Anyone willing to admit that they supported the IRA at any point?

Aegir

Aegir wrote: »

Sounds to me like they were resoundly beaten.

Is this meant to be irony from the "British as Finchley"/"We will never talk to terrorists" school of thought?

How's Brexit/the second coming of the British Empire coming along?

FrancieBrady

archer22 wrote: »

First of all the conflict had Phuck all to do with me, but this is an internet discussion forum in case you hadn't noticed...so yes keyboards are used.But the only keyboard "warrior" I see on here is you!
As for "40 years to beat them" as far as I am aware the ones who decommissioned (destroyed) their weapons were the IRA not the British side...so I guess that kind of tells who was beaten...I have never heard of a victorious army destroying their weaponry ...that is a humiliation that only the vanquished have to endure.

The British Army dismantled their infrastructure across the north and more or less left.

Nobody won the war/conflict but go on, tell us who was far far better off after it?

It wasn't the still whinging DUP, clinging to the last vestiges of their bigoted little statelet. It doesn't take me to tell you that, just listen to them.

steddyeddy

archer22 wrote: »

It worked for the Free State government in bringing the civil war to a fast conclusion...I guess the trick is to keep it up, not to just use it as a once off.

The word I'd use to describe that idea rhymes with metarded. Irish Americans funded the IRA. Could you imagine how much support they'd get if they executed politicians.

Odhinn

archer22 wrote: »

Some years ago Northern Ireland came up in a discussion I was having with a Russian ex soldier..his view was that the British restraint in Northern Ireland was ridiculous and only prolonged the conflict.
He maintained that the way to end the conflict quickly was to publicly execute 20 members of Sinn Fein and the IRA in public in the square of every town where a soldier had been killed..

...yep, because there's absdolutely no Irish republican tradition of martyrdom, or of executions having the opposite effect.

archer wrote:

I guess the trick is to keep it up, not to just use it as a once off.

….you could do it over hundreds of years, like the Brits did. Worked a charm.

archer22

archer22 wrote: »

First of all the conflict had Phuck all to do with me, but this is an internet discussion forum in case you hadn't noticed...so yes keyboards are used.But the only keyboard "warrior" I see on here is you!
As for "40 years to beat them" as far as I am aware the ones who decommissioned (destroyed) their weapons were the IRA not the British side...so I guess that kind of tells who was beaten...I have never heard of a victorious army destroying their weaponry ...that is a humiliation that only the vanquished have to endure.

You clearly missed the whole withdrawal of 50,000 armed British personnel, the dismantling of the colonial RUC paramilitary police force, the removal of occupying garrisons and lookout posts in the native Irish areas, the release of thousands of the natives from British internment camps and, well, everything else. Predictable, though.

Oh, and care to explain why it was Sinn Féin who pushed the Peace Process while your preferred side of Unionists and the British government refused to engage with it year after year until they were finally forced to?

badtoro

archer22 wrote: »

Some years ago Northern Ireland came up in a discussion I was having with a Russian ex soldier..his view was that the British restraint in Northern Ireland was ridiculous and only prolonged the conflict.
He maintained that the way to end the conflict quickly was to publicly execute 20 members of Sinn Fein and the IRA in public in the square of every town where a soldier had been killed.

As I said in an earlier post...the IRA were fortunate in who they were having a war with!!.

Remind us again how well that worked for the USSR in Afghanistan?

Taytoland

The worst thing to happen was a conventional war never happened.

bobbysands81

Yes.

The IRA are merely a symptom of the violence on this island, it’s amazing that the cause of the violence is deemed some sort of honest broker beyond the reproach of many.

Take away the reasons for war and you take away war.

Politicians throughout the Republic effectively ignored the plight of “Catholics” in the north. These Catholics were refused jobs, housing, public supports, not allowed vote, lived in gerrymandered areas, everything was stacked against them and in favour of “Protestants”. The British Govt pegged them as second class citizens whilst the Irish Government watched on whilst “Catholics” were attacked, murdered, beaten, discriminated against and interned.

Politics failed them, the British Government failed them and the Irish Government ignored them. Bloody Sunday gelled Republicans together, after watching 14 people in their community shot dead for protesting for normal rights that practically every country in the world bar Communist countries and countries ruled by tin pot dictators, communities said it would never happen again and the IRA became a Community led force that took on the might of the British Empire and brought them to the negotiating table.

These people had no choice but to fight back, they didn’t start the war and they didn’t want the war but they joined the war. The IRA had the backing of the communities that they operated in, without the backing of those communities they wouldn’t have existed. The IRA only came into being as society, democracy and politics all failed the minority population of a small gerrymandered part of this island.

Meanwhile the instigators of the war are feted by many.

MikeyTaylor

Ira Gershwin? I suppose so, he and brother George wrote some great show-tunes.

Zebra3

Taytoland wrote: »

The worst thing to happen was a conventional war never happened.

No, the worst thing was that the conflict came about.

I guess the bloodlust of some just can’t be concealed.

LandersDublin

The IRA (1969-2005) were highly successful, they changed the face of the troubles. In 1969 while loyalists tried to burn nationalists out of their homes , the IRA unsuccessful tried to defend these people. In 1973,74 the IRA raised the game and built structures used to stem the drive of loyalism and armed British units into nationalist areas.

The OIRA ceased to exist in later 1970 but by name only, this gave rise to huge support for the provisionals, personally I supported the IRA. I was around in their later years and seen the positive affect they had on Their areas in the north.

I fully supported their armed campaign and accept that loss of life was inevitable.

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Is this meant to be irony from the "British as Finchley"/"We will never talk to terrorists" school of thought?

How's Brexit/the second coming of the British Empire coming along?

When you get in to these rages, you do seem to get confused and throw around ad hominem at random. Do you ever stop and think for a minute.

The IRA lost, get over it. They failed to remove the British and became more and more desperate doing more and more atrocious acts until ultimately they were rejected by the people they claimed to represent.

archer22

Ever since the Northern Ireland state was founded the IRA have been trying to undermine it.
Terror campaign 1920s
Terror campaign 1940s
Terror campaign 1950s
Terror campaign 1960s-70s-80s-90s
It is ironic that those self appointed 'defenders of the Catholic community' were nothing more than agent provocateurs provoking the Unionist community into regarding all the Catholic community in northern Ireland as a fifth column hell bent on destroying them...hence the backlash of discrimination and exclusion.
The IRA were not the saviours of the catholic community, but were in fact the instigators of their misery.
It is obvious now since the IRA have been taken out of the picture the protestants and catholics have been getting on fine with each other and realising they have far more in common with each other than with anybody else.

Zebra3

archer22 wrote: »

Ever since the Northern Ireland state was founded the IRA have been trying to undermine it.
Terror campaign 1920s
Terror campaign 1940s
Terror campaign 1950s
Terror campaign 1960s-70s-80s-90s
It is ironic that those self appointed 'defenders of the Catholic community' were nothing more than agent provocateurs provoking the Unionist community into regarding all the Catholic community in northern Ireland as a fifth column hell bent on destroying them...hence the backlash of discrimination and exclusion.
The IRA were not the saviours of the catholic community, but were in fact the instigators of their misery.
It is obvious now since the IRA have been taken out of the picture the protestants and catholics have been getting on fine with each other and realising they have far more in common with each other than with anybody else.

Conveniently ignoring all the terror campaigns of unionism.

And Protestants and Catholics don’t get along fine with each other. More and more live in areas of self chosen apartheid from the opposing community and voting is still mainly along sectarian lines.

The conflict is over but there’s very much a cold war in place.

Odhinn

archer22 wrote: »

Ever since (............) other than with anybody else.

Victim blaming now?

Taytoland

Zebra3 wrote: »

archer22 wrote: »

Ever since the Northern Ireland state was founded the IRA have been trying to undermine it.
Terror campaign 1920s
Terror campaign 1940s
Terror campaign 1950s
Terror campaign 1960s-70s-80s-90s
It is ironic that those self appointed 'defenders of the Catholic community' were nothing more than agent provocateurs provoking the Unionist community into regarding all the Catholic community in northern Ireland as a fifth column hell bent on destroying them...hence the backlash of discrimination and exclusion.
The IRA were not the saviours of the catholic community, but were in fact the instigators of their misery.
It is obvious now since the IRA have been taken out of the picture the protestants and catholics have been getting on fine with each other and realising they have far more in common with each other than with anybody else.

Conveniently ignoring all the terror campaigns of unionism.

And Protestants and Catholics don’t get along fine with each other. More and more live in areas of self chosen apartheid from the opposing community and voting is still mainly along sectarian lines.

The conflict is over but there’s very much a cold war in place.

Absolute nonsense. Both sides interact and integrate everyday. Both sides marrying and having children, I have seen first hand experience of this. The place I live has Catholics and Protestants living together comfortably, so much better than it was 20+ years ago.

FrancieBrady

Taytoland wrote: »

Absolute nonsense. Both sides interact and integrate everyday. Both sides marrying and having children, I have seen first hand experience of this. The place I live has Catholics and Protestants living together comfortably, so much better than it was 20+ years ago.

And you flat out condoning slaughters on behalf of the Unionist statelet.

What a neighbour.

steddyeddy

Taytoland wrote: »

Absolute nonsense. Both sides interact and integrate everyday. Both sides marrying and having children, I have seen first hand experience of this. The place I live has Catholics and Protestants living together comfortably, so much better than it was 20+ years ago.

It's much better but no other first world country would host and fund something like the twelfth. I've had colleagues in America who would not invest in Northern Ireland due to events like this.

Zebra3

Taytoland wrote: »

Absolute nonsense. Both sides interact and integrate everyday. Both sides marrying and having children, I have seen first hand experience of this. The place I live has Catholics and Protestants living together comfortably, so much better than it was 20+ years ago.

If it's absolute nonsense why are there still so many (LOL) "peace" walls?

Why are there so many housing estates for almost exclusively one community?

Why is there still triumphalism and violence surrounding the OO's fascist marches?

twinytwo

archer22 wrote: »

Some years ago Northern Ireland came up in a discussion I was having with a Russian ex soldier..his view was that the British restraint in Northern Ireland was ridiculous and only prolonged the conflict.
He maintained that the way to end the conflict quickly was to publicly execute 20 members of Sinn Fein and the IRA in public in the square of every town where a soldier had been killed.

As I said in an earlier post...the IRA were fortunate in who they were having a war with!!.

The Brits spent decades upon decades executing people all over this country. Where did it get them in the end?

Also if I recall Russia had to rely on the Russian winter to prevent their country being taken by both the French and Germans and they were sent packing from Afghanistan...

Taytoland

Zebra3 wrote: »

Taytoland wrote: »

Absolute nonsense. Both sides interact and integrate everyday. Both sides marrying and having children, I have seen first hand experience of this. The place I live has Catholics and Protestants living together comfortably, so much better than it was 20+ years ago.

If it's absolute nonsense why are there still so many (LOL) "peace" walls?

Why are there so many housing estates for almost exclusively one community?

Why is there still triumphalism and violence surrounding the OO's fascist marches?

Only a very small minority are contentious and the OO is an important organization in Ulster culturally. To try and ban Orange gatherings will result in blood.

Taytoland

steddyeddy wrote: »

Taytoland wrote: »

Absolute nonsense. Both sides interact and integrate everyday. Both sides marrying and having children, I have seen first hand experience of this. The place I live has Catholics and Protestants living together comfortably, so much better than it was 20+ years ago.

It's much better but no other first world country would host and fund something like the twelfth. I've had colleagues in America who would not invest in Northern Ireland due to events like this.

Because you get hundreds of thousands of people in society who attend parades during the season, attend the big events such as the 12th and 13th. It's not a tiny minority in some far off corner, it's deep rooted in Ulster society.

GarIT

If England goes against the Good Friday agreement by not allowing a referendum on a United Ireland effectively ending any peace treaty and there was a group going up to try to start some sort of civil war I'd seriously consider getting involved.

I'm a young male, single with no kids, if there is a fight for freedom I feel the right thing for me to do would be to participate.

corner of hells

GarIT wrote: »

If England goes against the Good Friday agreement by not allowing a referendum on a United Ireland effectively ending any peace treaty and there was a group going up to try to start some sort of civil war I'd seriously consider getting involved.

I'm a young male, single with no kids, if there is a fight for freedom I feel the right thing for me to do would be to participate.

Britain , I think Scotland and Wales are still around .

GarIT

corner of hells wrote: »

Britain , I think Scotland and Wales are still around .

I thought it would be primarily England making the decisions but sure Britain could be used in place of England in what I said.
The queen is the queen of England and not the queen of Britain for example.

Red_Wake

GarIT wrote: »

If England goes against the Good Friday agreement by not allowing a referendum on a United Ireland effectively ending any peace treaty and there was a group going up to try to start some sort of civil war I'd seriously consider getting involved.

I'm a young male, single with no kids, if there is a fight for freedom I feel the right thing for me to do would be to participate.

Well I hope you're too fat and useless to be of any trouble. Civil war is vile.

corner of hells

GarIT wrote: »

I thought it would be primarily England making the decisions but sure Britain could be used in place of England in what I said.
The queen is the queen of England and not the queen of Britain for example.

Nope , she's the queen of the united kingdom and all common realm.

GarIT

Red_Wake wrote: »

Well I hope you're too fat and useless to be of any trouble. Civil war is vile.

I'm not saying I want it or would encourage starting it. I would prefer that if Britain's situation gets a bit worse a referendum is held. I'm just saying if there was a civil war because people who are rightfully from my country wanted freedom and were denied it I would consider participating.

end of the road

Aegir wrote: »

When you get in to these rages, you do seem to get confused and throw around ad hominem at random. Do you ever stop and think for a minute.

The IRA lost, get over it. They failed to remove the British and became more and more desperate doing more and more atrocious acts until ultimately they were rejected by the people they claimed to represent.

the IRA did not lose, get over it. they got everything they wanted bar a complete british removal straight away. however they will get a british removal eventually, so all their aims will be achieved.

archer22 wrote: »

Ever since the Northern Ireland state was founded the IRA have been trying to undermine it.
Terror campaign 1920s
Terror campaign 1940s
Terror campaign 1950s
Terror campaign 1960s-70s-80s-90s
It is ironic that those self appointed 'defenders of the Catholic community' were nothing more than agent provocateurs provoking the Unionist community into regarding all the Catholic community in northern Ireland as a fifth column hell bent on destroying them...hence the backlash of discrimination and exclusion.
The IRA were not the saviours of the catholic community, but were in fact the instigators of their misery.
It is obvious now since the IRA have been taken out of the picture the protestants and catholics have been getting on fine with each other and realising they have far more in common with each other than with anybody else.

the northern ireland state has no legitimacy. it was created for political and economic reasons at partition.
those who discriminated against and excluded catholics, and those who supported such, did not need any provocation. they also did not need any provocation into thinking that the catholic community wanted to destroy them, that was effectively what they lived for, a protestant state for a protestant people, and the belief that everyone was out to get them. all of that was nothing to do with any terror campaign by the ira. the ira were the saviours of the catholic community in the 60s and 70s, they kept the RUCBAloyalists from doing a hell of a lot worse, which they would have if they could have. the catholic community were in no way responsible for the discrimination they faced.

LandersDublin

Taytoland wrote: »

Absolute nonsense. Both sides interact and integrate everyday. Both sides marrying and having children, I have seen first hand experience of this. The place I live has Catholics and Protestants living together comfortably, so much better than it was 20+ years ago.

Really where is the general area? What about the young lad from the markets nailed to the ground last year in Spring Martin by west Belfast UDA?