IRA withdraws weapons commitment

jbkenn

folk_smith wrote:

my family had to leave Carnlough and Belfast because of their involvement with the Easter Rising - but we have stayed involved with the efforts of our brothers and sisters through AOH and other organizations over three generations - believe me, I'd rather be on that side of the Atlantic.

My family did'nt have to leave Ireland because of their involvement in the Easter rising, because my Grandfather and Granduncle were otherwise engaged, in the front lines in France, they learned about the Rising and the bombardment of Dublin from banners held up in the German lines. My Granduncle was killed in the Somme, and my Grandfather was wounded, and on his return to Ireland he joined my other Granduncle in the IRA, after the War of Independence he took no part in the Civil war as he had tired of the killing. His brother took the irregular side in the Civil war and had to be smuggled out to Istanbul and then to America, he never returned to the land he had fought so bravely to free, and died in America.
To the day he died, my Grandfather did two things every year, for which he would not apologise to anyone, at Easter he wore an Easter lily (the sale of which was illegal) in memory of his fallen comrades in the fight for freedom, and, on November the 11th he wore a poppy, for his fallen comrades in the Royal Munster Fusiliers.
As a member of the Old IRA he was entitled to a funeral with full military honours, his dying wish was to decline it as he did not want his grandchildren exposed to the "glory of gunfire" and, he had done what he had done because it was necessary at the time.
I was fortunate to have his wise counsel when "the Troubles" erupted in 1969 otherwise, I might have gone down the futile path of violence

jbkenn

folk_smith

billy the squid wrote:

The same people who wrote the statement you posted on this website are the ones who murdered jean mcconville, mother of ten, buried her body, and then waited thirty years to tell her family where they buried her. this is the republican army you claim to support. its not just a few rogue members of n honorable organisation that are responsible for this crime, it is the whole organisation called the IRA.

Well, I guess nothing that was ever done by the other parties involved - English soldiers never gunned down children - never raped women - never fired into peaceful protests -

doesn't make what members of the IRA have done in the past right, but to tell you the truth, if it was me - and it was my brothers being shot up - my wife - I don't know that I could predict my actions - don't know that I'd give a f0ck either -

Capt'n Midnight

dewsbury wrote:

I don't know - It is just a theory ??
Peace is the prize - if a few 'volunteers' get a few million and live peacefully then I can live with it. It is preferable to many alternatives.

Aren't the UDA getting "training" that works out at about £70,000 each ?

folk_smith

billy the squid wrote:

actually their ancestors were immigrants. the protestants of the north during the 1920s were mostly born there.

Yes, you're right of course, but the point I was making is that a lot of this conflict has to do with history - and I don't want to pull the "we were here first card," but the fact of it is, we were -

Here's something to consider -

If Henry VIII hadn't wanted a divorce - hadn't wanted to reclaim English lands owned by the RCC - would we be having this conversation -

folk_smith

jbkenn wrote:

To the day he died, my Grandfather did two things every year, for which he would not apologise to anyone, at Easter he wore an Easter lily (the sale of which was illegal) in memory of his fallen comrades in the fight for freedom, and, on November the 11th he wore a poppy, for his fallen comrades in the Royal Munster Fusiliers.jbkenn

God bless him - in all sincerity, and I appreciate your comment, I raise a glass to him.

billy the squid

Well, I guess nothing that was ever done by the other parties involved - English soldiers never gunned down children - never raped women - never fired into peaceful protests -

The actions of the brittish army does not make what a bunch of criminals honerable. where is the honour of murdering a member of the police force of a country you wish to join. where is the honor in murdering a woman for offering an injured person first aid simply because the person needing medical help was brittish. sure members of the british army went way over the line. but it does not make what members of the IRA (Which this thread is about) right.

The forum for peace and reconsilliation was set up in the mid 1990s after the first IRA ceasefire. The IRA responded with gestures such as this in 1996 by bombing canary wharf. the man who died in that bombing wasnt even english..

billy the squid

folk_smith wrote:

Yes, you're right of course, but the point I was making is that a lot of this conflict has to do with history - and I don't want to pull the "we were here first card," but the fact of it is, we were -

Here's something to consider -

If Henry VIII hadn't wanted a divorce - hadn't wanted to reclaim English lands owned by the RCC - would we be having this conversation -

yes we would because the island of ireland was part of the british monarchy's domain long before henry VIII

folk_smith

billy the squid wrote:

The actions of the brittish army does not make what a bunch of criminals honerable. where is the honour of murdering a member of the police force of a country you wish to join. where is the honor in murdering a woman for offering an injured person first aid simply because the person needing medical help was brittish. sure members of the british army went way over the line. but it does not make what members of the IRA (Which this thread is about) right..

I think I just said that ...

billy the squid

no actually you didnt. you made a sarcastic post claiming that I deny that the british army acted inproperly in northern ireland. they did act improperly and no where in this thread did I deny it.

It does not make the IRA angels though. they were preparing for the canary wharf bombing before they declared an end to their ceasefire.

cdebru

billy the squid wrote:

yes we would because the island of ireland was part of the british monarchy's domain long before henry VIII

and here we go again off topic as usual

billy the squid

he started it with his comment about king henry the eight

folk_smith

Billy the Squid ..

Are you on AIM? If so, I wanted to chat through there - a little quicker than this ...

billy the squid

i sent you a pm reply my AIM is fooked but msn and yahoo are good to go

also http://www.boards.ie/chat is good too

folk_smith

how does the boards chat work - what do I do?

billy the squid

just type the URL i put there into internet explorer

mods might want to move these posts to feedback or recycle bin oce we have this done thanks.

folk_smith

I'm there - is there a particular channel? Or do I just look for your name?

cdebru

billy the squid wrote:

just type the URL i put there into internet explorer

mods might want to move these posts to feedback or recycle bin oce we have this done thanks.

is that a suggestion for all your posts billy

billy the squid

shadup

50_pennies

I think the Brits want to turn this into the US war on terrorism type of deal. Just so they can indiscriminately hunt down the IRA and wipe them out.
IT just seems like they are intentionally making problems for the peace process.

MEh! thats just my 50 pennies.

Villain

Mod's can we have one Thread on the IRA statement and one on the Bank robbery, too many threads with the same topic here.

swiss

Mod's can we have one Thread on the IRA statement and one on the Bank robbery, too many threads with the same topic here.

Agreed. This thread is also veering way off topic.

In addition, if posters here wish to discuss something privately then I would recommend using the PM system to swap contact details.

Locked.