Profile for Greenflag
Moderate Irish nationalist . Humanist , atheist , centre left politically but no ideologue . Despite present crisis favours Euro longer term as in best interest of all. Not anti British or anti American but definitely anti trickle down economics and anti the ruinous Afghan and Iraqi wars . Presently trying to look beyond the anarchic capitalism of the present to a better future. Fears that what we call 'democracy' has now become an oligarchy of ruling international financial interests who have the world's elected leaders at their beck and call.
Neither for or against a UI but against any violence used by those to achieve or prevent it . Favours closer and better relations with UK in education , defence and health and practical cross border cooperation with NI.
Latest comments from Greenflag (see all)
Greenflag has commented 2,371 times (27 in the last month).
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Books
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Against Remembrance – Seminar & Book by David Rieff
Is the best way to overcome the legacy of conflict simply to forget about it? Author and journalist David Rieff spoke on this subject last week in a seminar at the Institute for International Integration Studies (IIIS) at Trinity College Dublin. Rieff has recently written a book titled, Against Remembrance (published in Ireland by Liffey [...] read our review »
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Unionists, Loyalists, and Conflict Transformation. A book about how things are changing.
Unionists, Loyalists, and Conflict Transformation in Northern Ireland is a new academic tome by lecturer and researcher Lee Smithey. In the book the Pennsylvania academic outlines his findings based on 67 interviews over eighteen months with grassroots activists in unionist and loyalist communities and organisations. This is largely a book about men, even though they [...] read our review »
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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 Sectarianism in Northern Ireland is common (and popular) across all classes…
on 22 May 2012 at 12:34 pm
@ andrew gallagher ,
‘ People will use any convenient excuse to justify their prejudices.’
Indeed and I’ve read Swift .The important factor for the future of everybody’s politics in Northern Ireland is that the law of the land discourages /outlaws / criminalises acts of religious sectarianism to the extent it can up to and including the various church authorities . To the extent that that has happened in Northern Ireland over the past 30 years the result has been what Derrydave refers to above in his post
21 May 2012 at 6:04 pm.
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Comment on Sectarianism in Northern Ireland is common (and popular) across all classes…
on 21 May 2012 at 6:02 pm
@ andrew gallagher ,
‘Non sequitur. (A causes B) does not imply (not B causes not A).’
Sectarianism in it’s mob expression does not follow the laws of semantic logic . It can be a survival extinct in extremis or an outlet for atavistic violence against what is perceived as the ‘other ‘
Of course every ‘other’ has a mother and a brother or sister and father or tribe and thus the virulence spreads ad infinitum until it will be eventually seen for what it is – mindless bullshit. Not to worry it won’t happen tomorrow or next year or a decade hence but it will in time .
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Comment on Sectarianism in Northern Ireland is common (and popular) across all classes…
on 21 May 2012 at 5:53 pm
@ Alan N Ards ,
‘Do you really believe that if NI joins with the ROI that sectarianism will go away?’
No -why should it The ‘disease ‘ is endemic within the people -lines on a map are meaningless .Whether in the UK or a UI the ‘disease’ will only disappear when the vast majority of people give up believing in a non existent God who chooses some people over others and who at various times in history has decided to wipe out most of what he i.e God has created as in the Permian mass extinction of life forms 250 million years ago and other mass extinctions including that of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago .
In the matter of wiping out Jews , Protestants , Catholics or Moslems it appears that the Abrahamic God permits the faithful to do the job themselves which if we read our history the leaders and followers of said ‘faiths’ have only been to glad to oblige their Lord and master in their endeavours .
A load of oul balubas is what it is and nothing else
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Comment on Sectarianism in Northern Ireland is common (and popular) across all classes…
on 21 May 2012 at 5:38 pm
@ reader /andrew gallagher,
‘Although the under-5 mortality rate in the United States has fallen in recent decades, it is still higher than many other wealthy nations – 2.3 times that of Iceland and more than 75 percent higher than the rate of the Czech Republic, Finland, Italy, Japan, Norway, Slovenia and Sweden.
One in 71 mothers in the United States is likely to lose a child before his or her fifth birthday. A mother in the United States has a 2.5 fold greater risk of experiencing the death of a child than a mother in Iceland, Italy or Japan and is almost 3 times more likely to lose a child than a mother in the Czech Republic or Slovakia.
And this in the ‘richest ‘ country in the world with the most expensive health care system ???
http://www.mindfully.org/Health/2007/US-Death-Rate1may07.htm
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Comment on Sectarianism in Northern Ireland is common (and popular) across all classes…
on 21 May 2012 at 2:05 pm
David Dunseith probably got it right -Of course it could be worse . Maudling would probably consider it a success story and from the perspective of how much worse it could have been he would be right .
Before consigning the statelet to history though it ought to be said that NI is not alone in being unsuccessful in narrowing the gap between the haves and have nots . There are Oldhams and Middlesboros in parts of the Republic and Scotland and Wales and I read that the USA is now at the bottom of the list of developed countries for ‘pregnancy ‘ deaths and that a child in the USA has one fifth of the chance of a kid in Iceland of reaching the age of 5 .
The ‘real ‘differences between people are not resolvable by ‘sectarian ‘ parties or attitudes but then those politicians elected on that basis were not into ‘real solutions ‘ anyway .
Even if they wanted to they were and many still are trapped by the system they themselves have locked themselves into !
Not that the established politicos in the rest of the UK or Ireland are doing much better
And the G8 goes through the motions of ‘appearances’ for appearances sake while the Greeks get to choose as I saw in this piece.
http://www.npr.org/2012/05/18/152988941/double-take-toons-the-gordian-nots
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-18142078
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Comment on Sectarianism in Northern Ireland is common (and popular) across all classes…
on 21 May 2012 at 12:52 pm
What’s the fuss ? Northern Ireland was built on sectarianism and it could not exist otherwise . Thus it follows there will always be sectarianism until such time as the NI State no longer exists or until such time as religious denomination for the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland becomes a thing of the past .
The important consideration is that the law no longer turns a blind eye to the worst manifestations of sectarianism and this in time will work it’s way through the body politic and make ‘sectarianism ‘ history.
‘I would argue that that indicates that there is no particular electoral demand for the breaking down of barriers or prioritising of a ‘shared future’ agenda’
Alex is correct in his argument .The electoral ‘demand’ such as it is is for a continuation of a trend towards ‘peaceful normality’ The ‘shared future’ is a step down the road at a time when the ‘future ‘ (political and economic )is still seen as problematic and uncertain to a degree that you don’t find in other regions of the UK or the Republic .
The challenge for NI’s political leaders is to hold glumly on to the steering wheel until such time as they can get around the seemingly never ending bends and twists of the ‘devolutionary road they have taken.
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Comment on Normality and rugby
on 19 May 2012 at 10:56 pm
Ulster made a game of it for the first half but there’s always next year . Leinster brilliant on the day the best in Europe by a mile .
And dear oh dear good old Chelsea did it . Drogba joins the ranks of the ‘immortals’
What a day and then Dubliner – Katie Taylor wins the world boxing championship by defeating the Russian Sofya Ochigava
http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0519/katie-taylor-claims-world-championship.html
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Comment on Normality and rugby
on 19 May 2012 at 6:05 pm
Leinster and Chelsea to win though I have to admit I’ve more confidence in the former than the latter . Once upon a time Chelsea were a great away team but then that was a few moons ago
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Comment on Leinster would probably win 9 times out of 10, but…
on 19 May 2012 at 6:01 pm
Indeed Dewi but Leinster look to have the edge in this one
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Comment on Brian McLaughlin: ‘Heineken Cup Final’ swan song
on 19 May 2012 at 5:59 pm
Great kick by Pienaar -Ulster still in with a slim chance -great game so far .
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