matt cooper not happy with his president

moonpurple

his article

Matt Cooper wrote:

I DON’T how President Mary McAleese did it. Last Friday she and her husband Martin entertained Ian Paisley and his wife Eileen at Áras an Uachtarán.

There were plenty of smiles for the photographs as he signed the visitors’ book. Later he took lunch and watched teenagers perform Irish dancing. A jolly time was had by all, apparently.

This was a remarkable event given Paisley’s history – one that must be only too obvious to McAleese, as a Catholic from north Belfast.

Paisley was the most outrageous and sectarian bigot on the Protestant/unionist side of the murderous conflict that bedevilled this island for more than 30 years.


Read more: http://www.examiner.ie/opinion/columnists/matt-cooper/president-was-wrong-to-entertain-that-old-political-monster-paisley-122098.html#ixzz0qd5BNGUl

future: 1 past: 0
imo:pac:

changes

He's dead right, paisley was a monster most his adult life.

bazmaiden

Paisley was the most outrageous and sectarian bigot on the Protestant/unionist side of the murderous conflict that bedevilled this island for more than 30 years.

True, but I suppose we need to improve relations between both north and south.



I still think he's a cnut though

Nodin

Compared to hosting Bush for 48 hours, it was a relatively minor and nessecary evil.

javaboy

I'm not a big fan of Paisley but Mott the Coople seems to be overlooking the fact that Paisley is actually well known for being a very hard worker for his Catholic constituents. He's shown that he's willing to compromise and move forward. This is especially remarkable and commendable because he was so hard line in the past. We need to move away from the past, not dwell on it.

I'd have to ask who the real dinosaur here is Matt.

Agricola

Paisley's distant past is well known, but what about his recent past. Could any other unionist leader have gotten the process in the north to the point its at today? He commands alot of respect up there and every ounce of it was needed to get people on board for power-sharing.

Hes an aul man on his last legs, its no big deal to have him meet the President in the Aras.

ragg

What a fúcking stupid piece of shít article, Paisley is one of the most important people in our recent history and was instrumental in bringing peace to this Island.

Paisley has as much right to visit anywhere on this island.
People seem to forget, that his people have a pretty long history on in Ireland too :rolleyes:

Reconsiliation isn't a dirty word

2manyconditions

Paisley isn't he the leader of his own religion (maybe I'm wrong bout that so don't correct me if I'm wrong)

My point is: hes old decrepid and maybe hes s, hit, ting himself in his last hour and so is making all these lovely amends so he'll go to his own heaven where he can be the leader up there too.

I agree with Matt when he says hes craving attention, and the ejjits that have been voted to the Dáil here(certainly not by me, might I add) are more than willing to spend my hard earned cash on pointless wastes of time like Paisley to help feed the attention craving disorder he has.

Why doesn't he just look after the grandkids and stay at home.

biko

Paisley is responsible for causing riots, getting people killed and dragging out the peace process. Even the UDA agree that he's trouble.
The sooner he's gone the better. They should have poisoned his eggs this time.

javaboy

biko wrote: »

Paisley is responsible for causing riots, getting people killed and dragging out the peace process. Even the UDA agree that he's trouble.

At the same time, he could have done a lot more to hinder the peace process. Fact is he got on side in the end and did his bit.

The sooner he's gone the better. They should have poisoned his eggs this time.

What would that accomplish? He's effectively toothless now. Even if he went back to his old habits now, people have moved on too much to listen. But if he was murdered while a guest of the President of Ireland, even the softer elements of unionism might get a little bit pissed off.

biko

We should be thankful he wasn't worse?
And even though he may have been softening up at old age I still hold him responsible for a lot of grief and killings.
He may not have pulled the trigger himself but he is equally responsible as those who did.

Freddie Parkinson, a leader of the UDA, stated in 1984, that Paisley was 'a tarantula who spreads the venom of further conflict and has been a major contributor to our prolonged tragedy.'

In the late 1950s Paisley, leading a rally of unionist supporters on the Shankill Road, gave out the names and addresses of Catholics living in the area. Addressing the "people of the Shankill", Paisley had demanded, "what's wrong with you"?

"Number 425 Shankill Road. Do you know who lives there? Pope's men, that's who! Forte's ice cream shop. Who lives there. Italian Papists on the Shankill Road! How about 56 Aden Street? For 97 years a Protestant lived in that house and now there's a Papist in it. Crimea Street, number 38. Twenty five years that house has been up. Twenty four years a Protestant lived there but there's a Papist there now," Paisley told the crowd.

Having whipped up sufficient sectarian hatred to ensure the rally concluded by attacking the homes and businesses of the Catholics he had targeted, Paisley left the mob to do its work. "Did you read the paper this morning," an excited Paisley had asked a unionist colleague the following day. The colleague asked if Paisley had been responsible for the attacks. "Not me," came the smug reply, "I was in the car on the way home," said Paisley.

Mike 1972

biko wrote: »

In the late 1950s Paisley, leading a rally of unionist supporters on the Shankill Road, gave out the names and addresses of Catholics living in the area. .

According to some versions of that particular urban legend the list wasnt exactly 100% accurate either

javaboy

biko wrote: »

We should be thankful he wasn't worse?

Actually yes we should.

And even though he may have been softening up at old age I still hold him responsible for a lot of grief and killings.
He may not have pulled the trigger himself but he is equally responsible as those who did.

Freddie Parkinson, a leader of the UDA, stated in 1984, that Paisley was 'a tarantula who spreads the venom of further conflict and has been a major contributor to our prolonged tragedy.'

In the late 1950s Paisley, leading a rally of unionist supporters on the Shankill Road, gave out the names and addresses of Catholics living in the area. Addressing the "people of the Shankill", Paisley had demanded, "what's wrong with you"?

"Number 425 Shankill Road. Do you know who lives there? Pope's men, that's who! Forte's ice cream shop. Who lives there. Italian Papists on the Shankill Road! How about 56 Aden Street? For 97 years a Protestant lived in that house and now there's a Papist in it. Crimea Street, number 38. Twenty five years that house has been up. Twenty four years a Protestant lived there but there's a Papist there now," Paisley told the crowd.

Having whipped up sufficient sectarian hatred to ensure the rally concluded by attacking the homes and businesses of the Catholics he had targeted, Paisley left the mob to do its work. "Did you read the paper this morning," an excited Paisley had asked a unionist colleague the following day. The colleague asked if Paisley had been responsible for the attacks. "Not me," came the smug reply, "I was in the car on the way home," said Paisley.

Note the parts in bold.

He's got a horrible past. We all know that. He's done and said some really evil and hate filled things in his time. But the North has been for many years a very fúcked up place. We all know the reasons why and there's no point going into it all again. Many hard line unionists and republicans are products of their environments. They grew up with a distorted perspective. Bigotry and sectarianism was the order of the day.

Now fair enough, Paisley is more than just a product of his environment. He played a huge part in shaping that environment himself. But my point is that we can't judge the actions and words of the past without taking into account the context in which they occurred.

As I said, I'm not a big fan of Paisley. He has blood on his hands, if not literally. But the same can be said of an awful lot of politicians of his era.

I'm just thankful most of them have copped on and adjusted their attitudes. And I see no point in dwelling on the past.

Mike 1972

javaboy wrote: »

Now fair enough, Paisley is more than just a product of his environment. He played a huge part in shaping that environment himself. But my point is that we can't judge the actions and words of the past without taking into account the context in which they occurred.

In before the Godwin -oh wait

pablomakaveli

I used to despise Paisley but i have to say he's made a genuine effort to improve relations the last few years and i have to respect him for that.

It's a shame Peter Robinson does'nt take a leaf out of Paisleys book.

epgc3fyqirnbsx

Paisley was an absolute bastard in his time. But as Javaboy said, he was fantastic in his contituency and never asked anyone their religion, jst tried to solve their problems.
He did preach hatred in fairness, but so did Sin Fein, whether they say different or not.

But N.I. was a big dirty mess, fighting really does seem to be over now and i honestly believe that we shouldn't get hung up on the past.

I remember Michael Longleys poem that we had to do for L.C., Ceasefire where he quotes Homer,
'I go down upon my knees and do what must be done
And Kiss Achilles hand, the killer of my son'

If there is ever to be peace then we have to forgive atrocious acts. It's like that.

Aidric

javaboy wrote: »

I'd have to ask who the real dinosaur here is Matt.

Essentially. Pandering to the red necks me thinks.

rovert

I doubt Cooper would say the same things about Gerry Adams.

congress3

ragg wrote: »

Reconsiliation isn't a dirty word

It isn't even a word

ragg

congress3 wrote: »

It isn't even a word

Facepalm

moonpurple

ragg wrote: »

What a fúcking stupid piece of shít article, Paisley is one of the most important people in our recent history and was instrumental in bringing peace to this Island.

Paisley has as much right to visit anywhere on this island.
People seem to forget, that his people have a pretty long history on in Ireland too :rolleyes:

Reconsiliation isn't a dirty word

it may not be a dirty word but by jove it is a new word, well done:eek:

moonpurple

biko wrote: »

We should be thankful he wasn't worse?
And even though he may have been softening up at old age I still hold him responsible for a lot of grief and killings.
He may not have pulled the trigger himself but he is equally responsible as those who did.

Freddie Parkinson, a leader of the UDA, stated in 1984, that Paisley was 'a tarantula who spreads the venom of further conflict and has been a major contributor to our prolonged tragedy.'

In the late 1950s Paisley, leading a rally of unionist supporters on the Shankill Road, gave out the names and addresses of Catholics living in the area. Addressing the "people of the Shankill", Paisley had demanded, "what's wrong with you"?

"Number 425 Shankill Road. Do you know who lives there? Pope's men, that's who! Forte's ice cream shop. Who lives there. Italian Papists on the Shankill Road! How about 56 Aden Street? For 97 years a Protestant lived in that house and now there's a Papist in it. Crimea Street, number 38. Twenty five years that house has been up. Twenty four years a Protestant lived there but there's a Papist there now," Paisley told the crowd.

Having whipped up sufficient sectarian hatred to ensure the rally concluded by attacking the homes and businesses of the Catholics he had targeted, Paisley left the mob to do its work. "Did you read the paper this morning," an excited Paisley had asked a unionist colleague the following day. The colleague asked if Paisley had been responsible for the attacks. "Not me," came the smug reply, "I was in the car on the way home," said Paisley.

and you think mary mcaleese does not remember this from growing up in belfast in the blackest days......

every now and then she hits the mark but seems invisible to journalists, though she used to be one:pac:

Absurdum

Agricola wrote: »

Paisley's distant past is well known, but what about his recent past. Could any other unionist leader have gotten the process in the north to the point its at today? He commands alot of respect up there and every ounce of it was needed to get people on board for power-sharing.

Paisley and the DUP opposed the Good Friday Agreement, David Trimble did more for peace on this island than Paisely ever did.

who what when

moonpurple wrote: »

it may not be a dirty word but by jove it is a new word, well done:eek:

Well done indeed sir, now you must be positively poofed after all this mental exasperation. Why dont you run along and ask jeeves to draw you a bath. Theres a good fellow, what?

moonpurple

who what when wrote: »

Well done indeed sir, now you must be positively poofed after all this mental exasperation. Why dont you run along and ask jeeves to draw you a bath. Theres a good fellow, what?

i say top ho what what
:pac: