What was the worst event in modern Irish history?

4Sticks

Roger_007 wrote: »

Independence!........can anyone think of even one way in which it made us better off, or healthier, or more contented, or better governed?.....I can't.

I can't recall the exact quote but Brendan Behan said that Irish Independence was a chance to swap British rack renting landlords with Irish rack renting landlords.

Today we have a mortgaged independence relying on the credit facilities of others to keep our bloated public and political life intact while the rest of either scatter across the globe or scrimp by here waving our kids off to do so.

LizzieJones

That time it rained and that time it got hot.

cantdecide

1979 Fastnet Race tragedy deserves a mention.

To much groaning I'm, the collapse of the economy has devastated so many in my circles.

snaphook

Linda Martin 'singing' Get Lucky on the Saturday Night Show.

Oh the Humanity!!!!

Chinasea

Salvita Halapparavan's death and the distain her poor husband and family were treated to by some of the people, HSE involved in this atrocity.

WesternZulu

The amazing ability of the Irish public to constantly forgive and forget Fianna Fail of their numerous f**k ups since the formation of the state.

RandomName2

For me?

By far the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip

Think about it

Idbatterim

the blanket bank guarantee! Has done incalculable damage in numerous aspects!

Ash.J.Williams

RandomName2 wrote: »

For me?

By far the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip

Think about it

that's using irish history loosely there!! It affected Irish history but it was an external factor.

Ash.J.Williams

cantdecide wrote: »

1979 Fastnet Race tragedy deserves a mention.

To much groaning I'm, the collapse of the economy has devastated so many in my circles.

why does the fastnet tragedy need a mention?

Uriel.

John Doe1 wrote: »

There has been quite a few but DeValera signing a book of condolence for Hitler and the treatment of those who fight in WW2 when they returned home has got to be up there.

Also, The Omagh bombing was the most pointless waste of life on this island.

Ireland was officially neutral throughout the entirety of the war, it would not be unusual for one head of state to sign a book of condolences on the death of another head of state, especially where both parties were not in conflict with each other.

El Inho

John Doe1 wrote: »

There has been quite a few but DeValera signing a book of condolence for Hitler and the treatment of those who fight in WW2 when they returned home has got to be up there.

Also, The Omagh bombing was the most pointless waste of life on this island.

On the Hitler thing. It's very easy to get caught up in allowing what we know now to cloud past judgements. I am no big fan of Dev at all, but we must consider that very little was know about the depth of evil carried out by the Nazi's under Germany's control - at the time of signing.

Irish neutrality has always been a flash point, and is of course in the news again today. As a neutral nation, to not sign such a book for a deceased world leader would be unheard of. We were not directly involved in the war as a nation.

It's very important that when we view history, we remain subjective and ignore hindsight.

Uriel.

genuine leather wrote: »

Two treatys that were voted against by the irish electorate,
but both got a yes vote after the threats....sorry,disscussion,sorry jellybeans...eh..f n hell democracy my arse

Well whatever about Nice, we rejected Lisbon 1 and the Government went back to the EU - changes were made and assurances were given and an amended proposal was put to the people who then voted Yes. That IS democracy and it is democracy working as it should!

RandomName2

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

that's using irish history loosely there!! It affected Irish history but it was an external factor.

It caused the outbreak of WW1, which caused the UK to delay signing the Home Rule Bill, which helped generate the 1916 Rising, which led to the war of Independence, which in turn led to partition and the Civil War; all of which had brought hard-line nationalists to the fore, which led to an independent, but isolated and backward Ireland, where the Church had full sway on all sections of society. Never mind the tens of thousands of Irish who died fighting in WW1 itself.

So any one, single, event? Yup, that one in Sarajevo.

foxy farmer

whupdedo wrote: »

Would he still be alive if they hadn't ???

Well it certainly didn't do him any good. Totally uncalled for and achieved absolutely nothing. Tv3 grasping at straws for ratings. Below the belt and kicking a man when hes down. Why didnt they do the same with Michael Noonan recently I wonder.

RoadhouseBlues

The Omagh bombing. I was coming back from England on the ferry when the report came on the television. I sat in a quiet corner and didn't speak because I didn't want anyone to hear my accent. I was ashamed to be Irish that day.

MiamiMice

The Garth Brooks concert cancellations.

Rogers830

MiamiMice wrote: »

The Garth Brooks concert cancellations.

It's a concert get over it, buy the CD, listen to it, forget about it...

Ash.J.Williams

RandomName2 wrote: »

It caused the outbreak of WW1, which caused the UK to delay signing the Home Rule Bill, which helped generate the 1916 Rising, which led to the war of Independence, which in turn led to partition and the Civil War; all of which had brought hard-line nationalists to the fore, which led to an independent, but isolated and backward Ireland, where the Church had full sway on all sections of society. Never mind the tens of thousands of Irish who died fighting in WW1 itself.

So any one, single, event? Yup, that one in Sarajevo.

i hear ya but if that's the reasoning, one would nearly put ww1 and ww2 as the worst incidents in modern "irish history" and this thread is looking from 3rd place on!

MiamiMice

Rogers830 wrote: »

It's a concert get over it, buy the CD, listen to it, forget about it...

Well I was bringin me third cousin and there was a great chance of getting the ride. I'm traumatised on so many levels.

DublinWriter

John Doe1 wrote: »

DeValera signing a book of condolence for Hitler

Never happened.

Can't believe that the famine hasn't been mentioned; 1 million dead and another million emigrated.

Azwaldo55

The worst event in modern Irish history was the outbreak of the World War 1 - the result of the Arch Duke's car stalling outside a snackbar in Sarajevo as his assassin queued for a sandwich after an earlier attack failed.

At that time Ireland had a united Irish Volunteer movement, a strong Irish Parliamentary Party and Nationalist Ireland had won the Home Rule debate.

The outbreak of World War 1 led to the suspension of Home Rule and the IPP was discredited further when Redmond urged tens of thousands including his own brother to fight and die in the hell of trenches. Tens of thousands of our best men died, men who could have contributed to Home Rule Ireland.

Without the outbreak of the war it is unlikely that Irish Republicans would have staged the 1916 Rising, the leaders would not have been executed and there might have been no victory for Sinn Féin in 1918, the War of Independence and Civil War might not have happened and Ireland might not have been partitioned into two theocratic states north and south.

Ulster Unionists without revolvers or machine guns or artillery or planes and shouldering a bewildering variety of different calibers of rifle with a poor means of distributing the correct ammo would have been no match for the overwhelming Catholic ranks of the British Army and the RIC in Ireland if they opposed the implementation of Home Rule.

Ireland might well have won independence sooner and more painlessly and with less bloodshed.

Rogers830

The famine was the worst bar none

LordSutch

thegills wrote: »

The murder by the British of our great leaders in 1916. What would Ireland be like now if they lived?

great leaders who caused chaos death and destruction before their demise. More like wreckless & feckless lightweight, deluded, gung ho, mono cultural murdering dreamers.

1/The 50.000 Irish dead of WWI.
2/The Hitler condolence incident.
3/Omagh.
4/Enniskillen
5/Dublin & Momaghan.
6/Stardust.
7/Bloody Sunday.
8/Bloody Friday.
9/Belfast 18/3/88.
10/Lord Mountbatten.

in no particular order . . . . .

conorhal

LordSutch wrote: »

great leaders who caused chaos death and destruction before their demise. More like wreckless & feckless lightweight, deluded, gung ho, mono cultural murdering dreamers.

1/The 50.000 Irish dead of WWI.
2/The Hitler condolence incident.
3/Omagh.
4/Enniskillen
5/Dublin & Momaghan.
6/Stardust.
7/Bloody Sunday.
8/Bloody Friday.
9/Belfast 18/3/88.
10/Lord Mountbatten.

in no particular order . . . . .

Oh piss of back to Brussels Mr. Bruton!

Azwaldo55

Rogers830 wrote: »

The famine was the worst bar none

The mid 19th century wouldn't be modern Irish history would it?

Doesn't modern Irish history begin after 1875?

El Inho

I'm surprised Hitlers condolence book is getnuinely considered so tragic. Just think about it!

Also, the famine is a far cry from the modern era

Nodin

LordSutch wrote: »

great leaders who caused chaos death and destruction before their demise. More like wreckless & feckless lightweight, deluded, gung ho, mono cultural murdering dreamers.
. . .

...coming from an apologist for the British Empire, that's good that is. The bit about "mono cultural" is particularily amusing given your previously expressed wish to ban expressions of support for Republicanism, "rebel" ballads etc.

oppenheimer1

EyeSight wrote: »

Not the IMF bailout, but the bare faced lies by the government that it was not happening, while they were organizing it. Criminal!

Various IRA bombings

Michael Collins being murdered

The patient X case causing the death of a woman

You do know why they lied about the bailout?

If they came out and said that they were preparing a bailout as a backup plan, it would have become a self fulfilling prophecy.

Kevhog1988

Undoubtedly the civil war…. there are still divisions in my local area.