Irishmen/women in the British Armed Forces

IrishRover94

If an Irish person joins the brits army are they disloyal to the republic? i was just wonderin cos im intersted in joining them!

bleedinrapidbud

No my Grandad and his brother were in the Brits his brother was killed in action.My friends cousin is in the Brits and my friend is joining soon so no its not disloyal but i still think their all mad:D

Poccington

Are we really gonna go through this again?

barney 20v

Poccington wrote: »

Are we really gonna go through this again?

Has this topic been discussed before? if so why don't you as a mod post a link to it? or are we to await enlightenment?

They are not disloyal to the Republic in my opinion, but they are immoral to join an armed forces involved in illegal wars which lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocents.

Local-womanizer

barney 20v wrote: »

Has this topic been discussed before? if so why don't you as a mod post a link to it? or are we to await enlightenment?

In fairness to Poc a quick search will throw up numourus threads on this topic, all ending in insults and petty arguments.

And no,not disloyal,its only a job.

barney 20v

Local-womanizer wrote: »

In fairness to Poc a quick search will throw up numourus threads on this topic, all ending in insults and petty arguments.

And no,not disloyal,its only a job.

Is it? ask the 1,000,000 dead Iraqis what they think of the british armed forces "work"

barney 20v

Local-womanizer wrote: »

In fairness to Poc a quick search will throw up numourus threads on this topic, all ending in insults and petty arguments.

And no,not disloyal,its only a job.

Only a job? lol.... what a job to have eh?

barney 20v

LIGHTNINGtemp wrote: »

Try telling that to the families of the all the Irish soldiers that fought and died in WW1 and WW2. I have a my officer interview for the Royal Navy next month and I dont care if people have the above attitude.

But old pip! the Republic did not exist during WW1!
John Redmond lead thousands of Irish men to a needless death on behalf of the "british empire" with his false promises....

I am glad you " DON'T CARE ".... It seems to be a trait necessary to join the british military, as is questionable morals and the ability to kill large numbers of innocents on behalf of the "british" government.

Local-womanizer

Dident take long.............

BigDuffman

All aboard the crusty / provo train....next stop. Statistics, empty rhetoric and inflated opinions.

No shame at all. The BA is a highly professional modern army. Offers great oppportunities to anyone interested in a military lifestyle.

cyrusdvirus

yawn.

Troll alert

Vorsprung

In before the lock....

lcrcboy

If your interested in a military lifestyle join them, your always going to get people online telling you your disloyal and a traitor but the truth is in real life most people in Ireland dont care anymore, nobody is going to stop you in the street and call you a traitor, or ring you up and say something similar, I think yo will find most people to be interested in what you are doing and ask questions and then move on to another topic of conversation

barney 20v

Local-womanizer wrote: »

Dident take long.............

Please do expand on that comment......

Local-womanizer

barney 20v wrote: »

Please do expand on that comment......

Whether you like it or not Irishmen have always been joining the BA and will continue to do so. At the end of the day those who do join dont give a toss about what the so called patriots here think,and rightly so.

And yes,what a job it is,its interesting and offers so much more compared to other jobs in civvie life.And you recieve money in return for your services,so yes it is technically a job.

This really has been done to death. One thing I have always been told is "Patriotism wont pay the bills!"

barney 20v

Local-womanizer wrote: »

Whether you like it or not Irishmen have always been joining the BA and will continue to do so. At the end of the day those who do join dont give a toss about what the so called patriots here think,and rightly so.

And yes,what a job it is,its interesting and offers so much more compared to other jobs in civvie life.And you recieve money in return for your services,so yes it is technically a job.

This really has been done to death. One thing I have always been told is "Patriotism wont pay the bills!"

Who mentioned anything about patriots?
Is it beyond your comprehension that someone may object to the british army and not be a republican or a "patriot"?
If you consider fighting illegal wars for a corrupt government is "interesting" then i fear your grasp on what is moral and human is within the levels deemed necessary to join the "british army"

InTheTrees

I dont see anything wrong with it. Times have changed.

It would be nice however if our young men and women chose to serve the Republic rather than somehwre else.

concussion

Irish men have been fighting for the British and everyone else for centuries. Why stop now? If you want to go and live up to the great soldiers who have gone ahead of you.

I'm quite happy with my moral compass Barney, you saying otherwise doesn't bother me. Go drag your barstool somewhere else.

Fratton Fred

barney 20v wrote: »

Who mentioned anything about patriots?
Is it beyond your comprehension that someone may object to the british army and not be a republican or a "patriot"?
If you consider fighting illegal wars for a corrupt government is "interesting" then i fear your grasp on what is moral and human is within the levels deemed necessary to join the "british army"

Britain won't be involved in another Iraq type war in our lifetime, too many lessons learnt from the last one.

I'd be interested on why you say "Wars" though and why you think the British government is corrupt. Using phrases like that doesn't really help your arguement.

lcrcboy

barney 20v wrote: »

Who mentioned anything about patriots?
Is it beyond your comprehension that someone may object to the british army and not be a republican or a "patriot"?
If you consider fighting illegal wars for a corrupt government is "interesting" then i fear your grasp on what is moral and human is within the levels deemed necessary to join the "british army"

not saying your wrong or right but do you have facts to back up what your saying, you should think about that before firing around accusations which are effecting a persons decission on a life changing choice

barney 20v

Fratton Fred wrote: »

Britain won't be involved in another Iraq type war in our lifetime, too many lessons learnt from the last one.

I'd be interested on why you say "Wars" though and why you think the British government is corrupt. Using phrases like that doesn't really help your arguement.

I am not arguing!
I simply offered my opinion...
I could offer the whole WMD issue as proof of british double standards and corruption or i could use the example of last week when the uk announced they are trying to bribe taliban fighters from continuing to butcher brit soldiers in Helmand etc....
The british government say one thing and then do another.
What ever happened to "no negotiating with terrorists" ?

iceage

You could probably say the same about other Governments as well..Lets not forget that the British weren't the only ones in Iraq looking for WMD's. And as far as I know every Government says one thing and does the other...all for the greater good of course and to keep those of the tinfoil hat brigade on they're toes my man.

Oh and as an afterthought barney, Welcome to the Military Forum.

barney 20v

concussion wrote: »

Irish men have been fighting for the British and everyone else for centuries. Why stop now? If you want to go and live up to the great soldiers who have gone ahead of you.

I'm quite happy with my moral compass Barney, you saying otherwise doesn't bother me. Go drag your barstool somewhere else.

Oh a personal slur...... how quaint!
If you think joining ANY military which fights illegal and immoral wars is justifiable
then i'd suggest getting your "moral compass" re-calibrated.
Iraq,1 million dead in a country with no means to threaten the "uk" No legal basis for attack or intervention
Afghanistan, A major military attack coupled with a massive attempt to bribe the very people they are attacking!

concussion

That's nice, thanks.

Edit: Actually I do retract that about the barstool, seeing as you're not going down that road.

iceage

No need to thank me Barny, I was just being polite..too much green tea you see, makes me all mellow.

Were you trying to make a point, I seemed to have missed it earlier.

Delancey

InTheTrees wrote: »

I dont see anything wrong with it. Times have changed.

It would be nice however if our young men and women chose to serve the Republic rather than somehwre else.

The above post seems to be contradicting itself.......... my nephew is interested in a military career and I have advised him that the first thing he needs to do is look to the UK for that career. The Irish military is underfunded and mickey mouse with limited opportunities ( said with respect to those here who have served in the Irish Defence Forces ) , I would advise anyone looking to a military career to forget Ireland , and oh yeah , recruitment freeze here anyway :rolleyes:

barney 20v

iceage wrote: »

No need to thank me Barny, I was just being polite..too much green tea you see, makes me all mellow.

Were you trying to make a point, I seemed to have missed it earlier.

ah..... sarcasm.... the lowest form of wit.
If you are ignorant to the facts concerning british policy in the mid -east then who am i to try to educate you eh old pip?

so that makes 1 personal slur and one backhanded sarcastic remark directed at me on this thread....
If people do not like to openly admit the illegality of the " COALITION OF THE WILLING'S" war on terror then it is their business... but to openly encourage enlisting in an army involved in such affairs is imho wrong.

No bar stool, no high horse, no republican or patriotic leanings... just facts and a moral judgement .

Local-womanizer

Barney,I dident mention the Patriot thing in relation to you.

The OP asked if it was disloyal to join the BA,a question which has been asked here more times than I care to remember,but it all ends the same ie,barstool Republicans throwing their old-fashioned comments around and insulting every coalition soldier!

Its not fact yet though is it? Nothing suggest that Afghanistan is a corrupt war. It has been pointed out in the media that paying off Taliban fighters is an effort to destabilise the Taliban network. Make it worthwhile for the grunts to stay out of the fight,but still pursue the leadership.

As for Iraq,many an expert are currently sorting out the ins and outs of that offensive.

Out of interest,do you object to the PDF in Afghanistan? Or are they corrupt aswell?

iceage

barney 20v wrote: »

ah..... sarcasm.... the lowest form of wit.
If you are ignorant to the facts concerning british policy in the mid -east then who am i to try to educate you eh old pip? QUOTE]

Finally!! someone who gets my humour.. About bloody time.:)

Facts barney give us facts, and none of that google/wiki/do gooder bullsh!t. We all know its dirty, we all know that the innocent are the ones that lose in the end, we ALL KNOW that the smiling handshaking politicians call the shots....and we all know why. Why oh why is it the big bad bold Engle-lish that get it in the neck everytime?

I'm interested to hear your version of events. In my defence I didn't use sarcasm, just wit. A subtle differance. If I was being sarcastic...you'd know.

BullyBeef

IrishRover94 wrote: »

If an Irish person joins the brits army are they disloyal to the republic? i was just wonderin cos im intersted in joining them!

The way I read that is like you are asking if a Irish person in the here & now today joins!
Ask yourself the following :-Has the Republic of Ireland got any laws to forbid its citizens from joining other nations armed services ?
Are any or all the Irish that work in Britain being disloyal to the republic ?
Would all the people from the republic who constantly shop in Northern Ireland not be showing some form of disloyalty , in a time of deep biting recession & high unemployment .
Does/has the republic enjoyed many benefits of the EU & there by the nations that help provide trade/commerce & stability.
History does show a long line of Irishmen serving in or for other armed forces, obviously there are more angles to consider . In a way you or we are extremely lucky to have this modern technology at our fingertips. I suggest you make full use of it not only by reading this board but looking further a field .
Military subjects are imbedded with history, politics & proper gander there’s no getting away from that& there are two sides to every coin .
In the relatively free & peaceful world we live in that’s probably a good thing as we all tend to wear blinkers at times its human nature.
I do think that in today’s world no matter what views individuals hold ,its because men & women freely join up, consequently we are left at home to enjoy the relative freedom & peace like so few generations before have .Nations & politicians do & will make some wrong calls but the men & women in service are duty bound to follow orders ,be that in a barracks or on a frontline, that’s a professional army.

The freedom afforded means groups of all ideals or persuasions can operate like the Stop the War Coalition They say:-If you are a member of an organisation that is opposed to Bush and Blair's on-going "war on terror" and agree with our aims and objectives, we urge you to ask your organisation to consider affiliating to the Stop the War Coalition. Individuals are also welcome to join the Stop the War Coalition. Together, we can make our voice heard.

They sell all types of goods ,something for anyone
Stop the War campaigns afghan slippers ,mugs& ,keyrings or t shirts& books etc
Not forgetting the :-drop beats not bombs etc anti war songs
Another planned event was the,:-
Irish anti war movement demo at Shannon on valantines day with the planned vigil.

Then theres items like this
Thursday, 4 September 2008
More and more recruits from the Republic of Ireland are flocking across the border to sign on to fight
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/irish-recruits-flock-to-join-british-army-13960288.html

2008 Lure of combat draws Irish men and women to British army
Being able to sign up at 16 years is a key factor for Irish recruits to the British armed forces, writes Conor Lally
THE RISKS inherent in the British army's missions in Iraq and Afghanistan have done nothing to deter Irish men and women from joining the forces.
From Times Online
September 10, 2008
Irish recruits sign up for British Army in cross-border revolution
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4724617.ece

Letter To Potential Recruits
Commanding
1st BATTALION
THE ROYAL IRISH REGIMENT
http://www.army.mod.uk/infantry/regiments/12623.aspx
http://republic-of-ireland.britishlegion.org.uk/

Look deeply at your motives for joining any military whatever nation they are governed by & try to get asking questions from people who are or have served in these situations.

iceage

I think I owe barney an apology. My anti-Brit knee jerk reaction sometimes gets the better of me. If your issue is with joining the Military in general well then of course you are entitled to your opinion and you are to be applauded for that, stick to your guns I say so to speak but the facts and figure really speak for themselves.

Most of the guys that are interested in doing so have already made up they're minds and have the facts and info required. In my time here I have seen hardly any suggestion of assistance bar the obvious "Ring/Email the ******** (enter which ever suits, British, US, French etc) recruiting centres.