Hasn’t gone away, you know..
Former DUP leader, and former First Minister, Ian Paisley Snr, was in the Assembly this morning condemning the weekend bomb attack by the Continuity IRA on a police patrol in Fermanagh. PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde has warned that “threat from dissident republicans remains high”. Sinn Féin’s Alex Maskey followed Ian Paisley in condemning the attack but did so whilst contrasting the group’s apparent lack of support with his own party’s political mandate. The conversion to pointing to democratic credentials is welcome, but unfortunately for that argument, today happens to mark the date of a 1974 IRA bomb attack on the Houses of Parliament in which 11 people were injured – the bomb being placed in Westminster Hall. And a BBC report from the time also happens to refer to the IRA as “the dissident Irish group”.. That’s before considering the manner of the Sinn Féin president’s celebration of past events.
why is it that when these types of issues are debated in the house, IRA/Sinn fein, pretend they are the victims and respond to the questions as if it were directed to them? Why?
So which part of condemn is it that you don’t seem to understand, Pete?
picador
Haven’t I noted that he condemned “such operations”?
Why are these fanatics still trying to carry out acts like this? Pointless, completely pointless.
“Why are these fanatics still trying to carry out acts like this?”
Well, to follow the logic of the arguments by Alex Maskey and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, once they have enough support within their community it would completely justified.
They are, after all, simply keeping “faith with the republican past and [ensuring] the future of our struggle.”
“to follow the logic of the arguments by Alex Maskey and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, once they have enough support within their community it would completely justified.”
of course gaining that support would be impossible because the circumstances are completely different, dissidents don’t have popular support. I know you like to simplify things Pete but surely you can keep pace with that?
“dissidents don’t have popular support.”
qubol
Would you like to quantify the level of support required to justify “such operations”?
Pete, that quote from Adams was linked to 1957, you know around the time Unionists could only vote for one party and politics was about religion and houses got you votes with homes being dealt out to Protestants via Unionist councils, etc, etc.
This quote from Adams, DC?
From November 2007.
Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams speaking at his party’s commemoration of five men who died when a bomb they had been preparing exploded prematurely at a farm house at Edentubber in 1957.
Yea 5 men that died in 1957 i.e. in 1957 5 men died. They at that point were inkeeping with their republican past? Or genuinely maybe I am reading this wrong and have mistook it for something else?
Pete, context.
Context, Pete.
I’ll leave you two to get acquainted.
As I noted yesterday on another thread:
152,310 – the number of votes received by Sinn Fein at the 1956 Westminister general election (standing on a ‘traditional’ republican platform)
Thomas Mitchell & Philip Clarke – the two IRA prisoners elected in the same election.
A wake up call which Westminister chose to ignore.
I would say that 152,310 voting for a revolutionary organisation pledged to overthrow the state amounts to significant public support.
As to whether that level of support for a revolutionary platform justifies such actions, well that is a different question altogether.
The best way to stop these incidents is to establish confidence in the police particularly in border areas. Devolving police and justice powers would be a significant step forward in this regard in my opinion. Once people come to trust the number in significant numbers these fanatics will cease to operate for fear of betrayal.
peteb: Would you like to quantify the level of support required to justify “such operations”?
yes Pete, no problem
z1 = (z / w = z wSQ |)
= | z1 | | z2 | {[ cos ( t1 ) cos ( t2 ) - sin ( t1 ) sin ( t2 ) ]
= | z1 | | z2 | [ cos ( t1 + t2 ) + i sin ( t1 + t2 ) ]. Thus,
z1 . z2 = | z1 | | z2 | [ cos ( t1 + t2 ) + i sin ( t1 + t2 ) ]
Where
z1 = number of dustpan lids
z2 = discrimination per Catholic Kilo Joule (CKJ)
w = bullets divided by guns
t1 = combined number of UVF, UDA, RUC, British Army
Pete – whats your point in trying to link an attack in 1974 to an attack by dissidents in 2008? And then trying to link it all to the border campaign in 1957?
Just say what you mean to say and stop the innuendo.
By the way – every day is the anniversary of something terrible having happened here. You could spend the rest of your life looking back and saying “aye but remember…”. Wouldn’t be of much use but you could do it.
By the way – whatever happened to Marty McG’s brother-in-law?