“our party never endorsed violence at any stage..”
Bizarre argument between the SDLP’s Alban Maginness and Sinn Fein’s Francie Molloy on the legacy of the civil rights movement during the Hearts and Minds programme. But there was a surreal retrospective renunciation of violence from Francie Molloy towards the end – as quoted in the post title – despite the recent keeping of the faith with the republican past.. as the Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has stated
“There may have been misgivings or serious concerns about particular military operations, but there was no real dissent from armed struggle. It was taken for granted that that was the way of things. While I was of the view that no military solution was possible I also felt armed struggle was a necessary form of struggle and I defended this position without being dogmatic about it.”
I can’t see anything, indeed.
Rory’s list is quite accurate, but missed out a few people including Billy McMillen of the Republican CLubs, and one of the people driving the IRA to the left. Betty Sinclair had a close relationship with Left members of the Republican Movement such as Jack Brady. She consistently opposed sectarianism and terrorism.
Many within the PDs saw her as, and I quote, a reactionary old bitch.
The violence, from all quarters, wrecked a great deal of the success of the civil rights movement.
But it was Bloody Sunday and following events that wrecked the attempt to successfully rebuild mass peaceful protest to gain progressive change. Nealry as great a pity.
As for Sands, didn’t Tom Moore stand against him for the Republican Clubs too?
Seems I was wrong on the Sands eletion. It was the following one.
Anyone read The Sunday World today?
Interesting front page and accompanying story on pages 2 & 3.
Gerry McHugh’s departure from Sinn Fein received a high amount of coverage on Slugger.
What an honouorable man!
Or, can Slugger not see the Sunday World?
Do they not see the story?
Very telling…
what did the story say?
Harry Flashman Post 25,
I bow most humbly to your superior knowledge (in this instance)and confirm that Austin Currie did not stand against Sands. If my memory serves me well, he was of ‘a mind’ to but was dissuaded. I knew he was involved in something low but I just forgot when and where.
Garibaldy,
I cannot reveal that here or it might get nixed.
Suffice to say, the story claimed his departure from Sinn Fein was less to do with the party’s stance on policing, or the idea that ‘unionists run the place.’
It’s all rather more prosaic.
However, might I pre-empt the Slugger mods and bloggers?
I can’t see anything.
Pancho’s Horse
“I knew he was involved in something low but I just forgot when and where.” More ignorant poormouthing.
Molloy and his party is no stranger to hypocrisy. They supported the imposition of a minority view over the majority for four decades. As Maginness says “…the provisional IRA campaign went on an offensive campaign…” It is clear that Mollloy is simply promoting a self-serving revisionist agenda here in the belief that the Nationalist community will just accept what they are fed.
Maginness is such a clear and articulate speaker; he should be leader of the SDLP. His sound reasoning, calm manner and clarity of thought make him a refreshing change to the usual drivel that passes for public representation here.
Prince
>>I was reading Irvine Welsh’s “Glue” recently and was interested to read about characters from the west of Scotland in the 1960s who were both Orangemen and card-carrying Communists.< <
Very interesting stuff Willow! Strangely enough, all the Orangemen I know of here in the west of Scotland vote Tory. Well at least that’s what they say anyhow. I’d account this to being the party of the establishment. I believe that Scotland still returned a majority of Tory MP’s up to the sixties.
Yes, very interesting. I’d say the Tories would always have been (and still are) the main party of choice for Scottish Orangemen and the Orange Communists, assuming they existed, would have been small in number: there is a kind of logic behind them.
MICK HALL
In the past there seemed to have been what can only be described as a left and right wing of unionism, with some of the people who have been mentioned here being on the left and official unionism on the right, do you feel anything like this exists today? [leaving PUP to one side] … Is there a left within the DUP/UU?
In the UUP, the McGimpseys and Fred Cobain are supposedly broadly on the left. In the DUP, Sammy Wilson used to be known as “Red Sammy”.
Sorry to bring up a really old thread, but i was wondering if the video of this debate still exists?