Would you attend a public demonstration protesting the actions of the real IRA?

Steve.Pseudonym

*EDIT: Just to point this out, Biggins has started an online petition here. It may not be much at this early stage, but I encourage you to sign.*

Do you think that tonight's killing of a PSNI officer, following saturday's attack on a northern Irish army barracks, warrants a protest by the Irish people?

My own opinion is that what we are seeing here is just the beginning. There will be more death, more killings in an attempt to drag loyalists back into feuding to give the real IRA's cause support. I am outraged that a small group of thugs can threaten to break the peace that so many people have suffered for, and to reintroduce the pain we had thought left behind. I am outraged that they can sully our reputation internationally, and make Ireland seem like a dangerous and unstable place once again. They must be stopped.

The real IRA claims to be the true Óglaigh na hÉireann. Let us show them that the people of Ireland do not support this claim, their objectives or their despicable actions. If they claim to represent the people, then let's show them the true will of the people. I have no doubt that they have little to no popular support, but I feel it is important that this be shown publicly, both to the real IRA and to the world.

So, where do you stand? Do you support the idea of protesting? Do you think it's too soon, or that the need is not pressing enough?

If there is support for this idea, does anyone have any experience in organising protests? Ideas and suggestions are welcome to be posted here.

CHD

Standard unfunny thanks whoring 1st reply.

Biggins

No, I would not attend

YES.

No hesitation in attending - no if's, no buts.
Have already stated this previously.

A Saturday march from the Spire/Spike/Overgrown Tent pole to the Dail would at least be in order.

TestTransmission

Have they acknowledged responsibility for tonights killing?

galwayrush

No, I would not attend

Yes we should demonstrate in as strong as way as possible what we think of the actions of the minority scum and show the world that we are a modern peaceful democratic people.
Perhaps a march / peace vigil in our major cities, books of condolences would be a start.

PrivateEye

No, I would not attend

I would, as I feel anyone who shoots an immigrant worker and a 19 year old lad delivering a pizza is an enemy of my class. f/ck them I think. I'm only19 and work in a pub, what if I poured a pint for a British troop? I'd personally be stauncely opposed to the role the British State has played in the Middle East, the North of Ireland and elsewhere- but my job is my job.

By shooting low-paid workers, and by killing soldiers and coppers at a time they have no support/mandate from the public who merely want peace, they have shown a complete lack of respect for the Irish people and their will.

I would hope the unions would get the banners out too, in solidarity with the families of the two workers.

A great idea.

yellowcurl

I would consider attending, but only if there is further violence

No i wouldn't. But only because they would probably bomb the protest and we'd all be goners. There doesn't seem to be any consideration for the safety/welfare of civilians. Also, they'd probably see us as the enemy from then on. I like all my arms and legs. If someone wanted to lend me a bombproof suit or something, i'd be there in a flash.

youcrazyjesus!

No, protesting is unnecessary / ineffectual

Today: a gun attack. Tomorrow: civil war. Sensationalise much?

These people are nothing. They will be arrested and jailed. There
will be no escalation.

Biggins

No, I would not attend

yellowcurl wrote: »

...they'd probably see us as the enemy from then on...

Understandable the fears.
I'd like to point out also that we are already targets.
Polish pizza men, Catholic police men and women being possible targets in definitely Catholic areas...

Yep, we are targets already.
For me its act now, help nip it in the bud if we can or pay ten fold perhaps later on...

deadhead13

No, I would not attend

They do not have any popular support and that ultimately will be their downfall.

youcrazyjesus!

No, protesting is unnecessary / ineffectual

Stop sensationalizing it. These people release propaganda videos
of themselves training in the woods wearing blue denim jeans and
cheap waterproof jackets. They will be destroyed by the police and
many of them jailed. This is very unfortunate, the 3 killings, but they
have very limited capability.

yellowcurl

I would consider attending, but only if there is further violence

Biggins wrote: »

Understandable the fears.
I'd like to point out also that we are already targets.
Polish pizza men, Catholic police men and women being possible targets in definitely Catholic areas...

Yep, we are targets already.
For me its act now, help nip it in the bud if we can or pay ten fold perhaps later on...

True, speaking as someone who doesn't remember the troubles the first time around but having heard it all from family etc, i really hope it's only a few acts of violence. But even typing that i have the feeling that it's like saying "ah but it's only a few embers" when the house is on fire.

Steve.Pseudonym

No, I would not attend

youcrazyjesus! wrote: »

Today: a gun attack. Tomorrow: civil war. Sensationalise much?

These people are nothing. They will be arrested and jailed. There
will be no escalation.

No one has suggested civil war. However, the possibility of loyalist retaliation is very real if there is continued violence by dissident republicans. It is no stretch of the imagination.

Maybe in the morning we'll find out that this latest shooting had nothing to do with republicans and we'll never hear from them again. I hope that's true, but I doubt it strongly.

This is about sending a message, that we will not stand for this kind of thing on our island.

Rb

I would consider attending, but only if there is further violence

No - I don't particularly care what happens up there one way or another.

Gruffalo

No, I would not attend

I would certainly attend if I was in the country at the time. However, I would not think that it should be anti-RIRA. I would not want to give the scum the satisfaction. I would rather have it as a celebration of the peace we desire. Would be good to have it happen both sides of the imaginary line (border) to show that we may have differences but we are united in our desire for peace.

pierrot

I would consider attending, but only if there is further violence

FREE TIBET!!!

Protesters have very short memories, thankfully theres lots of bandwagons passing by.

deadhead13

No, I would not attend

pierrot wrote: »

FREE TIBET!!!

Protesters have very short memories, thankfully theres lots of bandwagons passing by.

Yah why bother, when the cynical bandwagon is a much easier ride.:rolleyes:

JayeL

No, I would not attend

The RIRA stopped their campaign after their Omagh bomb and, if I could use such a cynical phrase, the PR disaster that followed. Groups like this need popular support or at least the tacit support that comes from the silence of those in their own community. Thankfully, even SF are pissed off over this, now the peace marches, north and south, need to happen this weekend. Make it crystal clear to these idiots that they have no support.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Biggins wrote: »

Understandable the fears.
I'd like to point out also that we are already targets.
Polish pizza men, Catholic police men and women being possible targets in definitely Catholic areas...

Yep, we are targets already.
For me its act now, help nip it in the bud if we can or pay ten fold perhaps later on...

I can not stress this enough.

We in the south are targets, 'they' are watching us. Gathering intelligence on Army movement, troop numbers, watching the police, watching escorts and gathering intell there, watching our post offices and banks and 'they' are ruthless - remember Garda McCabe!.

The gunman is the enemy of EVERYONE on this island - north and south of the border, they make no distinction.

To answer the OP's question.

I'm not allowed attend public protests - however in spirit I'd support it.
.

Ann22

No, I would not attend

Rb wrote: »

No - I don't particularly care what happens up there one way or another.

I'm surprised and saddened to hear anyone saying that. Of course it affects us. These brutal murders are committed by our countrymen. The borders separating us don't guarantee safety either.
Those soldiers that were killed the other day were barely out of school. 21 and 23 years of age, with their whole lives ahead of them. They were riddled with 60 bullets. Imagine what their families must be going through. About to go out to Afghanistan to a real war zone...yet they were murdered here. I'm ashamed of the scumbags who did this.

Killme00

No, I would not attend

Steve.Pseudonym wrote: »

a northern Irish army barracks

strange phrasing

hobochris

yellowcurl wrote: »

No i wouldn't. But only because they would probably bomb the protest and we'd all be goners. There doesn't seem to be any consideration for the safety/welfare of civilians. Also, they'd probably see us as the enemy from then on. I like all my arms and legs. If someone wanted to lend me a bombproof suit or something, i'd be there in a flash.

+1 as far as these nut jobs are concerned the war is still on and us demonstrating against it would make us enemies/traitors in there minds.. so I wouldn't put it past them to attack the protesters.

andrewh5

No, I would not attend

hobochris wrote: »

+1 as far as these nut jobs are concerned the war is still on and us demonstrating against it would make us enemies/traitors in there minds.. so I wouldn't put it past them to attack the protesters.

We already are traitors to them because we have not rejected the Dail in favour of the 1919 Dail. They don't want a united Ireland where everyone lives in peace. They want a united Ireland on their 1916 declaration marxist ideals basis!

I have news for ye RIRA lads! NOT IN MY NAME!!!!!

Cianos

No, I would not attend

hobochris wrote: »

+1 as far as these nut jobs are concerned the war is still on and us demonstrating against it would make us enemies/traitors in there minds.. so I wouldn't put it past them to attack the protesters.

That's simply wrong. Anyone who operates under the name "IRA" (or any equivalent) is dependant on some level of public sympathy. The last thing they are going to do is blow up a peaceful protest in the South. The actual IRA became so strong because of community support. You can't have a revolutionary dissident group if the entire country is against your actions. The more people who raise their voice against them the better, as it will show them and the world that everyone is sick of the violence.

Killme00

No, I would not attend

hobochris wrote: »

+1 as far as these nut jobs are concerned the war is still on and us demonstrating against it would make us enemies/traitors in there minds.. so I wouldn't put it past them to attack the protesters.

andrewh5 wrote: »

We already are traitors to them because we have not rejected the Dail in favour of the 1919 Dail. They don't want a united Ireland where everyone lives in peace. They want a united Ireland on their 1916 declaration marxist ideals basis!

I have news for ye RIRA lads! NOT IN MY NAME!!!!!

Cianos wrote: »

That's simply wrong. Anyone who operates under the name "IRA" (or any equivalent) is dependant on some level of public sympathy. The last thing they are going to do is blow up a peaceful protest in the South. The actual IRA became so strong because of community support. You can't have a revolutionary dissident group if the entire country is against your actions. The more people who raise their voice against them the better, as it will show them and the world that everyone is sick of the violence.

A monster of our own making. What happened to Frankenstein in the end?

Degsy

Hows about a demonstration against gun crime generally,drug dealing and gang warfare?
Run a few scumbags out of their houses and put them out of business.

stovelid

I would consider attending, but only if there is further violence

pierrot wrote: »

FREE TIBET!!!

Protesters have very short memories, thankfully theres lots of bandwagons passing by.

I'd rather see well-meaning people hitch a ride on a bandwagon than sit around on their hole all day making empty, cynical statements.

javaboy

Degsy wrote: »

Hows about a demonstration against gun crime generally,drug dealing and gang warfare?
Run a few scumbags out of their houses and put them out of business.

The problem is when you try to cover more than one issue with a demo/march, it loses a lot of its impact. Someone suggested earlier a march to the Dáil to show solidarity but you know it would get hijacked by an anti-government agenda to a certain extent.

Better to have a single issue demonstration.

hobochris

Cianos wrote: »

That's simply wrong. Anyone who operates under the name "IRA" (or any equivalent) is dependant on some level of public sympathy. The last thing they are going to do is blow up a peaceful protest in the South. The actual IRA became so strong because of community support. You can't have a revolutionary dissident group if the entire country is against your actions. The more people who raise their voice against them the better, as it will show them and the world that everyone is sick of the violence.

The real IRA today are not the IRA the same IRA that got Ireland its freedom. they are criminals hiding behind the name. They don't care what other people think, you would be naive to believe this is not the case.

Degsy

javaboy wrote: »

The problem is when you try to cover more than one issue with a demo/march, it loses a lot of its impact. Someone suggested earlier a march to the Dáil to show solidarity but you know it would get hijacked by an anti-government agenda to a certain extent.

Better to have a single issue demonstration.

They may dress up criminality in a political guise but shooting people is a crime involving guns.
There are people shot at the rate of at least one a week in the republic by armed scumbags,is it more important when its britsih soldiers killed?

Cianos

No, I would not attend

hobochris wrote: »

The real IRA today are not the IRA the same IRA that got Ireland its freedom. they are criminals hiding behind the name. They don't care what other people think you would be naive to believe this is not the case.

Yeah, but my point is that any group that tries to make themselves appear that they are fighting for a cause has to have the support of at least some of the community. The more community support, the more power they have. The less community support they have and the more protest there is about their actions, the less power they will have.

To most, they are criminals hiding behind the name, but to some, because they use the letters IRA, they are going to still give the impression of fighting for a cause - but the more people who object to their actions reduces the effectiveness of them.

Mr.Lizard

I would definetly protest. Anything that keeps me from my pizza is not good.

javaboy

Degsy wrote: »

They may dress up criminality in a political guise but shooting people is a crime involving guns.
There are people shot at the rate of at least one a week in the republic by armed scumbags,is it more important when its britsih soldiers killed?

Oh I agree 100% and I don't think these murders should be treated as political in any way. That gives them a shred of legitimacy.

But I think my point still stands. Turn it into a demo against gun crime, drug dealing etc. will lead to a focus on the incompetence of the government in dealing with crime. Which in turn will lead to a general whinge at the government. Not that it's undeserved but the impact of any demo is better when it's on a single issue.

Cianos

No, I would not attend

Degsy wrote: »

They may dress up criminality in a political guise but shooting people is a crime involving guns.
There are people shot at the rate of at least one a week in the republic by armed scumbags,is it more important when its britsih soldiers killed?

Protesting about a specific issue is more effective, because it sends a clearer message and allows people to identify with a specific event or the prevention of further specific events. It's not a moral issue, it's more a 'marketing/communication' issue in that to reach the critical mass it is easier to do so when the message is specific.

mike65

The C-IRA have just claimed responsibility for the murder of the policeman.

Degsy, and anyone else who wonder why protest - its simple, now is the time because if the mass of people do nothing and say nothing then the atmosphere will detoriate as the old "fissures" reopen, if we all stand together now that can be avoided at least to some degree.

Just as SF/DUP have to stand together (expect SF to be at the funerals of this weeks dead) the rest of us have to be seen to be against these scum-suckers or they will be calling the shots.

Darragh29

No, I would not attend

Steve.Pseudonym wrote: »

No one has suggested civil war. However, the possibility of loyalist retaliation is very real if there is continued violence by dissident republicans. It is no stretch of the imagination.

Maybe in the morning we'll find out that this latest shooting had nothing to do with republicans and we'll never hear from them again. I hope that's true, but I doubt it strongly.

This is about sending a message, that we will not stand for this kind of thing on our island.

To the OP, yes, I'd attend a protest to show my outrage at this murder.

To the poster quoted above, maybe if the loyalist paramilitaries had to decommission their weapons like the Provisional IRA had to, we would be less worried about retaliation now. The decision of DUP/UUP to only focus on decommissioning IRA military hardware is now coming back to haunt us all.

I'd say before the weekend, there will be retaliation by loyalist paramilitaries for these 3 murders. And just like before, it will be innocent Catholic taxi drivers and the likes who will be taking the bullets and ending up in the morgue.

S.I.R

I would consider attending, but only if there is further violence

nah i i don't need to be shot thanks.

DonJose

mike65 wrote: »

The C-IRA have just claimed responsibility for the murder of the policeman.

C-IRA or R-IRA O'Hare or O'Hara, there's no one as Irish as Barack Obama

_feedback_

Degsy wrote: »

They may dress up criminality in a political guise but shooting people is a crime involving guns.
There are people shot at the rate of at least one a week in the republic by armed scumbags,is it more important when its britsih soldiers killed?

But it's completely different circumstances that people in the republic are dying under. Most of it is drug related, or at least directly related to crime and gangs etc. These young men that have died over the last few days weren't involved in drugs or crime, apart from doing their bit to prevent it. Irish scum killed them because of who they are. Of course there is politics involved, the sensationalist stories broke ALL OVER THE WORLD not just here. We really need to get the message out that we hate the scum that done that, and it is good indeed that everyone has said that quite strongly.

I was in Poland on Sunday when the news broke, they don't know who the RIRA are, and while translating the news they told me the IRA had claimed responsibility. They don't realise the difference. I later explained that the RIRA are scum with no support here, but surely that message didn't relay all over the world.

OP, you're right, a very clear message from the people needs to go out to tell these idiots to go back in to the hole they came out of.

Sorry for the rant . . . .

My name is URL

I would consider attending, but only if there is further violence

Wouldn't protesting be like saying we don't want a united Ireland? After the amount of people who've already died through the years, it would seem a bit traitorous. I don't support the violence we've seen recently, but I'm still a Republican damn it!

Dartz

No, protesting is unnecessary / ineffectual

Free holidays in the Curragh for those involved. No trial. No civil liberties, just 6ft by 4, a hole in the floor and some straw. It worked in the thirties and forties.

What people forgot, is that the RIRA, CIRA and even PIRA are treasonous organisations, quite literally enemies of the state. They see their own army councils as the legitimate rulers of the island, rather than the democratically elected government.

I wonder if we shouldn't start treating them as 'enemies', and not as criminals subject to the rule of law they clearly dont accept.

Kev_ps3

I would consider attending, but only if there is further violence

I voted no. I think the only thing we (as in the real Irish people) should protest about is the continued presence of the Union Jack on this Island.

mike65

Wouldn't protesting be like saying we don't want a united Ireland? After the amount of people who've already died through the years, it would seem a bit traitorous. I don't support the violence we've seen recently, but I'm still a Republican damn it!

Thats such a retarded post its hard to know where to start, why not just go north and ask in the right pub? I'm sure you can be a "hero" for the cause.

Heisenberg.

No, I would not attend

This post has been deleted.

Darragh29

No, I would not attend

What I'm wondering is what event(s) can these two separate organisations point to, that has motivated them to return to violence. Don't forget, we are talking about two separate terror groups here returning to violence within a day of each other, after many years of what I thought was a community that was living in peace. What has motivated them to do this is my question???

Darragh29

No, I would not attend

Dartz wrote: »

Free holidays in the Curragh for those involved. No trial. No civil liberties, just 6ft by 4, a hole in the floor and some straw. It worked in the thirties and forties.

What people forgot, is that the RIRA, CIRA and even PIRA are treasonous organisations, quite literally enemies of the state. They see their own army councils as the legitimate rulers of the island, rather than the democratically elected government.

I wonder if we shouldn't start treating them as 'enemies', and not as criminals subject to the rule of law they clearly dont accept.

Yeah, that worked wonders in the past... :rolleyes:

mike65

Its about keeping up with the joneses, the C-IRA don't want the R-IRA to be seen as the only "freedom fighters" in town. A simple gun attack ambush only takes a hoax phone call to a republican hotspot to organise.

My name is URL

I would consider attending, but only if there is further violence

mike65 wrote: »

Thats such a retarded post its hard to know where to start, why not just go north and ask in the right pub? I'm sure you can be a "hero" for the cause.

You're entitled to your opinion, I guess

Dartz

No, protesting is unnecessary / ineffectual

Darragh29 wrote: »

Yeah, that worked wonders in the past... :rolleyes:

It did work for World War 2. There's an article in todays Irish Independant by Kevin Myers discussing it.

Miguel_Sanchez

No, I would not attend

Yes.

Simple as that.

No, I would not attend

What are they looking or trying to achive with these killings