Is it just me or have SF vanished?

blanch152 wrote: »

Well, there is more reliable evidence, from the PSNI, that the IRA leadership is still in place and controlling Sinn Fein, and you refuse to accept that.

But that isn't an accurate statement. What was said:

In a 2015 report for the UK government, the PSNI and MI5 concluded IRA members believed the army council “oversees” both the IRA and Sinn Féin with an “overarching strategy”, based on current intelligence, historical materials and analysis. The PSNI has said recently that the assessment remains true. “We judge this strategy has a wholly political focus,” the 2015 report said. IRA members “have been directed to actively support Sinn Féin within the community including activity like electioneering and leafleting”.

https://www.ft.com/content/058e757a-54c3-11ea-90ad-25e377c0ee1f


Would you prefer for them to get back to shooting and bombing rather than electioneering and leafleting?

blanch152 wrote: »

The Brits told us to kill you, but we were nice enough to say no, so be nice to us.

That is your proof?

How would Charlie be nice to the UVF? Why would they even want him to be? MI5 clearly pissed them off and they probably wanted the evidence of collusion in a safe place.


The dogs in the street knew that the British strategy was to drag the Republic into their dirty war because they were pissed off with the Provos escaping over the border to safety. Thatcher wanted a 15 mile zone on either side of the Border that the UK could enter with reciprocal arrangements if the ROI wanted to enter NI.



That was never going to be allowed by the Irish Government.

Adam9213 wrote: »

What do you mean by gone away? If you mean they handed up their weapons and are no longer active as a guerrilla army anymore then yes beyond doubt they have gone away, but if you mean that the people who were in the IRA are no longer trying to further Irish unity politically then no they haven't "gone away"

No I mean still operating their little protection rackets and criminal enterprises and local intimidation. Read back a bit. Your pal Francie was trying to sell us all the Mary Lou nonsense about Slab and the boys and telling us all there was no Sinn Fein IRA crime and everything was all normal but he lost the run of himself then and in a different context let it slip that he knew several places involved in the diesel game so I challenged him to report all this crime he knew about. Wisely he decided it might be better to keep the head down and say nothing.

IRA were never more than a self interested criminal gang pursuing power using all this Fenian crap as a cover. They have that now so no need for the United Ireland nonsense now. Gerry happy on his trampoline in one of his houses

Truthvader wrote: »

No I mean still operating their little protection rackets and criminal enterprises and local intimidation. Read back a bit. Your pal Francie was trying to sell us all the Mary Lou nonsense about Slab and the boys and telling us all there was no Sinn Fein IRA crime and everything was all normal but he lost the run of himself then and in a different context let it slip that he knew several places involved in the diesel game so I challenged him to report all this crime he knew about. Wisely he decided it might be better to keep the head down and say nothing.

IRA were never more than a self interested criminal gang pursuing power using all this Fenian crap as a cover. They have that now so no need for the United Ireland nonsense now. Gerry happy on his trampoline in one of his houses

Your British army counterparts don't seem to agree with you that the IRA were little more than a "self interested criminal gang"

An internal British Army document written by General Sir Michael David Jackson and two other senior officers was released in 2007 under the Freedom of Information Act. It examined the British Army's 37 year of deployment in Northern Ireland, and described the IRA as "a professional, dedicated, highly skilled and resilient force", while loyalist paramilitaries and other republican groups were described as "little more than a collection of gangsters".

Adam9213 wrote: »

Do you just ignore the posts you have no answer to?


Do you believe that my post about the MRF a top secret British army unit specifically created to fight the IRA consisting of about 40 members that included members of soldiers from special forces like the SAS who were only allowed use IRA and loyalist weapons were coincidentally acting as individuals and not on behalf of the British state?

Not sure how this is answer to or connected anything. Maybe you just got excited.

Anyway you point to a top secret (but not to you at any rate) British Army Unit and then waffle on a bit to ask whether I believe they were acting on behalf of the British State. Well the British Army usually do act on behalf of the British State so not sure what the point is.

Very different 12th this year in Norn Iron. I know this is the 13th but as Sunday would be a no no for parades anyway then today should have been when the main 12th celebrations would take place.

Most towns and villages had one or 2 of their local bands parade locally but very low key and most appear to have socially distanced as per the advice and request from the OO and unionist leaders.

On the news one of the OO spokesmen said something along the lines of “for our wee country’s health, we cancelled the twelfth”

He was a poet and he didn’t know it.

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Also held defended communities across the north from being overrun,removed police presence and broke up the intel gathering operartions targeting catholics by the ruc


They done piles wrong,noone disputes this,but only for them,catholics had noone to stand up for em,in face of attacks,intimidation and helped provide safety for many elderly people living in isolated areas,who otherwise would been burnt out/shot

The battle of St Matthews one of the most popular ones because it was when the PIRA had only started arming up and before there was a guerilla war, it was their first major action.

As the situation worsened, Catholic residents feared that the gathering crowds of loyalists would attempt to invade the Short Strand and burn them from their homes. Local IRA members retrieved weapons from arms dumps. A young resident, Jim Gibney, recalled: "I saw neighbours, people I knew, coming down the street carrying rifles. I was just dumbstruck by this experience. I'd never seen such a thing before".

British soldiers eventually arrived in armoured vehicles and cordoned off the roads around the Short Strand, which denied the IRA "any hope of reinforcement".
A small group of IRA members and members of the Citizens' Defence Committee took up positions in the church grounds and in adjoining streets. The IRA members were armed with M1 carbines.

This action brought a great deal of support for armed conflict on one hand you had the peaceful SDLP who after the shooting began, Stormont MP Paddy Kennedy went with Short Strand residents to the local RUC base and demanded protection for their homes which never came, and on the other hand you had the IRA who risked their lives some of whom were killed trying to protect the local people, ask the families who were shaking and scared in their homes do they think the IRA men who died were terrorists I doubt they'll say they were.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_St_Matthew's

timthumbni wrote: »

Very different 12th this year in Norn Iron. I know this is the 13th but as Sunday would be a no no for parades anyway then today should have been when the main 12th celebrations would take place.

Most towns and villages had one or 2 of their local bands parade locally but very low key and most appear to have socially distanced as per the advice and request from the OO and unionist leaders.

On the news one of the OO spokesmen said something along the lines of “for our wee country’s health, we cancelled the twelfth”

He was a poet and he didn’t know it.

Is there any hope they will grow up?

Truthvader wrote: »

Is there any hope they will grow up?

At least they are acting responsibly for once.

[Deleted User] wrote: »

And what would yous propose,to do when entire streets of catholics being burnt out and noone to defend them??

Seriously come on big man....you wouldnt bother to defend your home or community and sit on side of road looking for a handout after being burnt out and several of your neighbours killed,would you.......its our country,nationlists shouldnt need put up with this



Be a cold day in hell before i weep over killing likes of billy wright or georgy seawright.....but ya....keep turning other cheek,maybe they mightnt shoot your family members in the face,when their gang calls to your house and leave yous not needing a closed coffin

Well that is total bollocks. Whatever the provos did they did not protect catholic areas in 1969. I Ran Away. As above the British army actually protected catholic areas in 1969

Truthvader wrote: »

Well that is total bollocks. Whatever the provos did they did not protect catholic areas in 1969. I Ran Away. As above the British army actually protected catholic areas in 1969

That's officials, PIRA didn't exist in 1969

timthumbni wrote: »

Who? The OO?

The marchy marchy goons trying to annoy their neighbours

RandomViewer wrote: »

Funny that Tommy Gorman wasn't reporting from the 11th night bonfires, RTE being impartial and all that

Sorry, I have no idea who Tommy Gorman is.

FrancieBrady wrote: »

I have been around Boards for a while and barring one or two posters I have never come across a more woefully or is it willfully biased interpreter of the the facts of history.
The BA was sent in by a Labour government to protect Catholic areas but within months had managed to turn that Catholic community against them as they began to shore up the sectarian state rather than take it on. That was the tagedy and the crime...had they taken on the Orange sectarian state as they were eventually forced to do, none of it would have happened.

Read the factual history...here's the timeline of 1969...hardly a mention, much less an action by the IRA. How many bombs by loyalists and killings of Catholics, not to mention beatings can you count?
https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch69.htm

The battle of St Matthews one of the most popular ones because it was when the PIRA had even started attacking tand before there was a guerilla war, it was their first major action.

As the situation worsened, Catholic residents feared that the gathering crowds of loyalists would attempt to invade the Short Strand and burn them from their homes. Local IRA members retrieved weapons from arms dumps. A young resident, Jim Gibney, recalled: "I saw neighbours, people I knew, coming down the street carrying rifles. I was just dumbstruck by this experience. I'd never seen such a thing before".

British soldiers eventually arrived in armoured vehicles and cordoned off the roads around the Short Strand, which denied the IRA "any hope of reinforcement".
A small group of IRA members and members of the Citizens' Defence Committee took up positions in the church grounds and in adjoining streets. The IRA members were armed with M1 carbines successfully preventing the incursion of loyalist mobs and militants.

This action brought a great deal of support for armed conflict on one hand you had the peaceful SDLP who after the shooting began, Stormont MP Paddy Kennedy went with Short Strand residents to the local RUC base cried and demanded protection for their homes which never came, and on the other hand you had the IRA who risked their lives some of whom were killed trying to protect the local people, ask the families who were shaking and scared in their homes do they think the IRA men who died were terrorists I doubt they'll say they were.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_St_Matthew%27s