Profile for Aontachtach
Irish language loving Unionist. Born in the greater Shankill area. living in North Down.
Latest comments from Aontachtach (see all)
Aontachtach has commented 52 times (0 in the last month).
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Books
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Total Politics: Top 20 NI Blogs…
Fair play to Iain, he managed to get over 2,200 people voting in his poll for the top Northern Irish blogs this year… We (just, I imagine) retained our top spot, with Splintered coming straight in at number 2, no doubt his pet subject du jour will have garnered him a lot of fans… I’ve [...] read our review »
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The Written World
Here’s something to keep you occupied over the weekend. [Will there be a quiz? - Ed] Possibly… The BBC magazine has an short and interesting, but un-embeddable, audio slide-show of Melvyn Bragg’s Radio 4 five-parter, In Our Time: The Written World. The British Library has more online information about the texts and technology featured in each [...] read our review » -
What has The Third Man got to say about Northern Ireland?
Short answer: very little, other than he enjoyed the environs of Hillsborough Castle, enjoyed working with the local politicians, and has Gerry Adams to thank for Bobby his dog. Peter Mandelson’s book The Third Man has captured media headlines in recent weeks as the Times serialised the most juicy bits. But what did he have [...] read our review »
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Comment on GAA ref knocked unconscious at Beragh…
on 2 July 2011 at 9:05 pm
A friend was at the Ulster under 14 Camogie final recently with her local team from Co. Down. The young girls from her team were abused throughout the match by the parents of the other team. They were from Co. Derry/Londonderry. At one stage they had a penalty and the young girl taking the penalty was abused by a woman in her 50′s standing behind the goal. She called her a F###ing dog and other obsenities. The girl broke down and cried before she took the penalty. She missed the penalty. The referee went and spoke to the spectators and told them that she would abandon the game unless the abuse stopped. At the end of the game one of the parents of the Co. Down team congratulated the kids of the other team who won the game, as they walked off the pitch. A parent from the winning team told him to F##k off back to Co. Down as they knew nothing about Gaelic games. My friend said that they will never go back to this ground again. She has never seen a group of kids as traumatised as she did that day. So much for a family game.
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Comment on Oliver Napier RIP
on 2 July 2011 at 8:09 pm
A sad day indeed. He was a very courageous man and also a man of vision.
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Comment on Loyalist disenchantment moves along the Gold Coast
on 27 June 2011 at 8:22 pm
Mark
I don’t believe that catholics will be targeted in Bangor. The people who they are angry with are NDBC. The leader of this grouping is a “Pastor” of a small church in Bangor ( approx 60 members) who has delusions of grandeur. He was rejected by the people of Bangor at the council elections. He is seen by mainstream christians as a bit of a lunatic. Like most fundalmentalists he believes that he is right and everyone else is wrong. One of his cohorts in the political party he helped form last year was interviewed in a local paper last year and is very cross community. She sends her children to the local catholic school which is on the edge of Kilcooley. This dispute is between “Loyalists” and NDBC.
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Comment on Loyalist disenchantment moves along the Gold Coast
on 27 June 2011 at 7:35 pm
The people who are leading this campaign stood at the last council elections and were rejected by the people they claim to represent. They are led by a so called christian “Pastor” who has apparently “turned native”.
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Comment on The Men Who Won’t Stop Marching…
on 18 June 2011 at 8:32 pm
Mark
I agree with you that he is a fantastic young lad lad and hopefully he will get the oppuntunity to do something with his life other than playing in a “blood and thunder” band. Unfortunately for him and a lot of other kids( from both sides of the fence) he has parents who probably don’t give a toss about their kids and education is not a priority for them.
As a father I was disgusted by this young lads parents.
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Comment on The Men Who Won’t Stop Marching…
on 18 June 2011 at 7:32 pm
I watched the programme and found it cringeworthy. I have also spoken to a few friends from the Shankill who were totally embarrassed by it. I felt incredibly sorry for the young lad Jordan. I was brought up a few miles from him in a working class family and yet my father would have never used language that was used in front of that lad. I never heard it used by my friends fathers as well. There was absolutely nothing in this programme that made me feel proud of the area that I grew up in. I found it very depressing.
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Comment on Her Majesty’s challenge for the opponents of Irish
on 20 May 2011 at 12:13 pm
Rory
I for one hope that many Unionists will embrace the language now that our Queen has made the effort. I started started to take an interest in it just after the Good Friday Ageement was signed. In fact I had never crossed the Border before 1998 and now you can’t keep me away from the Republic. Mind you I don’t want to live in the State but I am very happy to holiday in it. I believe times are changing and (hopefully) Unionists will not be put off by the (in my eyes) the shinners in your face support of the language.
I had also hoped that Nelson McCausland could have reached out to the genuine language speakers when in charge of the Culture department but alas he couldn’t see past the end of his (ulster scotch) nose.
My comments in the earlier post of which you made little off are unfortunately how many Unionists felt during the troubles. Hopefully the “war” that was fought here is over and now people can start to embrace things which they would have found alien to them 15 plus years ago
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Comment on Her Majesty’s challenge for the opponents of Irish
on 19 May 2011 at 8:31 pm
I think the Queen has been outstanding this week and the fact that she spoke in Irish (abeit a few words) has pleased this Irish language loving Unionist. Maybe now that our Queen has made the effort, Unionist politicians will catch themselves on regarding the language. I also hope that Republicans will realise that they turned the language into a political football by the use of the language ( both written and spoken) at Provo funerals and on Provo murals. These actions were always going to cause a backlash against the language. Sad but true.
Táimid dóchasaach go bhfuil muid tagtha ar an pointe ag casadh agus tá go leor Aontachtach beidh an sampla a leanúint Riona. Dia na Banriona!
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Comment on Quote of the Day
on 18 May 2011 at 9:07 pm
Good on the Queen. She really has went out of the way to reach out the hand of friendship to Irish nationalists. It’s a shame SF didn’t go to show Unionists that they are genuine in reaching out the hand of friendship to them.
Look forward to the day an Irish President places a wreath at the cenotaph in london or indeed Belfast. That will be a truly symbolic day.
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Comment on Quote of the Day
on 18 May 2011 at 8:49 pm
Anne
I can’t believe that anyone thinks that the Provo’s never carried out sectarian murders. I can remember the Four Step Inn, Bayardo Bar, Balmoral showrooms(baby Tracey Munn), Frizells Fish Shop. All sectarian murders comitted by the Provos on the Shankill rd. Then there was the sectarian killing of the protestant “good samaritan from the Shankill who went to the aid of catholics on the Springfield rd. His crime was to take hardboard from his Hardware shop to help them board up their windows after a bomb went off. I think his name was lewellyn. Some of these murders were committed when I was a lad but they are still fresh in my memory. These murders, along with many more ie: La Mon, Enniskillen, Kingsmill were carried out by sectarian killer gangs in the name of Irish unity. Get real!
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