Norwegian government kow-tows to terror

True, but it's hardly something new. Spend any amount of time living in foreign countries where your own race/nationality is a minority, and you'll experience the same. People have this unrealistic expectation that western nations are going to be different, and perhaps we are, but is that difference really that practical?

If and when something similar happens in Ireland, people will be horrified, full of anguish, asking "Why?" etc. Completely lacking in foresight, completely unable to connect the dots. Some of us who will have seen it coming will be accused of enjoying it, of playing "I told you so" etc.

I'll tell you one thing though - our candlelit vigil will be bleedin deadly.

Unfortunately, I agree.

There's no reason to assume that Ireland is going to escape experiencing this kind of atrocity.

We've already seen what happened in Sligo, which was under-reported by the media as not involving an Islamist, so when can we expect a mass shooting event?

Hopefully it doesn't come to pass, but there's no reason to assume why it couldn't happen here.

More LGBT people agree with what you've just said than most of the population are led to believe.

That's part of the problem, too, as it creates this impression that no problem really exists - except among our own Irish population, and a tiny minority at that.

The worst answer, by a country mile, is that "the person was suffering from mental health issues".

Well, I'm sorry - but when has someone committed mass murder with complete mental health in tact? Is it possible to mass murder and be mentally healthy? Really!?

It's just a language power play.

Like this creature. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/criminal-court/asylum-seeker-not-guilty-of-murder-by-reason-of-insanity-1.4113256

Since he was found not guilty of a crime will he be allowed, once he's cured of course, to claim residency? I mean he's been here 4 years and counting, it would be inhumane to consider sending him home.

A prescient quote from Yosuke Sasaki's sister

Yes, and the loony left will claim to know the terrorists motives better than the terrorists themselves. While the bomber will shout Allahu Akbar and show obvious hatred for the non-believers, there will be some who will talk about how American planes landed in Shannon 20 years ago and imply we deserve it. The saddest thing is how predictable it will all be. The script is already written.

Part and parcel of living in a city in Europe these days, innit. I wonder what Michael Collins, Big Dev, Robert Emmet and the likes would have made of Ireland's 'freedom' in the 21st Century. We are doing well in a materialistic sense, relative to the past. But the seeds are being planted for a not too rosy society in 20/30 years. Balkanisation. Lack of cohesion. Suspicion. No neighbourliness. I hope I am wrong.

Rubbish. You're picking out expats, who typically are professionals... and the upper echelons of Iranian culture. However, Iran isn't a terrible fair society, and a large percentage of its population aren't that educated, or openminded. It's still a typical culture/society of the region. It's also a society that features heavy social conditioning as to what they consider acceptable. That conditioning is not going to disappear just because they come to the west.

A hefty chunk of immigration to Europe over the last few decades has been low-skilled/low-educated workers... they're the problem.

There's a few posters on boards with the same opinions. Everything negative is connected to right wing groups..

What about them? They're rarely mentioned outside of threads related to the North. I don't see it as a valid comparison with the way right wing groups are used as scapegoat for blame.

In spite of the desire by many people to ignore it, Tribalism continues to exist. The us vs them mentality. It could be something as simple as belonging to a Punk gang where you've assumed a range of values/perspectives based on the localised group, or belonging to a religious group which has it's own distinctive perspective on behavioural norms and morality. Tribalism has never been removed from society, and if anything it's grown in scope due to the infusion of foreign populations, and the opening up of the world through technology.

The rise of the far right in Europe has happened for many reasons. Tribalism is certainly one of them... the preferential treatment of governments/NGOs towards minority groups, which encourages tribalism to be pushed into the front of peoples minds. The problem being is that when you extend protections, supports, rights to one group over others, then the native population will likely feel resentment. It's not really a problem when the numbers of that protected group is small, but due to relatively modern mass immigration, the populations of such groups have soared compared to what was there before. Which elevates them into the spotlight for any person who has a grievance over paying more taxes, losing State funding in their areas, the decline in service quality, etc. The secondary, but still important problem, is that when you elevate minority groups, you ensure that they will be viewed as distinctly different from the native population, which feeds into the Us Vs them mentality. Some of it is racism (which is naturally occurring in all societies), but other aspects have come about from feel-good but short-sighted policies implemented in the past.

When I lived in China, the dynamic was different. Foreigners didn't get any special status from the government/state, but culturally, they were seen as being privileged and different. As such, when anger rose, and mobs formed, it was the foreign groups who were invariably targeted. We might dismiss that as being China, and that we're {somehow} better... but we're not. The same behaviours/attitudes remain in all of us, ready to be stoked by external influences.

We're going to see more vigilantism, extremist groups, etc because people feel that the government has failed to represent their interests. Which is true. Many governments have put the interests of minority groups ahead of native populations, often through funding, but also legal protections. People will talk vaguely about our duty to being welcoming, and supportive of foreign groups, but there's rarely any acknowledgement of the costs involved in doing so.

Don't get me wrong. I'm in favour of controlled immigration. I do believe if managed properly it can be a wonderful boon to a nation. However, the practices of the last 30-40 years have ensured that the far right groups, and far left groups, will rise... and will express themselves through violence. Europe is going to experience a rather nasty time over the next few decades, until we manage to find a balance.