A policeman’s lot is not a happy one, the song tells us. Neither, it appears, is the lot of a ‘dissident’ republican.
For example, in the wake of the killing of Michael McKibbon, Dee Fennell, a spokesman for the Greater Ardoyne Residents Collective (GARC), was arrested. He was taken into custody on Sunday and released on Monday without charge. Last April Fennell was arrested in connection with an Easter week speech. He was released and banned from making further speeches.
Another prominent ‘dissident’ republican, Colin Duffy, was arrested in 1995 in connection with the killing of UDR man John Lynnes but was acquitted. In 1997 he was charged with the killing of two RUC men but the charges were later dropped. In 2009 he was arrested in connection with the killing of two British soldiers at Massereene Barracks. In 2012 he was found not guilty.
Why do these men get arrested and why are charges against them dropped or defeated in court? Your answer to that may depend on your view of the two men. You may believe the two were guilty as hell on all occasions but managed to have evidence against them suppressed, up to and including intimidation of witnesses. You may have no evidence for that belief but you may refer those who question it to the dogs in the street.
Alternatively, you may believe these men have been arrested because of their open belief that violence is justified in the republican struggle to break the union with Britain. Such men, as Shakespeare said, are dangerous. And so the authorities arrest them at regular intervals in the hope that they can come up with some incriminating evidence or that their lives will be so disrupted, they and others of like mind will become discouraged and abandon their political/military commitment.
To say that ‘dissident’ republicans have little support in the broader population is to state the obvious; but it would also appear that what were dismissed as ‘micro-groups’ are something more than that. They do appear to have local support in their own communities. Why? Because their community believes that Sinn Féin’s commitment to politics is futile, in the search for a re-united Ireland. For their part, Sinn Féin believe that these ‘dissident’ republicans’ commitment to violence is futile, in their search for a re-united Ireland.
There is only one way in which ‘dissident’ republicans like Fennell and Duffy can be persuaded to abandon their approval of violence as a means to achieving their goal: if Sinn Féin’s political strategy begins to show clear evidence of progress towards an Ireland free of British jurisdiction.
Can such evidence of progress be shown? In their answer to that, ‘dissident’ republicans are joined by unionist politicians of every stripe – from John McCallister to the UUP to the DUP to Jim Allister. Listen to the speeches in coming weeks. You will hear that, like the ‘dissident’ republicans, they believe a united Ireland is further away than ever.
Jude, from time immemorable, those who voice opposition to the british occupation of ireland have always being targeted, nothing new here then, however if you are now conceding that the SF approach has not and will not bring a UI closer , well that is a revelation from your goodself ! Time then to ditch Stormont and reassess the futility of administering Brit rule on their behalf, it just doesnt work imo.
Tony, you mustn’t read things into what I write that aren’t there. I’m simply laying out what presumably is the thinking of ‘dissident’ republicans and unionist politicians. It’s an odd conjunction, I think you’ll agree.
Tony, is there any chance you could outline a strategy that would bring an end to British rule in this part of Ireland that you wouldn’t consider ‘futile’? Thank you.
When I hear on radio from time to time that somebody like Colin Duffy or Dee Fennell have been arrested in relation to some charge, I am reminded of the quote from the police inspector in the old film Casablanca: ‘Round up the usual suspects’.
How many of these situations turn out to be ‘wrongful arrests’? It shows why the British government changed the law so there is no compensation payable for being wrongfully arrested, because Duffy especially would by now be a very rich man!
You mention that he was arrested in 1995 for the killing of a UDR man in Lurgan Park. He was actually convicted and jailed for the offence, as the police had an ‘eye witness’.
That would most likely have been the end of public interest until the ‘eye witness’ was arrested in Scotland and charged with arms offences and of being in the UVF. Only then were doubts expressed about his witness credibility, reinforced by him being filmed, under police escort, shouting ‘Up the UVF’.
Politics has taken a regressive step in the north with the appointment of Arlene Foster. This woman is showing traits of old hardliners in the past and will not have much to do with any talk of dismantling ‘her wee country (I say this with boke in my throat). Arlene never fails to stress that point, that the six counties is a country and this is being spouted with greater regularity than ever by presenters like Nolan and Crawley. The six counties was not and will not ever be a country since it does not have the political and economical components that make what is a country in modern terms ie. tax revenues. Living off a grant does not a country make. If I lived off grants I could not claim to be a working earner. People on benefits are being evermore vilified for being a strain and scourge on a nation and society. What then, I ask, does that make norneverland?????
From earliest times, human beings have been curious about the future. Divination evolved as a means of satisfying that curiosity and included the discovery of things hidden in the past, the present, or the future by the interpretation of signs, symbols, and portents. Some of these practices were quite bizarre by modern standards and one of these would be haruspication. Haruspication was a kind of divination that involved inspecting the entrails of an animal. In the 26 counties, the “political corpse” is being well and truly dissected by a range of political astrologers. It borders on the farcical to hear failed politicians talking about “the country” and “what is in the national interest, ” however, they remain reluctant to discuss soft borders or partition.
When did the border become a soft border or even an electronic border? According to Ian Óg Paisley, the soft border is a fait accompli and that is why we do not feel a thing as we cross from the six into the 26 counties or vice versa. The soft border was under discussion during a Northern Ireland Affairs Committee meeting on 3 February 2016. The PSNI will not confirm or deny the existence of an electronic border, a border that electronically records vehicles and people crossing the soft border.
One can only hope that the British Culture Secretary was not taking pictures of Northern Ireland Affairs for his paramour. That would raise serious questions about National Security. Perhaps some people of the baser sort will now choose to cross the soft border under the cover of darkness following the lead of the British Culture Secretary. It is alleged that he took his courtesan to the Commons and turned off the lights to avoid being recorded on CCTV.
Dee Fennell, Sean Kelly, Alec McCrory and Colin Duffy are under constant 24/7 surveillance by the British security services yet whenever there is a shooting these are the ones who are constantly brought in for questioning.
Whenever the PSNI make a press release on an arrest; depending on the age of the individual and the location you could make a good guess who it is they have picked up.
This is to give a veneer of efficiency which is not evidenced by results and also allows them to “keep the pressure on” said individuals. A few days later almost as an afterthought you hear that said individual has been released without charges.
In the midst of all this game playing the victims families are less of a priority than playing to the press and the likes of the DUP.
Sinn Féin in the north just come across as incredibly toothless of late. This may well be down to a genuine desire to co-operate with their partners in the DUP, but with Foster increasingly adopting a Paisleyite approach one wonders how effective this will continue to be. When you consider how they’ve really put the shitters up the various factions of FF, FG, Labour, RTE, INM etc down south, it seems odd that they appear to do the opposite here.
Perhaps power (albeit of the limited Stormont variety) has made them complacent, and the SDLP are hardly snapping at their heels. The DUP pull no punches when it comes their dealings with Sinn Féin, and miss no opportunity to give them a kick. SF on the other hand, only stress their commitment to the ‘institutions’ and carry meekly on. That’s how it looks from here at any rate. Perhaps this is all part of some long term overarching strategy, but if so they’re certainly keeping their cards pretty close to their chests.
A commitment to peace, equality and a shared future need not be so acquiescent. Particularly when the DUP are so vigorously opposed to at least two of those things.
Danny Morrison is one of the few I can think of who still seems to have a fire in his belly, but I don’t see much else out there. SF appear to be going from strength to strength down south, but withering on the vine somewhat here. I wonder if Pádraig Mac Lochlainn or others from the 26 could become more involved in affairs in the north, and inject a bit of life into the party up here? They are an all Ireland party after all.
Apropos of nothing, at least some folk appear to be doing what they can to smash the DUP
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/18/northern-ireland-gay-community-democratic-unionst-party-marriage-equality-tactical-voting
Have to agree entirely with your post. Sinn Fein seem to be taking a back seat in this election. Recently I drove from Dungannon to Enniskillen and the road is full of Unionist posters of all descriptions. There’s the odd SDLP one but not a single SF was to be seen. If Sinn Fein are under the illusion there are no Nationalist voters on that 50 Mile stretch then they need to have another look at themselves. They need to be putting more life into this election otherwise they’ll get a quare gunk at the final results.@
Wes, I’m not sure when you travelled from Dungannon to Enniskillen. I travelled the same road yesterday and saw plenty of SF posters along with all the rest.
Reading your incisive dissection today, Esteemed Blogmeister, a dissection as scalpel-sharp as ever, one was reminded of another Belfast man, also called D. Fennell.
That would be Desmond Fennell who moved to Dublin when young and was schooled in that city on Liffeyside. Though the Dee for Dissident would also fit him just as well.
For he is also the leading Dissident in publication terms down here south of the Black Sow’s Dyke. As a commentator on the political scene, both at home and abroad, he is as far head of the field in the Free Southern Stateen as say, Babe Ruth was in his day and in his field. He knocks everybody else down here right out of the intellectual ballpark.
(No, not that Babe Ruth).
Now in his mid-Eighties, a glance at his list of dissident publications, dating from, say, the early 80’s, and to pluck a few plums at random is evidence of his pre-eminence by an Irish mile when it comes to plumbing the depths:
-The State of the Nation: Ireland since the 60’s (1983);
-Cuireadh chun na Triu Reabhloide (1984);
-Nice People and Rednecks: Ireland in the 1980’s (1986);
-The Revision of Irish Nationalism (1989);
-Heresy: The Birth of Ideas in Modern Ireland (1993):
-Uncertain Dawn: Hiroshima and the Beginning of Postwestern Civilisation (1996);
-Ireland and the end of European Civilisation (2011);
-Third Strike did it : The Staggered End of European Civilisation (2012).
In 2007, he published a book entitled ‘About Behaving Normally in an Abnormal Circumstances (2007). This could well apply to his intellectual pursuits in the uber-abnormal 26 county province of Craic Potonia. He has spent a life time attempting to win recognition for the mere intellectual by the Arts Council. Something which is considered a norm in more normal societies, even a given in any given society.
To say his efforts have been laughed out of court by his lessers is to be reminded of the sound most commonly associated with the hyena.
In 1999 he wrote a pamphlet which did his cause no good at all in the hermetically sealed mindset of the monocoloured media:
-Whatever you say, say nothing: why Seamus Heaney is Number 1.
To say that this set the cat among the pigeon-toed artocricy on Liffeyside is to put it mildly. Letters of outrage clogged the Letters Page of The Unionist Times for weeks afterwards.
It certainly did not win him a metrospective gilt-edged harp-embossed invitation to a semi-private bash in honour of the newly returned Nobel-prizewinning Poet Laureate in Government Buildings, Dublin 2, in 1995.
One who was in attendance was The Perkin (don’t ask) who found himself, Cavalry-style, seated at the trough between, on the left, a former WP stalwart but now Labour Party M.P. and The Fintan O’Toole, whose (gulp) intellectual F.O.T. steps are embossed all over the mind avenue of the mindless in the FSS.
At one stage, possibly between the real brandy and the metaphysical cigars, The Perkin’s inner ball hopper , apropos nothing and yet apropos everything, tossed the name of D. Fennell simultaneously on to the table and into the postprandial conversation.
Looking left for a reaction, one was greeted with a rhubarb type sound, along the lines of:
-Jenersky’s thesis on the Origin, Development and Consolidation of the Evolutionary Idea of the Proletariat.
Or some sorta thingy like that.
Turning right, one was greeted with a porcine snort of contempt, such as might be heard at a trough of a different sort and uttered by a picky eater.
One understood then that the chances of any of D. Fennell’s publications ever making their way on the curriculum of the Free Southern Stateen’s all- inclusive educational courses are slim to the point of being whimsical. What the Eireland Establishment fear far more than bullets are, of course, bulletpoints.
In the land of the Tenderfoot the tough-soled dissident thinker is kaput.
Perkin – tell me if I’m repeating myself – but you’re like Woody Allen in that movie – attendant at so many of the great moments in Irish history. And if they weren’t great before you arrived they were shortly after…
Ah, but that was in a foreign country (alleged), Esteemed Blogmeister, in a former existence and besides, the wretch is undead. His last arresting place is unknown, though rumours are drum and fife.
Forsooth, one feels another lamentable lament on the way. Make way, make way, is there a spin doctor in the house ?
In Uirchill an Chreagain (2).
An chead uair eile a theann tu go dti an reilig
Beir leat an bleachtaire cluiteach ud on Bheilg
Sin M. H. Poirot
Aige ata an treo
Direoidh se thu chun na lice faoin a luionn Zelig.
(Aistriuchan / Translation by Mad Dog, the MD of Woof Translations )
The next time you go seek his cold, wormy bed
Bring he whose little grey cells pack his big head
M. Hercule Poirot
He’s in the know
He’ll show you Zelig’s headstone, unmarked Zed.
A very good post from An Coileanach and from RJC. It appears that the Provisional Alliance do, indeed , have a plan. It is to appear to the English and American establishments as the soul of sweet reasonableness. All crises are approached from the pragmatic political point of view. They try to make their stance attractive to the lads and ladettes of Átha Cliath, London and Washington in the hope that these people will realise how hard they try and how many rollovers they are capable of with no response from the colonial community. They climb on every bandwagon espoused by the pragmatic citizens of the world. Gay marriage, LGBT rights, abortion etc but forget who votes them in. They dismiss the reason why Michelle Gildernew lost her seat in FST but the voters know. Like all post split Irish insurgents they try to show how reasonable they are and how much they respect and love their unionist brethren. If this means savaging their ex comrades, then so be it.this may be the correct path to take but if it fails it will be another 30 years before we can lift our heads again.
Sinn Fein are fast becoming meaningless in my town. Anytime I hear of them they are involved in some enterprise that inevitably involves obtaining funding from stormont or London. And as with anything that involves money there’s a definite whiff of people benefitting out of it. No doubt other parties are at it too but as a republican who has a keen interest in all those who claim they are republican I pay particular interest in s.f. To see how detached s.f have become towards the working class areas they originated is disturbing and unforgivable. We accuse the free staters of pulling the ladder up but s.f have a ladder too and you dare not step foot on it if you are not a fan of mcgunness and co.
Another elephant in the room is their keenness to embrace populism. I am all for equality and all that but I have heard folk who never mention run of the mill politics here, declaring they won’t vote for the shinners due to the lack of leadership in the abortion issue for example. I respect these people’s views and would also say they make very telling arguments about the concerns they have with this subject. These people don’t need a populist party they want leadership and principles. Alas it looks like s.f are just as cynical when it comes to voters views too. One other poser that wasn’t raised concerning the last free state election. Did s.f do worse than was anticipated and F.F do better than anticipated due to their differing abortion stance? In fact all those leftist parties that espouse free abortion didn’t do as well as was predicted. Did they underestimate the feelings of the electorate and instead assumed that was their thinking via newspapers and media?
Wolfe Tone,
Get a grip of yourself, imagine that, SF reps are involved in drawing down funding to benefit the communities that elect them, be that through EU funding, PEACE, Rural develooment etc that’s what they get elected to do. Do you actually know what SF’s policy on abortion is? I suggest you do a bit of research as you obviously haven’t a clue.
benefit the communities that elect them,
food banks opening,cuts ect,ect.great job their making catch a grip,as for abortion i agree on that policy if ya want one just get one its your own business.as for the people getting arrested and held on remand thats only a reminder interments still on the books.
A typical shinner you are Hugh. Shouting down anyone that has an opinion that differs from the party line. By your own hand you have perhaps shown why there is a lack of will amongst the nationalist electorate to vote at all, I.e arrogance.
To repeat again, from what I see in my own town, it appears s.f are only seem to be involved in schemes that require funding. I can’t speak for other towns. Sin é.
Btw s.f don’t know their own policy on abortion hence the doublespeak. What I do know from past experience(I don’t need to do research on that one), s.f ,it appears at times, pretend they know what they are doing but in fact are winging it.
Btw you happened to mention European funding which may suggest the true reason why there’s a keenest for an Irish Republican Party to campaign for the U.K to stay in Europe?(no laughing at the back please).
We have the farcical situation where Martin mcguinness claims a brexit would result in a border poll, which allegedly is his party’s objective? Surely he should be campaigning for a brexit too then? No instead he decides to appear to use it as kind of scare story towards those who maybe contemplating voting for an exit. Tactical genius? Or chancer?
SF approve abortion for fatal foetal abnormality, pregnancy as a result of a sex crime and where the mother is likely to be mentally disturbed by a pregnancy. Does this sum it up, Hugh?
Fennell for all his high profile somehow failed to get elected a councillor.In fact SF outpolled him 4 to 1.I can assure you that life under him and his ilk would not be very pleasent.
Are you suggesting that its okay for him, or anyone else, to be repeatedly arrested on some pretext, held for a few days and then released as there was no evidence for his arrest in the first place?
Jude, I don’t think Jim Allister would agree that a United Ireland is further away than ever. Indeed Jim Allister has repeatedly said the Good Friday Agreement and everything that stems from it is designed to “tumble us into a United Ireland”. Is it though? I would say it is.
I think your article, whether intended or not, shows up Sinn Fein on this topic. Can Sinn Fein, after nearly 20 years since the GFA, show progress towards Irish Unity? Certainly they can point to their massive successes in politics. They are the biggest party in Ireland. They got slightly more votes than the DUP in the last Assembly Election. They went from 1 TD in the South in 1997 to 23 TD’s in 2016 and soon will be the official opposition and are widely favoured to be the next Irish Government. They have far surpassed the SDLP to become the biggest nationalist party. They have been successful in Government in the North with the DUP, it isn’t perfect but the Assembly hasn’t collapsed, like it did with the SDLP and UUP. If I said 20 years ago that all this would happen I would’ve been laughed out of the room and carted off to the Asylum for my own protection.
But is this progress towards Irish Unity? That’s debatable but I would say it is. Having a party that is extremely Pro-Irish Unity holding the reins of power in the North and on the verge of holding political power in the South is what the media termed “a United Ireland embryo”.
Lets look at it from this prospective too: Is the Union safer today than it ever was as DUP politicians claim? Clearly not. The Union was stronger politically in 1966 or even 1996 than it is today in 2016. The Irish Government has a direct say on events here, they are at the table at every major agreement, indeed if Sinn Fein become the Irish Government in the South then strictly speaking the Irish Government is in power in the North! British and Irish has parity in Law here. There is North-South bodies. The demographics is changing, where by 2020 or maybe earlier Unionism will be in a minority. Enoch Powell, the UUP MP, said the best way of strengthening the Union was to integrate NI with the rest of the UK, no Stormont and no devolution. But yet the exact opposite is happening today, we’re getting more devolution and less integration, with Sinn Fein at the forefront calling for more devolution to the point of Devo Max.
Peter Robinson himself asked the question in the 1990’s while campaigning against the Good Friday Agreement: How can the Union be safe with Sinn Fein in Government? That’s a very good question….
When it comes to dissident republicans most of them are wedded to traditional republican ideas, such as armed struggle. Some will never settle for anything less than a United Ireland. I’m of the opinion dissident republicans have much more support or sympathy than we like to admit. If we want to stop that support or sympathy then we need to PUBLICALLY see more progress towards Irish Unity, we need to see it happening and in progress, no vague statements of it will happen or its on its way. That doesn’t wash with dissidents or their supporters.
Unionists/Loyalists are maybe the biggest recruitment tool for dissident republicans. This absolute refusal to reciprocate Sinn Fein’s efforts towards reconciliation are turning more and more young people towards dissident ideas. For example, this Sunday there is going to be a Republican parade in Belfast City Centre to commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising. Loyalists are all over facebook making clear that Belfast is THEIR city, aka Protestant, and that no Republicans will march in the City Centre. Indeed they are not only protesting against the march but planning to get it stopped through violence. They did this in 2014 but failed to last year. Compare this to the numerous Loyalist and Orange Order parades that go through Belfast City Centre without Republican opposition.
Its this massive imbalance, this massive difference in mind sets between Sinn Fein type Republicans and Unionists/Loyalists that are making young Republicans think twice and listen to dissidents. Haven’t we seen this happening before? Of course, during the Civil Rights Movement. The SDLP encouraged young nationalists to stay peaceful but when Unionism opposed the marches for civil rights and brutally attacked them then that drove many young nationalists to join the PIRA and hold Sinn Fein’s politics of the 1970’s.
There’s an old saying: History repeats itself….
I don’t know when a United Ireland will happen but I know for certain It will happen eventually. It wont happen though with Republicans sitting on their hands. We need to be politically active. Northern Ireland as a state has been an utter failure since day 1 and that alone ensures that Irish Unity is inevitable. Lets just make sure it happens soon.
Splendidly long and thoughtful post, Ryan – thanks. Why don’t you do a blog on this topic – or another one?
Ryan
Sinn Fein as the main drivers towards a United Ireland need to achieve two things.
Firstly they need a referendum,which is in the gift of the British Secretary of State.
On the face of it they have been making little effort to push for one in the near future,beyond the odd statement half heartedly suggesting one.
Being in government North and South would certainly make a strong case for one, but it does not appear likely just yet. Abortion could become an ever more divisive issue with successive generations of young voters making it hard for them to hold their ground.
Brexit also,some think, might be the catalyst for a vote.
Either way it is not really in their hands and they seem a bit toothless in that regard, for now at least.
Secondly, when a referendum does take place, they need to persuade enough voters to vote for a UI.
Polls are not favourable at present and many people seem to like the idea, but not just yet.
Of course in a referendum campaign that could change,but that first vote could very well be a no. That would lead to a 7 year wait for the next one. And a lot could happen in that time
Even Jude would have to allow that Gerry will be gone by then, probably Martin too.
What direction will New Sinn Fein then take? Perhaps they will be spent and the voters will have turned elsewhere.
All in all it looks to me like SF are no longer in control of their own destiny and they are simply hoping events will turn out favourable in the end…somehow.
I’m always drawn when someone takes my name in vain…Firstly, I don’t believe we should automatically assume that because people, in this case Adams and McGuinness, pass seventy, they’re bound to be past it. Try reading George Bernard Shaw in his 80s and tell me he was past it. Secondly, as I’ve indicated elsewhere, what a UI would look like needs sharper definition. It’s unlikely a referendum will be won – or make sense – if people don’t know what they’re voting for…
Dear God, please tell me you don’t think we will have to put up with Gerry and Martin for 10 more years!
Even Stalin only managed 30 years or so.
Gerry’s tweets may be mildly amusing but he is no George Bernard Shaw.
Can we expect his version of ‘Arms and the Man’ anytime soon?
Yes Jude it is a difficult one, the treatment that these people face from the security forces are brutal, inhumane, unfair and it is designed to try and break their spirits. Let’s face it, it is the same treatment faced by republicans since the British came here.
The actions of the British towards Republicans was always knee-jerk, counter-productive and designed to appease the most right-wing elements here and in London.
These individuals get local support because they come from the most deprived areas where people have suffered most and where any improvements since the GFA have seemed to have had a lesser impact. Locals also see how these men are arrested at every opportunity for offences that it would seem to a man or woman from the area that it would have been impossible or implausible for them to commit.
If the British continue to treat these people this way they are going to continue to marginalise and disaffect increasing numbers of ordinary republicans who although they do not support the line these people have decided upon can recognise injustice when they see it!
It is not a nice place for Sinn Fein to be in, their strategy is based on patience, changes in demographics, and an equality agenda often driven by court decisions and legislative changes, often wresting privilege from a truculent population resentful of change.
Maybe these guys will prove to be right and a civil war maybe the only way to unite the country but I for one would never want to contemplate that.
There’s been a fair bit of criticism of SF from a number of contributors on this thread. You have your opinion and that’s fair enough. You seemingly have little confidence in the SF strategy to help bring about the reunification of our country.
Can I simply ask what is the alternative? How do you propose to bring about the existence of a 32 county Republic?
Tony considers the SF strategy ‘futile’. Billy regularly spits criticism and little else. You’re totally entitled to be anti SF if you like. I’ve zero problem with that. But can you please outline a plausible strategy that you believe could end partition and finally bring unity to this country and it’s people? I’ve asked this question before and have never really had an answer so I’d greatly appreciate an answer or hearing some thoughts on this. Thanks in advance.
V telling contribution, Patrick. I too would like to hear an alternative. That said, I would like to see SF more active on the UI front. It’s long past time that we had a carefully research paper on what they believe a UI would look like.
spits criticism,sorry for having an opinion that differs from dear leader,
as for strategy re a united ireland that was signed over to the orangemen with the g,f,a.
Show me a scheme that doesn’t need funding.
Patrick/Jude the reason i consider the SF strategy futile is because nowhere in the world have we seen a people achieve their independence by collaborating with the occupier in administering their rule in the occupied territory. That said republicans have being asked the same question for decades “what is your alternative”, by the SDLP, the Freestaters,the Church, et al. That question was at one time directed at those in SF who are now part of the puppet administration at Stormont. For me the alternative is contained within the right of the Irish people to self determination and i would subscribe to the proposals contained within “Eire Nua” as a basis for an overall settlement. What we have at the minute is nothing more than a Vichy regime at Stormont something which the Brits are quite content with since it is their creation. The dilution of the demand for an end to british rule in Ireland as evidenced in recent years by the silence of SF in particular on this issue is a direct result of this internal arrangement. I am not anti-SF, I am anti what they have done to weaken and negate all that was done to end Brit rule in Ireland. For SF to suggest now that the campaign of the last 47 years was for equality and parity of esteem is but one example of that weakening and negation. I dont have all the answers but i am well certain that what we have at the minute will just ensconce that colonial rule further. Just my thoughts mo chairde.
Thanks, Tony. I share your thinking to some degree. It’s certainly true that the IRA campaign was less about equality and more about re-unification. However, most nationalists/republicans, I think, would say the goal should be both. Were we in the north simply attached to the coat-tails of the 26-counties, it would be a long way from what most nationalists/republicans in the north would want. The question remains: what alternative is there to the SF strategy of involvement in politics on both sides of the border, keeping re-unification as a live core issue? I think it’s true to say that unionists feel threatened by the thought of Martin McGuinness as First Minister; they would be even more alarmed were SF to become a major part of the government in the south. I don’t think all of their alarm would be unfounded, especially when the demographic trend is added to that. It does seem a long and winding road towards re-unification, but until there’s a better one…
Hi Tony, thanks for the reply. As said in my previous comment I have absolutely zero problem with anyone who is critical of SF. SF are a political party and everyone and anyone has the right to critique them.
Tony I’m sure our thoughts on what we would like to see Ireland become are similar. I’m sure we both want to see the creation of a 32 county Irish Republic that treats all of its citizens equally. The question is how we achieve that?
Now the SF strategy is obviously to use politics to help them achieve that goal. I don’t for one minute believe that SF are settling for what we currently have and have abandoned the dream of a United Ireland. If they did I wouldn’t support them. And like Jude has asked you in his above comment – “what alternative is there to the SF strategy of involvement in politics both sides of the border?”
I can understand that there are people who are frustrated or perhaps even disillusioned. Fair enough. But I still can’t help but thinking that such people, yourself included, haven’t offered a better alternative.
Billy, no need to apologise for “having an opinion that differs from dear leader”. I already said that people are perfectly entitled to their own opinions. Now perhaps you might want to outline what strategy you think could bring about a united Ireland?