Documentary on the Blueshirts on tonight at 9.35

TwoShedsJackson

RTE1, if you're interested in seeing the party that became Fine Gael, Eoin Duffy's Blueshirts (the Irish fascist movement in the 1930's).

Fidelis

Ah now Castor, only O'Duffy was a mussolini head
It was a good watch alright, the elderly men recalling how they battered the ****e out of the RA and the Fianna Fáil protesters
Take it!
Blueshirt Man:"We had our blueshirts to distinguish who was friend and foe, we also had a berret... and eh, a batton"
Interviewer:"Did you ever use the batton?"
Blueshirt Man:"[Laughs] Oh yes, sure when you're surrounded by 8 people[Smiles]"
Classic

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"Three o'clock is always too late or too early for anything you want to do"

SheroN

****in traitorist blue shirts.......

Fidelis

*sigh*
The Blueshirts, formerly the The National Guard and before that the ACA, the Army Comrades Association. It was established for ex army personnel from the Civil War years.
All they did was prevent the Fianna Gael crowd from getting their heads kicked in, traitors oh yes

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"Three o'clock is always too late or too early for anything you want to do"

bugler

maybe hes referring to them accepting offer of 26 counties... or killing anti-treaty forces with british artillery...or the absolute savagery pro-treaty forces displayed in counties such as Kerry during the civil war... i don't know what he was referring to when he said "traitors",but that might be it.

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This is not a good day...to be a bad guy.

bugler

and i know they weren't blueshirts then,but many were blueshirts to be.

Paladin

Ah yes. Looking back at history.
Hindsights great isnt it?
Some people say, 'On hindsight, should we have accepted the treaty?'.

Whats blatantly obvious is that if the British had hindsight they would have given us everything and then some if they knew it was going to cause THEM this much trouble. Leave US have the trouble they would have said.

Manach

Come on, the Blueshirts were as nothing compared to various-hued shirts on the continent. There was a lot of bitterness on both sides after the civil-war, but the losing side having won an election 10 years later, came to power, which is practically unheard of in a post-colonial country.

Paladin

I think the Blueshirts really werent much more than a European bandwagon that we Irish seem to enjoy jumping abord.

You recall the "Go Slow" in protest at fuel prices, which was basically because the rest of Europe did it? I suppose there are lots of countries that do this, try to emulate other powerful nations etc., but its a little silly.

I dont think that the majority of the people in the Blueshirts really knew that their leader stood for. Otherwise they would have probably laughed in his face and told him where to stick it. Which is basically what happened in the end afaik.

Fidelis

Well eventually O'Duffy left and setup another association, this time only 80 die-hards followed him