IRA and the Nothern Bank Robbery

Cork

irish1 wrote:

Cork, Michael McDowell recently stated that he believed all IRA criminality down south has ceased, so stop throwing out old news and making it todays news to suit your opinion. If you exclude SF from the democratic process in NI you will have no democratic process left, thats not a threat just common sense.

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Mr. McDowell has stated since the Belfast Bank raid the following:

Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell also launched a hard hitting attack on Sinn Féin, insisting there was no way open in any political progress for any party or politician who owed allegiance to the IRA.

Link

A few of my work colleagues bought holiday homes in Donegal, should I report them to the taxman as they obviously stole the money.

How much does the SF party think cross border smuggling is costing the Irish excheqer?

But I forgot - SF does not talk much about the punishment beatings either.

But I would like to get back to Adams:

No member of the IRA can be a criminal, Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams claimed today

Membership of an illegal organisation is an illegal offence.

It surpose it depends - How Gerry defines criminality.

But one thing is certain - such crimality has to be stopped before SF can re-enter the political process.

sceptre

Cork wrote:

But I would like to get back to Adams:

I would like you to do that in another relevant thread rather than throwing this one further off topic. It's rather inconvenient for everyone else.

Cork

Sorry for going off topic - but I feel angered with the amount of effort put into the Peace Process by democrats only to be put for nought by this bank raid.

I think opportunity has been squandered. The process is in sheds.

AmenToThat

Cork wrote:

Sorry for going off topic - but I feel angered with the amount of effort put into the Peace Process by democrats only to be put for nought by this bank raid.

Finally some clarity in your thinking, well let me agree with you here.
Well done SF for the amount of work you have put into the peace process on this island.

Cork

AmenToThat wrote:

Finally some clarity in your thinking, well let me agree with you here.
Well done SF for the amount of work you have put into the peace process on this island.

Let us agree that a lot of progress was made. The violence over 30 years was a disgarce.

"The IRA killed 73 children under the age of 18. It killed building workers on their way home, shoppers having a cup of tea, women collecting census forms, young couples having a drink in a pub in Birmingham, people honouring the dead of two world wars, mothers looking for a bit of cod in the local fish shop."

Political Progress was without a doubt being made. But continued criminality has left the process in tatters.

It was not all down to the belfast raid - I think it was the drip drip nature of the Bennet/Binead conviction, Bobby Tohill indicent, IMC report, Dublin port activity etc.

I also acknowdege that a deal should have been reached last December - Political progress should not have been held up for the want of a statement by the IRA on criminality and a few polaroids.

I see the Belfast raid as the last straw. Trust now has evaporated and the GFA is in sheds.

FTA69

If you are going to cite examples of incidents which erode trust at least choose ones which have actually been proven beyond doubt.

Binéad conviction: a conviction which resulted solely as a result of the opinion of a guard. His alledged lists of names were described by the judge as possibly "being used for enitirely legal purposes".

Bobby Tohill: Four men get into a scrap with another Republican in a pub. Hardly earth shattering stuff is it Cork?

IMC Report: A commission with an ex-CIA spook, a McDowell acolyte, a Unionist and an English representatives are hardly going to provdie an impartial analysis of anything are they? Besides, they (like yourself) have never substantiated any of their allegations.

Dublin Port: I personally wouldn't take the electioneering ramblings of Michael McDowell as any form of "evidence" Cork, he also has yet to produce proof to back up his allegations.

Besides, I notice while you are stuck on possible IRA activity you blatantly ignore the failure to implement demilitarisation and policing reform, why is this?

Cork

Niall Binead was found guilty but hey it is the Irish countys system that is wrong.
FTA69, Are you claiming this was a miscarriage of justice?

Please explain the the sledgehammer, a black balaclava, a pickaxe handle, radios, and a fluorescent jacket with the word "Garda" on it?


McDowell's statements were based on reports from the Irish interlligence services.

The IMC report was also wrong,

Punishment beatings are a figment of over active imaginations.

SF-IRA are never to blame.

IF criminality is not an issue for SF-IRA, why could they not give comittments to this effect?

I think the Peace Process is far more important and every effort has got now to be made to get it back on track with or without SF.

We cannot wait around for IRA decommissioning leaving a vacuum for God knows what.

sceptre

OK, enough. Given that no-one seems to have an interest in keeping this semi-relevant, it's closed due to single-minded blinkered deliberate myopia on the part of some of the contributors. If something new comes up on the original topic we might have a new thread about it then.

You two are on a final warning prior to a temp ban for this as there have been two warnings in this thread already. Put simply, you don't appear to have the capacity to follow simple specific instructions. This isn't your hobbyhorse playground and other people sometimes have an interest in discussing topics that you manage to hijack. This warning doesn't come with an expiry date.