Thatcher in hospital

Renn

Wait a minute, why the f*ck are people suddenly so concerned about the mining towns in England and Wales? This is baffling.

optogirl

Renn wrote: »

Wait a minute, why the f*ck are people suddenly so concerned about the mining towns in England and Wales? This is baffling.

What's sudden about it - many people are simply still angry about it

R P McMurphy

sam34 wrote: »

i grew up in an area with a strong republican ethos

as school kids, we used get hours of fun out of this: (it was the 80s and there was fcuk all else to do...)

draw a stick woman on the palm of your right hand
scribble on the palm of your left hand

place right hand, palm up, on top of left hand and chant:

"this is maggie thatcher
throw her up and catch her" (while making throwing gesture)

then rub hands together saying "squish squash" twice

then display left palm and say
"now THIS is maggie thatcher"

somehoe doesnt have the same effect when you have to read it rather than witness it

but trust me, it's fun

We used to do the same but had completely forgotten about it

karma_

Renn wrote: »

Wait a minute, why the f*ck are people suddenly so concerned about the mining towns in England and Wales? This is baffling.

I understand there will be a minority who actually mourn the evil old hag, that however will not dampen my spirits when she finally kicks.

Renn

optogirl wrote: »

What's sudden about it - many people are simply still angry about it

I can see that, but why? Not find it all a little bit weird to be wishing death on someone that did something that didn't actually affect you in the slightest?

who the fug

optogirl wrote: »

What's sudden about it - many people are simply still angry about it

Same as some people are still pissed off about the 3 day week; suggest them mining villages have a go at the union leadership that led them into oblivion


Maggie was always lucky with her enemies

up for anything

I for one owe a lot to Maggie Thatcher and Thatcher's Britain.

I left this country for England on a Wednesday evening in January 1985, travelling on a Slattery's coach after having been gainfully unemployed and unemployable for a couple of years. I started work, in London, the following Monday and in two years had bought my own place and worked my way through my pick of jobs from a starting salary of £4,300pa to £20,000pa while the people left behind in Ireland were still scratching their pubes. Came back to Ireland set for life as I thought, but ended up back to square one and now scratching my greying pubes.

Get well soon, Maggie. You are needed here. There's a few unions that need breaking.

prinz

Fratton Fred wrote: »

The woman had balls and for that i admire her, if I don't particularly like her..

Perfect sum up. Equal parts admiration and disdain. They cancel each other out, and in the end if she lives or dies means nothing to me tbh. We could definitely use someone with the balls she had here.

Bottle_of_Smoke

Bizarre how many people hate her because of the hunger strikers yet call the political department of the hungerstrikers organisation(who have now disarmed) terrorists and criticise them wherever possible.

I find the **** over her upcoming death a bit tiresome to be honest. I mean I actually think I could better understand it if people were celebrating an anniversary of her assassination.

The reality is she's lived well above the average life expectancy and the north remains in the UK. Furthermore today's republican prisoners don't have political status. Would almost appear like she won. Thus celebrating her death from natural causes is pretty embarrassing.

optogirl

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Bizarre how many people hate her because of the hunger strikers yet call the political department of the hungerstrikers organisation(who have now disarmed) terrorists and criticise them wherever possible.

I find the **** over her upcoming death a bit tiresome to be honest. I mean I actually think I could better understand it if people were celebrating an anniversary of her assassination.

The reality is she's lived well above the average life expectancy and the north remains in the UK. Furthermore today's republican prisoners don't have political status. Would almost appear like she won. Thus celebrating her death from natural causes is pretty embarrassing.

I'm not celebrating her death, simply don't care if she dies. I don't agree with her politics and feel she was detrimental to English society. I accept that some people enjoyed benefit from her reign but in my opinion she did a lot more damage than good.

karma_

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Bizarre how many people hate her because of the hunger strikers yet call the political department of the hungerstrikers organisation(who have now disarmed) terrorists and criticise them wherever possible.

I find the **** over her upcoming death a bit tiresome to be honest. I mean I actually think I could better understand it if people were celebrating an anniversary of her assassination.

The reality is she's lived well above the average life expectancy and the north remains in the UK. Furthermore today's republican prisoners don't have political status. Would almost appear like she won. Thus celebrating her death from natural causes is pretty embarrassing.

My glee at her impending doom has little to do with republicanism, it has everything to do with her being a compassion-less, evil, ruthless, conniving, warmongering, cold, heartless and all round bad human being.

Firehen

I think this is hilarious.

People actually think she's some sort of Darth Vader-esque villian who was out to personally ruin their lives for no other reason but her own pleasure.

The truth is, she was a hard nosed politician who did what she (and many others) thought was best for her country. The UK hardly crumbled into a mess after her reign, did it? As far as her contribution to the north, surely there were far worse people on both sides than her? I ask out of naivety, as I never had to live under her leadership.

Personally, I don't like her, and I don't agree with some of the things she was responsible for, but its not like she took a prosperous, booming country and turned it into a barely functioning mess that is the laughing stock of the western world.

As for those who are outraged at some of the comments, grow a spine. She put herself in the firing line by the actions she took. I'm sure she knew this at the time and if anyone is able to handle abuse on their deathbed, its Thatcher.

LordSutch

Mrs T admired all over the world as the 'Iron Lady' but equally loved & loathed back home in equal amounts, loathed by the IRA as she played hard ball with them, while at the same she was loved by all opponents of terrorism, loathed by Scargill & the NUM too, and yet truly loved by the City & the many millions up & down Britain who were able to purchase their council houses, she also stood up to Geraral Galtieri in the Falklands war/ dispute, but then the Poll tax was a giant mistake, and that alone is what stains her reputation for many of her true supporters.

The Iron Lady - Soft, she was not.

Bottle_of_Smoke

karma_ wrote: »

My glee at her impending doom has little to do with republicanism, it has everything to do with her being a compassion-less, evil, ruthless, conniving, warmongering, cold, heartless and all round bad human being.

I'm not singling you or anyone else out but hatred of Thatcher in Ireland is nearly always Bobby Sands related. This thread wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her handling of the hungerstrikers. And that's fair enough she was an absolute c*nt the way she handled it.

optogirl wrote: »

I'm not celebrating her death, simply don't care if she dies. I don't agree with her politics and feel she was detrimental to English society. I accept that some people enjoyed benefit from her reign but in my opinion she did a lot more damage than good.

There's plenty of politicians in foreign countries who have been detrimental to their people and did more damage than good. Yet you rarely see threads like this about them. As I said not singling you out I'm just pointing out the patheticness of people pretending they're delighted she's dying.

R P McMurphy

The strong dislike for her is certainly related to the deaths of the ten hunger strikers, particularly Bobby Sands. Those who were children in the early eighties had the memory of Bobby Sands emblazoned on their minds and is natural that their is still a residual feeling of hatred left for the woman. Will I shed a tear on her passing? will I ****

LordSutch

R P McMurphy wrote: »

The strong dislike for her is certainly related to the deaths of the ten hunger strikers, particularly Bobby Sands. Those who were children in the early eighties had the memory of Bobby Sands emblazoned on their minds and is natural that their is still a residual feeling of hatred left for the woman. Will I shed a tear on her passing? will I ****

Yes indeed, specially if you were an IRA sympathiser/supporter.

Renn

That last bit was starred out. Will you...?

FlutterinBantam

karma_ wrote: »

I understand there will be a minority who actually mourn the evil old hag, that however will not dampen my spirits when she finally kicks.

Typical response from a quarter who thought they could wave the big stick and always win.

She gave the Weetabixed haired hardliner Scargill and his bullies a good solid brogue up the plum bag and banged some sense into them.

She told the blanket boys to smear all the walls they liked, she wouldn't change, and she kept her word while these lads died in their midden encrusted mausoleums.

Called them out so she did, and didn't step back.


Long may her spirit survive.

thebigbiffo

FlutterinBantam wrote: »

Long may her spirit survive.

holy mother of the divine lamb of f'uckin jesus h christ on a stick flute, that just sucks

up for anything

If only our own politicians could engender the same hatred in us that other countries political figures do, but then that might actually mean us getting up off our arses and doing something about them. Easy to voice hatred and wish agonising deaths on foreign politicians but difficult to get more than lukewarm about our own.

Bottle_of_Smoke

FlutterinBantam wrote: »

She told the blanket boys to smear all the walls they liked, she wouldn't change, and she kept her word while these lads died in their midden encrusted mausoleums.

Called them out so she did, and didn't step back.


Long may her spirit survive.

You do realise she then gave in to republican prisoner demands? All of them other than the right not to do prison work. Which they were later banned from doing after the maze prison breakout?

She either should have given them political status before many men died or destroyed their bodies from starvation(and thus generated much support for Sinn Fein/IRA) or she should have held out until they lost the will the starve themselves.

Her middle ground decision to cave after 10 men died was the worst of both worlds

Son Of A Vidic

LordSutch wrote: »

Yes indeed, specially if you were an IRA sympathiser/supporter.

Wrong! I knew plenty of people who did not have republican leanings, yet they also had a hatred and dislike towards her.

R P McMurphy

A little known fact about the woman is that she was such a snob that she failed to invite her own parents to her wedding as her dad was a mere shop keeper

LordSutch

medicman2009 wrote: »

Wrong! I knew plenty of people who did not have republican leanings, yet they also had a hatred and dislike towards her.

His dislike of her was in direct relation to the deaths of the IRA hunger strikers . . . .

I already said in a previous post that she was loved & loathed in equal amounts by many other paople.

Renn

medicman2009 wrote: »

Wrong! I knew plenty of people who did not have republican leanings, yet they also had a hatred and dislike towards her.

All these people living in the mining towns?

D-Generate

It is all quite baffling that so many people on boards.ie detest her for two reasons.

1) The majority of us didn't grow up in the UK and most certainly aren't miners from the north of Britain.

2) The majority of us were probably below voting age during the entire 3 terms that she served. With that I imagine that few of us actually had much care for current affairs at the time.

I think there is just massive bandwagoning for this topic and the majority cheering for her death have only three pieces of knowledge about her, if event that.

1) She was prepared to let Bobby Sands starve and was tough on the IRA.

2) She shut down the economic black holes that are the mines.

3) Her government was close to the Chilean government at the time and she was friendly with Pinochet.

Only the last point is the one that I have serious contention with and perhaps aspects of the first point.

She pretty much rescues Britain from entering hyper-inflation and bankruptcy and set precedent for future fiscal policies that have seen Britain get through the latest crisis pretty well.
Her support of free markets and deregulation placed London at the centre of the global markets which resulted in massive income revenues for Britain. Bankers and Traders might get a lot of stick but lets face facts that they get paid a lot and subsequently get taxed a lot (40%-50%) which generates massive revenues, they also spend a lot. Britain would be in the ****ter if it wasn't such a mecca for banks and trading.
Her support of free markets also mean that London has a lower cost of living than Dublin and pretty much anywhere in Ireland. I get pretty shocked when I go home and have to fork over such a ridiculous amount for a pint.
She also had the balls to stand up to trade unions and the public service. I say many of the posters here wanting her dead berate Cowen and Co for allowing the PS be paid so much and would love a leader as strong as Thatcher to take charge.

She also contributed to the end of the Cold War. Herself and Reagan were hard-lined against the Soviet Union but they became close to Gorbachev and supported his principles which eventually led to the end of the Cold War.
She also was the only European leader that had the decency to stand up to Libya after it bombed a club in Germany, a European ally. Although she had no love of the EEC she did recognize that this was an attack on European soil and an attack on American citizens and whilst the other leaders pussy-footed about she granted permission to the US to refuel at British military bases on their way to go bomb Gadaffi to kingdom come. Although there were further atrocities committed by Libya after that I have no doubt though that there would have been more had Gadaffi thought he wouldn't be obliterated.


tl;dr Many are hypocrites who would actually love a strong leader to stand up against trade unions and reduce the benefit dependency culture that exists in Ireland now.

Son Of A Vidic

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Furthermore today's republican prisoners don't have political status. Would almost appear like she won. Thus celebrating her death from natural causes is pretty embarrassing.

Don't be downhearted, I wouldn't hold to much regard for today's alleged 'Republican' prisoners. They're not republican! The IRA ended it's armed campaign, plenty of concessions were given through a viable and productive political path that was offered by the British. Something the British said they would never do.

Son Of A Vidic

Renn wrote: »

All these people living in the mining towns?

What are you on about? What concern have I with mining towns. Where did I ever mention mining? Have I to start spelling things out now in great detail?

People who are not traditionally republican = for example, a traditional Fine Gael family/supporter. They may not have supported the IRA's armed struggle, but some of them hated Maggie nonetheless.

Is that a bit clearer now????

SarahBeep!

Slow day at the news desk I presume!!

Fratton Fred

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

You do realise she then gave in to republican prisoner demands? All of them other than the right not to do prison work. Which they were later banned from doing after the maze prison breakout?

She either should have given them political status before many men died or destroyed their bodies from starvation(and thus generated much support for Sinn Fein/IRA) or she should have held out until they lost the will the starve themselves.

Her middle ground decision to cave after 10 men died was the worst of both worlds

Actually, she gave in before ten men died, but the remainder were ordered to continue by the IRA leadership. http://www.longkesh.info/2008/03/27/eamon-mccann-richard-isnt-a-liar-he-told-the-truth-in-his-book-2008/