Why I'll say no to a united ireland

A " truth and reconciliation tribunal" is not going to work when well known leaders will not even admit they were in the IRA. It would also cost an absolute fortune, would achieve nothing ( seeing as many people have passed on ). Look at the murder of Jean McColville, her abductors / murderers would not even reveal who done it or what happened to her, never mind by whom, or where she was buried, until her remains ( showing forensic signs of torture) were uncovered by beach erosion in Co. Louth.

There have also been inquiries in to some of the events during the troubles : one inquiry alone cost more than £200 million and is thought by some to have been a shambles.

The Forum for Peace and Reconciliation (an Fóram um Shíocháin agus Athmhuintearas) was a forum established by the Irish government in October 1994 as part of the N,. Ireland peace process.

It did not help find out even where Jean McColvilles remains were buried, they were uncovered by beach erosion in Co. Louth in 2003.

It is a disgrace that neither government has done what they committed to do on Truth.
There is no way anyone is going into a one sided truth process…it is either all the combatants/players or it is not going to happen at all and we might as well move on.

The example of the ICLVR (International Commission For The Location Of Victims Remains) is a good one, and shows that the IRA and other republicans are willing to take part once trust is established.

Effective leadership from those involved in these processes is extremely important. With regards the
ICLVR, leadership has been essential for both the ICLVR and Republicans engaging with the search
process.
Leadership has been described as: Crucial…once the Republican leadership – both Sinn Féin and the IRA – engaged with this issue properly and created their own structures in order to manage it, that’s when the issue
begins to be resolved…It doesn’t work until you have that top-down commitment to making it
work. So it’s absolutely central.8

http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/globalassets/documents/raise/knowledge_exchange/briefing_papers/series7/dempster180418.pdf

Sectarian tit for tat you mean

Of course that was wholesale during the troubles

Id rather we moved on and consign the bad to the past and the good to the future

Dwelling and mulling is unhealthy

You can say it was Sectarian tit for tat but the point was, as Downcow pointed out, "The IRA were blatantly sectarian". Not only that, but they ( along with INLA who were also sectarian) killed 60% of those killed during the troubles, and caused over 99% of the countless damage to property / economy, by being responsible for over 99% of the explosions etc ). I agree it is healthier to look to the future rather than commemorating sectarian killers of the past, so why did Michelle O'Neill say there was "no alternative" to the pIRA? She may have been told to say that by the a.c. but even so? You say "I'd rather we moved on" - when sectarian killers of the past are no longer glorified then we'll be moving on.

I also believe that Kingsmill was an authorised action.

Of course there were blatantly sectarian loyalist paramilitaries too, but none of the mainstream leaders of unionism said there was "no alternative" to their campaign, and no football grounds have been named after them etc.

As regards internment, internment was also used down here successfully against the IRA during WW2 ( Dev even shot some IRA prisoners in prison in cold blood and there was no outcry), and internment was also used south of the order against the IRA during the IRA border campaign of 1956-62. You seem to know little of this countries history.

I agree with you though that glorification should be a private / low key affair, not like Michelle O’Neill, for example who a few years ago attended the unveiling of a monument to three pIRA men.

Unionist and British can remember and honour their dead but Nationalists are not allowed to in the world of some. Never changes.

Even if there is not a UI we have to find a space where everyone is allowed to honour and respect the dead they chose to honour and respect.

There will forevermore be two narratives about what happened here. As our own centenary of commemoration showed, several different narratives of the past can co-exist.

interesting article - especially his point around the subtle preparation for unity - I’d say his blood was boiling when that article was the headline news 😀.

Saying that, as much as this staunch Unionist is miffed, my own belief is that thankfully we’re many years away from unity if at all

“The 81-year-old is convinced that rather than helping save the Union, the DUP is failing to stop Northern Ireland move closer to a united Ireland.

“We are heading for a united Ireland and there’s no doubt about that,” he said.

The Rev Foster was previously an editor with Ulster Television before taking up the cloth.

He added: “The other night I was watching the news on TV and first item on the agenda was the appointment of a new Taoiseach in the Republic. That’s just one example of what’s happening.”

“We are being subtly prepared for unity. We are drifting there, of that there is no doubt.”
https://m.sundayworld.com/news/northern-ireland-news/dup-will-reap-what-they-sow-the-partys-finished-says-founding-father-rev-ivan-foster/a1407305297.html

“We are being subtly prepared for unity. We are drifting there, of that there is no doubt.”

Senior Unionists know well what is going on.

Down here you have the most anti-UI party we have - Fine Gael, flying kites about it too.

Believe it or not (god knows I have said it often enough) I am not a member of any party.
If I agreed with every policy of one party, I would probably be a member of that party.

Also, believe it or not I was never of the opinion that unity should just happen, work has only really begun on conversing about it relatively recently.
I knew FG were conservatives, I knew they were anti a UI, but I was able to ignore that and vote for what Kenny was offering but sadly didn't deliver in the slightest.

Not afraid to admit that was a mistake.

There is no difference when it comes to remembering your dead. You are never going to be able to tell people to 'feel differently'.

 I think the key problem even then will be economic unity

That's why Unionists fear the Protocol so much, because what we have now is incremental economic alignment which will make a UI when it comes, so much smoother and less disruptive.

so you think the Bloody Sunday enquiry and subsequent apology was uncalled for?

That's a bit like the 'we shouldn't be spending on art galleries when there aren't enough hospital places for children'.

Nice ideals but not really how things have ever worked.