Posted on 12/30/2001 7:57:57 AM PST by Happygal
Well I live on this island, and I was aware of the Hunger Strike/Castro reasoning spouted by Adams for the Cuba trip.
Still doesn't make his visit palatable! Sorry, it's doesn't wash! In fact most people in the south found the visit dumb in the extreme, from a man who rarely makes a media cock-up!
BTW Incorrigble, thanks for the kind words earlier in the thread. If I get Stateside, expect to buy me copious pints *L* Happy New Year to you and yours :-)
He [Adams] said that, ``unlike Soviet bloc countries like Romania, where it was dreadful, what you see here is some of the best education systems in the world, which is free. One of the best health services in the world, which is free. And the abolition of illiteracy.''
Looks like praise to me
I have plenty of knowledge of Ireland having close relatives and friends on both sides of the border.
I'm not saying it's a picnic for Catholics up the North. Yet there's a reason many Catholic professionals live and work there. They make better money doing so and most likely have relatives there as well. The people who call themselves Catholic and Christian while drug dealing and knee capping are the never-do-wells that would have no power if the good, honest people of Ireland (north and south) had a Constitutional 2nd Amendment like the US.
Here's another from the Irish Independent: US fury at SF in Cuba - Adams visit is 'irrevocably damaging'
While the BBC is infinitely better than US national and international news sources, I get my news from the best source on earth, FreeRepublic.com.
After he was gone the other guys were a bit more open with their sentiments. I welcomed this because it was "first hand experience". It was at least a biased way to "crack the code" in Northern Ireland. The people don't run around talking about it you see. But they're all one color and look the same to an outsider so it leads one to wonder, 'how do they sort each other out as Catholics or Prods?'. They do it by name or neighborhood if names fail. My accent always told them right away what to divulge to me before we ever got out of the starting block.
It turned out their opinion of the Prod not liking me (and it had been a remarked on phenomenom at this small place) was- He hadn't liked me because I was an American and we (Americans) more or less support "the cause" with our money. The Prod was a wanker though, not a victim and he was well known to have his ties to the UDF so before anyone gets the idea that he got fired unfairly, he wasn't a nice guy.
One day the foremen and I were having a conversation and he said in effect that he approved of what Mugabe was doing in Zimbabwe. "Those Whites have no business there", he said. It made me realize... He had never been there and I had. But he drew his conclusions from his Republican ideology. The Brits invaded his land and it was ok to resort to ugliness to oppose them- therefore, given a similar situation in Africa he must align himself with Mugabe and his minions.
I posted on some thread long ago just after 9/11 that many leftist ideologues have woken up and realized that they are aligned with bin Laden and the terrorists. We saw on television Arafat slapping a vein to donate blood- he was terrified- perhaps he of all people realized the "game is up". Gerry Adams is second in this line. Just as this article says- we may be forgiven for waking up to a new circumstance and realizing "things have changed". But there will be no historical mercy for those that watched events unfold but did not change their ways.
Sinn Féin Chief Whip Alex Maskey MLA has accused SDLP Chairperson Alex Attwood of 'juvenile posturing' in his criticisms of Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams' trip to Cuba.
Mr Maskey said:
"Alex Atwood's criticism of Gerry Adams and Gerry Kelly visiting Cuba and meeting Fidel Castro is nothing more than juvenile posturing.
"In Europe, his sister parties and the Irish government have backed the ending of America's blockade against the people of Cuba. So he is clearly out of step with broad humanitarian concerns that exists throughout Europe.
"He attacks Sinn Féin for meeting Fidel Castro while his party is meeting the UDA. We ourselves have offered to talk to Loyalists on a number of occasions and the process of talking is vital to understanding and resolving all political conflicts.
"To jump on the band wagon in a blatant case of politicking is to do a great disservice to the principle of engagement that is central to the Good Friday Agreement that was negotiated by all of the parties here, including by members of his own party."
More than 700 people have been forced to flee from their homes in Northern Ireland because of paramilitary death threats in the past year, an increase of more than 50 per cent on 2000.
Yeah, romantically, historically I'd love a united Ireland. But not thru' violence, terrorism or anything associated with it. I think...that's the view of the populice in the Republic :-)
BTW...Norn Iron Happy New Year, I ALWAYS enjoy yer perspective on things over here :-)
Here's a second attempt to get the hyperlink to connect!
Were I in Ireland, I simply would not be a member of Sinn Fein, whose ties to the IRA appear to me to grow more tenuous. That's because Sinn Fein acknowledges that many voters realize what an impediment to progress those ties can be. Irish voters who cast their ballot for parties other than Sinn Fein are no less patriotic than anyone else.
IMHO, if more American IRA sympathizers and/or supporters made themselves aware of the various IRA factions' Marxist, Islamic Terrorist, and Criminal ties, it would perhaps temper their enthusiasm for the organization, if not the cause.
Of course the BBC, MI5, MI6, and the entire British Government put out a great deal of mis-and-dis-information about their adversaries in the IRA in all its various factions. But you can't blame them for shooting back with the ammunition so handily provided.
I hope Ulster will join the Republic, when there are enough votes to do that by an overwhelming plebiscite. In the meantime, those in the Republic will continue working on their remarkable economic advances of the last decade to make a vote for union as attractive to everyone in the North as possible. It is also possible that Ulster will become a jointly administered autonmous territory as a half-way step. The IRA and the UDF take turns manning the barricades to this process.
BTW, the violence-prone Presbyterians concentrated in the North are a problem in and of themselves, and mirror in their organizations, many of the deficits of the IRA. The Church of Ireland (once the "official state religion," which of course operates on both sides of the border) is an Anglican church, and thus somehow reviled as "papist," by the Bible- beating-store-front bunko-artists, like Ian Paisley and many far worse. The other Protestants of the Republic and in Ulster, who belong to so-called 'non-conforming sects'(Baptists, Quakers, Bretheren, etc.) are also peaceable.
When it comes to the practice of religion and politics south of the border, The Republic of Ireland is one of the MOST tolerant places on the planet. Dissent does not mean disloyalty there. Neither should it on this site.
The Presbyterian Church in Ireland [22%] and the other smaller Presbyterian Churches are no more 'violence prone' than the Catholic Church [40%] or the Church of Ireland [15%].
Religious labels are often used for people who are only nominally church members and for those who are members of no church. Such inappropriate labelling only confuses the issues involved in the struggle for territorial sovereignty.
Bunkum. Sinn Fein and IRA are simply two labels for different functions of one movement. Adams and McGuinness are top figures in each.
About the only thing incorrect I see in what francohio said is when he said they lack ideology.
They are Marxist.
That said, it's quite possible to be pro-Irish and anti-IRA.Yep.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.