Sinn Fein plan "Day of Reflection"

magpie

From: The Irish Times

Sinn Féin mayors and council chairs are to take part in tree-planting ceremonies and civic events next month in memory of those killed in all conflicts, it emerged today.

The party confirmed its plans for a day of reflection in five council areas on December 10th, coinciding with International Human Rights Day.

However its plans were attacked by Democratic Unionist MP Mr Gregory Campbell for equating IRA members killed during the Troubles with their victims and the dead of other wars.

The chairs of Omagh and Strabane councils Mr Sean Clarke and Mr Jarleth McNulty are to take part in tree-planting ceremonies in Omagh and Strabane on December 10th. The Mayor of Derry, Mr Gearoid O hEara and council chairs in Magherafelt and Fermanagh, Mr Patsy Groogan and Mr Gerry McHugh, will hold civic ceremonies.

In a joint statement the mayor and council chairs said they were planning events which valued all experiences of conflict equally.

"The 'Day of Reflection' events are not intended to replace the existing commemorative events but are underpinned by a desire to provide civic leadership with the aim of promoting reconciliation and equality," their statement insisted.

Unionists, however, have accused Sinn Fein of devising the day of reflection as a mechanism for its mayors and council chairs to avoid attending Remembrance Day events.

Councillor McHugh today claimed the day of reflection was an authentic tribute to all who have lost their lives as a result of war and conflict and to all those who still lived with the pain and memory of that loss.

"The Day of Reflection will serve as a means of reflection and recognition of the suffering of everyone who has been affected by war and conflict in and from County Fermanagh, and that there is a need to have their experiences validated and recognised," he argued.

The plan was dismissed, however, by East Derry MP Mr Gregory Campbell.

The former Stormont Regional Development minister said: "It is now clear that plans for a day of reflection are nothing more than a Sinn Fein/IRA orchestrated campaign to ensure that dead terrorists are remembered on the same level as those who gave their lives in the cause of freedom and those murdered by the IRA over the last 30 years.

11 November provokes controversy throughout Ireland every year, with rival factions laying claim to the memorial ceremonies, and others trying to avoid attending them. Other, unknown parties, have even attacked war memorials.

Is there a viable solution to stop the same thing from happening next year?

mike65

Dont normally like to be in bed with the DUP on an issue but I'd say they are right on this.

Mike.

bonkey

Please read the forum charter/rules.

A Dub in Glasgo

I totally agree with this Day of Reflection. It does not replace any other event (Unionist or Nationalist) and is an attempt to state that all victims are equal.

magpie

Please read the forum charter/rules.

Done and done

ReefBreak

A Dub in Glasgo wrote:

an attempt to state that all victims are equal.

Sinn Féin have been vomiting this line for years. A terrorist that gets blown up by his own bomb is not equal to the innocent civilians that are killed by the same bomb. Unlike what Gerry Adams and his murdering friends would like you to believe, there is a hierarchy of victims - with innocent civilians at the top and murdering terrorists at the very bottom where they belong.

A Dub in Glasgo

Is an innocent person killed by the IRA equal to an innocent person killed by the British Army? I would say so but at the moment they are not. Same goes for a British soldier killed by the IRA and an IRA man killed by the British Army.

shltter

ReefBreak wrote:

Sinn Féin have been vomiting this line for years. A terrorist that gets blown up by his own bomb is not equal to the innocent civilians that are killed by the same bomb. Unlike what Gerry Adams and his murdering friends would like you to believe, there is a hierarchy of victims - with innocent civilians at the top and murdering terrorists at the very bottom where they belong.

there is no hierarchy

surely if we are to move on we have to realise what we have is 3000 victims
of the political situation in this country irrespective of what you believe in or who's side you were/are on we have 3000 people that died in this country that would not have died if we lived in a normal society

If we are not to repeat the mistakes of the last 35 years we have to reflect on all the deaths not just the ones that fit into our political philosophy
not just the ones that allow us to stand on the moral high ground and throw stones at the other side

that means republicans have to reflect on enniskillen not just bloody sunday

and vice versa for the unionists

magpie

If we are not to repeat the mistakes of the last 35 years we have to reflect on all the deaths not just the ones that fit into our political philosophy
not just the ones that allow us to stand on the moral high ground and throw stones at the other side

that means republicans have to reflect on enniskillen not just bloody sunday

and vice versa for the unionists

Agreed. The question is how to do so, and to include a commemoration for soldiers of WW1 and WW2 when on one side they won't allow 'IRA bombers' to be commemorated at the same ceremony as Army Veterans, and on the other they won't commemorate people who fought in 'foreign armies'.