Saturday, February 25, 2006
RTE reporter attacked and called “Orange Bastard”
RTE have just put out a few words from their injured reporter Charlie Bird, who was pursued by rioters, attacked and called “Orange Bastard” by his attackers. Several people have been arrested and put before the courts already. It may be interesting to see precisely who turns up there over the next few days. Republican Sinn Fein denies being involved, but blames the Unionists for provoking the riots.
Mick Fealty @ 05:08 PM
mick Fealty 1
“I have the feeling that after today, a lot of peoples fears of a united Ireland have been rooted in very firm foundations for a long time to come.”
You accuse others of being only too quick to make these events fit in with their own agendas - but look, this is the kind of thing Irish southerners (and quite frankly, the rest of the United kingdom) say every 12th of July. Today a riot led to the march being called off for security reasons - more than once we’ve seen madness across Northern Ireland over days as a result of this kind of dispute. Let’s just accept that both sides have their embarrassments, and recognise that trying to make out this is the Republic showing its true colours regarding its attitude to Unionism is no more true than to say that Northern Ireland is populated entirely by maniacs who will riot at the drop of a hat.
Posted by on Feb 25, 2006 @ 08:51 PMExcellent post Dave
Posted by on Feb 25, 2006 @ 08:58 PMMick,
One relatively minor adverse spin-off of this sorry episode is the avalanche of spurious propagandising fron unionist sources -of which phenomenon I’m afraid your posting is a classic example.
The ROI actually emerges with credit.We have it from the mouth of Jeffrey Donaldson ,no less, that most of the 300 or so rioters were blow-ins from NI.
The NI secatarian contagion in other words made a cameo appearance in the Dublin city centre in the faces of a populace and a police force completely unused to and unprepared for this sort of thing.If you want to form any extrapolations about the ROI from this fracas you must base it on the only group of players composed virtually entirely of ROI citizens -namely the Garda Siochana who put their bodies on the line to protect a unionist demonstration from invasive NI nationalist rowdies.
Incidentally do you not think that postings like the above sit uneasily with your role as impartial moderator?
-Southern ObserverPosted by on Feb 25, 2006 @ 09:01 PMEEK Chaos in the comment zones. I have a solution, but I can’t do it tonight. If everyone could put the real names at the bottom it will help. Like this:
Mick Fealty
Posted by on Feb 25, 2006 @ 09:02 PMMick,
Does that mean the posting i replied to above was not by you? If so,my apologies.
-Southern Observer.Posted by on Feb 25, 2006 @ 09:06 PMMea Culpa.
I made the post.
As for Jeffrey, he didn’t say that most of the rioters came from the North, he said some of them did.
Besides which, I make no difference, an Irish republican is an Irish republican.To try and excuse them because they come from the north is a partitionist argument.
Besides which, I’ve yet to hear of a northerner appearing in court, but there have been several people from the republic so far.
Let’s use those figures as a better judge of where the rioters where from, no?~~TAFKABO~~
Posted by on Feb 25, 2006 @ 09:24 PMAll the 13 charged so far have Dublin addresses. Clearly the more experienced northeners got away.
Henry94
Posted by on Feb 25, 2006 @ 09:31 PMAh, but remember the rule.
The lack of Northern Republicans is a sure sign that they had siomething to do with it.
How much lack of evidence have the Garda found to support the theory?Posted by on Feb 25, 2006 @ 09:35 PMIn reply to the ‘Mick’ (in inverted commas as I don’t know if the comment zone attributed that post falsely) who responded to my post: I couldn’t really put it any better than Southern Observer and Dave have already done.
Let’s be honest: as a republican, I would have loved the day to go entirely peacefully, as was the expressed wish (and honest expectation) of all political leaders in the south, including that of Gerry Adams. The fact that the Gardai did not have a more physical presence from the outset indicates how much a surprise the riot was to those in authority.
That it didn’t is obviously a disappointment and a setback in the sense that we all hoped a peaceful day would allow those of us pursuing the objective of Irish unity to point to how pluralist modern Ireland has become.
That has been denied us, because of the actions of a very small and unrepresentative faction.
However, the apocalyptic responses of many, inferring that the cause of Irish unity has all but been destroyed because Willie Frazer and his bands didn’t get to march through Dublin, is simply blowing the incident out of all proportions.
Have unionists won a PR battle today? The answer is undoubtedly Yes. I’ve no doubt that the Love Ulster organisers would have been rubbing their hands with glee as they returned north with their stereotypical view of the south confirmed.
But there are other conclusions to be reached today. The dissident movement has once again revealed itself to be politically illiterate in not recognising that, were the parade to pass off peacefully, the PR battle would have been won by nationalism/ republicanism.
But, PR battles, victories or defeats aside, the end result would most certainly not have been to convince unionists in one fell swoop of the benefits of Irish unity.
Unionists who may be inching towards a broad acceptance of an all-Ireland future will undoubtedly be disappointed, and even shocked, by what they saw today. But I’d like to think that the same individuals would acknowledge the strength and uniformity of opinion supporting the parade in the first place and condemning the tiny faction responsible for the violence in the aftermath.
There are many unionists who were undoubtedly in Dublin today making a weekend out of tomorrow’s rugby encounter with Wales (and they will be joined by many more tomorrow.) Their experiences of the south are a world apart from that witnessed in Dublin today.
Similarly, those unionists who made the trip south to support their teams involved in the Setanta Cup were full of praise for their hosts - as indeed were Derry City’s officials and fans for their Linfield hosts this past week.
I suppose what I’m trying to say is that today’s debacle is a setback for nationalists and republicans. But it should not be the occasion for hysterical predictions about the nationalist cause, quite simply because the reaction to the Love Ulster brigade today in Dublin bears little or no resemblance to the unionist experience of the 26 counties in this modern era.
Chris
Posted by on Feb 25, 2006 @ 09:46 PM“I have the feeling that after today, a lot of peoples fears of a united Ireland have been rooted in very firm foundations for a long time to come.
Rather than dismiss those fears as unreasonable, you ought to do something about dispelling them. “I think Northern Unionists should not be blind to the role of the Gardai in protecting them from the mob today. It shows that the Southern state is capable of protecting the safety of non-Catholics. There are 2 ways of looking at this. And anyway 300 rioters is 1/10,000 of Southerners - and they weren’t all Southerners or even Irish. Having a Dublin address does not mean you are Irish. 4 so far are confirmed as foreigners. There was an anarchist element to this as seen in recent violent demonstrations against globalisation across the world e.g. Mayday.
Posted by on Feb 25, 2006 @ 09:55 PMBrian Boru wrote this, not Dave0 as suggested earlier.
“I have the feeling that after today, a lot of peoples fears of a united Ireland have been rooted in very firm foundations for a long time to come.
Rather than dismiss those fears as unreasonable, you ought to do something about dispelling them. “I think Northern Unionists should not be blind to the role of the Gardai in protecting them from the mob today. It shows that the Southern state is capable of protecting the safety of non-Catholics. There are 2 ways of looking at this. And anyway 300 rioters is 1/10,000 of Southerners - and they weren’t all Southerners or even Irish. Having a Dublin address does not mean you are Irish. 4 so far are confirmed as foreigners. There was an anarchist element to this as seen in recent violent demonstrations against globalisation across the world e.g. Mayday.
Posted by on Feb 25, 2006 @ 09:57 PMFair point Chris
I’m going down for the game tomorrow,and a few hundred sumbags will not change my plans - why?
Because its clear that those who took part in the riot today are not representative of the population in general.
I’m a sports fan but some of the reactions i have looked at this evening seem to be trying to push their own agenda rather than taking a rational view of what is an isolated incident
Posted by on Feb 25, 2006 @ 10:03 PMI dont think any right minded person could do anything but condemn todays violence and thuggery outright.
Two small points, if I may? One, as a veteran of dozens of parades in the North, no matter what level of repsonse you are expecting, you try not to bring your marchers past an open buidling site. I couldnt believe it when I saw the route, although I believe that there were also barrels filled with bottles in preparation. I think the Gardai should have secured any of those open sites, but to be fair I am not sure of what the advance preparation for today was.
Second point is brief, but there is a true sense of irony now that the Love Ulster campaigners will not rest until they assert their right to march in the captial city of Ireland. Brings a real 32 county dimension to the whole thing, doesnt it?
Missfitz
Posted by on Feb 25, 2006 @ 10:08 PM‘‘the reaction to the Love Ulster brigade today in Dublin bears little or no resemblance to the unionist experience of the 26 counties in this modern era.’‘
You certainly got that one right Chris. I took the family for a Dublin weekend in January and all I can say is never again. Jaw-dropping prices for just about everything, nasty looking hoods roaming the streets at night, a used syringe at the hotel entrance (nice welcome), traffic chaos, and surly staff (with the notable exception of non-nationals) combined to make us delighted to take the road home. But at least we didn’t see any riots….....
Posted by on Feb 25, 2006 @ 10:58 PMSorry that last one (11:58) was by GLC not Dave. It’s mad I tell you….
GLC
Posted by on Feb 25, 2006 @ 11:00 PMTo RSF and the dissident republicans, even Gerry Adams probably seems like an “Orange Bastard”. That’s how extreme they are.
Brian Boru
Posted by on Feb 26, 2006 @ 12:32 AM“even Gerry Adams probably seems like an “Orange Bastard”
Well, according to some rumours….....
Posted by on Feb 26, 2006 @ 12:33 AMThe people marching enjoy a good riot themselves [white rock] so they probably felt right at home in Dublin.
Posted by on Feb 26, 2006 @ 12:54 AMThe riots yesterday may have produced some reasons to be fearful of a united ireland but possibly not those mentioned here. From what I’ve heard the big message is about problems in the southern state - not so much how it relates to unionism but some problems and disaffection with the institutions of that state - in particular the Gardai.
This all ‘kicked off’ in a garda district that has an unresolved, suspicious death in custody (Terence Wheelock) poisoning the relationship between the local community and their police force. Since RTE and TV3 carried footage of guards beating the RTS off Dame street in 2002 there has been a litany of corruption and violence scandals that have tainted peoples relationship with the Gardai. Same as when the nordie footballers come down to Dublin 1 and show how to win at football as a Dub I see what they’re doing but am a bit pissed off. Maybe during Saturday there was some tactical and motivational work by visitors - but this riot was so big because a large number of ordinary Dublin people were into seeing the guards get a beating. They definitely joined in with any nordie visitors.
For those in Parnell square who were ostensibly the target it must have been frightening and possibly to quote Mick Fealty their “fears of a united Ireland have been rooted in very firm foundations for a long time to come.” But from talking to a lot of people who were in town, I’m not so sure that as many people would have thrown the handily supplied bricks at the loveulster marchers as were willing to throw them at the Gardai.
If the people of Dublin think so little of the institutions of the Irish state, how could you ask a unionist to respect them?
Will the southern Irish policy of supplying bricks, paving stones, barricades and iron bars to large unruly mobs be the sort of political leadership that will finally convince you all to learn the cupla focal and spend in euros?
Is it any wonder the entire southern establishment (which now includes PSF) have jumped to condemn the riots - i would suggest it was them rather than unionism which was attacked.
-seedot
Posted by on Feb 26, 2006 @ 01:11 AMposted by Kathy C
Hi all,
Today the unionist of the orange order saw that there are those in the Republic of Ireland who will say no to their marches.
posted by Kathy C
Posted by on Feb 26, 2006 @ 01:21 AMQuite obviously a lot of the quoted comments cannot be attributed to my good self. Mick, the site is crap. And you expect a healthy contribution?
Posted by on Feb 26, 2006 @ 01:27 AMTo be fair it has to be said that Charlie’s permatan (sunbed or spray on do you think?) does give him a bit of an orange hue.
- Harry Flashman -
Posted by on Feb 26, 2006 @ 05:01 AMRepublican Sinn Féin, 223 Parnell Street, Dublin 1
Telephone: 872 9747 Fax: 872 9757
e-mail: s a o i r s e @ i o l . i e229 Falls Road, Belfast, BT12 6FB
Telephone 9031 9004 Fax: 9031 9863Just in case anyone wants to vent their anger. I’ve already sent these cunts a couple of vicious e-mails. Maybe now some unwanted pizzas/taxis/piles of manure?
Posted by on Feb 26, 2006 @ 11:34 AMThis should finally signal the end of the pipe dream that is a united Ireland.
If you want to persuade us into thinking Unionist views and culture will be respected in a one island state, then a major rethink is needed on the part of republican nazis.Posted by on Feb 26, 2006 @ 12:04 PMChris Donnelly “Jeffrey Donaldson even managed to somehow link the riot to Sinn Fein’s demand for northern representation in Leinster House- ludicrous”
Chris, far from it, he made a valid point, Republicians want Northern MPs to have speaking rights inside the Dail, yet as he poined out, he was stopped from speaking outside it, by Republicians, a free kick for Jeffrey and his ilk.
Posted by on Feb 26, 2006 @ 01:57 PM
