I know this reminds me of something but for the life of me I can’t think what…Still, terrific pic, eh? Especially when you click it and make it stand up straight.
I know this reminds me of something but for the life of me I can’t think what…Still, terrific pic, eh? Especially when you click it and make it stand up straight.
Wow,
Our first ‘transgender’ First minister !
And a DUP one at that.
Why don’t you gather up the courage of your convictions, Jude, and tell us?
I wish I could. Let me think – sometime.um…inside the last two weeks. Right. That was it. About two weeks ago. But WHAT WAS IT? Gone.
Is that ‘remember’, or ‘gather up your convictions’?
But it seems you are making progress: “Inside the last two weeks”, that’s at start – after all, if you don’t know what you’re talking about, and you wrote the piece, what hope do any of the rest of us have?
I hear ginkgo and fish oil are good for one’s memory.
PF
I think Jude is suffering from repressed memories. He has unconsciously blocked the events of a couple of weeks ago as they were so traumatic.
This picture is acting as a trigger (excuse the pun) and I am afraid he is at risk of reliving those painful moments again.
Briogáid na mBuachaill, b’fhéidir?
Cinnte. Is cliste thú, Fiosrach….
Thanks for your thoughts, giordanobruno; I suppose it’s either that, or he’s attempting to provoke something, but I guess we’ll never know.
I was thinking again, boys, that if we came up with enough puns, we’d have the making of a memory between us.
Is anybody going to take the bait??
Twinbrook lad, hello.
I think Jude’s forgotten to reel me in. It’s not the first thing he’s forgotten this week!
Interestingly I had also got to thinking that he shouldn’t assume people can’t have a go at translating Irish, even if they don’t speak it, and especially when some words have a habit of looking similar whatever the language.
All in all it’s a curious entry.
Oh dear. In future I’ll put up ten smiley faces as an irony alert…
Irony, Jude. Yea, whatever – because it’s not like you were poking at something with a stick.
But one of the most tiresome things about the internet is the lack of actual communication – I had hoped for more.
Thankfully another of your contributors is more willing to engage – but if you want, you can have the last word…
PF – I’m delighted that you and others express your views. I don’t mean to be insulting, I promise you. I wasn’t poking at anything, with or without a stick. I was simply pointing out that children and militarism can be presented as shock-horror in some cases, and isn’t-that-lovely in others. Frankly, I think any involvement of children with people who are trained to kill – for whatever cause, worthy or unworthy – stinks.
Thank you, Jude – you will know that I haven’t been around this site for very long.
I suspect, too, that I am one of the few unionists who comment here; although I must say that Jessica has been most welcoming.
For sake of clarity, too, yes, I was a ‘Brigade’ boy, although no longer, neither was it the reason I responded to this entry.
What bothered me about the whole hoo-hah which followed was not the parallels drawn with militarism (of which there are obviously some similarities – although, by the same measure, modelling an organisation along military lines: drill, marching, squads etc. does not make it an army – or anything close to an army), but the irresponsibility (something you have since acknowledged: “a moment of bored irresponsibility”) of comparing a masked paramilitary organisation which poses a clear threat to life with a church based youth organisation. There simply is no significant parallel – any more than any of the spectators watching the recent 1916 Rising parade in Dublin could be associated with dissidents or terrorists of any kind – they clearly weren’t.
And after all that, you posted this entry but also chose to side-step the obvious pointers by feigning memory loss.
Surely it would advance the cause of Ireland further if each of us just clearly stated that paramilitary references are unacceptable. I’m not saying Ireland is uncomplicated, but I am saying that some wrongs, Loyalist or Republican, are clearer than others.
Pf – Failte romhat aris – welcome again. I value everybody who posts here, particularly people who do so in a civilized way and particularly if they have a different take on things than mine. You’ve sorely tempted me to wade into the BB thing again but I’ll resist the temptation – other than to say (again) that my parallel was not between two organisations but between the militarism to which children were exposed.Sin é – that’s it- so PULLLEEEEEAAAASE don’t respond to that. Life is short and I cannot bear to spend another moment on that particular issue. Besides, I’m in a state of euphoria, having watched RoI win tonight’s game. And fair play to Arlene Foster – she was one of the first on to congratulate the Irish team.
“And fair play to Arlene Foster – she was one of the first on to congratulate the Irish team.”
Not sure if it is all the good weather we’ve had recently or they’ve put something in the water, but it seems to me that we are all starting to be terribly nice to one another.
You never know, maybe Martin McGuinness was right and the next 5 years will be all about reconciliation.
‘Terribly nice’ – I’d rather call it civilized/courteous, jessica
Jude, thank you again for your welcome, and I will, as you request, refrain from further response on the matter – except to say this:
I fully respect your right, as owner and moderator of this site to determine the limits of the debate, and I give way to that – but it was not I who raised the matter on this thread, and, as a result, reopened the can.
OK – I did, PF. Mea culpa…