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Post by Frenchie on May 26, 2009 11:13:59 GMT 1
Some, who are not actively keeping abreast of everyday events in Northern Ireland may point an accusing finger at me and say that I magnify the depth of the burgeoning situation in the Province by seeking out these stories and publishing them here on this forum. I would answer by saying that these events are happening, and they are happening with a frequency which is increasing at an alarming rate. The two major News channel outlets have yet to latch on to this trend either by design or by omission, take your choice and apply your theory as to why; there are plenty to pick from. The Good Friday agreement is straw that the Government still clings to but the mistakes committed therein are plain to see and are now coming to sadistic fruition. We see now the old circular track of atrocity and retaliation beginning to emerge as the leading stories from the Province. The situation is getting increasingly vicious and maddeningly more frequent. Old scores are being settled and old enemies are facing each other across the scars of the old peace-lines which are still - despite what the interested parties would have us believe - very real and physical divisions in the major cities. This retaliatory mentality can very quickly turn into an horrific quagmire of sectarian violence not seen for a long time in the troubled Province. I fear for the safety of people I have become friends with over the water. I fear the end of peace and the growth that the Province has enjoyed during the past decade. I fear the return to violence that a lot of us have witnessed at first hand. I have hope too. I hope that sense will prevail. I hope that the peaceful people of Northern Ireland will once more raise their voices and demand 'Enough!'
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bigstevie
Kingsman
Honorary Member
Posts: 197
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Post by bigstevie on May 26, 2009 17:39:07 GMT 1
Thanks for your thoughts and consideration Ed - it is much appreciated. For those who may have such thoughts as Ed describes, and for those who may not have an opinion either way, might I offer a bit of local insight to expand on his reasoning. The Province is at the highest level of terrorist threat since the 'peace' talks began about ten years ago. The 'Real' IRA are attempting to overturn the whole applecart by de-stabilising Sinn Fein and its powerbase, the nationalist people in the areas such as West Belfast and Bogside / Creggan etc. After the murders earlier this year the RIRA / 32 County Solidarity Movement (the political wing) set their stall out in a press conference, and a statement by an masked armed man at a commemoration in a graveyard in Derry City. They declared the Sinn Fein and their leaders as traitors and Martin McGuinness was threatened personally with death. Since then the usual old games have gone on between the police and the terrs - you know what I mean - and everyone is basically waiting for the next attack. Not only are police officers under threat but also those who work for them like contractors etc. This was a common tactic during the late 70's and into the 90's. Even before the threat became more widely recognised it was known that targetting had gone on almost without a pause. So what is stopping the whole firestorm from starting again? Well the last ten years have seen more change than anyone realised. Socially we have become like any mainland county, and the change from violence-based existence to one of 'normality' has gone on almost without even the population themselves noticing. Simply put, people began to like each other and get on with each other - and perhaps more importantly, they began to like themselves as well. Opportunities for the young, a generation who had not been branded by the extremes of the past, and a will to seek other things in their lives have made the difference. Older people saw their kids grow up and thrive in a new environment, to attain things and aspire to things that would have been both impossible and also anaethema to them only a decade ago. Society has evolved. So where did these new terrs come from? From their families.....perhaps in the same mould as the youth of black projects in New York or Los Angeles, or even from areas of the mainland, where the need for 'respect' and power are attained by force and cruelty. It is definately a family trait, and the old hands are passing on their knowledge and skills to the 'new blood'. Anyone who served here during the 70's can see the patterns emerge in how these new boyos carry out their tasks. There is indeed the potential for violence - but I would temper it with a strong intention to force a bit of 'horse-trading'. RIRA are going to blackmail Sinn Fein into impotence, and try to start another war if they think they need to, to try to gain the power and influence on both sides of the border. The problem is, the last time Sinn Fein went to the polls in the South they got hammered, and a widely-publicised poll in a Dublin newspaper offered the stark opinion that the people of the Republic a) wished the North well in its quest to move on; b) did not want the North to re-unite with them, c) did not wish to end up paying for any such re-unification, and d) considered that the two countries were too socially too far apart for any attempt to rejoin them. So really RIRA are left with a war on two fronts - enemies behind, and enemies before them. So they will try to de-stabilise the North to secure a seat at the table for themselves. This all leaves Sinn Fein in the position of being 'establishment' - and it is very likely that, to protect themsleves from both death or a loss of power, they are going to have to help the forces of law and order to clear up the problem by giving as much information as possible on their 'old comrades'. What price the prospect of joint patrols of sneaky-beakies and 'nutting squad'? And, as in the past, the public try to continue as 'normal' in the face of such prospective fear....but I would conject that this is now thought of as 'crime' and a hindrance to our new normal life in the minds of many people. This is old stuff, from the past, almost like war re-enactors, people who are unable or unwilling to move on, or are scared to leave behind that which has been a part of their lives for so long. They don't know how to fill the hole that letting go of the 'struggle' would leave. I hope this makes sense....it is where we are, and for those who perhaps grumble as to why NI should be featured on these forums - for some, there will always be a part of them that never went home.
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