The emergence of "Zombie" by The Cranberries as an Irish sporting anthem

You are making derogatory comments about those who suffered huge mistreatment and suffered the loss of loved ones. If that's what you are then own it, don't hide.

A rock anthem condemning all violence in NI would have been rather lazy and very predictable. One singling out the IRA for criticism was more provocative and 'out there', especially for a band from the Republic.

The PIRA were not the good guys in any situation. They were thoroughly bad, rotten to the core.

Indeed, Sinn Fein only became popular in NI after the Good Friday Agreement was signed and peace had become established. The idea that they and the IRA were the representatives of the nationalist community and that any criticism of them (i.e. Zombie) was an attack on the nationalist community is a total rewriting of what was actually going on in the 80s and 90s.

That ''SweetIrishGhirl'' is one of the biggest fools i seen on Twitter, and that's saying something! She's always very fast to trow things out there but never happy when people don't agree with her. Something very comment when it comes to her like from the North.

Why did it suit them? I think it is a good example of a time when ROI parties have put NI interests first. The UK parties like SF (yes, SF are a UK party, they use the UK rules around donations rather than ROI rules as it suits them) didn't do anything for NI nationalists during Brexit negotiations, they just did what they always do when something needs to be done, disappear. We would have had a hard border if we had to rely on SF.

What makes it a great song in your view, apart from the fact that you seem to think it pisses republicans off ? It’s a dirge of a tune, annoyingly sung, with lyrics a sixth former would be embarrassed to produce.

Also, the music video arguably shows the British Army in a bad light - armed soldiers patrolling the streets of Belfast with children playing in the background in what looks like a war zone. Are they there to keep the peace or as oppressors of the nationalist community? Nobody comes out of the song or the video looking good.

The **** delusion from some on this thread. Let's state a few facts:

• The Provisional IRA were a paramilitary. Definition: an organization whose structure, tactics, training, and function are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces.
• They were not appointed, recruited or endorsed by the Irish state and did not represent the vast majority of the people of Ireland who were horrified by their terrorism, murders, kidnappings, violence and other assorted criminal activities. The popularity of the song at the heart of this "debate" reflects that horror.
• While they may have viewed themselves as freedom fighters, the terrorist campaign waged by the Provisional IRA was not a war by any definition. Wars are conducted between sovereign nations. Paramilitaries may be engaged during war by governments (e.g. the Azov paramilitary battalion in the current war in Ukraine) but they can't declare wars as, by definition, they're not a legitimate armed force and don't have the mandate to do so.