Loyalist paramilitaries: they haven’t gone away you know…
A useful corrective from Bea Campbell to the consistent focus on the dissident Republicans and their potential for bringing back civil disorder. When it comes of lower level violence, loyalist paramilitaries still out perform their republican counterparts…
The 22nd report of the IMC confirms that the most responsibility for violence in Northern Ireland lies with loyalists. And yet this week’s story is the usual republican threat. The devil is in the detail, however. The report shows that casualties of violence by loyalists – shootings and assaults – number 38 in the past year, a 245% increase on the previous year. Casualities of republican shootings and assaults number 25, up by 56%.These figures indicate some very worrying trends: loyalist gangsterism is rife, dangerous and productive, and dissident sects have murdered members of the security forces at a time when diplomats and politicians in Washington, London, Dublin and not least Belfast are desperate to get unionists and republican parties to sign up to “normal” policing.
Though it should be noted that on kill rates, it is the republican dissenters from the Belfast and St Andrews Agreements who pose the greater threat…
What a good idea – a league table of shootings and beatings! Maybe we should seek sponsorship – and possibly even a trophy – the Smith & Wesson Shield perhaps?
Or better still a knock-out competition for the Kalazhnikov Kup.
She’s a bit naive. The dissidents are the bigger problem because they are attempting bigger atrocities.
The difference will be clear if they succeed.
My advice to Republican dissidents is
Try another way for a generation.
If they had not been carrying out their campaign then it is probable that P and J would have been devolved by now.
It is immoral for the leaders of dissident republicans to draw young people into a campaign (war?) that cannot be won.
I am not in favour of war unless in the case of defence and certainly what is the point of an offensive war (campaign) that cannot be won.
Yes there are many people frustrated with Unionists continuing to make goverment of NI fail but it is the highlighting of this Unionist fetish of failed goverment in NI that will bring change.
Continuing Unionist Failure will bring change but dissident violent campaigns give Unionism the fig leaf that it needs for its failures.
remember Mick the main weapon of terrorism is as its name says terror, the fear that the loyalist exert aTM I imagine is mainly localised within or adjoining their own communities, the dissidents have noticebly increased the tensions across the country and very intensly in some communities and areas.
A strange piece from a strange writer.
panic: “If they had not been carrying out their campaign then it is probable that P and J would have been devolved by now.
It is immoral for the leaders of dissident republicans to draw young people into a campaign (war?) that cannot be won.”
Of course, if morality were a concern to these folks, they’d not be drawing people into committing terroristic acts in the first place, neh?
panic: “Yes there are many people frustrated with Unionists continuing to make goverment of NI fail but it is the highlighting of this Unionist fetish of failed goverment in NI that will bring change.”
Sure’n, t’was always “themmuns” who are intractable… Face up, panic, both sides politicos are kiddies throwing toys out of the pram.
An appalling piece, centred around this line:
“So, is peace in Northern Ireland still threatened by the republicans?
No, says the IMC.”
This is simply a lie.
The IMC has said that the current threat from republican terrorists is “very serious”.
Plenty of commenters on the Guardian site have picked her up on this, and other untruths and inaccuracies in the article.
A Polly Filla article. Still it beats thinking and analysis. But then it was in the Gruinard