There is only one all-Ireland political party actively promoting Irish unity.Only one. Why is this?
Brexit has highlighted the risk maintaining a border and separate jurisdictions has economically in both parts of Ireland, but even this is not enough to make the Dublin establishment pay more than lip-service to a potential future united Ireland. Why is this?
Sinn Fein have been calling for a border poll for at least four years and are more or less ignored. An Taoiseach mentions one might be coming and the whole media latch on to it and you can sense the political foundations shaking. It is just a pity our current Taoiseach then ran back into his shell and backtracked to steady the sinking ship once again.
Such is the power over all of Ireland that rests in Dublin. If Dublin wanted Ireland united we can see that it would not be difficult.
Any wonder therefore that it is the holy grail to Sinn Fein and the core focus of their political agenda, to lead all of Ireland into unity from Dublin.
You would wonder why the other so-called republican parties in Dublin are not more proactive in seeking unification.
Instead we have constant pandering to unionism.
Our President’s refusal to attend a dinner in Belfast without unionist buy in. The Gardaí commissioner changing their statement to support the Chief Constable’s assessment that the IRA were leading Sinn Fein, after saying it wasn’t the case in the republic.
The constant focus on the past and an onslaught of media aggression against Sinn Fein and their proactive discouragement of Irish unity.
The Dublin establishment in relation to Irish unity is a complete puppet to England. Why is this?
Well, it is not every nation that gets a 7bn helper-outer to help a “friend in need” as Cameron put it from England.
Would it be cynical to assume there has been agreement not to get out of line on reunification and follow England’s lead?
We know there are those who find it hard to swallow having to leave Ireland while having been unable to defeat the IRA militarily.
The IRA are now gone and no longer exist to be beaten militarily, and history will record that a civilian Irish army fought the British army to a standstill for a second time in a century.
But now ask yourself why MI5 are still here and still recruiting into loyalist and so called republican paramilitaries who we all know are not the IRA and who are infiltrated to the core and are no more than MI5 pawns operating at times with PSNI immunity.
Are they being set up to provide the defeat of the IRA that they crave before finally leaving here?
Is Dublin complicit in that agenda and holding back until they get the all-clear, or am I simply being too cynical?
I can see why Sinn Fein need to lead Ireland from Dublin though.
But getting elected to lead a country is not going to be easy. You first of all need to prove you have what it takes to take on the responsibility of running a country.
That means making the right choices, handling the economy with competence, looking after health and education. It also means interacting on the world stage with other nations, meeting and greeting the heads of state of those nations and representing our country on the world’s stage, as well as being able to represent all sections of our people equally.
Again, there is only one all-Ireland party doing these things.
Thanks to Unionist intransigence, Stormont is a complete farce and needs to be closed. After the behaviour of unionism, I could not even support it being used as part of a devolved assembly within a united Ireland. That has to be ruled out for that reason and I would vehemently oppose its use for that purpose.
But Stormont has allowed Sinn Fein to prove they are more than capable of leading our nation. They are currently managing the Finance department as well as Health portfolio. They have transformed the education system here, removing the 11+, reducing the school estate and setting it on the road to integrated education.
Stormont is a means to an end, and once that end has been achieved would make an ideal museum and tourist attraction, tourism being one of the lead industries that will rebuild our all island nation’s economy post-unification.
I am as guilty as anyone here of being frustrated by lack of backbone in standing up to unionism. But then I think about it, and tolerating unionist bigotry and intransigence in the short term is a small price to pay if the end result is getting Stormont out of our lives forever.
Does Jessica just reheat her articles?
sure this is all dealt with in the gfa cul de sac.
Sorry Jessica you are just factually wrong here.
“The IRA are now gone and no longer exist to be beaten militarily, and history will record that a civilian Irish army fought the British army to a standstill for a second time in a century.”
History won’t and doesn’t record that. In both the Anglo-Irish war and The Troubles, both sides couldn’t win a military victory and were forced to compromise in the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the GFA. I doubt the IRA would have accepted either treaty if try could have got the British out militarily and got there United Ireland.
In 1921 Michael Collins said that if the treaty negotiations failed the IRA “couldn’t last 3 weeks”.
“But Stormont has allowed Sinn Fein to prove they are more than capable of leading our nation. They are currently managing the Finance department as well as Health portfolio. They have transformed the education system here, removing the 11+, reducing the school estate and setting it on the road to integrated ”
SF did do away with the transfer test, but due to there inability to face down the Grammer schools we now have a worse situation with 3 tests outside of government control. Primary school teachers can’t even prepare children for these tests and parents who can’t afford tutors or have the capability to prepare there children are put at a even greater disadvantage. To put it simply they made a hash of it.
Also how exactly have they expanded integrated education? They have held the education portfolio for many years now and only 10% of schools are Integrated.
We saw how capable SF were at governing last year during the Welfare Reform crisis. When faced with a very difficult decision about the reforms they were not able to put forward any alternatives of where the money would come from. The only thing they said that they would refuse to implement the cuts and there only strategy was to ask for more money from Westminster before eventually retreating and accepting the cuts.
Hardly good governance.
Scott, I dont believe it is possible for us to remove the British out of Ireland militarily and that is why I said they fought to standstill.
We are in agreement.
“In 1921 Michael Collins said that if the treaty negotiations failed the IRA “couldn’t last 3 weeks”.”
They were in an even worse position in the 70s and I am sure the same thing was said many times after that.
“SF did do away with the transfer test, but due to there inability to face down the Grammar schools we now have a worse situation with 3 tests outside of government control. Primary school teachers can’t even prepare children for these tests and parents who can’t afford tutors or have the capability to prepare there children are put at a even greater disadvantage. To put it simply they made a hash of it.”
That is your opinion, I get what they were doing and supported the ending of selection at 11.
They were not supported by unionists who tried to overturn the decision of that department disgracefully and the schools mutinied along with them which created the mess. Depends who you blame for the hash I suppose but I believe it was atill the right decision to scrap the test.
“Also how exactly have they expanded integrated education? They have held the education portfolio for many years now and only 10% of schools are Integrated.”
I never said they had expanded integrated education.
Integration will be very slow and will be in an all Ireland context, I don’t want my kids educated in any pro brit schools. Reducing the school estate and investing in key schools will ensure it is done gradually and in the right way, but they did so fairly.
“We saw how capable SF were at governing last year during the Welfare Reform crisis. When faced with a very difficult decision about the reforms they were not able to put forward any alternatives of where the money would come from. The only thing they said that they would refuse to implement the cuts and there only strategy was to ask for more money from Westminster before eventually retreating and accepting the cuts. ”
I don’t believe they accepted any cuts but they certainly weren’t able to deliver what they wanted to either.
Rather than go against them however, it is actually quite remarkable that the DUP and Sinn Fein, both managed to keep a power sharing government in place with both sides being old enemies and being extreme opposites on just about all social and political views.
The civil war parties in the south could learn a thing or two from them on seeing past each others differences.
“That is your opinion, I get what they were doing and supported the ending of selection at 11.”
But selection at 11 didn’t end.
“But selection at 11 didn’t end.”
But we cant blame Sinn Fein on that can we MT?
“But we cant blame Sinn Fein on that can we MT?”
He point is you can’t praise them for something they didn’t do, ie end selection. All they did was privatise the transfer test.
“All they did was privatise the transfer test.”
But they didnt
If unification was such a holy grail and core concept to their political philosophy then why was it only number 10 on their list of 10 key aims in their manifesto pre the recent assembly elections? Surely the acquirement of a United Ireland should be number one as with it comes the chance to deliver the social and economic justice both states have been denied. Also the argument that they have called for a border poll doesn’t convince anyone with any concept of political showmanship. I voted for Brexit on the basis that it would destabilise the British political system and lead to the break up of the UK and create the real opportunity for Irish unity the normalisation of partition under the GFA and its institutions failed to do. Here is the key, they may have called for a border poll but again just playing to the media and the electorate without giving any clear vision of how it would work, politically, economically or socially. Yet they claim we’ll be better off by so many billion and be clear of British influence. Have they not realised it’s not Unionists that need convincing to vote for a United Ireland but Nationalists in both states!!! Who is going to vote to give up free health care and education in the North when they have become accustomed to it? The growing number who claim to be Northern Irish?? The declining Nationalist voters in the North? The voters in the South who are constantly told by their politicians and media they can’t afford a United Ireland? SF have no concept of how Ireland should look after Brexit and they have yet to show a clear vision of what a United Ireland will look like. Until they and other political parties get a clear vision calls for a Border Poll (which the British will deny again and again until it suits them say when Scotland leave the UK and they have no reason to keep here) it is just political grand standing giving the illusion its what they want.
I never said unification was the holy grail ComradeMagee, but control in the Dail.
And just to be clear, what I am saying is that based on the reaction to the Taoiseach’s suggestion of a border poll compared to Sinn Fein’s, it seems clear to me that if Dublin wanted to unite Ireland it would happen.
At the moment, there is only one party promoting this cause that has the remotest chance of achieving that control.
I am asking why is that the case?
In fact more than asking why, I guess I am saying it is a disgrace that this is the case.
I keep hearing about this vision of a united Ireland.
Are you saying you need to know what it might look like because you would have to choose whether or not to support it?
No unionist will ever vote for a united Ireland but if you don’t believe that Ireland is our country then you are not a nationalist.
I have no interest in the British NHS or British education, I want to discuss an Irish NHS and my children being part of an Irish education system and while Sinn Fein support this through economic growth throughout all of our country then that is good enough for me.
“No unionist will ever vote for a United Ireland.”
Well, never say never, Jessica, or not ever, either. I seem to remember that somebody did once, in fact they said it 3 if not 4 times in a row, one after the other, the last one fading into an almost inaudible breath, which was most unlike them, and we know how that worked out!
Anyone who votes for a united Ireland is no longer a unionist Peter.
If only more people in the unionist community would work together to build a new Ireland along with the rest of our population.
Yes, indeed, Jessica; but what you mean is that no one currently identified with the Unionist community would ever vote Unionist.
Some might, indeed I think some would, if the economic outlook was bright enough. Of course they wouldn’t be Unionists then, but they might well be Unionists now.
It’s that ‘never’, ‘ever’ thing we need to watch out for.
And another of the reasons the Union is not safe, as I keep saying.
And if the Union is under threat and a United Ireland a possibility, guess who is in the stronger position?
When I refer to unionists Peter, I really mean people who support partition and are against the unification of Ireland and want to keep us loyal to the crown against our will.
I would say republicans wouldn’t vote for the union, but these PBP people and their dissident followers are starting to sound so pro Stormont I am not so sure any more.
Seems you could be right, never say never.
You really have to think about this one Jessica. A United Ireland needs to be firstly won by a democratic vote that’s the route we have gone down since the GFA. To win that you need to convince those Nationalists who live in the occupied 6 counties they will be better off in a United Ireland, please don’t think like some a sectarian head count will show how people will vote. Similarly in the South the economic and social argument must be made showing how a United Ireland will benefit people but due to the GFA it has to be done in the North firstly. You wouldn’t just buy a house or car because someone says trust me it will be better than what you have? Or indeed be feed lies like the Leave campaign spread saying 50 million a day would be used to fund the NHS and then after they had won went back on that claim!! I will vote a United Ireland in a heart beat but the reality is so many will not no matter what fairy tales some political parties will tell.
Seamasog, I am all for the convincing one way or another and I would even accept a one time offer only and the result would be final.
I am also all for democracy, but we have never had a democratic vote throughout the whole of this island asking 1 simple question, should Ireland be one country or two?
One referendum, same as what happened in Scotland where all parties are given 2 years to debate and look at all options available to us all and the result stands.
,
I have wanted a united Ireland all my life, but the way things are going there, are times when I detest the southern establishment and want nothing to do with it.
I hate living under british rule, I long to feel a part of my own country.
But since the GFA I have never felt less a part of this country.
But how can unification be done in two separate parts?
That in itself is promoting division. We are not talking about merging two countries, this is whether 1 country should reunite or go its separate ways permanently as two separate countries, never to be reunited again.
I think about it a lot and I feel betrayed and insulted by how little interest is shown from the south, I hate how we are being treated and how the irish Catholics in the north are so content to be treated like shit by anyone who sees fit to.
There is a growing resentment in the north, some of it being directed at Sinn Fein and some of it towards Dublin.
It is not me needs to do more thinking. I think about this too much.
I should probably think about it less and just give up.
Jessica
Leaving aside Sinn Fein’s complete mishandling of the Primary/Post-Primary Transfer process, you say:
“Stormont is a means to an end…”
Yes, that was, and is, the suspicion of at least some Unionists.
Perhaps it explains their attitude.
So what explains the unionist attitude Peter?
It’s possible that what I said in my comment explains the Unionist attitude, or part of it anyway.
Sinn Fein have been clear that their aim is a United ireland so there should be no suspicion….it’s all out on the table.
That doesn’t mean unionist leaders can continue to foster negative stereotypes or promote sectarianism
simply because they have differing political aspirations.
Michael
It would be easier to develop the conversation if you could give some examples of the assertions made in your second paragraph.
For all anyone knows there could be some who think you mean that the promotion of a United Ireland is a worthy goal, while the maintainance of the Union the equivalent of promoting sectarianism.
“For all anyone knows there could be some who think you mean that the promotion of a United Ireland is a worthy goal, while the maintainance of the Union the equivalent of promoting sectarianism.”
But it is Peter.
Partition was completely against the democratic wishes of the Irish people.
A part of Ireland was separated and handed over to unionist rule where Catholics where subject to decades of sectarian discrimination and led to unionism starting a conflict to deny Catholics civil rights.
It has done nothing but divide our people ever since and we are more divided now than ever before.
So I was right in my surmising.
I’ m not completely sure what you mean when you say…
“But now ask yourself why MI5 are still here and still recruiting into loyalist and so called republican paramilitaries who we all know are not the IRA and who are infiltrated to the core and are no more than MI5 pawns operating at times with PSNI immunity.Are they being set up to provide the defeat of the IRA that they crave before finally leaving here?”…
Do you mean that the British establishment and the army might want the whole thing to start up again so that the British army can have another go at it and maybe “win” this time around in an alternative ending? Everyone knows that there would never be a “victory” really and it would only leave a whole tranche of people refusing to accept that as a result.Nobody “won” in that sense because the smart money always knew that if anyone claimed a victory then the conflict would go on and on , re-activating every so often.I don’t think the British establishment want another war and in fact I think they’d probably really rather get rid of us if they could just find the right process and the right stability to do it.Sinn fein , I think, reckon that is the case too and there is much sympathy for that same reading in the USA. It’s not something that can happen overnight, either, because the rump of unionism have never bothered preparing themselves for such a “Brexit” style inevitability. There’d be the usual mayhem . Politics would go back to the wall and the wagons would circle . There’d be mass-demos and lots of marching . They want to hold their breath and go blue in the face rather than accept that Britain had ageed to anything like that .We saw it with Sunningdale and we saw it with the UWC strike when unionism took paramilitary muscle onto the street and implicitly threatened violence.
I’m not sure that the british want a new war for many reasons.For one thing we’re living through very different times. You might even say we’ve done all that and we don’t want to get bogged down in it all again. The British were every bit as glad to have the conflict stopped dead as were the IRA and especially the political heads in Sinn Fein. They could see that political power was the way forward and that conflict was going around in circles.They’d been moving towards that for many years. Loyalists never got out of the starting blocks politically and that has been why they sank into gangsterism and crime. The unionist political establishment only used them as cannon-fodder when it suited. When the IRA stopped they could come up with no reason to continue as before as an” anti-IRA”. The IRA leaving the stage took the wind out of their sails. Molyneuax could see this and said as much.
The republicans had a process in place and a plan which loyalist para-militaries did not .They knew that it was not enough to keep on fighting the british establishment because thta would only result in more dead bodiesall around and it would actually provide Britain’s soldiery with a neat little training ground at their back -door.
It’s been said before now that political unionism and social unionism was to lose more than nationalism at the end of conflict .Unionism had a nice alternative economy running for thirty years based on “security”( the RUC, the UDR and the British Army…they didn’t do this work entirely out of a sense of charity or “defence”…they got well- paid too, remember), which had extended families earning a living on the back of the conflict…. which was all but dismantled at the end of the conflict.Barracks were closed and so on and security jobs and supply service jobs went too.Numbers were reduced.
Like i said , the world outside had also changed and international terrorism was on the rise.There were other pressures which eventually resulted in the Twin Towers bombing of 2001 and the later bombing in London and more recently Paris attacks , bringing “suicide terrorism” onto the world stage . We had a certain kind of fanaticism to deal with here , but nothing like the new crazyness that ISIS brought to the table. We’re in a whole new ballgame now and many saw it coming .Security at airports and docks increased even more so it was going to get harder to acquire new weapons too.N ..the political route was the only way to go and it is the SF plan to take the political initiative away from everyone nort and south.By doing so they have a clearpolitical vision to unite Ireland in a two-pronged move from north and South at the same time.
If M15 are keeping an eye on dissident republicans and extreme loyalists, I don’t believe they see them as a threat that can really develop as the IRA or Sinn Fein has done in the past. The only way that the dissidents could really recruit the hearts and minds of nationalism on the same scale as the original Provos did would be if there was a resurrected mad cleric on the scale of Ian Paisley to act as a recruiting agent. (He was the best thing the IRA ever had in that sphere…and there’d be no IRA without his presence—or for the the british army to somehow get themselves back onto the streets and mow down another dozen plus innocent people ,as they did on Bloody Sunday , some forty five years ago ,back in the 1970’s. Now …that might really be a catalyst fot the dissidents , but how likely is it?
If M15 are involved in specific cases ,I would really enjoy seeing the exact references to that present involvment …just out of curiosity, you understand .It would make interesting reading.
While I doubt the British army would care Harry, I do believe there are those in the intelligence agencies and some politicians who were not happy with how things ended.
Brexit could have resulted in Michael Gove as PM who is one who holds such views.
How would he have handled the border issue post brexit, we have yet to see how it does play out with Mrs May?
And why do I have no confidence that Dublin has our best interests at heart?
Is it all in my head?
“Well, it is not every nation that gets a 7bn helper-outer to help a “friend in need” as Cameron put it from England.”
Well Britain itself is going bankrupt, anyone with even a GCSE standard education in Economics can figure that out. When your borrowing so much money that simply cant be paid back then you know its just a matter of time before things go pear shaped. As one Economist put it: The Tory “Austerity” is like using an egg cup to remove water from an overflowing bath while both taps are still running. The Water represents British Debt and the Egg Cup represents “Savings” but borrowing is still sky high (the taps). In order for Britain to even start clearing its debt it would need to do something dramatic, like privatize the NHS or scrap the Old Age Pension. Yes, something that dramatic but we know that wont happen, well not yet anyway.
The Jewel in the Crown of the British Economy is Banking. But what does Banking do? It doesn’t make anything. Britain was truly wealthy when it was a Manufacturing giant, it isn’t anymore. Banks are printing money, they are literally inventing money out of thin air but this is unsustainable. Its nothing new either, the Roman Empire did similar, at 1 point Rome’s Silver coins were 99% pure Silver, that was the Currency. A few decades later they were only 2% pure Silver due to Debt. Banks/Governments are doing similar today, they are creating money which isn’t backed up by REAL wealth, just like Rome’s coins wasn’t of value when it only had 2% Silver then Rome economically collapsed. Things were so bad people actually sold themselves into SLAVERY because they couldn’t look after themselves. Mayhem is coming to Britain and the West soon.
According to this article Britain actually owes IRELAND 9 Billion…..http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15748696
“If Dublin wanted Ireland united we can see that it would not be difficult.”
Dublin wants a United Ireland but they want it when political Unionism is a minority and I’m not talking about 45% but lower than 40% or even 35%. In the 2011 Census Unionism was 48% of the population, its inevitable that population will shrink due to low birth rates, smaller families traditionally (2 children per woman, that doesn’t even grow a population) and 50% of the Unionist population is over the age of 50, meaning they will die off due to Age, Age related disease, etc. over the next decade or 2, which happens to all older people eventually.
You cant blame Dublin for wanting this. I don’t believe they “fear” Unionism (they threatened Unionism with Irish Unity in 2007, according to Paisley) but I believe they want to avoid confrontation. Westminster wants out of this place and I think its obvious they are easing their way out, as many have claimed and which many Loyalists spoke of during the flag protests. As one Journalist said on UTV about the flag protests: “This is more about the political situation than a flag, people can feel chance happening and that’s what Loyalists feel, they feel change and it isn’t something they like, the flag coming down was powerfully symbolic of that change”.
” I could not even support it being used as part of a devolved assembly within a united Ireland”
Isn’t that one of the main arguments in favour of Irish Unity? To get rid of two administrations on this island and save over a billion in the process?….
I don’t know about Britain going bankrupt, they have a strong economy but Dublin should take as big a slice of their financial sector as they can grab.
Britain is borrowing well within its means, Ireland is only now returning back out of the red but has far greater debt compared to its GDP than Britain and is far less able to pay it back which is why public services are crumbling and people are leaving.
Take a look at the figures in the link you posted though Ireland I believe has just about got itself back to around the 100% mark so not quite just as bad as it makes out.
UK
GDP: €1.7 tn
Foreign debt: €7.3 tn
Foreign debt per person: €117,580
Foreign debt to GDP: 436%
Govt debt to GDP: 81%
Risk Status: LOW
Ireland
GDP: €0.2 tn
Foreign debt: €1.7 tn
Foreign debt per person: €390,969
Foreign debt to GDP: 1093%
Govt debt to GDP: 109%
Risk Status: HIGH
But a lot of Britain’s debt is in its financial services which means it is actually making money and has assets held against it. Britain doesn’t owe Ireland 9bn, businesses in Ireland have borrowed 9bn from banks in Britain and are paying this back in interest.
The risk would be if a nation defaulted such as Greece or Italy refusing to pay up.
Ireland on the other hand has a small financial sector and a huge chunk of this debt was to cover pensions.
It is not making money but still losing money.
There is no comparison between the two.
The Irish economy is in the toilet.
Unification could help turn this around, but not on those terms.
Or they could stop going into wars/conflicts that cost billion/trillions to run.
Or they could force corporations to pay their fair share of taxes.
Or they could stop their chums syphoning money out of the economy into off shore accounts.
“Dublin wants a United Ireland but they want it when political Unionism is a minority.”
I’m sorry but that is a cop out Ryan and yes I do blame them.
I would rather they make a choice and if they don’t want us, make partition permanent rather than stringing us along and treating us like shit.
If that is what they choose I would help them build the fucking wall from Dundalk to Derry myself.
All this nonsense will do is split the Irish community in the north who will no longer want unification with a state who would treat us this way, myself included.
Is it any wonder Catholics in the north are choosing northern Irish? It has nothing to do with Sinn Fein, there is a clear difference emerging and it is the attitudes in the republic that are causing the problems.
They have made an absolute shambles of the economy in the republic, if it wasn’t for the ECB steering them through the austerity years they would be down the tubes and bankrupt already.
I believe whole heartedly in the benefits of unification and this would be for the whole country. We would not be a burden and it is an insult for Dublin to say they cannot afford us. Based on what?
I would argue that they cannot afford to ignore the benefits of unification for too much longer and by that time we may just tell them to fuck off.
People have criticised Sinn Fein for not having facts and figures, Well Dublin says they cannot afford us with a 180bn GDP, so where is the detail? Surely they wouldn’t have just made such an insulting claim off the top of their heads so what data did they use to make that assessment?
Why should we play second fiddle when it is through unification and a rebuilding of our nation, growing a vibrant tourism industry and all island infrastructure that will eventually start reducing the debt burden on the people who squandered this money throughout the Celtic tiger years and who now feel better than the Irish citizens in the north who are now to many beneath them.
It is attitudes like this that put me off unification.
Harry, we don’t always agree but I will say you are always a voice of reason and your opinions are far less emotionally conflicted than my own.
You are right though, my opinions are based mostly on conversations with other people about what is happening on the ground especially in my own community, and from the actions and inactions, words and deeds from political representatives.
I suppose the first thing to do would be to address the accuracy of some of those things.
Are innocent people being lifted by the PSNI, not given any charge, kept locked up for long periods of up to 2 years and then released without any charge or any explanation as to what the reason for their detention was?
Is this happening or is it not, and if it is are Sinn Fein turning a blind eye to it?
Are MI5 still recruiting?
Are people being lifted for no good reason or approached to become paid informants to British intelligence?
Are people being taken aside while travelling through security at airports?
Is this not happening at all or if it is, is it deliberate state approved British intelligence acts or simply rogue elements trying to divide the people in those communities and spread disharmony among their perceived enemy?
It is certainly turning people against Sinn Fein that they are not standing up for our community, especially if this is happening.
It would be one way of spreading dissension within a community and it does seem that dissension is spreading within our community?
I am also losing confidence that either London or more so Dublin gives a damn about us, and I feel no trust or confidence with the PSNI while this goes on, and it is untenable for MI5 to remain in this country especially while this is going on.
So I will put it out there, is this going on?
Well Jessica. I try to see the logic of things and make up my mind on that basis. If, as you say certain people are being targeted and locked up for long periods without charge or are being pulled to one side at airports and so on , then it’s worth looking at closely and at individual cases..Lists , names and dates would need to be collated so that a reasonable person could make some sense of it.Maybe sort out a pattern.
As you no doubt know , security services will have their own reasons . For example …..off the top of my head …..take the two girls who were busted for cocaine in Peru. They were targeted for a specific reason …their suitcase was way too big for two casual holidaymakers so they were investigated further….or take my own case , way back in the day over some forty years ago when if your hair was sufficiently long and your attire fitted a particular “profile”, the customs men might pull youu aside and search you for hashhish. That happened to me now and again. That kind of thing happens too, so there’s no point in getting too paranoid unless it’s happening all the time .
Now if there are specific people being targeted it would be better trying to figure out just why …and why them specifically.It is more likely these days to be pulled to one side while boarding an aeroplane if you are carrying a Koran and have a full-face beard.So …I’m not sure that Sinn fein can be specifically blamed for not investigating this kind of thing unless there is another specific agenda. for example if there was a”dissident republican” connection involved ..Then again if there was , surely the “dissident” would not expect Sinn Fein to support them anyway as they are in two radically different kinds of camps?
“Then again if there was , surely the “dissident” would not expect Sinn Fein to support them anyway as they are in two radically different kinds of camps?”
Well I would Harry.
If these things are happening and Sinn Fein are ignoring them for any reason then they are not holding policing and justice here to account and are failing our people.
They make enough effort to accommodate unionism, I would hate to think they would be ignoring real issues in the republican community. They should know better.
But is it not the dissidents who are treating people like McGuinness and Adams as pariahs and traitors because they have a different political ethos? Are they not encouraging “our community”(as you call it ) to disown Sinn Fein ‘s political stance ? it’s either one thing or the other , surely . A majority of voting nationalists supported SF by voting them into office and I’d imagine that’s exactly what those voters want.So who are these people who expect a different result from them?
If the so-called dissidents think otherwise. that is surely their perogative but you wouldn’t expect their political adverseries(SF) to support them surely ,especially if they think that a violent pursuit is the right one now … and Sinn Fein do not? That would be like asking the DUP to support their foe Jim Allister and lose votes to his TUV , would it not? They are simply different and not one homogenous community at all. Then there’s the PSNI …who are supposedly serving right acroass the community now.If it is a one-sided police- force we might be in trouble again …but is it? If it is then we’re back to the old RUC …but are we really? Many young nationalists have joined the PSNI since the Good Friday Agreement …are they all biased too?
Now …if there is evidence or indeed the possibility that someone (no matter who) is intent on shooting someone …or planting a bomb to kill someone as was the thing in the past….and their politics and statements spell that out , surely if a police -service pursues them there is little that any political party can do about it . That’s how a society operates .What is any of us supposed to say or do about that? On the other hand it might be a different matter if someone was simply being harrassed by the police for simply thinking..or if there were corrupt cops involved …..but we’d need to see the details , wouldn’t we?
Harry, I understand their pain.
You have listened to me long enough to know I am emotionally all over the place over divisions in my country.
Your sage advise to my erratic opinions is becoming a stabilising influence for me.
I have no problem with anyone involved in violence being locked up.
The conflict is over forever, any return to violence will be very bloody but short lived and costly,
I could not claim to be comfortable around the PSNI, I cringed at seeing kids sitting in the back of land rovers at a fun day recently.
As someone who supported the IRA during the conflict, I accept they are no longer there and if loyalists did turn on us again then it will be up to the PSNI to protect us not dissidents.
I would rather try to make it clear to them, that they will not have any support, and if they go to prison they will serve their time without any support from our community and any young people struggling with the situation, I would urge not to throw their lives away following those who would sing to MI5 to stay out of jail but to educate themselves as it will be businesses and prosperity which will finally unite Ireland. not violence (and not socialism either by the way). If you work hard for something, take what reward you can get. That is what it is all about. No mun no fun.
But yes, if what I have heard is true, then those people need to come forward.
If it happened to me I would shout it from the rafters.
“Stormont must fall”
On this I agree – I think we should hand the reigns over to the guarantors of the GFA – in the form of a committee made up of MPs and TD – for an extended period to take the current NI players out of the decision making process.
Such a committee would never refer to the much need A5 as “The Famine Road” and would instead see it as a critical investment in infrastructure as any sane person would. They can push for a better, more fairly geographically distributed performance from Invest NI. Same sex marriage would be in in a heartbeat when the PoC is out of the question. I don’t see any reason why The agreed Irish language Act wouldn’t be brought forward etc.
Basically the guys who drag this place back to the 1970s day in and day out would be out of the loop and the place will be given time to breathe and heal. When we can play nice like good kids then we get our toys back
Well I would be happy with that Morpheus, but I will never again vote for the farce up at Stormont.
But I mean a permanent end. It should become a museum and tourist attraction.
Joint authority would be fine and our politicians can represent us from either London or Dublin as they prefer.
Dublin should start paying into this part of Ireland and stop washing its hands off its responsibility for Irish citizens here.
It is a disgrace that we are still treated like second rate Irish in 2016.
First off, what an UI would look like and what kind of state it would be has to be put forward. An unitary or federal state. Personally, a federal state is a no no. For me, that’s only reinstating an Ulster is different scenario. However, I wouldn’t object to regional assemblies in place of county councils.
What kind of an education, health, public/civil service are we to have?
How are the religious to be ousted from education and health?
The Seanad will have to go or be totally reformed with all members to be directly elected. I’d like to see the Seanad full of business people, voluntary workers, educationalists and not just party politicians. A people’s assembly if you will.
Stormont should be turned into an Institute of Technology.
We’d also need a massive infrastructural plan, ie, a motorway between Cork & Derry, opening up the West & central Ireland. This is where regional assemblies are so important.
A huge push for indigenous industry. This is an imperative.
More of our GDP spent on our military.
A new constitution without reference to social issues. That’s the job of legislators.
A new flag and anthem, without reference to Britain.
The Rep is heading to all of the above anyway, an UI would only speed the process up.
FG aka, the United Ireland party, if they possessed any political acumen, which they don’t, ought to be plugging the best deal for Brexit, in return for an UI, otherwise Ireland vetoes any deal.
Political acumen is required, which none of our political leaders are in possession of.
I agree Ryan2, the farce up at Stormont has proven that would be a disaster.
It would bring in revenue as a tourist attraction and that is what its future should be.
I like the idea of super councils and I believe that was considered before, both in Ireland and in GB.
That might be workable but certainly not Stormont. Dublin must be in control of Ireland.
I totally agree with reforming all English copycat institutions such as the Dail and the Seanad and devising our own systems more suitable to our own people.
English thinking does not fit well in Ireland.
I would keep our flag and our anthem. Why should we change these?
I would rather more GDP was spent on health and education than on military.
We are a small island, who is going to invade us after the heartache we have given to England?
“Political acumen is required, which none of our political leaders are in possession of.”
But they do which has me wondering what they have done that is leaving them looking so inept and subservient to London.
What exactly have they sold?