maryishere wrote: » lol. The vast majority of the hundreds of thousands of Irish people who served in British forces over the years were decent law abiding people and were not terrorists.
FrancieBrady wrote: » And you wouldn't be defender of De Realm in chief on here?
FrancieBrady wrote: » It was either a fair point or it wasn't. Imo it needed to be pointed out.
Cool_CM wrote: » Eh, have you read the Preamble of Bunreacht na hÉireann?
maryishere wrote: » No, the Irish men who fought in WW1 were generally not a real danger to the state. Sure there were a few bad apples though, as there was everywhere. Most of the many many tens of thousands never became terrorists burning out houses or intimidating people or shooting them in the back.
Fratton Fred wrote: » Only because you can't label me a west brit, the usual label applied to those that don't agree with shinner HQ what was, Fuarnach's? no, no it wasn't.
maryishere wrote: » By paying compensation mostly from state coffers instead of getting the Church to sell more of their properties. What other state plays the angelus each day free on their national tv station, for example?
Senor Fancy Pants wrote: » I was born in Ireland, I'm Irish. I serve the island of Ireland, it's Government and most importantly of all, it's people. We dont "go to war". The likelyhood of me being needed to soldier in Ireland is very low. The closest I get to "do what I'm trained to do" is on overseas deployments in peace keeping / peace enforcement roles.
Augeo wrote: » Indeed, however joining an army would increase the risk one would think.
Manic Moran wrote: » Perhaps surprisingly, no. It was safer to be a soldier in Iraq in 2005 (when I was there) than to be a private citizen in the US when adjusted per capita. Almost no road traffic accidents, only 200 more KIA servicemen in Iraq than murdered in Chicago alone. Of course, casualty rates go up substantially when a normal high intensity war is going on, but in such a case, civilians in the area generally have it worse, going on prior experience.
FrancieBrady wrote: » Somebody who migrates to another country just to join it's army to earn more money or for opportunity is the very definition of a mercenary.
Lt Dan wrote: » Anyway you and your people have no relevancy in this country and never will, no matter how hard ye try. Your existence is not important
maryishere wrote: » Who knows why many join? Some may join because of family tradition / relations having joined in the past. Some may join to see the world or for better training with more modern equipment than they would otherwise have the opportunity to do. Some may join because they think ethically its the correct thing to do. Do you think morally there is a distinction between Irish people joining the PSNI and the British army? Mercenaries is such a loaded term, especially for people who serve in the uniform of a democratically elected state. Would you call the 100,000 Irishmen who joined the UK forces during WW2 "mercenaries"? Do you thing they were looked on or treated as mercenaries by other allied or axis forces?
FrancieBrady wrote: » If they did it for opportunity or money, yes they are/were.
maryishere wrote: » Thats a big IF. And when you mention Opportunity or money, presumably you mean more opportunity or money that their home country offers them, same as for millions of other migrants in the past? Perhaps you would answer the other questions: Do you think morally there is a distinction between Irish people joining the PSNI and the British army? Do you thing the 100,000 Irishmen who joined the UK forces during WW2 (and who helped save Europe and these islands from Nazism ) were looked on or treated as mercenaries by other allied or axis forces?
FrancieBrady wrote: » There is no similarity between a police force and an army.
FrancieBrady wrote: » And the PSNI is made up of Irishmen and women anyhow.
FrancieBrady wrote: » I don't know how they were treated, all I offered in my opinion .
FrancieBrady wrote: » I am sure anything that bolsters numbers/strength of your army would be welcomed regardless of the morality.
maryishere wrote: » So pre GFA, you condoned the murder of both police and army in N. Ireland ...even ex-members and retired members and off duty members in front of their kids. But you now say its ok for Irish people to join the PSNI but not ok to join the Royal Irish Rangers, for example? There are actually many British passport holders in the PSNI, and even some people who were born and bred in England. I think you will find nobody else but extremist Republicans would have referred to them as mercenaries.your army... as a citizen of the Republic my army (which my taxes pay for) is the Irish army. I would not welcome "anything that bolsters numbers/strength of the Irish army regardless of the morality" - for example I would not welcome swelling its ranks with dissidents
FrancieBrady wrote: » You are confusing a christian ethos with control of any sort by the RC. The last part of my post refers to the fact that the stipulation that no taig could succeed to the throne of Britain was only removed recently (90's I think.) You would never call Britain a church state would you? We still have remnants of church influence and that is all it is, just like Britain - remnants.
Yourself isit wrote: » The US Congress has chaplains. And starts with a prayer. This is the most recent.http://chaplain.house.gov/archive/
Lt Dan wrote: » If you knew anything about the law and the Constitution, you would have realised that the Preamble is REDUNDANT . It in no ways influences the interpretation of the Constitution today Moreover, even when it did influence judges' opinion, it actually brought about decisions that the Church would not have been impressed with eg Family Planning !!! There is also nothing particularly different in what was said in the Preamble compared to the US, bar a more specific type of God. Many nations have notions that the powers given to the people come from God. "In God , we Trust". There is actually absolutely nothing in the Preamble that supports your ill informed statement. Elsewhere , yes, but not the Preamble Perhaps you should do better research next time:o
Cool_CM wrote: » Surely the presence of, as you put it, 'a Christian ethos' highlights the fact that there is still no complete separation of Church and State? Also, thanks for clarifying that. No, I wouldn't call Britain a church state (in spite of the fact that, amongst other things, the Queen is the head of the Church of England and that a number of Bishops get to sit and vote in the House of Lords). I also wouldn't call us a church state - anymore. I'm simply saying that I disagree with you on the extent to which Church and State are separate in Ireland, especially given the current opening paragraph of our Constitution.
Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: » A Little Pony wrote: » The Irish state remained NEUTRAL against Nazi Germany. I think you should repeat that and you will see just how shameful that is. No it wasn't , it was perfectly sensible.They didn't invade so why should we abandon our neutrality without a 100% justifiable reason. Ireland declaring war on Germany would have achieved nothing except make ourselves more of a target and cost lives.Very brave of you sitting nice and safe in 2016 to say thousands of young irish peoples lives should have been risked for no good reason.
A Little Pony wrote: » The Irish state remained NEUTRAL against Nazi Germany. I think you should repeat that and you will see just how shameful that is.
A Little Pony wrote: » Cowardly mentality, period. The Irish state should have allied with the UK in the war against Nazi Germany. If Nazi Germany had invaded England, they would have eventually crossed over to Ireland mainly for strategic reasons.
FrancieBrady wrote: » A Little Pony wrote: » Cowardly mentality, period. The Irish state should have allied with the UK in the war against Nazi Germany. If Nazi Germany had invaded England, they would have eventually crossed over to Ireland mainly for strategic reasons. Surely it made more 'strategic' sense to take Ireland first?
A Little Pony wrote: » No, AFTER they have taken Britain, as he would have been using Ireland as a 'base' in the war with the Soviet Union.
maryishere wrote: » But you now say its ok for Irish people to join the PSNI but not ok to join the Royal Irish Rangers, for example?
FrancieBrady wrote: » If 'he' had taken us first, Britain would have crumbled before America had rescued them
LordSutch wrote: » You love saying that, in the knowledge that this State was sitting on its hands and doing little or nothing to Stop Hitler & the Nazi's. Thank God Britain held out as long as it did before help came from the US.
FrancieBrady wrote: » Maybe if Britain hadn't sat on it's hands and actively ignored the rising problem