Ireland’s Nine Eleven

William F · 15-05-2014 05:45PM #1

This Saturday, the 17th of May, marks the 40th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan terrorist attacks. The attacks claimed the lives of 33 innocent Irish people and nobody was ever brought to justice.

I was fortunate enough to grow up when the troubles were coming to an end and thankfully don’t remember much of the incidents apart from the Loughlingisland Massacre.

I think the troubles were a terrible thing to bestow the Irish people but I could never understand why Dublin and Monaghan were targeted and why the Gardai and Fine Gael/Labour Government assisted in its cover up.

I think as a nation we’ve reached the level of maturity to address this atrocity and acknowledge that we too, were victims.

Do you remember where you were?

dd972 · 15-05-2014 05:50PM

I think some of the perpetrators were involved in the Miami Showband killings one of whom blew himself up, the static from one of the band's speakers set off a bomb he was trying to plant in their van.

I believe notorious Loyalist scummer Robin Jackson had some part as well, he died of Cancer in 1998.

The Hill Billy · 15-05-2014 05:57PM

The poor people who were killed, maimed & injured, & their families are/were victims of this atrocity.

We are not.

Why, when you acknowledge that you don't even remember this, do you suddenly want to become a 'victim' of it?

William F · 15-05-2014 05:58PM

The Hill Billy wrote: »

The poor people who were killed, maimed & injured, & their families are/were victims of this atrocity.

We are not.

Why, when you acknowledge that you don't even remember this, do you suddenly want to become a 'victim' of it?

My cousin died in it.

Pocoyo · 15-05-2014 06:02PM

The Hill Billy wrote: »

The poor people who were killed, maimed & injured, & their families are/were victims of this atrocity.

We are not.

Why, when you acknowledge that you don't even remember this, do you suddenly want to become a 'victim' of it?

Please have some respect we as a nation were victims of this crime and i genuinely have no idea why you would question a poster commemorating a national tragedy?? :rolleyes:

William F · 15-05-2014 06:04PM

I think if we are ever to move on from the troubles, Britain's involvement needs to be seriously assessed and the question needs to be asked, are they the right people to be launching inquiries since they were up to their eyes in collusion and continue to protect those involved.

As far as the Dublin government is concerned, for better or for worse, it had very little part to play in the conflict.

Iwasfrozen · 15-05-2014 06:14PM

It was a tragedy but I don't think you can compare it to 9/11.

downonthefarm · 15-05-2014 06:17PM

Wasn't royston bradys dad used in some way?
Think his car was robbed by the scummers to get out of dublin

Reformed Character · 15-05-2014 06:35PM

One of so many atrocities, Bloody Sunday, Kingsmills, The Le Mon, Omagh, the list seems endless.
Perhaps both countries need a shared memorial day to remember all the victims.

The Hill Billy · 15-05-2014 06:43PM

Pocoyo wrote: »

Please have some respect we as a nation were victims of this crime and i genuinely have no idea why you would question a poster commemorating a national tragedy?? :rolleyes:

Where was I disrespectful? I questioned the poster to ask why he felt he was a victim of an atrocity he did not remember.

I do not feel that we as a nation need to feel victimised by these acts of terrorism. If we play the victim card we let the bastards win. That is what they want in the first place.

Pocoyo · 15-05-2014 06:51PM

The Hill Billy wrote: »

Where was I disrespectful? I questioned the poster to ask why he felt he was a victim of an atrocity he did not remember.

I do not feel that we as a nation need to feel victimised by these acts of terrorism. If we play the victim card we let the bastards win. That is what they want in the first place.

To question a poster who as it turns out lost a family member in this tragedy was utterly uncalled for,This is quite obviously a sensitive topic that should be respected surely ''WE'' as a nation are capable of this? I know many posters like to attack any traditional idea of togetherness in irish society but surely we can treat a topic such as this with the respect it deserves.

whupdedo · 15-05-2014 07:00PM

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

It was a tragedy but I don't think you can compare it to 9/11.

Why not ? Is one act of terrorism not as bad as another, no matter who carries it out

9/11 was carried out by terrorists as was all of the atrocities in the north and south whether they were carried out by Republicans, loyalists or the British army

Wazdakka · 15-05-2014 07:03PM

November 9th...
Never Forget!!

Drexel · 15-05-2014 07:07PM

I wouldnt call myself a victim. I find that a weird thing to even say.

Also the thread title is the stupidest thing ive seen on here in a long while, and that says a lot

entropi · 15-05-2014 07:25PM

whupdedo wrote: »

Why not ? Is one act of terrorism not as bad as another, no matter who carries it out

9/11 was carried out by terrorists as was all of the atrocities in the north and south whether they were carried out by Republicans, loyalists or the British army

I was just going to mention this. Why is what happened in New York the benchmark for terrorist acts? The act itself is bad enough, no matter who does it or where it happens. Terrorism happened a long time before then.

tritium · 15-05-2014 07:27PM

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

It was a tragedy but I don't think you can compare it to 9/11.

On the relative scale of losses 9/11 was no greater a tragedy than Dublin/ Monaghan and both are comparatively minor. That's not to diminish the suffering of those affected by it or negate the need to give closure for what happened, but we tend to scale such events only based on our perspective.

The Hill Billy · 15-05-2014 07:29PM

Pocoyo wrote: »

To question a poster who as it turns out lost a family member in this tragedy was utterly uncalled for,This is quite obviously a sensitive topic that should be respected surely ''WE'' as a nation are capable of this? I know many posters like to attack any traditional idea of togetherness in irish society but surely we can treat a topic such as this with the respect it deserves.

Easy tiger. The OP only mentioned after the fact that he lost a cousin (my sympathies, OP).
Still, at no stage was I disrespectful when I asked for clarification.
Your axe-grinding is a bit off-topic, tbh. So I shall leave it at that lest you or I get carded or worse.

Pocoyo · 15-05-2014 07:30PM

entropi wrote: »

I was just going to mention this. Why is what happened in New York the benchmark for terrorist acts? The act itself is bad enough, no matter who does it or where it happens. Terrorism happened a long time before then.

I believe its because 9/11 is the most infamous terrorist attack in history,Just as the bombings the OP is referring to are the most infamous in the irish republics history.

Pocoyo · 15-05-2014 07:31PM

The Hill Billy wrote: »

Easy tiger. The OP only mentioned after the fact that he lost a cousin (my sympathies, OP).
Still, at no stage was I disrespectful when I asked for clarification.
Your axe-grinding is a bit off-topic, tbh. So I shall leave it at that lest you or I get carded or worse.

Somehow i doubt you are in any danger of a card.

bb1234567 · 15-05-2014 07:39PM

William F wrote: »

This Saturday, the 17th of May, marks the 40th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan terrorist attacks. The attacks claimed the lives of 33 innocent Irish people and nobody was ever brought to justice.

I was fortunate enough to grow up when the troubles were coming to an end and thankfully don’t remember much of the incidents apart from the Loughlingisland Massacre.

I think the troubles were a terrible thing to bestow the Irish people but I could never understand why Dublin and Monaghan were targeted and why the Gardai and Fine Gael/Labour Government assisted in its cover up.

I think as a nation we’ve reached the level of maturity to address this atrocity and acknowledge that we too, were victims.

Do you remember where you were?

It was a very horrible and tragic event but it cant really be compared to 9/11. Nearly 100 times more people died in 9/11, the dublin/monaghan bombings were more akin to the london bombings of 2005 in scale.

Wabbit Ears · 15-05-2014 07:41PM

To call this Irelands 9/11 is retarded beyond comprehension. 9/11 changed the lives of practically eveybody in the western world in some way. Its not aout the act itself or the numbers that died, it was a ground breaking event that had never happened before in the US on that scale.

bb1234567 · 15-05-2014 07:43PM

Wabbit Ears wrote: »

To call this Irelands 9/11 is retarded beyond comprehension. 9/11 changed the lives of practically eveybody in the western world in some way. Its not aout the act itself or the numbers that died, it was a ground breaking event that had never happened before in the US on that scale.

Or anywhere in the world. And it is about the numbers, if that many people had not died it wouldnt have gone down in history as the worst terror attack in world history.

The Backwards Man · 15-05-2014 07:47PM

How many Irish citizens were killed in 9/11? Twenty odd IIRC. Hundreds more of Irish descent. 9/11 was Ireland's 9/11. Every tragedy is a tragedy in it's own right. I don't believe in comparing them, you're just making yourself a whataboutery merchant.

whupdedo · 15-05-2014 08:52PM

bb1234567 wrote: »

It was a very horrible and tragic event but it cant really be compared to 9/11. Nearly 100 times more people died in 9/11, the dublin/monaghan bombings were more akin to the london bombings of 2005 in scale.

But to look at it like that makes smaller attacks less important. Are the bombings of London or Madrid less important because not as many people died ?
Or should we look at it on a per capita basis where as more people live in America but on a per capita footing more people died in Ireland during the troubles than all Americans through terrorism on American soil ever,
or the Nigerian kidnappings more important than all the children that are kidnapped every day around the world, just because it happened in a single incident doesn't make it less or more important than any other terrorist attack

Iwasfrozen · 15-05-2014 09:15PM

whupdedo wrote: »

Why not ? Is one act of terrorism not as bad as another, no matter who carries it out

9/11 was carried out by terrorists as was all of the atrocities in the north and south whether they were carried out by Republicans, loyalists or the British army

9/11 cost far more in both lives and to the world economy than the Dublin-Monaghan bombings.

Iwasfrozen · 15-05-2014 09:17PM

whupdedo wrote: »

But to look at it like that makes smaller attacks less important. Are the bombings of London or Madrid less important because not as many people died ?
Or should we look at it on a per capita basis where as more people live in America but on a per capita footing more people died in Ireland during the troubles than all Americans through terrorism on American soil ever,
or the Nigerian kidnappings more important than all the children that are kidnapped every day around the world, just because it happened in a single incident doesn't make it less or more important than any other terrorist attack

No that's a terrible idea because it implies an Irish life is more important than an American one because there's less of us.

Reformed Character · 15-05-2014 09:42PM

Pocoyo wrote: »

I believe its because 9/11 is the most infamous terrorist attack in history,Just as the bombings the OP is referring to are the most infamous in the irish republics history.

I would have thought that the title of most infamous undoubtedly falls on Omagh.
Either way every act of violence, regardless of who perpetrated it, was a huge personal tragedy for some family and community.

whupdedo · 15-05-2014 09:58PM

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

9/11 cost far more in both lives and to the world economy than the Dublin-Monaghan bombings.

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

No that's a terrible idea because it implies an Irish life is more important than an American one because there's less of us.

The world's economy is far bigger than the western (American) interests

It doesn't imply anything, it just means bigger atrocities in the western world are more important than the bombing of iraqi villages by western drones all in the name of oil

JerCotter7 · 15-05-2014 10:12PM

Can it really be considered Irelands 9/11 even if it happened before 9/11?

Menas · 15-05-2014 10:19PM

This thread is turning in to a car crash, I am not even sure of the point of it other than to ask if we remember where we were at the time. Best off posting that question in the auld ones and auld fellas forum OP. It was 40 years FFS!

Dublin/monaghan was not irelands 9/11 imo. Not even close. It is sensationalist to try to latch on to the two. Dublin/Monaghan is nowhere on the list of histories worst atrocities. Go back in Irish history and it is not even in the top worst Irish atrocities.

We are not victims here, the people who died were.

Jawgap · 15-05-2014 10:31PM

Pocoyo wrote: »

To question a poster who as it turns out lost a family member in this tragedy was utterly uncalled for,This is quite obviously a sensitive topic that should be respected surely ''WE'' as a nation are capable of this? I know many posters like to attack any traditional idea of togetherness in irish society but surely we can treat a topic such as this with the respect it deserves.

Hang on, it was a terrible series of events, and my sympathies go out to all affected by it, including the OP, but the OP never knew the family member. It happened before the OP was born?

My own recollection is of hearing the Dublin bombs go off and then my normally placid mother being as worried as I ever saw her because my Dad worked in town. I was 5 at the time.

Ireland’s Nine Eleven

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