Northern Ireland 2125?

So, another question you don't know the answer to.

does anyone know if it is possible in the south to get a derogation on having bi-lingual signage on place names?

So what did you think of the low, vicious and sectarian smear campaign aimed at Heather Humphreys on social media for the simple reason that in her youth she attended Orange parades close to her home near the border? And the reaction towards her husband and what he does or did in his private time, even though it was lawful and did not hurt anyone? Many hundreds of people have attacked her on facebook alone. In this country imagine the sectarian reaction from the Kneecap generation, the "Uh ah up the Ra" (as sung by Irish ladies national soccer team) generation, not on facebook?

You did not answer the question: what did you think of the low, vicious and sectarian smear campaign by hundreds if not thousands of posters aimed at Heather Humphreys on social media for the simple reason that in her youth she attended Orange parades close to her home near the border? Have you seen some of the hundreds of posts abusing her / the OO on facebook etc? What would the sectarian abuse be like is she was ever a member of the OO? Instead she says she is a proud republican so that's probably good enough for most people in the country.

I never mentioned Star of Shankhill band. I do not know much about them, but I condemn all para-military activity. I do not think they have ever called for Sinn Fein TDs or MPs to be murdered, the same as Kneecap called for Tory MPs to be murdered? Have they chanted "Up the UVF" the same as the Irish national soccer ladies team chanted "Up the 'RA"? A quick look online and they reference one of their members or residents shot by the British Army, and a mural depicts their communities contribution towards fighting in WW1. During WW1, the original UVF transformed into the British Army's 36th (Ulster) division, and fought with heavy losses, particularly at the Somme in 1916. After the war, in 1919, the UVF was demobilised. They commemorate that.

I've shared my opinion on that already, and I have seen an awful lot more of the DUP grandstanding about how awful it was that Heather Humphreys was apparently some sort of pariah for her Protestant background and Orange Order connection than I did anyone actually making a pariah of her because of it. A handful of gobsh*tes on Facebook aren't representative of society at large. I don't believe she has received substantially more vitriol online than any other comparable public figure be that either side of the border in Ireland, in Britain, the US or any other country I'd have a degree of active political awareness of.

A better representation of general society in Ireland's feelings on her background would be the fact that she was elected by the public for twenty years and is currently favourite to be elected President. A handful of gobsh*tes on Facebook don't seem to have had too bad an impact on her career.

As for the Star of Shankill, it's pretty amazing that you've never heard of them when you seem to know every time someone with a Republican background so much as farts. They haven't called for SF TDs to be murdered, they just walk around with a crest and bass drum memorialising Brian Robinson and march along with many other Loyalist bands at an annual parade commemorating him. If you're unaware who Brian Robinson is, I suggest you read up before responding.

I also note your, 'but I condemn all paramilitary activity' response and I'd just point out that you've accused Francie of refusing to condemn the PIRA on multiple occasions for giving a similarly non-specific response when asked to do so.

Edit; the update you've made to your post makes it worse, not better. I REALLY suggest reading who Brian Robinson was before replying. I'll give you a clue, his UVF didn't fight in WWI.

but then why did it make headline news, inc front page headline in one Sunday newspaper for example?

Why not email the journalist and editor?

No need to email the editor or journalist responsible for the front page headline about a family member of a Presidential hopeful once belonging to the OO. We all know why: as someone else explained to you

"The other way of looking at it is that public discourse down here has got so extremist that any kind of links to any kind of unionist organisation is met with hostility. A rap group named after an IRA torture method gets huge popular acclaim, Up the Ra becomes a song celebrating Irish identity, any attempt to look at both sides of the conflict such as commemorating the RIC gets attacked etc. Just look at the fuss being made over who can speak Irish that 80% of the population can't understand.

Any candidate operating in such a skewed political atmosphere would obviously distance themselves from the OO, no matter what they thought of it."

The band is called Star of Shankhill. They are not called the Brian Robinson band. We do not know his rationale for murdering Paddy McKenna, as Robinson was himself killed by an undercover British army unit who happened to be nearby. According to you the B.A and loyalists were "often" working together - but they did not give names of suspected IRA to Robinson, Robinson just killed Murray because he was a Catholic you say. And the BA killed Robinson and jailed as many loyalists as they jailed republicans, but yet you say the the BA and loyalists were "often" working together. They were not working together when they killed Robinson, or are you going to spin it that the BA were trying to kill innocent Catholics and shot Robinson by mistake after ramming him off his motorbike?

Back to the band: have ever called for Sinn Fein TDs or MPs to be murdered, the same as Kneecap called for Tory MPs to be murdered? Have they chanted "Up the UVF" the same as the Irish national soccer ladies team chanted "Up the 'RA"?

I condemn two people putting "in memory of Brian Robinson" in small letters on the back of their t-shirts. Is that the best you can do? seriously?

If 2 people put in memory of Bobby Sands or in memory of some other republican on the back of their t-shirts I could not care less, especially if they came from the same street / road. T-shirts are worn a few times and thrown in the bin. Big deal if that is the worst loyalist behaviour you can come up with.

I admire the Protestants of the South who stayed on and made a go of it in a country that wasn’t always welcoming to them. The majority were not landed gentry. During the Troubles somebody (who wasn’t the full shilling we later found out) painted a Sinn Féin slogan on the road outside the house of a farmer I worked for. He kept a shotgun in his bedroom after that. Back then, there was a deep sense of insecurity in their community.

If your vague inference about a sign in English is the sort of vitriol that Heather Humphreys is receiving online, I'd suggest those complaining need thicker skin.

If that's it, I'd make my point even more confidently that I've heard a lot more condemnation from the DUP of the supposed pariah status of a woman elected consistently for twenty years and current favourite for the Presidency than I've seen anything actually demonstrating said pariah status her Protestantism and connection with the OO allegedly bring.

I've heard more offensive said on playgrounds.

What it is all really about - 'themuns getting more that usuns'

And Bryson trying desperately to make himself relevant.

“If we can’t walk Drumcree or the Crumlin Road, then they can’t have Irish language signage. If the Orange Order don’t get equivalent investment, then not a penny more should go to the GAA.

“If they want to continue to target our cultural celebrations, then we should target theirs and the DUP in the Executive should lead that fight It is time for strength, not weakness.”

You cannot get a bigger memorial to a terrorist and the man who re-introduced the gun into Irish politics, than this.

Major Crawford convinced the Ulster Unionist Council that he could provide the weapons and ammunition needed "to equip the entire UVF".

Money was made available to purchase the weapons and two ships to transport them. Funding apparently came from both British and Belfast Tory organizations; most senior Conservative leaders in London were aware of the plan.

In early February 1914, Crawford met with Edward Carson (the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party 1910–1921) in his home in London; Carson said "I'll see you through this business even if I should go to prison for it. You are the bravest man I have ever met.

What are you given for that?

The biggest of all 'memorials' in NI, that everyone involved in politics has to pass everyday.