2 Dead several others shot outside Army base Antrim

dotsman wrote: »

I'm not really getting your point. So you're saying that because the British administration found it easier to rule this island by joining it into one Kingdom (The Kingdom of Ireland), this country (The Republic of Ireland) should tear up it's constitution and lay claim to foreign territory?

To recognise the Kingdom or Ireland as a legitimate entity recognises that all Ireland legitimately belong to England until the Anglo-Irish Treaty.

The fact is that we were not occupied for 800 years. We never existed as a nation until the last century, and as a nation we consist of 26 counties.

You said "The six counties were NEVER a part of our country"

I proved that your assertion is wrong. Now you are trying to backtrack saying our country was never a country before 1922!!

In case you didn't know the Kingdom of Ireland was treated as such politically pre1922. We did exist as a nation before 1922, did you not read up the history of this island?

Are we going off topic here?

Mairt wrote: »

''Special Forces'', listen - If the British weren't occupying our country NOT ONE BRITISH SOLDIER WOULD BE NEEDED UP THERE - nada, not fvcking one!.

As it is its a provence under occupation, and while I don't condone violence and I would hope that someday we'll find a peaceful political end, I do recognoise that other's see violence as politics through other mean's.

Biggins said something which will be lost on the majority of people here (I'm assuming from previous posts that Biggins is old enough to have remembered the war in N.I.) - that today there are parenting mourning the loss of their children.

By provoking republicans into this action I hope the British haven't condemned further generations of Irish and British families to the same faith.

.

We gave up our Constitutional claim to NI and the people of NI also took it away when the GFA was voted on. So they're not occupying our country at all.

The Special Reconnaissance Regiment has been in NI for the past few months because the threat level from Dissident Republicans had been raised since before Christmas. You should know this because there's a good chance you've been to the same briefs I have in the past few months. Usually we agree on most things but to claim that the Brits bringing back their best Intel organisations because of a raised threat level is provocative, is something I just see no sense in.

Terrontress wrote: »

I'd say, with the credit crunch, there will be a lot of this sentiment made public in the coming year as it is their taxes being used to keep the place afloat.
The UK exchequer subvents the Northern Ireland economy by £5bn per year.
They'd love to drop it like a hot potato.

They would have dropped it years ago but for the fact it would have looked like they were bowing to terrorism.
I'd say 5bn is a conservative estimate, aren't something like 60% or the working population employed by the government?

There is an enormous administrative infrastructure in place, divvied up along political lines so that everyone has their snout in the trough and there is little incentive to return to the old days.

The misty eyed longing some people have to own the six counties would disappear pretty quickly when the bill came in and we realised the british couldn't be blamed anymore for the mess the place is in.

Of course it would probably kick off again with the other side claiming they are occupied or victimised or whatever. The difference being it would be Gardai and Irish soldiers blown to smithereens.
No appetite for that I would imagine.

dotsman wrote: »

I haven't backtracked on anything. You can't seem to get around the simple concept of nationhood. Our country is The Republic of Ireland (Officially Ireland, or Eire, but commonly referred to as "The Republic of Ireland" to differentiate between the nation and the island). It is less than 100 years old. Our founding fathers, at first, claimed the 6 counties as part of an all-island nation, however as part of the Anglo-Irish treaty and the subsequent formation of our country, this was reduced to the 26 counties that continue to this day to make up our country.

The 1st part of this post contradicts the 2nd part. The nation of Ireland was divided to form to new jurisdictions, understand?

There are people still living up there who claim Irish nationhood. An artificial line on a map does not stop that.

Here, learn yourself http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation

A nation is not equal to a state. People can be part of the nation living in one or 2 states, simple as.

dotsman wrote: »

Prior to this, Ireland was never an independent country/nation. It was an island that had various forms of rule throughout the millennia. But no nation of Ireland ever existed.

How far you going back now that you were proved wrong by the Irish Parliaments existence in the 1700's?!:rolleyes: