Posted on 06/15/2010 1:39:06 PM PDT by James C. Bennett
LONDON: British prime minister David Cameron apologized on behalf of his country Tuesday for the 1972 slaughter of 13 Catholic demonstrators in the Northern Ireland town of Londonderry, an outrage that became known as "Bloody Sunday."
In a solemn statement to the British House of Commons, Cameron said that a mammoth, 12-year investigation into the killings left no doubt that the soldiers confronting crowds of Catholic demonstrators in Londonderry's hard-line Bogside district mowed down unarmed protesters without provocation.
"What happened on Bloody Sunday was both unjustified and unjustifiable. It was wrong," Cameron said, as a crowd watching him from Londonderry burst into cheers and applause.
Cameron prefaced his remarks by saying he was a patriot and a strong supporter of the British Army, but said "you do not defend the British Army by defending the indefensible."
He said the 190 million pound ($280 million) report contained "shocking conclusions to read" and that he was "deeply sorry" for what happened.
You don’t think the Catholics and the Irish government would take care of that themselves? Seriously, how long would the “protestant paramilitaries” last in a united Ireland? How long did the IRA really last in Ireland after the civil war? Not very long - and the Protestants would have nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, nowhere to get arms or equipment, etc.
I don’t think the protestant paramilitaries will last very long, but when a group is cornered they will either fight or roll over. The paramilitaries have shown that they will fight; and the violence that they have inflicted in the past is greater than anything the IRA ever did, albeit they had police and British military backing and that won’t exist to the same degree this next time around.
Not while the people of Northern Ireland want to be part of the UK.
Little known fact. The hops that go into guinness are grown in England. Always have been.
Anyway, it wasnt the British who invaded Ireland. It was the Normans. Right?
The Declaration (for women) We, whose names are underwritten, women of Ulster, and loyal subjects of our gracious King, being firmly persuaded that Home Rule would be disastrous to our Country, desire to associate ourselves with the men of Ulster in their uncompromising opposition to the Home Rule Bill now before Parliament, whereby it is proposed to drive Ulster out of her cherished place in the Constitution of the United Kingdom, and to place her under the domination and control of a Parliament in Ireland. Praying that from this calamity God will save Ireland, we here to subscribe our names.
Nearly half a million Irish people signed that declaration when the British Parliament voted to grant independence (home rule) to Ireland in 1912-3. Some of them signed it in their own blood. One of the few good things about WWI is that it forestalled a full scale civil war in Ireland.
You wrote:
“Not a perfect analogy, but you took land from the Mexicans, as a result of the 1848 war.”
I’ve never taken a single inch of land from anyone.
“Quite a lot of land actuall. And you took land from the native americans.”
Again, I’ve never taken a single square inch of land from anyone, ever, anywhere.
“The fact that they’re all dead doesnt alter the principle.”
What principle? The Brits recognized Irish independence. Is that not a principle? How then could they keep a major Irish population ON THE ISLE OF IRELAND from being part of that nation on their own island?
“Anyway, it wasnt the British who invaded Ireland. It was the Normans. Right?”
No. The Normans were merely first. The English (English and Scots really) came in the 16th and 17th centuries and brutalized the Irish.
Is it because the welfare and other government bennies are too good to pass up for those Irish that want the UK to stay in N. Ireland?
That will be the end of British rule.
If the protestant paramilitaries don't have the support of the British military, they will be finished. They were always hooligans anyways and the British will be glad to be rid of them.
Northern Ireland is part of Britian, and the majority wants it that way . . . at least for now.
I wonder if the Irish Republic really wants to add all those Unionists to its citizenry?
There are no 'Brits', they're English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish.
All of which are British people
But some Irish are Brits, so you’re going to kick them out of their own country?
The Irish could always encourage the Unionists to move to back to to Britain.
But some Irish are Brits, so you’re going to kick them out of their own country?
They would all cease to be "British" and would be citizens of Ireland. If they wanted to remain "British", they could move to a country that is ruled by the crown. The same deal they made with the Irish.
Why don't you want the Irish to have the same right to self rule as everyone else?
The point being that the majority in Northern Ireland want to remain part of the UK. Well, that and the IRA being nothing but a bunch of Communist terrorists, of course.
And when the IRA made peace with the UK the IRA received government jobs.
The Irish have their own country, I think allowing Northern Ireland was a good compromise.
Call it Manifest Destiny.
The IRA are a bunch of Commies.
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