You have to hand it to DUP politicians: they try. You may not always like what they try but they definitely put the effort in.
Yesterday evening Emma Little-Pengelly (she’s recently added her maiden name – Little – to her surname) was on BBC Raidio Uladh/Radio Ulster was complaining about Barra McGrory, the Director of Public Prosecutions, going after British soldiers for killings during the Troubles, but ignoring all those IRA people who’d been involved in killings. When Seamus McKee asked if she accepted Barra McGrory’s energetic rebuttal of the charge, where he said that he’d dealt with only three cases involving British army, but thousands of other cases involving paramilitaries, Emma nimbly moved her ground to talk about ‘perception’ that Barra McGrory was focusing excessively on British army cases.
Then on The View last night, (Sir) Jeffrey Donaldson was at it again, but when challenged, like Emma, he shifted to the people who were supplying the files to the DPP and again emphasized perception. When he was asked if he accepted that criticism of Barra McGrory was unfounded and that McGrory was carrying out his duties without fear or favour, (Sir) Jeffrey answered another question entirely, thus feeding the perception that maybe Barra McGrory wasn’t doing the job he was required to do.
At one point I found myself shouting at the TV. Not at (Sir) Jeffrey, because he was being his usual self, but at Gerry Kelly, who was vigorously swatting away claims that paramilitaries hadn’t paid for their actions – tens of thousands of years had been served by them, he said. I wasn’t shouting at Gerry Kelly because this was untrue, but because (Sir) Jeffrey and before that Emily L P had succeeded in the very end-goal they have in shouting about persecuted old soldiers: that is, to make the public stop thinking about the Cash-for-Ash debacle.
Mercifully, it’s still where it belongs this morning – at the top of the news. Arlene Foster is saying how convinced she is that her adviser, Dr Andrew Crawford, will be vindicated, and that you can’t find someone guilty on the basis of no evidence. That’s a reference to Dr Andrew McCormick, who said that while he didn’t have any evidence, he was convinced that Crawford had influenced the decision to keep the Cash-for Ashes scheme open.
I’d agree completely with Arlene: people shouldn’t be convicted without evidence. And that prompts two questions: (i) If there was no evidence against him, why did Crawford resign? He might have taken gardening leave, he might have stayed where he was and demanded that McCormick put up his evidence / reasons for his claim, or shut up. (ii) Since by his own admission McCormick has no evidence that Crawford influenced the Cash- for-Ash scheme, shouldn’t Crawford have sued him for making baseless allegations which sullied his good name?
Arlene hasn’t given an answer to either question, Crawford hasn’t given an answer to either question, in fact no journalist, to the best of my knowledge, has asked either question. And Arlene wasn’t answering either question when she was on the radio this morning. All she could offer was her firm belief that Crawford was innocent. Shouldn’t she have condemned such vile accusations about an innocent man?
There are so many little squiggly things with ten legs and fat slimy bodies scurrying about underneath this particular stone, it’s hard to know which to focus on first. But what is vital is that politicians other than those in the DUP focus firmly on the RHI stone and refer only in passing to any other manufactured diversions. The DUP are in a financial corner and they’re going to wave every orange flag they can to produce a gap through which they can escape. Scurry, scurry, scurry.
The frustrating thing is that despite all the white noise around this they will likely get away with it and leave our politics null and void for a generation
Great stuff jude
Jude you are 100% right. Republicans need to stop being ashamed of the past, they don’t have to say sorrry every single day, They have done so enough. Nail the DUP on the facts of the economy stop sucking up to them. Just be honest you are in the right!
Heard that bit this morning by Arlene and wondered, with the upcoming investigation, should the matter not be considered sub judice.
She is obviously attempting to plant in people’s minds the idea that Andrew Crawford is totally innocent before the inquiry has had the opportunity to hear any evidence and pronounce him guilty or innocent.
‘Little squiggly things with ten legs and slimy bodies’ – that is no way to describe our recent leader!
Precisely, the once, perhaps again, leader of unionism in Ireland, getting their line in to ensure the inquiry, instituted by the taigs, with terms of reference set by them, will find in their favour.
I was, Jude like, shouting at the TV last night, although at the nonsense spouted by curious Jeffery. If he, or his party leader, had any gumption, they would hold their hands up and say, ‘ok, wemade a right bollocks of all this, we admit, let’s move past it now and make occupied Ireland a better place for the taxpayer who has to live there’.
But no, not the Christian Unionists, remember, the ninth commandment.
On Emma, why has she added her Christian name? DUP feminism perhaps, or, jyst her pre-election identy crisis, ‘do you know who my Daddy is’?
Jude, I too sat and wondered at the blatant leading by the nose the DUP has engaged in. Are Sinn Fein taking their eye off the ball? Or are they quietly lumbering up to the fact that they will be working with these creatures again in a short while. You can hand what you like to DUP machinery and how much you think it may be slick at deflection, but it doesn’t take much to deflect the uniniost electorate and they know it. A few choice words like’the IRA’ and/or Gerry Adams and job done. Nesbitt can say what he likes and Colum can hold his hand and get him to read him a bed time story all he likes. At the end of the day the constitutional question will override everything regardless of how inept, corrupt, snidey, crony or arrogant the DUP are. It is inherent in the Unionist electorate that we must keep the croppies down at all cost, the ‘better to be robbed by a Protestant than be ruled by a taig’ adage is very easily rot on this generation as previous generations. Therefore, regardless of what or how much Sinn Fein’s intentions are genuous, all that needs doing as regards DUP is to remind unionists of their place and throw in a little fear. Job done.
As Papes growing up back in the Fabulous Fifites on Liffeyside , Esteemed Blogmeister, one of the daring-do capers to do was, during self-service hours, to sneak into either one of the two (!) C of I Cathedrals, where the vicars were capes, for to steal a gawk.
Suppressed squawks always greeted a sight unfamiliar to us shfity-eyed Romanists :
– THE (gasp) SIGHT of UNATTENDED PRAYER BOOKS in the PEWS.
Such trust ! Such honesty ! Such adherence to the strict letter of the Eight Commandment !
Forsooth, were we truly were we out of depth in our Discomfort Zone.
Suitably chastened, we RC rapscallions duly receded and chased each other to the nearest bus-stop, with (erm) a firm purpose of amendment, that sorta thingy.. Caught the bus, and did our best to do a bunk (i.e. avoid paying the fare).
During the same devout decade you could bet your bottom, erm, Christian Borther’s collar or indeed cash for the supported black babies , that we all sported ash on our foreheads on a designated Wednesday.
That all eventually ended, alas, beneath a chorus of mockery from the metaphorically neo-sash-wearing media. The object of their year-on-year jeering being a particular Fianna Failure figurehead in the Doll House with a black mark on his foreheard and an equally voluminous question mark over his sore head.
All of which begs another question. But, no, couldn’t be. One is almost afraid to take another sneak peek, there where the mice are notoriously impoverish in the socio-economic scheme of things . Surely not, Shirley. Who would we have then to set us a good example?
-Say no more, Seymour.
CASH WEDNESDAY
Johnny Cash, in the black, went to Folsom
In e-chairs there sat ash folk unwholesome
Wendesday’s c. full of woe
No way will Arl the Snarl go
Or, toe t’heel ‘ n the red, reveal the whole sum.
There are two things in the way of any progress in this sorry illegitimate state: the DUP and the Orange Order. How long must Nationalists bang their heads against the brick wall of bigotry and non-progressive politics of both these institutions? How are we to move forward politically and forge a new era of enlightened politics? Any suggestions from all you brainy bloggers?
Particularly depressing programme on BBC4 the other night showing the link between people with scottish and ulster connections and the Ku Klux Klan. Well worth checking out. Same attitudes prevail here.
Will check that on iPlayer.
Since we have all signed up to democracy,under the watchful eye of the Mother of Parliaments, we can do nought but wait until superior numbers fall in our favour. Plot, plan and pontificate all you like but the time is not yet with us. In the meantime, at the first sniff of wrong doing roar to the sky. RHI,RHI,RHI. ACHT NA GAEILGE. ACHT NA GAEILGE.
I like it fiosrach.
No fiosrach, the numbers will move in their own time, but we should most definitely NOT do nought but wait.
We need to stand up and be counted like so many brave Irish men and women did before us. We need to reach out to what is left of our Irish comrades in the 26 and ask them to stand with us so together we can build a better Ireland for all Irish people. One that our children throughout the planet would be happy to come home to.
I have had enough and will take no more.
The momentum has started, let us keep the momentum going to borrow a phrase from Fine Gael.
Stop trying to hold back change, doing nothing will achieve nothing.
I stand open mouthed as you amass your virtual troops,Jessica. What about some practical advice instead of your airy fairy call to arms. “We need” and “we must” sound good but butters no bread. All we can do is keep the pot simmering until the meal is cooked – or in this case – the goose. If talking had won the day we would be in control long ago.
How about this for practical advice fiosrach.
Everyone, Republican or otherwise has their own particular part to play. No part is too great or too small, no one is too old or too young to do something
Not to “do nought but wait” but to do “something”
Now close your mouth, it does little for you.
Jessica for all your positive thinking, if I was a betting man, I would say you are going to be sorely disappointed after this election. Disappointed at SF that is.
Jessica, not for the first are you talking like a ha’penny book. Do you go about your business empire singing The Bold Fenian Men or have you just recently Bobby Sands? I said practical advice not nonsense.
I don’t have an empire and I have worked hard for what I do have.
I know that partition is wrong, I know that division is wrong, I know I don’t want my children to grow up in a divided society, I know I want my children to have the best opportunities in life and I am in no doubt that as a single entity, unshackled from the union, Ireland could achieve more for our people than we will ever achieve with control over 6 counties in the hands of another nation that still treats us with disdain.
I know I have had more than I can stomach and I know I want change.
I wont beg for it, but I will fight for it.
If we don’t stand up for ourselves then numbers will count for nothing,
You are wrong to suggest we do nought but wait
Bobby Sands was right. Every one of us can play a small part, every one of us matters, every one of us can make a difference. Even you fiosrach.
Leadership needs to come from Dublin and that is where we must look to.
There is no going back
That’s about it fiosrach. We’ve been down this road too far before to not know that even if a majority vote for UI , it will never be made that simple to carry out. Watch out for the “democrats” then and see how many you can find….!
We’re back to the S Antrim/ N Down Gaza Strip then, Harry?
Well …..what other way would you read it when the likes of Mr Poots has no intention of sticking to any agreements made? What will be different in this bright new future?
Little groundhog day!
That’s two of us,moser. GRMA
It is all fine and dandy saying other parties must keep the focus on RHI but that will not be easy. We are in election mode now and the usual fall back positions will quickly emerge.
In addition SF show signs of wanting to negotiate a wish list including the Irish Language Act and the more they do that the further RHI will disappear into the background.
Once the inquiry is up and running it may make it easier for the DUP to deflect criticism by the mantra ‘we will await the outcome of the inquiry’.
As long as they can avoid any damning revelations before the election they can probably ride it out, and return as the largest party.
Gerry Adams seems to be saying the RHI issue must be dealt with before a new power sharing arrangement, but that will be after the election is done
It is costing 85K per day, I don’t see how an election is going to make that go away.
Especially as the bill keeps mounting while we go through negotiations.
The longer they go on, the more money is lost.
A vote for the DUP will be a vote for the RHI farmers milking the public purse and damaging the environment.
Nothing is going to change that.
sure is it not grand costing the brits 85grand a day.in the 70s it would have bin a bonus.
I was under the impression it was 85K out of the slush funds sent over to keep us sweet and not an additional expense to the brits billy.
that’s the difference though.
You are correct, no one here cares what it costs english tax payers
RHI was only meant to leech the London contributions towards the scheme, it was the unexpected spike in applications over the DUPs word spreading like wildfire among their benefactors that cost us anything.
That is why it wont be going away.
That is why we have to wash our own faces and stop relying on hand-outs, that is why we have to leave the UK.
The inquiry may not have damned the DUP but neither has it cleared them. I don’t doubt that they will come back in greater numbers (and seats) but all that shows is that the majority of the unionist electorate prefer to be led by their own rogues not taigs and their hangers on. Anyway enough muck has been thrown pre election so some of it is bound to stick.
fiosrach
The judge, I believe, has said he will not call any public sessions until after the election.
That too makes it easier for the DUP to avoid any serious mud sticking.
Of course Nolan might have something more to come and I suspect it will be the (hated) media rather than any of the other parties that land any telling blows.
As for the unionist electorate it is surely obvious that the nationalist electorate would also prefer their own rogues as we have seen time after time.
Don’t try to paint the general unionist voting population as somehow more unscrupulous than any other section of society.
What will any of us make of a swathe of voters who would prefer financial idiots and untrustworthy tyros running their life in a resurrected local government, gio? I mean the DUP have brought us to the point of not believing a word they say . If any rational person out there sees it differently, I’d be one of those who’d like to see the doctor’s report.It is a big ask to accept that they will be any different in the future if the same tricksters are voted in again. In their world they were not jointly managing the place with Sinn Fein but were actually in a process of fighting with them . I’ve heard that one actually stated on the radio yesterday! …Twenty years later!That is not just a curious mindset , it is one that can make no kind of social progress possible, ever.
Sinn Fein talk of being prepared to work with them again in some “agreed” new order or new “agreement”, but how will that work when the DUP do not actually believe in agreements anyway ?That is a huge ask and will only be a solution for those out there who enjoy watching politicians wasting their valuable time and money all over again. If they vote for the DUP in huge numbers again and do not vote for the other parties such as Alliance, SDLP, Sinn Fein or the UUP , we’ll know right there that these voters want more of the same scandals and foolishness in their future lives.What does that say about all our futures? Give the other parties their due.They have at least tried to make the damned thing work and seem to have managed not dip into the till or otherwise screw it up entirely…
paddy
I am not defending the tendency of DUP voters to remain loyal despite scandals such as this.
I am simply saying it is not unique to unionism.
Look at all the stuff that surfaces about Adams regularly and SF.
Mairia Cahill, Aine his niece,Jean McConville, Robert McCartney etc
All stuff that would seriously damage other parties in the polls.
And would any financial impropriety cause the SF faithful to stop voting for them?
I am guessing no, what do you think?
This demonising of unionist voters (I am not referring to you in saying this) is not healthy and seems like thinly disguised bigotry to me.
If it’s not me, gio, why bring it up?
Loyalty has nothing to do with it.
Unionists can vote for whoever they want, personally I hope they vote DUP.
Just about every single nationalist I know has had their fill with the union, had their full with unionists and are more disgusted with the DUP than I can ever remember.
A good showing for the DUP will keep that momentum going and more likely grow it and that is fine with me.
Funny that you feel it is ok for you and your fellow unionist buddies to demonize Sinn Fein and their supporters but don’t dare consider unionist support for the incompetence at best or corruption at worst that is costing 85K per day of public cash going up in pellet smoke.
To think of the things unionists have came out with to belittle and insult nationalism, the true bigots of this land, yet you have the cheek to say criticising them over recent behaviour is bigotry.
Do you still feel it was ok for unionists to refuse to talk about unity as it would equate to defeat?
basically keeping the conflict going.
People like you are part of the problem gio.
You just cant admit you are on the wrong side.
I see Gio, you are reminding people to remember yet again. Or as MT would say,-‘deflection’.
Are you not confusing paramilitary goings on with Sinn Féin, the political party that co-governs with the DUP? I mean, I didn’t lump the UVF,UDA,RED BERETS ETC in with the DUP. We’re talking political misdeeds whilst in government, whilst ones sweaty hand is on the public purse. I’m not saying that nationalist politicians wouldn’t behave like that if they got they chance but unionist politicians DID. No ifs maybes or buts, they are at best incompetent and at worst corrupt. Give them the heave ho and bring Dáithí back.
Jude
I was not referring to anyone in particular, but a tendency to make sweeping generalisations is very common here.
Do you really think the hardcore SF voters are any more likely to change than their DUP counterparts?
And unfortunately the generalisations quickly deteriorate into outright bigotry, the term ‘unionist scum’ being one memorable recent example.
The most offensive and sweeping generalisation would be the use of the word terrorists to describe republicans.
jessica
You just keep making stuff up so it is really not worth the effort trying to answer it.
Well gio …I’m talking here about a party’s political record while they had their hand on the tiller these past ten and more years….not their actions of years gone past when there was a cosying up to violent men .We can say that about unionism and republicanism in the past before we agreed to try joined -up politics. Remember we are talking about our political process and not the murderous past where people from all sides were made victims. right across the board.This is now supposed to be joint-politics and the DUP are treating it like a war with cash -benefits . They are busily cashing in on us all by the sound of it.What part of that has anything to do with their unionism or saving the union or any of that old tosh? We all know that the numbers will eventually tell the tale anyway and if republicans tip that balance a few years down the line that’ll be the end of it, but it looks as though some are making a little hay while the ship slowly sinks for them.Do their supporters understand what joint-politics actually is?
paddy
The issues I mentioned all came to light in recent years and if anything they are worse than financial wrongdoing, yet they did not shake the loyalty of SF backwoodsmen and women.
So lets not pretend that there is anything unique about DUP voters sticking to their party..
Or to put it bluntly:
Is anyone here actually saying that unionists are in some way morally inferior to nationalists?
“Is anyone here actually saying that unionists are in some way morally inferior to nationalists?”
Yes I am, 1000% gio
We are not brought up to see them as enemies, unionists show us in no uncertain terms that they see us as their enemies.
We are not brought up to feel superior, unionists feel they run the place and that what they want is the only show in town.
Our leaders pursued peace and bent over backwards to achieve it, unionists claimed it was the worst thing could have happened.
Our leaders proved they are willing to reach out, unionists only care about their own.
As you said yourself, unionists even by talking about uniting the country, would be admitting defeat.
In the unionist mind-set, we will be in an eternal conflict.
There is only one solution, Britain must leave and unionism with it.
l gio ..I really don’t care what they call themselves….nationalists ….unionists…? I don’t care .The mismanagement and the the stupidity is what counts for me. you might say that Gerry adams had past baggage for example but thta could be said about nearly everyone in our politics. what I’m talking about is the here and now of the last decade and the parcel of financial scandals and racial and religious anomalies.That’s all coming out of the DUP camp .Morality? What exactly has that ever been here?All I personally can see is a lot of greedy schemers using their power to rob the rest of us.Who is doing the robbing? Who is still at war ? Ask yourself.Who is really playing cross-community politics? It doesn’t look like the DUP to me but that is what they signed up to do .Why are they not doing it ? …
Gio, let’s just forget the past baggage for a moment (no doubt the DUP will reach for it, so we will hear plenty of this argument over the next while).
We know SF want to end partition. It was previously expected that they would love the north to fail (it has, given its 100 year existence). Though, it seems they have given it plenty of chance over the last while, whatever their reasons.
But let’s look at the DUP. A party at the height of its power, cruising along with no real worries or threats within its sights. Hell, with an invisible border and seeming compromise though agreements, SF were in trouble in the north. Arlene, as a fresh start and with the authority of a victim, could have heeded Carson’s advice long ago. Like all Unionist leaders they laud Carson but disregard his warnings.
The DUP – the main Unionist party, in a position of strength, undermined and created an instability in the institutions that rocked everything to its very core. Regardless of how you personally think or engage in wishful thinking, something has changed. The DUP has awakened a sleeping dog. That is advice, Gio. I’m telling you what I am seeing.
As to your whataboutery, SF’s vote grew substantially after the IRA stopped. Will Unionism show their disgust at incompetence and unChristian practices? It really is the bottom of the barrel to reference 25 years ago to defend practices of today.
You can use the past as an excuse to cover all sins, but be warned, that approach is fast running out of road.
ceannaire
I was responding directly to a point made by fiosrach, namely;
“the majority of the unionist electorate prefer to be led by their own rogues not taigs “.
Basically I am saying this is true of nationalist/republican voters too and is not some indication of moral inferiority,
There is a hardcore of unionist and nationalist/republican voters, Jude calls them backwoodsmen, which will always stay loyal no matter what the revelations.
That is my point and I don’t see anyone disputing it.
Ok jessica has gone for the morally inferior option but hey that is to be expected.
I have not tried to defend the DUP here in any way.
I just don’t like what I see as a suggestion that unionists in general are somehow not quite as good as nationalists/republicans.
It has cropped up a few times here and it is quite nasty and amounts to sectarianism in my view.
I didn’t just go for the “morally inferior option”, I backed it up with reasoning and explanation which you have not mentioned never mind refuted.
You keep pushing the line there is no difference, we are as bad as each other yet evidence suggests otherwise.
Thanks to Sinn Fein and in particular Martin McGuinness, nationalists should no longer accept lame excuses such as you are peddling, we should be proud and confident in the political leadership we have and reject such groundless accusations gio.
Sinn Fein would not survive such reckless disregard for reconciliation or costing the public purse such huge sums either through incompetence or corruption.
The core vote you refer to have left them and it is not the middle vote that are their core support now and why their support will continue to grow north and south.
It is time for the terms unionist and nationalist to be done away with.
We are all Irish. Until that is accepted and respected, sectarianism will remain.
I keep hearing about the ordinary decent unionist, but when push comes to shove, they ALWAYS turn out to be a lighter shade of the same orange view that equality is conditional on support of the union.
Even talking about the benefits of uniting the country is considered defeat, isn’t that how you put it.
Your problem gio is Sinn Fein have risen above all this, where unionism hasn’t. You are desperate to push them back down into the same sectarian basement barrel politics you are more comfortable with.
It is hard to be morally superior when your actions suggest otherwise.
Anyone who doesn’t consider the DUP to be morally bereft needs to take a good look at themselves and what is going on around us.
paddy
So just to clarify, on my question:
“Is anyone here actually saying that unionists are in some way morally inferior to nationalists?”
I have no doubt you will agree with me in clearly answering no.
Its all just people after all, there is no difference.
whos the # judge # was he working here sentencing irish men to prison under english laws.if so is he to be trusted.
billy
Sir Patrick Coghlin, A Cambridge man.
Highly recommended by Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, so I am sure he will be fine.
yes gio ime sure hes an nice article.
This attack on Barra McGrory by British MP’s was exactly like the attack on Pat Finucane that came from the House of Commons, and that ultimately led to his murder with help from the British State itself. One British MP said McGrory was “sympathetic” to Sinn Fein. That comment alone tells us what their agenda is.
Yes, Barra McGrory represented Sinn Fein figures, including Gerry Adams, in his career as a lawyer but what isn’t being said is the fact McGrory also represented Unionist paramilitaries and even Unionist politicians in his career as a lawyer too. That key part seems to have been ignored by those who have an agenda of their own….
” All she could offer was her firm belief that Crawford was innocent”
Does Arlene have evidence that Crawford is innocent? I believe in innocent before proven guilty just like most people do but just because there isn’t evidence Crawford is guilty (or so we’re told) that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s definitely innocent. Its common for people to be brought before a judge and to be acquitted due to lack of evidence and then at a later date when new evidence surfaces they are brought back and found guilty. Evidence can be destroyed, hidden or distorted. But obviously a person is innocent until proven guilty.
There must be some sort of evidence against Crawford for such allegations to be made against him. If there’s not and he knows he’s innocent, why doesn’t Crawford just sue? If I was in his position and I knew I was innocent then I would’ve refused to resign, sued those who were making false allegations and demand an inquiry in order to clear my name. Crawford has done none of this….
I agree that RHI should be at the front of this upcoming election and that the election must be built on that issue, because that really was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Its also important not to forget the Red Sky scandal, NAMA, etc as well. The DUP goes from scandal to scandal to scandal. They’re clearly not a party fit for Government. I’m not saying all Unionists are not fit for Government, I’m specifically talking about the DUP and the DUP alone. Indeed if other Unionist political parties cant take seats from the DUP now then I don’t think they ever will.
Do I think RHI will do the DUP much damage? Yes and No. I think they will lose a few MLA’s because of it but I don’t think the UUP will be the biggest Unionist party come March. I think the fact the Assembly is returning fewer MLA’s will do much more damage to the DUP. Indeed as I mentioned previously one DUP MP told a DUP Assembly Group meeting he believed the DUP could lose as much as 10 MLA’s come March.
your missing the point on bara the brit..
Dia! Sin mo bharúil go bhfuil Billy ag magadh.
Tá suil agam go bhfuil an fear beag sin ag magadh.
Try to keep your focus on the history of this state. Until 1972 the unionists were in complete control. An Uncle Tom was allowed to put a bill through Stormont on Wild Birds. The unionists are wholly culpable until then. In 1972, local government was prorogued and after various fits and starts it was up and going from 2008. The only ‘scandal’ from then to now on the nationalists side was when Dáithí McKay was unmasked as a cad and a mountebank and summarily given the bum’s rush. So I think it fair to say that when the unionists were in government,they were rogues. To vote for rogues – even if holding your nose – makes unionists more unscrupulous. No?
well, the sooner we are able to see just where the political donations come from the better.
Don’t hold your breath,Moser.
Your busting my bubble here fiosrach.
“The only ‘scandal’ from then to now on the nationalists side was when Dáithí McKay was unmasked as a cad and a mountebank and summarily given the bum’s rush.”
Research Services Ireland.
Caral ni Cuhulain’s expenses.
The phantom ‘cultural societies’.
There is sectarianism on both sides, but the main difference in Ireland, north and south has always been that Protestants look down upon Catholics ( there are of course exceptions) ,but it can even be witnessed in the most uneducated loyalist areas where they will chant, “you’re second class.” Entrenched English legislation like the act of settlement has given unionism succour in this regard sadly and it’s played out on the streets and in the councils across the north. Mary McAleese endeavoured to raise the issue in a very thought provoking article about 10 years ago but was shot down immediately by unionist din when the Nazi comparison was foolishly invoked. Her point however was well made, which is the more disappointing.
“but it can even be witnessed in the most uneducated loyalist areas where they will chant, “you’re second class.”
I’ve never heard this chant.
Obviously you don’t mix with uneducated loyalists,MT
“Jude you are 100% right. Republicans need to stop being ashamed of the past, ”
The problem is they’re not ashamed of their gruesome past.
The leadership of unionism have yet to acknowledge their role in starting the conflict.
Almost 20 years on they have yet to embrace reconciliation or even accept the conflict is over. We are still being called terrorists by a british PM for heavens sake.
I am not ashamed of Sinn Fein. Are you ashamed of the DUP MT?
“I am not ashamed of Sinn Fein. Are you ashamed of the DUP MT?”
I have nothing to do with either PSF or the DUP so have no reason to feel shame on their behalf.
Well, as the DUP keep telling us, they are the representative voice of unionism.
As the largest nationalist party, Sinn Fein are the representative voice of nationalism.
Me as a nationalist can say I am proud of how they have fulfilled that role.
I am asking you as a unionist, how you feel that the DUP have fulfilled this role on our behalf.
Do you feel unionism has been well represented?
Does their behaviour reflect your views?
I think these are reasonable questions MT.
Of course not. I hate the DUP.
You don’t give a lot away MT.
Would you mind me asking which party more accurately reflects your brand of unionism?
I would consider it a useful insight into where you are coming from.
Jude
Since you have not responded to my post I take it you have no problem with the term ‘unionist scum’ as used by one of your guest bloggers?
The dog has a bone eh.
We both know Jude has a problem with it so I will apologise for embarrassing Jude with my crude remarks on his site however honest they were at the time and I will try to control myself better in future.
jessica
It is not Jude you should be apologising to.
However it is the sort of offensive stuff you post regularly so I expect nothing more.
I am more interested in why Jude is prepared to allow it.
No, I certainly don’t. I’m trusting people to avoid abuse. Point me to where it occurs (if I read every comment I’d need to turn into a cat) and I’ll remove it. And thanks for alerting me. NO MORE ABUSE FROM ANYONE, OK? Sharp and witty and even wounding exchanges, fine, but no abuse. Or, of course, libel. Btw, I was talking to someone recently and they complimented me on my blogsite, but just as I was preening myself, they added – “Often the comments are more interesting than the blog”. Exit abashed party, stage left…
“Point me to where it occurs (if I read every comment I’d need to turn into a cat) and I’ll remove it. :
I don’t think that’s much of a deterrent.
It should also cover people being called terrorists or provos MT.
Jude
Try the Brokenshire thread for a start.
Do you have any problem with Tom Elliott referring to Sinn Fein scum?
fiosrach
Yes of course. Did he do it on here?
Jude seems content also to allow his contributors to engage in vile abuse such as this from Jessica: ‘you ignorant little unionist scumbag prick’.
The numbers from the last census suggest that Catholics are in a majority in NI by this point. That’s why unionists like Basil McCrea were popping up a few years back deploring treating the census as a ‘sectarian headcount’. Because the demographics are very much against them. I’d like to see the Uk offering people in Ni, of whatever stripe, grants to move to Britain. I think that would accelerate the end.
“The numbers from the last census suggest that Catholics are in a majority in NI by this point.”
I think you’re a little ahead of yourself. They might indicate that there are more Catholics than Protestants.
I can hardly wait until there are more Catholics than Protestants in the rebadged renamed Continuity RUC. But you do have a point,MT.