Giant Bonfires up North 🔥 …. What’s the deal ?

The Peace process was back and forth but not progressing, it wasnt Canary Wharf that got it moving, it was 9/11 and all that fundraising in the States was going to be stopped that the IRA council changed tactics.

There is a multitude of opinions on that. There isn't a definitive view.

Gerry Adam who does love his legal cases has not commented on the Disney series "Say Nothing". He could have said that Marion and Delours Price were two silly girls with over active imaginations or that Brendan Hughes was a the Republican equivalent of Michael Stone…… but he hasnt because there is something else out there. Someone somewhere has a taped phone call or something. Why is he not denying it. He has spent years denying he was ever on the Army Council on every media outlet. This is only a few silly tapes from a college few people have heard from, why can he not dismiss them publicly? The TV series at the either the beginning stops short of inviting him to comment. I dont believe there are many organisation bigger than the "Haus of Maus" that are more lawyered up, so they must have seen more evidence than what they put out. Mr Adams is welcome to challenge the show for defamation but he hasnt yet. why?

Who has discredited the Boston University Tapes? The Judge ruled they could not used as evidence, presumably as the statements could not be cross examined. But they are statement of people who were there and important players on the ground at the time. Whether they were oral or written, they were the people who were there at the time, who knew each other in an adversarial or allied capacity.

Ask 9 out of 10 people do they want to hear what was on the tapes no matter what their political opinions are, they will say yes.

John Crawley was a Top Sergeant in the Marine Recon by the age of 19 (equivalent of Company Sergeant in Irish army), now that sounds fairly impressive. I thought that sounded a bit far fetched so I asked a few people, they said it was quite an achievement, very difficult but not impossible but none would discredit his story and so far nobody has denied his story. He seems to have done atleast two serious lengths in UK prison. It doesnt sound like it was for handbag snatching, they had him in Belmarsh that is high security. That mean that he was a dangerous guy and at risk to planning an escape.

John Crawley was part of the team that bought M-60s and Armalites A180 from Whitey Bolger and got them back to Ireland. He was also detained by the Irish Navy for bringing over weapons on the Marita Ann.

That seems good enough for me.

I never commented on Jean McConville (we all know the story of the two radio set), but there are better way to deal with those sort of problems than the way it was handled and leaving it as along as they did. Hearts and Minds, it didnt do anyone any favours. This is a fairly serious accusation that he lead at an officer level a unit in an organisation he was never a part of. Where a widow woman with a large young family was taken summarily executed and buried in bog and then it took about 40 years to retrieve the body. The kids were innocent, the family didnt have to be put thought that for that long well beyond the peace process. So you dont think I am a complete sap for a sob story, Bob Nairac was playing a very different game with a different agenda and he was doing it without orders or his superiors knowing.

Dont ask me if it is a smoking gun ask his old comrades in West Belfast they are the ones with the reservations. Remember how they chased down Denis Donaldson to his holiday home in Donegal? I dont recall anyone being found guilty of that murder.

I do not condemn or condone subversive warfare/Counter insurgency warfare but killing widows with children and denying it for 40 years is bad business.

You are wrong about this. Read any biography of him and it will say he was baptised and raised in the Church of Ireland i.e. he was Anglican. Even a glance at Wikipedia will confirm this. He attended Trinity and was only barred from becoming a Fellow because he was married. Presbyterians could not be considered for Fellowship at all. Bodenstown graveyard, where he is buried, is a Church of Ireland cemetery.

The fact that he was a Protestant and benefitted from being a part of the ascendancy makes him all the more remarkable for having seen the injustice of that situation and giving his life in the struggle to overthrow it.

Did a little research on that the police substituted the ammunition with low velocity ammunition. There is a serious question if he was in any real danger. Why would the police do that? Wouldnt it be a blessing to take Adams out of the picture and it would be a fringe loyalist gang? What sort of people would have the authority to tell the police to do that?

(Source: McDonald & Cusack, UDA)

Because if Bob Nairac went into South Armagh on his own that would have been a death sentence. There are only about 8 hardcore families there and everyone knows everyone else (Bandit Country, Tony Harnden). Bob Nairac would have stood out like a sore thumb never mind this thing about singing "Stickies and Pinnies" songs. I am guessing that he was there either gathering intelligence to impress his SAS buddies or he was trying to set himself up for a deep cover operation. South Armagh is a place they gave up foot patrols and armoured car in favour of helicopter airlifts because of the casualty rates.

Well it wasnt the church mice that offed Donaldson was it? It was someone who took their time and was patient who had a serious grudge. Maybe it was the milkman for not having his money on a Friday? You are right I dont know. Who do you think it was?

McDonald & Cusack, UDA, pp. 129–130

https://books.google.ie/books/about/UDA.html?id=NaJJPgAACAAJ&redir_esc=y

Would you like me to post you a copy? It may be available at your local library.

Its behind a paywall.

Maybe it was the church mice. Why would MI5 kill him? Much more likely someone who had friends and comrades shopped to the authorities over the years. Who ever they were they were never prosecuted because they left no evidence.

It's not difficult to take a quick snap and post. If you actually have the book.

Does it sound right? 20 odd bullets? So you know when a bullet enters, the impact cavitates. Have a look on youtube and see what it does to a block of ballistic gel. So if 20 of them hit you that would leave a fairly bad mess. Usually a rifle goes in one side and out the other making a larger exit hole in the back as it blows out the other side…. see where I am going with this? If he was treated for that trauma then he would have needed a lot of blood very very fast. That also has complications, not the type of stuffy you remain bright eyed and bushy tailed approaching 80.

Jesus, I can see why you jump to conclusions at the sensational end of the scale.

Where in that article does it say he was hit by 20 bullets?

He was hit 3 times.