a good republican. What would be so shocking about that? GA has always maintained that he would not distance himself in any way from the IRA. ‘A relic of the past’ – does that mean he was involved (allegedly) in the conflict? So was M McG – is he a relic? Or thousands of others? Part of the past but hardly ‘relics’. ‘Turned to criminality’ – as I understand it, T Murphy is being done for his taxes. If that’s criminality, it’s not what most people think of when they use the word ‘criminal’ – maybe because it’s so common. As to SF making a rod to beat their own back – (i) As I say, I’ll bet you £10 GA was responding to journalists’ questioning with the ‘good republican’ remark. (ii) GA was never equivocal about him – he said everyone should pay their taxes – I’d agree with him. The media don’t need to be handed any rod. This early afternoon, even RTÉ’d David Davin Power said that the media onslaught against SF was relentless and that the INM group (Sindo) attacks were so many and frequent, it was extraordinary. When you get an RTÉ guy conceding that the media have targeted SF, you know that somethin’ ain’t right…
Jude
You’re only prepared to lay a £10 bet with Gio!What happened to that brave man who took on Eoghan Harris and enriched himself by winning the bet?!!
Gio’s much smarter than Eoghan, Argenta. And the bet with him was too good to resist – no question of courage, alas.
Jude
I think he was asked if he (Murphy)was ‘still’ a good republican.
Gerry might have said that as a millionaire tax cheat he could no longer be described as such. He had that opportunity and he did not take it.
If you think rich people not paying their taxes is not really criminal I have to say that is not what I recognise as republicanism.
The reluctance to disown him is a consequence of Adams’ strong link to the past, whereas a new generation would have been able to make a clean break.
“If Gerry had dismissed him as a relic of the past now turned to criminality, the damage could have been minimised..”
The damage may be spread wider than expected gio.
We will find out in Saturday but negative campaigns usually don’t go down well with an electorate.
The establishment parties and their media cheerleaders may have lost a lot of respect and they may struggle to ever get it back.
Well just have to wait and see what happens.
Sad.story.jude.
Yes.indeedy.jim.
Jude as I have asked in a previous blog, was Tom Murphy not to be sentenced about a fortnight ago but the date was changed to polling day. Call me cynical but ffs.
I did not see Powers today but if he did comment on the relentless onslaught on SF then even that is extraordinary, although a bit of honesty from the RTE news dept. is welcome.
Quite frankly all I and others like me want is a modicum of fairness and balance. You touched on this the other day and when I commented about some of the blatant abuses of RTE Gio told us that we should suck it up. Well no we shouldn’t, not when it comes from the national broadcaster where they should represent ALL of the peoples political parties with honesty and balance.
I do not expect balance (nor do I get it) from the Murdoch Press, INM, TV3 or the bloody Daily Mail, but from the likes of the BBC and RTE I do think they have a duty to fairness and balance. The BBC should be pro Britain in all things. RTE should be pro Irish in all things, but they should give a fair hearing to all political parties, and in the case of RTE and SF this is just not happening. They RTE have as I said become the mouthpiece of the establishment maybe they always were?
Tenerife1
The sentencing was due to take place a couple of weeks ago. It was adjourned because, as I understand, Murphy’s defence lawyers brought in mitigating circumstances for consideration, as they are entitled to do. Had they not done so I expect the sentencing would have gone ahead.
I don’t see how that can be blamed on anyone else unless they too were part of the ever growing conspiracy!
I will accept that it was pure coincidence that the new sentencing date just happened to fall on polling day, although….. You still have not addressed my central point on National Broadcasters when dealing with all political parties at election times.
While watching the 1.00pm news on RTE today, my apolitical English wife mused out loud after the Tom Murphy package, “That went on that long you would think that Murphy guy was a serial child killer”
“No” I replied ” just a Republican cattle dealer who has been convicted of tax evasion and oh yes he is a good friend of Gerry Adams”
“Hmmm” she replied.
Tenerife1
I suppose a 2 week adjournment is the normal period, so it seems like normal court business to me. I might be totally wrong of course, but I just don’t see conspiracy everywhere.
You might tell your wife that Murphy is of course a bit more than just a cattle dealer who happened to be a friend of Gerry Adams, and point her to his failed libel action against the Sunday Times.
You might mention the torture chamber found during a search of his property or perhaps tell her to read a bit about the South Armagh Brigade of the provos for a little background.
However I am sure you know all this already.
As to your point about broadcasters I can only repeat what I said before. Sinn Fein should bring the evidence (of which there is apparently plenty) to the Broadcasting Authority.
I am quite happy to accept bias is possible, to the detriment of a party hoping to disturb the status Quo, but I would like to see evidence.
A previous report found that Sinn Fein received more than their share of coverage in the last election..
gio, every housewife in the country who has no interest in politics whatsoever will say they know full well that the dirty tricks from the media and while very few would support mr murphy at all, they will be certain the timing and coverage was deliberate.
If we are to keep a completely open mind, then even if it weren’t true, when coupled with the media vilification which was intense and blatantly obvious at times, mellowing towards the end, the result is, it has not only damaged Sinn Fein but also hurt Fine Gael and helped Fianna Fail.
That is the reality which seems to be playing out.
It is time these dirty tactics stopped. It is Fine Gael who has shamed Irish politics. not Sinn Fein.
Jessica thanks for sticking up for the misses, any question on East Enders no problema, Irish politics ZZZZZ.
Given my present circumstances I can only pick up a Wifi signal at my local taberna and only then when the wind is the right direction and Jupiter is aligned with Mars or something, hence the delay in response.
I think the problem with Gios assertion that evidence on bias should be collated and presented is that by the time all this is done the damage has been done.
Who will remember in three months time that SF won a point over RTE, or who still remembers Concerned Citizen and his fatuous but well staged diatribe.
By the way I have followed Gio for years and found him to be a sound man.
Sound but linear, T1 ;)…
Tenerife1
I agree presenting the evidence will not do any good this time out, but it may have an effect next time. If the bias was real rather than assumed by supporters then it is important that is highlighted.
Regardless of my views on Sinn Fein they are entitled to the same treatment as any other party, which should include rigorous examination, warts and all.
Thanks for the kind words by the way. Clearly your wife is a lucky woman!
“Regardless of my views on Sinn Fein they are entitled to the same treatment as any other party, which should include rigorous examination, warts and all.”
And do you honestly believe they receive the same treatment gio?
Had Sinn Fein made one man a billionaire now in full control of the media reporting constant bias in their favour what would you think?
Had Sinn Fein been approached by a US corporate and went through illegal channels to get a private sale which saw party relatives, friends and their developer clients set to receive a share of 200 million of the Irish tax payers money, what would you think?
Time to open your eyes gio.
I watched the Nolan show in full last night. I tweeted with Danny Morrison just before he left for the studio and I think Danny did a great job on putting Nelson on the spot.
I’m sure I was not the only one who noticed Nelson sniggering, smirking and even laughing the whole way through the discussion. I don’t see what’s amusing about 9 year old Patrick Rooney being murdered by Nelsons heroes in the RUC (Patrick would’ve been my friends uncle, obviously my friend was born years after his murder).
Even Danny Morrison looked at Nelson many times, stunned at the way he was smirking, laughing and sniggering. Stephen Nolan was even watching Nelson with a sour look on his face. At one point Stephen even asked Nelson is there any chance that for just 1 minute he would put himself in Danny’s shoes and see things from the other communities perspective. Of course Nelson has no interest whatsoever, like a lot of Unionists (but not all, of course), in doing that.
A woman in the audience put Nelson straight as well. She said her family were burnt out of their homes by the B Specials, whom she said were Nelsons heroes, and they were basically refugees and had to sleep in a local community centre with other families, if I remember correctly. A man in the audience said to Nelson that Bobby Sands was his hero and that the RUC/UDR/British Army are terrorists for all the things they did.
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I understand Unionists outrage taxpayers money being used for the Bobby Sands comic but they ignore the fact that millions upon millions of taxpayers money is given out to police Orange parades, fund Orange Museums, fund sectarian bonfires that steal and burn Catholic statues and Irish flags, etc so the outrage really is very hollow and, as usual, hypocritical.
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When it comes to the recent past its obvious to everyone that Unionist misrule is responsible for the troubles. The PIRA certainly weren’t without fault but they were definitely not the cause of the Troubles and nor were other republicans. The UVF with, according to Gusty Spence, the Unionist Govt wanted to start a “sectarian war”. Their plan was obviously to ethnically cleanse, murder and drive Catholics into the South. Hence why 3,000 Catholic families had to seek aid over the border and why the Irish Govt had to set up refugee camps. The UVF were even planting bombs and trying to get it blamed on the IRA. McGurks Bar bombing is a prime example of the UVF (and the British Government) trying to get the IRA blamed for the actions of Unionist paramilitaries. Of course we know that collusion was systematic between Unionist paramilitaries and the British Govt. I was reading a report about how 300 UDA members were interviewed in an investigation and out of those 300 UDA men 297 were registered as State agents. I tweeted the article and Danny Morrison replied back to me “I’m surprised it was that few”. Indeed.
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No ones forcing Unionists to buy the Bobby Sands comic. But, more importantly, where do we go from here when it comes to the past? Well as Republican commentator Chris Donnelly said: “We will never agree on the past. Move on”. I agree. Unionists and Republicans will never accept each others narratives. But Unionists need to respect the fact that Republicans have their narrative, no ones asking them to agree with it but they need to respect freedom of speech. Arlene Foster and many others have vowed to “challenge” these narratives and the “attempts to rewrite history”. I wish she would because she’ll fail utterly.
The reality is political Unionism fears the truth coming out just as much as the British Govt. The only ones attempting to rewrite history or cover it up, are both of them.
“I understand Unionists outrage taxpayers money being used for the Bobby Sands comic ”
I don’t, republicans pay taxes too, the reality is they cant have it both ways.
To be honest, I couldn’t give a monkeys what unionists think anymore. They have no interest in anything but themselves, best just to ignore them and focus on reconciling with the rest of the island with or without them.
“Does being anti-Orange Order make you anti-Protestant? ”
Had protestants been republicans, Ireland would have been united long ago.
I have been reliably informed in my home town a long standing state school is to get new premises. Alas the parents of the students have threatened to remove their kids from the new school if the education minister is asked to officiate the opening of the premises. They might not be visible(they leave it to their barking dog Willie Fraser to be seen to do the shouting) but it’s pretty clear some refuse to move on. Lots of pretending but behind the scenes………
Whoever refuses to move on Wolfe Tone will simply be left behind. I remember watching a video on Sinn Fein’s youtube channel (it should still be on there) where, from inside the City Hall, Loyalist fleg protestors were being filmed protesting against an Irish language event. There were fears of disruptions, so the front/back gates of the City Hall were locked and only opened for those coming into the event but nothing serious happened. Some of the people going into the event were verbally abused (mostly by older women) by the fleg protestors but little else happened.
A Sinn Fein councillor said something like: “I wish I could invite those protestors in here, to attend this event, to air their views on the Irish language but they are clearly not ready”.
Seeing those Loyalist protestors, standing outside the front gates of Belfast City Hall, waving Union flags and standing with banners whilst people were entering into city hall to enjoy Irish culture and the Irish language (attended by some Unionist politicians, Protestant Priests and also Linda Ervine too, so it wasn’t exclusively nationalist) and enjoying themselves, the loyalist fleg protestors really did look pathetic and sad.
I fear if most Unionists don’t change tact, this is what is going to happen to most of them, clinging to a time that will never return.
“I fear if most Unionists don’t change tact, this is what is going to happen to most of them, clinging to a time that will never return.”
It is what is happening already Ryan.
I’m afraid I no longer care what they think. They are irrelevant to me.
One can only hope with the benefit of mature recollection, the electorate will recall, Mr Haughey’s State of the Nation television address on 9 January 1980 and some of the finer points of the Moriarty Tribunal established in 1997 to examine payments to politicians.
Mr Haughey made it abundantly clear that the country was living at too high a standard. He said that the nation was living beyond its means. He called on every citizen to help eliminate what he described as the humiliating and destructive chain of strikes, disputes and stoppages. Luas workers take note.
One did not need a grasp of figures when the taxpayer was footing the bill for Charvet Shirts and bottles of Chateau Rouzan – Segla Margaux.
On 9 April 1981 Bobby Sands was elected as a member of parliament with an electoral mandate based on 30,492 votes.
Bobby Sands died on 5 May 1981, his sixty-sixth day on hunger strike and his legacy is alive and well in 2016.
According to an article in today’s Irish News,the Sands family are quoted as saying “Our family once again reiterates that the Bobby Sands Trust does not act on behalf of Bobby,nor does it represent our family in any shape or form.We call upon the trust to disband and desist from using Bobbys memory as a commercial enterprise ” .It seems bizarre that Sinn Fein would not seek to take the views of the Sands family into consideration as according to the internet,its members seem to to dominate the trust.