You've been looking in the wrong direction, the dangers are coming from the Left - read OP

Overheal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120750765#Comment_120750765

"almost exclusively left wing"

can you expand on that, because it doesn't seem like there is an exclusivity:

https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/25/europe/ireland-asylum-seekers-intl-cmd/index.html

https://www.euronews.com/2023/05/13/far-right-anti-immigration-activists-take-credit-for-burning-dublin-refugee-camp

So that seems baseless to assert. That would be like trying to argue dangers are "almost exclusively right wing" when there have been left wing acts of political violence.

SafeSurfer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120750841#Comment_120750841

The aim of the Official IRA, the Provisional IRA, the INLA, the IPLO, Saoradh, Continuity IRA, Saor Eire, was the establishment of a socialist republic.

SafeSurfer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120750928#Comment_120750928

I will try to put in terms that perhaps you can understand.

During my lifetime. In this country. Political violence. Has been almost exclusively left wing. That is. If one examines the number of politically motivated violent attacks. They are by a very significant majority. Perpetrated by those motivated by left wing political ideals.

Sudden Valley

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120751171#Comment_120751171

If the unionists had become left wing the ira would still have fought them. The IRA wanted northern ireland to unite with the South which was right wing so you are really stretching it to say the cause of the troubles was somehow linked to whether they were left wing or right wing . It would similar to saying most of the violence in your lifetime in ireland has been Catholic

Overheal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120751171#Comment_120751171

Thank you, exclusively/almost exclusively seemed like an unreasonable take.

I.R.Y.E.D

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120751171#Comment_120751171

The majority of bombings and shootings in this country from the 70s to the 90s were carried out by loyalists as was the largest terrorist attack, the Dublin and Monaghan bombing, not left wing organisations.

Unless you are going to try and claim that loyalists and the British security services were motivated by left wing ideals.

SafeSurfer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120751490#Comment_120751490

Or perhaps those bombings didn’t happen in my lifetime?

I.R.Y.E.D

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120751549#Comment_120751549

So born after 2000, even then the vast majority of politically motivated voilenc in this country wasn't carried out by left wing organisations

SafeSurfer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120751490#Comment_120751490

Also, I don’t believe your claim that the majority of bombings and shootings in this country were carried out by loyalists.

SafeSurfer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120751584#Comment_120751584

What? I want born in 1974 when the Dublin Monaghan bombings took place.

How many people have been killed in Ireland by politically motivated right wing violence compared to left wing violence?

I.R.Y.E.D

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120751585#Comment_120751585

Not my problem if you don't believe something that can be verified.

From memory apart from the Dublin and Monaghan bombings which are now suddenly something that happened in your lifetime, there were over 30 loyalist bomb attacks in this country in the 70s alone, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries and in one such incident they stabbed a man to death when he discovered them planting a bomb in Salins.

In the same period, if memory serves me correctly apart from the bombing of Mountbatten's yacht in Sligo, there were two bombings by nationalist groups in this country one at the border in Cavan and one in Laois that both resulted in the death of a member of the Gardaí, and two or three different members of nationalist groups blew themselves up making bombs in this country.

SafeSurfer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120751937#Comment_120751937

I have told you I wasn’t alive in 1974.

It wasn’t a part of your claim I was doubting, it was the claim you actually made.

This is the claim that you made:

“The majority of bombings and shootings in this country from the 70s to the 90s were carried out by loyalists”

Bombings and shootings you said. Verify away.

I.R.Y.E.D

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120751983#Comment_120751983

Taking the 70s again from memory. Excluding members of nationalist organisations shot by loyalist organisations, fueds, or shot by the authorities while attempting prison breaks etc in this country, three members of public were shot dead and others injured and two were stabbed to death in this country and others injured by loyalist groups

During the same period three members of the public were shot dead by nationalist groups and others injured during the commission of payroll and bank robberies, while one member of the Gardaí was shot dead .

Taking the 80s and 90s, excluding members of nationalist groups shot by loyalists, members of Gardaí etc. There were multiple bombings and a number of shooting incidents by loyalist groups that resulted in the deaths and serious injury to members of the public in this country as well as members of the Gardaí and defence forces.

During the same period, in this country, one bombing by a nationalist group on a train from Dublin to Belfast with thankfully no loss of life or injuries, eight or nine members of the Gardaí and defence forces fatally shot, and other members injured, mainly during the commission of other crimes such as bank and cash in transit robberies or the aftermath of those crimes and two members of the public under so called "legitimate targets" campaign, because they provided services to the RIC and British army in Northern Ireland, and three people accused of being informants for the Gardaí by nationalist groups

Again this is just from memory and discussions with a relative who was a member of special branch in the 70s and 80s, there are probably more on both sides, and there are resources online if your interested, but they debunk your claim that the largest levels of political volience against this country and members of the public in this country came or come from left wing nationalist groups.

However I don't disagree that loyalist groups and politicians are right wing or have right wing tendencies. I'd say the same about a lot of so called nationalist groups and politicians.

Annasopra

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120744824#Comment_120744824

What policy are you talking about?

Annasopra

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120749593#Comment_120749593

It was bullsh*t in Cork, Scotland and America

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/munster/arid-41058692.html

https://www.thenational.scot/news/23276574.aberdeenshire-school-forced-deny-children-identifying-cats/

https://www.google.ie/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna51439?espv=1

Flaneur OBrien

Well what do you know, the school puts out a statement saying no student identifies as a cat.

Quelle surprise. More bullsh*t from the eternally outraged.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/b6511134-1143-11ee-a92d-cf7c831c99b5?shareToken=f04834b601ee7874e6e7f111319612f9

@nullzero is https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/ to be trusted? They also consider byline times to be more trustworthy that the telegraph or the New York Post.

As I said before, how can you trust what you read if you can see (on the same page!) that the headline doesn’t match the story? I’m honestly not surprised that this story about the cat is bullsh*t.

For the record:

New York Post:

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/new-york-post/

Detailed Report

Bias Rating: RIGHT-CENTER

Factual Reporting: MIXED

Country: USA

Press Freedom Rank: MOSTLY FREE

Media Type: Newspaper

Traffic/Popularity: High Traffic

MBFC Credibility Rating: MEDIUM CREDIBILITY

Daily Telegraph:

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/daily-telegraph/

Detailed Report

Bias Rating: RIGHT

Factual Reporting: MIXED

Country: United Kingdom

Press Freedom Rank: MOSTLY FREE

Media Type: Newspaper

Traffic/Popularity: High Traffic

MBFC Credibility Rating: MEDIUM CREDIBILITY

Byline Times

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/byline-times/

Detailed Report

Bias Rating: LEFT-CENTER

Factual Reporting: HIGH

Country: United Kingdom

Press Freedom Rating: MOSTLY FREE

Media Type: Newspaper

Traffic/Popularity: Medium Traffic

MBFC Credibility Rating: HIGH CREDIBILITY

You’re not wrong to not trust a paper that just says, “trust us”. But they deserve the benefit of the doubt over the other papers mentioned as they are a credible source of information, bias or no.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120752900#Comment_120752900

I'm going by the audio, which very much makes reference to an animal in some context. Whether that context was literal or purely for the purposes of argument, we can't be certain at this point. What we also know is that animal identification is nothing new.

Katharine Birbalsingh, the activist head teacher and founder of Michaela Community School in west London, said that the education department needed to issue clear guidance to teachers on what they should do when a child identifies as an animal.

She said she was aware of a child at one school who identified as a gay male hologram, and at least one school where a whole group of pupils identified as cats. Birbalsingh said the issue of children wanting to be recognised as animals was a societal problem rooted in parents’ unwillingness to set boundaries.

She added: “This is not a school problem, it is a societal problem. As a society we have lost our way. Teachers and parents have allowed children to lead the way and adult authority has completely dissolved. We are scared of our children, we are scared of our responsibility of leading, and we are shying away from our duty of looking after our children.”

I think Birbalsingh cuts right to the core of the issue. When children are emboldened to assume that their sense of identity will be uncritically accepted by authority figures around them, whether that comes from parental figures or schools or any other authority, we shouldn't be surprised that this is the outcome. This links into how universities have become safe spaces, again -- where critical ideas are thrown to one side, all for the preservation of the feelings of the student. Jonathan Heidt spoke about this phenomenon best in his book, The Coddling of the American Mind, where he argues that overprotection of students is having a wholly negative effect on their sense of resilience in the real world.

So whilst we can ask dismissive questions such as, "What harm is being caused?", the causes and outcome of this phenomenon is bad most of all for the students themselves.

SafeSurfer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120752268#Comment_120752268

You claim

“There were multiple bombings and a number of shooting incidents by loyalist groups that resulted in the deaths and serious injury to members of the public in this country as well as members of the Gardaí and defence forces.”

I am aware of the multiple killings of Gardai and a member of the defence by the IRA, INLA etc.

I was not aware of a number of bombing and shooting attacks by loyalist paramilitaries resulting in deaths of members of the Gardai and defence forces.

Perhaps your relative in the Special Branch could clarify.

Flaneur OBrien

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120753018#Comment_120753018

Ah Birbalsingh. How she has got to where she is by playing a pantomime villain, I don't know. At least she should never get involved with politics again after her disastrous appointment as chair of the Social Mobility Commission. “Doing more harm than good” is how she described it. Indeed.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/jan/06/katharine-birbalsingh-quits-as-the-governments-social-mobility-chair

She's nothing more than a Tory's wet dream of what a principal should be. I'm very glad most people I know see her as a nutter.

EVERYTHING is changing. That's the part I don't think she or her supporters get. The western world is becoming more progressive. (Fair, there's enough MAGA heads in America that wishes it wasn't so, and the Tory's still rule in the UK), but the facts speak for themselves. Kids are way more open to other kids being gay, transgender, or having gay parents than they used to etc. etc. And that's great. Shame has caused so many poor innocents to take their own lives over the years. So while Birbalsingh may have her corner of the world that's growing smaller by the year, imo, she is doing the children she teaches a disservice as they won't be prepared for the more open, inclusive world that actually exists, not the cold, business world where everyone fits into a nice box.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120751611#Comment_120751611

Are we allowed to cout child murders by the RCC in that?

SafeSurfer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120753295#Comment_120753295

You do whatever feels right.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120753345#Comment_120753345

In that case, the answer to your questio. Is that he RCC killed several.hundred babies (that we know of) and abused countless children and women. Sounds like a valid threat to me

nullzero

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120752900#Comment_120752900

Media fact check are regularly criticised for their methodology, so whether you feel they should be trusted boils down to your own beliefs/biases like much of this discussion.

It's telling that your chosen answer to the question I posed (where exactly did I say I believed anything said in any newspaper?) involved you introducing the opinions of an organisation you believe to be capable of backing up your earlier assertions in order to gain the upper hand in the discussion and completely ignoring the question you were actually asked.

You asserted that I believed something which would mean I had to have expressed that belief on this thread, I asked for evidence to support that and you haven't been able to provide it.

All the fact checking website stuff above is just noise to distract from the fact that you lied when you said I believed what was written in those newspapers.

Why should anyone believe anything you have to say when you're not only a liar but you're actively attempting to obfuscate the fact that you weren't truthful.

The honest and decent response would have been for you to apologise for the misrepresentation and move on but you chose to dig in and try to make out you're in some way infallible.

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120752900#Comment_120752900

If this is the worst threat from the left, I think we're safe.

Writing in Bylines Times, Otto English has unearthed the origins of the story, and how a “credulous media” took it at face value and ran with it.

A video uploaded to TikTok shows a brief, slightly ill-tempered discussion between a teacher and her students at Rye College concerning the school’s inclusive policies.

The pupils assert their belief that there are only two genders and the teacher challenges them over it, but at no point is there a reference to any child identifying as a cat.

The whole story is, as English put it, “fake news” at best and deeply transphobic at worse.

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/a-story-too-good-to-check-origins-of-student-identifying-as-a-cat-tale-unearthed-351303/

More right wing disinformation.

SafeSurfer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120753376#Comment_120753376

If you are going to include children who died in Church run homes as victims of political violence, why not include those who died in church run hospitals and nursing homes as victims of political violence too?

friendlyfun

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120750765#Comment_120750765

The IRA were far more republican than they were socialist. That's part of the reason for the split of the stickies.

SafeSurfer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120753488#Comment_120753488

Could you clarify what you mean by the IRA (I assume PIRA) were more Republican than socialist?

Their stated aim, ideology etc was the establishment of a socialist republic.

The split with the officials was in large part over the policy of abstentionism.

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120753488#Comment_120753488

So, we're onto the "Violence is only bad if it's the left" trope I see.

SafeSurfer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120753571#Comment_120753571

If you care to read any post rather than make pithy, inaccurate comments, you would see I condemn all violence.

Flaneur OBrien

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120753380#Comment_120753380

Sorry now, where did I do what you accuse me of?