SF now the largest political party in the north.

fryup · 28-05-2010 1:28pm

fryup wrote: »

Can someone answer this - But, is it true that catholics in the north have large familes on purpose so as to out number the protestants? or is that just a myth created by the unionists

gerajella wrote: »

fryup. No, even when Catholics did have large families, it had nothing to do with politics, and that theory of things is well out of date now anyway.
NI population vis a vis Catholic/Protestant margin is closing but with smaller Catholic families now, it will take much longer to create a significant Catholic majority, than it has taken to close the gap from the 1921 2-1 protestant majority..

so i take from that, that from 1921 onwards catholics did have large familes so as to close the gap...so maybe there is some truth in it

dlofnep · 28-05-2010 1:32pm

fryup wrote: »

so i take from that, that from 1921 onwards catholics did have large familes so as to close the gap...so maybe there is some truth in it

There is no truth to it. That's a ridiculous claim. Unless you have birth records of catholic families for the past 200 years to validate it.

LordSutch · 28-05-2010 2:19pm

dlofnep wrote: »

There is no truth to it. That's a ridiculous claim. Unless you have birth records of catholic families for the past 200 years to validate it.

Proof; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0kJHQpvgB8

aDeener · 28-05-2010 2:52pm

Camelot wrote: »

Proof; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0kJHQpvgB8

if you're looking for thanks you ought to post that in AH....

owenc · 28-05-2010 3:33pm

aDeener wrote: »

if you're looking for thanks you ought to post that in AH....

Agree probably somerepublican loser. FYp Do you seriously think that Catholics would do that. Repulicans wouldn't even do that and they are as bitter as hell. That us just stupid if they did and if there was a competition the Protestants would be in it too!

Bottle_of_Smoke · 28-05-2010 3:54pm

fryup wrote: »

so i take from that, that from 1921 onwards catholics did have large familes so as to close the gap...so maybe there is some truth in it

Nope. As Terence O'Neill said if you treat Catholics like Protestants they'll behave like Protestants(paraphrasing).

Now that there's pretty much equal rights/information education Catholics in the North will have similar sized families to Protestants.

owenc · 28-05-2010 4:00pm

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Nope. As Terence O'Neill said if you treat Catholics like Protestants they'll behave like Protestants(paraphrasing).

Now that there's pretty much equal rights/information education Catholics in the North will have size families to Protestants.

what are you trying to say?:mad:

Bottle_of_Smoke · 28-05-2010 4:39pm

owenc wrote: »

what are you trying to say?:mad:

That Catholics having larger families in the past was due to socioeconomical reasons rather than an attempt to bridge the gap between Protestant/Catholic numbers.

owenc · 28-05-2010 4:52pm

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

That Catholics having larger families in the past was due to socioeconomical reasons rather than an attempt to bridge the gap between Protestant/Catholic numbers.

seems like a more sensible answer than trying to increase numbers.

sceptre · 30-05-2010 11:38am

More off-topic mush deleted, responsible parties notified appropriately. On-thread requests to avoid moving into tangents aren't made merely for kicks and giggles.

/mod

SlabMurphy · 30-05-2010 2:06pm

Listening to Miriam O'Callaghna this morning ( and it's over on politics.ie ), the latest Red C polls in the Sunday Bus. Post say SF are back to 10%. So it seems that their excellent results in the six counties have had the knock on effect down here.

Gee, the born again unionists will be foaming at the mouth again

Kev_ps3 · 30-05-2010 2:57pm

Great to read.

dlofnep · 30-05-2010 2:58pm

SlabMurphy wrote: »

Listening to Miriam O'Callaghna this morning ( and it's over on politics.ie ), the latest Red C polls in the Sunday Bus. Post say SF are back to 10%. So it seems that their excellent results in the six counties have had the knock on effect down here.

Gee, the born again unionists will be foaming at the mouth again

While the opinion polls aren't very reliable - it is positive to see. Sinn Féin is going from strength to strength across Ireland. It will be interesting to see how they fair in the next poll. I'm willing to bet that they may drop back to around 8%. If they still on 10% however, it will be noteworthy.

SlabMurphy · 30-05-2010 3:17pm

dlofnep wrote: »

While the opinion polls aren't very reliable - it is positive to see. Sinn Féin is going from strength to strength across Ireland. It will be interesting to see how they fair in the next poll. I'm willing to bet that they may drop back to around 8%. If they still on 10% however, it will be noteworthy.

Well something I have started to wonder about. When Joe Higgins very narrowly took the seat from Mary Lou, the usual on here were forecasting the end of SF, down south anyway. Now I got to admit I, like many others, voted for Joe giving Mary Lou no.2 as I wanted to see Joe get a good vote but didn't expect him to win.

My point been, it looks like SF's drop down here to Joe Higgins Socialists and the SWP's front People Against Profit only a temporary loss of SF's vote ? And surely the overall left/protest vote will be up in the next election ?

dlofnep · 30-05-2010 3:19pm

I think Joe's vote was genuine. He's a hard worker, and that's why he was elected. I say that as a Sinn Féin voter. It's hard to say what way the votes will swing to be honest. Will have to wait and see.

aDeener · 30-05-2010 3:24pm

owenc wrote: »

Agree probably somerepublican loser. FYp Do you seriously think that Catholics would do that. Repulicans wouldn't even do that and they are as bitter as hell. That us just stupid if they did and if there was a competition the Protestants would be in it too!

i have no idea what on earth you are trying to say

Bottle_of_Smoke · 30-05-2010 5:08pm

SlabMurphy wrote: »

Well something I have started to wonder about. When Joe Higgins very narrowly took the seat from Mary Lou, the usual on here were forecasting the end of SF, down south anyway. Now I got to admit I, like many others, voted for Joe giving Mary Lou no.2 as I wanted to see Joe get a good vote but didn't expect him to win.

My point been, it looks like SF's drop down here to Joe Higgins Socialists and the SWP's front People Against Profit only a temporary loss of SF's vote ? And surely the overall left/protest vote will be up in the next election ?

That seat was basically a three way between eoin ryan, mary-lou and joe. I think joe won it from previous fianna fail voters protesting and deciding they liked higgins as a person more than mary lou. Don't really see it as a vote for socialism. Mary-lou also had an appauling attendence record which might have pissed her previous voters off.

owenc · 30-05-2010 10:09pm

aDeener wrote: »

i have no idea what on earth you are trying to say

sorry?

philstar · 31-05-2010 10:41am

dlofnep wrote: »

This is a great day for Sinn Féin.

and a kick in the teeth to victims of IRA violence

weepee · 31-05-2010 5:47pm

philstar wrote: »

and a kick in the teeth to victims of IRA violence

Or its a good day for victims of IRA violence, knowing that there need be no more victims. Your anti Republicanism is apparent.

Iwasfrozen · 31-05-2010 5:50pm

weepee wrote: »

Or its a good day for victims of IRA violence, knowing that there need be no more victims. Your anti Republicanism is apparent.

More like anti-terrorism.

HavingCrack · 31-05-2010 5:52pm

Where did the Catholic/Protestant debate come from in this ?!???!

How many Northerners give a ****e what religion you are these days anyway? (an there is a difference between religion and politics despite what some boardsies seem to believe.)

As to the OP I', suprised so many people vote Sinn Fein because apart from the Untied Ireland stance their political policies are pretty ****e in my opinion.

weepee · 31-05-2010 5:54pm

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

More like anti-terrorism.

Maybe if you expand your post, I would understand what your saying.

Iwasfrozen · 31-05-2010 6:04pm

weepee wrote: »

Maybe if you expand your post, I would understand what your saying.

You wrote:

Or its a good day for victims of IRA violence, knowing that there need be no more victims. Your anti Republicanism is apparent.

I wrote:

More like anti-terrorism.

Notice the part in bold print.

weepee · 31-05-2010 6:47pm

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

You wrote:

I wrote:

Notice the part in bold print.

Simply anti Republicanism then-ok.

dlofnep · 31-05-2010 6:53pm

Perhaps our fellow posters might be more content if the peace process was ended. At least then, they would have something to genuinely have a gripe with.

Sinn Féin is the largest party in the north, and they have a strong following for their work both in the past and present. Get over it.

Chriskavo · 31-05-2010 7:18pm

Even people in SF do not see Mr Adams as a good financial rolemodel the man has not got a clue on economics. He tried to fiddle the accounts of the Bobby Sands Trust.

Can you provide us with a link or a source for this?

owenc · 31-05-2010 10:21pm

HavingCrack wrote: »

Where did the Catholic/Protestant debate come from in this ?!???!

How many Northerners give a ****e what religion you are these days anyway? (an there is a difference between religion and politics despite what some boardsies seem to believe.)

As to the OP I', suprised so many people vote Sinn Fein because apart from the Untied Ireland stance their political policies are pretty ****e in my opinion.

Not as much now but they still do, just not as bitterly as years ago, i mean you can't go anywhere without someone going "what school did you goto,what religion are you, whats your surname"!

Jaap · 31-05-2010 10:38pm

dlofnep wrote: »

Sinn Féin is the largest party in the north, and they have a strong following for their work both in the past and present. Get over it.

I wouldn't think they would have a large following due to their work in the past...

....were they not linked to one of Europe's and the world's most blood thirsty terrorist groups the IRA???
I think after the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process...when they realised that they were not going to get anywhere with terrorism (after September the 11th)...and they realised that Northern Ireland's control and destiny is in the hands of its people...that is when people who were appalled at the party's history softened their stance to them and maybe gave them their vote!!!
I still think Sinn Fein and other republican parties...and unionist parties...they all cause a massive divide in Northern Ireland...until people start voting for the Alliance Party or middle of the road parties (which are yet to exist in NI) we are still going to encounter very serious problems politically for years to come!!!

weepee · 31-05-2010 11:49pm

Jaap wrote: »

I wouldn't think they would have a large following due to their work in the past.......were they not linked to one of Europe's and the world's most blood thirsty terrorist groups the IRA???

'worlds most blood thirsty terrorist groups'' Sometimes you have to fight evil with evil. Ive never seen terror administrated as effectively as when the state uses it.

Jaap wrote: »

I think after the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process...when they realised that they were not going to get anywhere with terrorism (after September the 11th)...and they realised that Northern Ireland's control and destiny is in the hands of its people...that is when people who were appalled at the party's history softened their stance to them and maybe gave them their vote!!!

The armed struggle lead to the 'Good Friday Agreement'.

Jaap wrote: »

in and other republican parties...and unionist parties...they all cause a massive divide in Northern Ireland...until people start voting for the Alliance Party or middle of the road parties (which are yet to exist in NI) we are still going to encounter very serious problems politically for years to come!!!

Republicans have a right to vote for whoever they wish, as do Unionists.
On the Republican side, people feel nothing British about themselves, the opposite can be said of Unionists, they feel nothing Irish-thats a fact.

SF now the largest political party in the north.

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