Well this is not the busiest site on SFN. Have we all lest the gift behind?
Ireland has a new President. What do you think of him? Lets hope he stays clean and has the bottle to do what's necessary. He has a hard act to follow. Just wish he was a couple of decades younger.
What do you think?
"If there was a referendum tomorrow about assignation of NI,UK into the Republic , I for one would vote against it , we cannot afford it firstly, Secondly most people in the republic could not care less about the NI,UK."
What source do you have for this about most people? Most people I know care deeply about the North. So too did a lot of people when the paratroopers started firing on innocent civilians marching for civil rights. It's a shame you swallowed the british propaganda. I have never supported the killing of anyone over the north of Ireland.. but if you are going to pull one side apart you better get your facts right, and you could at least attempt a fair comment.
We are not the 6th richest country in the world, we are 42nd if we are even that. " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)"
The republic of Ireland abandoned the Catholic people in the North of Ireland, to an apartheid system, to internment without trial. The Republic of Ireland also placed the Church in the position it was that allowed it to abuse it's power, and abuse the children of the state. The Irish people when the Government sold them out, didn't protest or march in their thousands as the Greeks Italians, Spanish, Portugese and French do. Moved on? Get over yourself you don't know what you are talking about, and while you have a right to express your opinion, it counts for nothing if not based on facts. You haven't supplied the facts. You don't know the facts. It's a shame.
Lovely Chris well written. Clearly the other posters would prefer Ireland to be part of the commonwealth as we brown nose the queens rear end!
good for you Chris Burke - awful to think that you have to waste your fine mind on Civil War politics , almost a 100 years later -
Micheal D would be proud of you - coz he believes in politics
Mairead McGrath
Time has given the old IRA a respectability that the didn't have when they were "in business" so to speak. I don't imagine that they were thought well of by the greater public at the time. They killed many soldiers, policemen and civilians unfortunately in their conflicts too. I expect that in 100 years the modern IRA will be thought of in much the same way. The two eras were not so different in reality. I am not an advocate of violence yet I would defend my home and family with every and all means at my disposal. Who wouldn't? If you think the IRA in the bogside were doing anything else you have been reading too many redtops.
It's a bit too easy to say that N.Ireland is a seperate country. It wasn't up to the signing of the Treaty. It was part of Ireland just as much as Kerry was. Basically the Treaty artificially split our country to protect the planted population of Scot Presbytarians in the North. Northern Ireland isn't a country. It isn't even a province despite the mistaken use of the term Ulster to describe it. To be honest I don't know what the best description for it is, an occupied sectarian statelet perhaps? When the boundaries were drawn it was impossible to exclude 100% of the indiginous population no matter how hard they tried so they did the next best thing, treated them as second class citizens and denied them their basic civil rights. How long was it going to be before that particular pot boiled over?
The reality is that when the county was split the political paties of the Republic, with the obvious exception of Sinn Féin, abandoned the North in the unbridled rush to the trough of power and money. They have never taken their snouts out of it since. The ordinary people having witnessed the blood that was spilt to gain the freedom for the 26 had no wish for further conflict to secure freedom for the North and decided quitely and ashamedly to leave their brothers in the North to their fate.
The economic argument is undeniable. The Republic's economy is so frail that it could not absorb the financial cost associated with a 32 county Republic. Somehow though that gives the impression that the North is a viable economic entity, nothing could be further from the truth. The place is a money pit for the British taxpayer. I don't know why the British haven't dropped them long ago. Pride I suppose and the off chance that there might be natural gas in the coastal waters.
You are correct about a No vote for unification in the North, isn't that the way the whole place was engineered in the first place? Run the natives out, populate the place with a loyal community and grant them privelege to nourish that loyalty. Have a good look at the way the political constituencies have been Gerrymandered up there to ensure minimum representation to the growing Nationalist community. The vote for unification in the South would also yield a No vote. Who in their right mind would want to take on the problem child that is the Wee Six? Maybe when it matures and grows up a bit, but until then it's not going to happen.
I believe that unification will come in time through peaceful political process. That will include politicians of all colours and creeds. Martin mcGuiness becoming President now would have been too a big step too soon but that doesn't mean he shouldn't have stood for President. I think he was right to do so after all he did get a significant number of first preference votes and ended up a creditable third place. It raised the profile of Sinn Féin and forced people to countenance the fact that it might happen eventually. He is a good politician, he is sharing power with men who pointed guns at him in the past and who in his turn did the same. FF and FG haven't yet managed to that after all this time. They are still mentally fighting the Civil War. In countries like France and Germany lost millions to war against each other in the last century and yet they have made their peace and grown and prospered. Ireland should be doing the same.
Don't hate the players, hate the game.
So Michael D. will shortly be inaugurated. I wish him the best of luck.
I'm pressed for time this evening so I can't adress all the points made but I'll get to it tomorrow. Just a thought though I'd love to know how Ireland is the 6th richest country in the world, I can think of at least dozen countries (oil producers, industrial, technological) who are richer than Ireland. To be honest I wouldn't even say Ireland is in the top 6 in Europe.
@Joe I think I know the clip. That guy didn't hold back at all. :)
Yes I think he has the makings. Time will tell.
Hi Chris, Thanks for your comments. Try not to hold back next time :) Maybe I have been out of Ireland too long (43 years) but I always understood that the IRA of Dev's time and the more modern IRA were different. Maybe not.
The €700,000,000 for AIB and the destruction of Ireland can only be blamed on the greed of a few but every one who bought a second home or went into debt for another piece to show off has to take some of the blame. At least Ireland has kept it's head high, and agreed to repay in full and not squirmed out of it's debts. This will stand us in good stead in years to come. There is an excellent You tube piece with and Irishman being interviewed for TV which I will try and find to post here.
People have short memories, we have already had a President who was an IRA member and actually fought in 1916. He was imprisoned and sentenced to death. Eamonn DeValera served two consecutive terms as President from 1959 to 1973. I don't remember any great outcry against his election, do you?
Imagine the audacity of a President of Ireland commemorating one of the most pivotal points in Irish history. Oh my, whatever will people think? It's not as if other countries commemorate events like that or honour their war dead. I dread to think what the current lily-livered shower will do for the Centenary, that's if the country hasn't been repossessed by then for non-payment of debt.
If it's bank robberies that are your main worry what are your thoughts on the massive State sanctioned €700,000,000 Anglo Irish Bank robbery that is in progress right now?
Hi Joe, and welcome to the group! Yes, it has got a bit quiet here in the last while. I had initially thought David Norris would be a great president, but now I think Michael D is the most appropriate. I hope he has a good presidency. He is intelligent, articulate and puts his ideas across well.