Counting the financial cost
The Irish News has learned that over £4m in compensation (subs reqd) has been paid out to churches and Orange Halls for damage from sectarian attacks in the past five years.
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Books
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The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday (Neil MacFarquhar)
With perhaps the longest title of any book I’ve read this year, The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday: Unexpected Encounters in the Changing Middle East gives an insight into the lives of people living in Middle East through the eyes of journalist Neil MacFarquhar. MacFarquhar’s father was a chemical engineer [...] read our review »
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The peace process not such a good model after all
Which reminds me…. Platform for Change’s driving force Robin Wilson has produced a corrective to the notion that the lessons of the NI conflict are easily exportable. Like myself, Robin is associated with the Constitution Unit. He introduced his new book in a CU blog which I here reproduce. The water crisis in Northern Ireland [...] read our review »
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O’Toole’s New Republic – unfinished business or just a dream?
More as a trailer than a review – as it’s out on Thursday– I draw attention to Fintan O’Toole’s latest polemic “Enough is Enough – how to build a new Republic“. Fintan has been promoting the book vigorously on this side of the water, on Radio 4’s Start the Week and here at greater length [...] read our review »
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One solution to this waste would be to demolish Every church and Orange Hall and replace them with something less divisive which better serves the community as a whole.
Any suggestions ?
I have one… grow up.
Not to mention all the money wasted policing, and cleaning up after, sectarian marches.
Not the best return fair deal, an obvious story about vandalism costing money and a link that serves only to market the Irish News Online.
a considerable amount of the attacks are self-inflicted
These self-imposed attacks are evidence that a considerable amount of the attacks recently carried out by X are not only self-inflicted but are part of an orchestrated effort to stir up sectarian activity to discredit the local x community.
“He claims that the local X community is ‘always under attack’. This is nonsense and it is now evident that the attacks are in fact carried out by X on Orange halls.
ian óg
You saying that Orange Halls have been infiltrated by the X-men? Mutants out!
Seriously, some attacks may have been carried out by the ostensible victims (that was the suggestion for instance about the attacks on an “X” church in Ballymena), but the dogs on the street know that there ARE real sectarian tensions, on both sides, and that the cleanup costs (and the broader costs to society) are huge.
Let’s not pretend that it doesn’t happen, or that only themmuns do it!
“I have one… grow up.
Posted by Hurler on the Ditch on Sep 19, 2006 @ 10:56 AM”
Your contribution is impressively mature, I’ll strive to match your excelllent contribution in future.
ZZZ…
DaithiO,
Fair enough. Admittedly it was a bit of an immature response.
So tell me more. Do you think GAA pitches should be demolished too? What about Mosques? Anything else which doesn’t “serve the community as a whole”.
Im going on a crime rampage. It will be so much fun especially because I will never get caught.
My posting was a little silly too I suppose.
But just suppose there wasn’t religion … wow what a lovely thought. Sadly in this world it creates a lot more problems than it solves. Yes, there are some devout people in every denomination of every religion who have great thoughts and do good deeds. Sadly their churches/temples/synagogues/mosques/chapels etc also host fundaMENTALISTS who drag it all down to the gutter because of their gross misinterpretations of good words.
The leader of one church calling the leader of another the anti-Christ. Members of that same church saying that a murdered boy would never enter the Kingdom of God because he hadn’t repented his sin whilst alive. That sin, being a member of the anti-Christ’s church.
So sad.
That’s why I say tear them all down, simplistic… but simple.
The arson (and other) attacks are a problem that simply delays the process of overcoming sectarianism. Every attack simply drives a wedge between communities. The situation is bad enough without gurriers making it worse – make the gurriers pay, whoever they are. If anybody thinks these gurriers are heros, they need to think again.