Posted on 03/08/2009 6:36:32 AM PDT by presidio9
Suspected IRA dissidents opened fire on British troops and pizza delivery men outside a Northern Ireland army base, killing two soldiers and wounding four other people. Police said Sunday the attackers fired on their victims again as they lay wounded on the ground.
Saturday night's attack at the entrance to Massereene army barracks in Antrim, west of Belfast, was the first killing of British troops in Northern Ireland since 1997. Its callousness, in targeting soldiers and civilians alike, appeared calculated to inflame community tensions and undermine Northern Ireland's Catholic-Protestant administration.
"The whole country is shocked and outraged at the evil and cowardly attack," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in London. "I assure you that we will bring these murderers to justice. No murderer will be able to derail a peace process that has the support of the people of Northern Ireland."
In Dublin, the Irish government said virtually nobody in either part of Ireland wanted to rekindle a conflict that left more than 3,700 dead. Leaders pledged greater security cooperation with British security forces in the north to catch and imprison the dissidents, who are strongest along the Irish border.
"Violence has been utterly rejected by the people of this island, both north and south," said Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen. "A tiny group of evil people cannot, and will not, undermine the will of the people of Ireland to live in peace together. "
Police Chief Superintendent Derek Williamson, who is leading the hunt for the killers, said two men armed with assault rifles both opened fire from a car on a group of four soldiers taking delivery of food from two Domino's Pizza drivers. He said it wasn't clear whether all six were hit at that point,
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
On my bus tour, I was surprised to learn that when we crossed from Ireland into Northern Ireland, that we would have to change from using Euros to British pounds.
I'd love to back myself one day, but at this time in my life, I figure I'm lucky to have gotten there once at least.
I hope you do get to go, because it is a beautiful place.
No. He actually walked into the Capitol a coupla days ago, with some assistance.
Seems like God doesn’t want him, and neither does the Devil!
In Dublin two years ago, I was surprised at all the Poles there. Even a daily Polish newspaper. They flocked in when the economy was booming and I hear many are signing for welfare now. One of the benefits of EUism.
So now the greatest threat to N. Ireland are “Pizza Delivery Men”?
Well, we’re goint to Ireland next month, and my wife didn’t want to go to Northern Ireland saying there was too much violence. I scoffed at her objections saying the violence there was a thing of the past. Now who has egg on his face?
If you follow that logic, there are lots of places the US doesn't belong in — like California.
You know, I was going to point out your mistake, but even with the mistake it makes sense.
I am aware of that. However the article said they really don’t know who did this.
My first trip to England, Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland was back in 2006. I was shocked at the number of foreigners they had working at the hotels we stayed at along the way. The tour I took was 20 days, and at each hotel, the bulk of the staff were either Czech, Polish, Lithuanian, Romanian, etc. Our tour guide was Irish, and told us that the Irish Ferries company we were using to cross from Wales to Waterford, Ireland, had fired all the local people, and hired nothing but Poles to run the ferries. I guess it was cheaper to hire foreigners than pay the higher wages to native-born employees.
It was kind of a culture shock to me to have to deal with so many people who weren't from the country I was visiting. In many cases, these workers couldn't even speak English. Taking your orders was one thing, but if you had a problem with your food, or made a special request, they couldn't understand what you were saying.
I went back and read my notes from my trip, and here's what I wrote: "One other thing that has bothered me since we've been in Ireland and Scotland is the large amount of foreigners working at the hotels. Most can't speak or understand English. It's like: "Hey!! where are the Irish people in Ireland, and the Scottish people in Scotland? The Irish Ferries are manned solely by Polish people. At the Dublin dinner and cabaret, we were served primarily by Asians. At the hotel on the Isle of Skye, one kid was from Turkey, and the other were all from other countries, and had problems understanding us. Tonight we had all Czechs waiting on us. WTF?"
I'm far from being anti-immigration. Both my parents were immigrants to America. But, when you visit other countries, you want to be able to interact with the people native to that country. You might run into people from other countries along the way, but you don't expect the hotels and businesses you deal with to be so over-run with foreign-speaking workers, that you almost forget the country you're presently visiting.
The Real IRA have claimed responsibility.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article5870376.ece
‘Tonight, using a recognised codename, the Real IRA claimed responsibility for the attack in a call to the Sunday Tribune, an Irish newspaper.’
Wow you really had a bad tour of Belfast if you hate it that much.
I lived there for 2 years and I’d move back in a heartbeat.
The murals you saw are a tiny part of the city. Let me guess - off the Falls Road?
The city center is awesome. You still have the historic places like the Crown and City Hall. But it has also become very cosmopolitan in recent years despite it’s violent history.
But despite being a city, it still has a nice small town feel and quite safe to walk around.
Of course one of the things I like about it is that Americans are still afraid to go there and it hasn’t become overrun by tourists the way the southwest of Ireland has.
“Most people in Northern Ireland wish to remain in the UK. As such, your opinion on the matter counts for jack s**t....”
That is a load of crap. No native born Irishman would ever even think of being british..... gag me.
“If you follow that logic, there are lots of places the US doesn’t belong in — like California. “
You are not actually comparing the USA to britain? That’s horrible.
Ditto!
I think I was turned off when the tour guide they had hired to take us around Belfast, kept mentioning Bill Clinton. That was her first mistake. The unending, controversial murals, and the monuments to IRA members (I'm not sure what street they were on), only added to my disappointment of the place. I was really put off by the way the guide (born and raised in Belfast) basically shoved all that political stuff in our face the first part of the tour. After viewing the anti-Bush, anti-Israel murals, as well as others with negative messages, I was so pi$$ed off, all I wanted was for the tour to end.
The steak dinner at the restaurant in the Europa didn't help either. I don't think I had a worse piece of meat my whole trip. It was supposed to be rib-eye, done medium, but it was practically charred and dry as a popcorn fart.
I wasn't the only one on the tour who felt that way. The group consisted of Aussies, Canadians and New Zealanders, as well as other folks from the U.S., and many said they would have rather passed Belfast by completely.
You are not actually comparing the USA to britain? That’s horrible.
Only in a round about way....
I was talking about areas that have been taken over hundreds of years ago by force... and not reversing history by giving land back.
Your logic almost suggests we should give the entire US back to the Indians....:^)
The English have been in Ireland even before Columbus set sail.
...and it's not so horrible a comparison...
How is that comment related to this incident?
Let me get this right; you regard the British as your enemy, and support the cause of these terrorists?
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