Brian Feeney in the Irish News this morning uses a couple of quotes from George Santayana to point to the essentially apolitical nature of the recent attacks by so called ‘dissident’ Republican paramilitary organisations:
“Don’t call them mindless. They are devious and dangerous, armed and ruthless. They are unable to articulate a political purpose. They have forgotten, if they ever knew, the original aims of republicanism where militarism was a tactic, not a principle.
“These groups see violence as an end in itself. They do not expect to be reasoned with. However they have achieved one success. They have united society in the north about how to respond to them.”
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty