When Theresa Villiers asked James Brokenshire in Westminster to confirm that he agreed that some information simply could not be made public without putting lives at risk, it is clear that this move was to reinforce a position being taken during the current post-election negotiations relating to the truth veto on grounds of national security.
This refusal to own up to their past is sickening enough, but when you consider that they keep referring to the Irish people involved in the conflict that THEY started, as terrorists, is it only me that finds this completely intolerable?
It makes me want nothing to do with the UK, in fact it makes me hope that brexit causes as much economic pain to England as possible – regardless of the consequences here.
It has made me move from someone who not that long ago would have supported a united Ireland within a federal UK and I have posted in the past that we should have been backing England more over brexit, to now considering this to be absolutely abhorrent and instead being fully behind the EU even though I dislike the road it is travelling.
I would consider it to have created within me, an almost irrational emotional determination to break away from the UK and I now even consider dropping the common travel area between these islands as an acceptable inconvenience to oppose this stance.
In fact it would be the same sort of irrational fear and loathing of a united Ireland held by a section of unionism where we would almost cut off our nose to spite our faces.
If England’s disregard for the families of Irish people their state forces murdered which has since been acknowledged were never investigated properly and where all evidence, whether it could put anyone’s lives at risk or not be buried to prevent them facing justice is causing this response in me. I am wondering what the same cause is to unionists who fear Irish unity and perhaps some of our unionist commenters could enlighten me.
If England is not prepared to budge on this, it is hardly surprising then that the DUP will not line up behind them and refuse to budge on anything meaningful in the talks either.
Sinn Fein going back into power sharing with the DUP without all prior agreements being accepted including an agreement over this veto over national security would be tantamount to treachery in my eyes.
The alternative, another election as threatened by Brokenshire: would the nationalist electorate still turn out, with a more moderate Arlene and a more restrained DUP this time around?
It is unlikely unionist transfers to the SDLP would be repeated while SDLP transfers to unionists has always been the case.
Will the SDLP back down and support this cover-up of truth or risk losing electoral gains so important to the party’s survival and so clearly a result of UUP transfers?
Another election would therefore most likely restore the unionist majority.
It would appear this is the joint DUP/British strategy and where we are going.
A move on the Irish language would show some respect and none on legacy would split the weakness in the nationalist community over those who would not share my views on the importance of truth and legacy and who would settle for some sort of respect.
I already said that the last election result leap-frogged years of demographic change.
Are we heading for a return of unionist domination at the polls to help support a British cover-up of the past?
Would a majority of unionists drop the UUP and Alliance and instead back the DUP?
I most certainly do not want Stormont back, built on the cove- up of British state murder.
How important is the truth, and how far are we prepared to go to settle things once and for all?
It will be interesting to see if the non unionist population can be motivated to come out if it happens to come to another election. But even they don’t, it will still be SF and DUP as the two largest parties and we are back to square one. I think that SF are prepared to let Stormont be mothballed until the RHI inquiry reports. If it clears Arlene, their one and only red line will have been removed and the Assembly can be resurrected with no loss of faith to anybody. But SF need to remember that although they just had one red line, their voters have more than one. I cannot see them ever canvassing again if they make a hames of this chance.
If there is to be only one red line fiosrach, then it has to be legacy and resolving the veto over truth – not Arlene.
If they mess this up then the peace process will have failed and we can never again give the british a second chance with our trust.
You gave them a first chance?
Not initially but I have to admit considering a united Ireland within a federal UK a viable option for a period, before their true colours reminded me what it would be like.
I think it Is safe to say that Sinn Fein also did, in particular Martin McGuinness.
If 10 years of his genuine efforts at reaching out and bridge building means nothing to them, then that should not be lost on the rest of us if nothing else.
I should imagine Jessica that, as me Mammí said last week, should there be a n other election in a few weeks, the unionist dead will, Thriller like, be rising, and voting.
To date no effort has been made by either co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, to tell the truth about State role in murder of their citizens, the Irish government, the one which issues my Passport, has done little to press for this truth, not even a referral under the International Criminal Court jurisdiction which could afford answers.
On legacy resolving, sorry, don’t hold your breath, never going to happen, soon all victims and survivors will be dead so, problem solved.
Nope the truth will never be allowed to revealed by the British hence why the hide behind cloaks of ‘national security’. Nothing to do with protecting lives/agents etc but more about protecting perfidious Albion reputation. One only has to look at the Bloody Sunday inquiry on how, even when they are snookered, they still manage to bend the cue ball and somehow win enough points to comfortably ease into the next round.