Comments on The Pensive Quill: Wrong Measure

M, it’s nice to know my blog has sufficient reader...

2009-04-08T20:40:00.000+01:00

M, it’s nice to know my blog has sufficient readers for there to be lots of them interested in anything that is written on it.

I don’t now what you have read but there have been articles where I have made it clear that I don’t think there is any way to achieve a united Ireland. Much of the origins of this thinking are contained within a lengthy document I wrote in prison about 18years ago. Ending partition is like the magical fly killer – problem is how to catch the fly.

The British terms for unity are quite clear – consent within the north, which the entire armed campaign was waged against. But even getting unity on the terms stipulated by the Brits seems a no hoper. Gerry Adams once called it a partitionist fudge. The unionists won’t be persuaded. If they were to be persuaded it would have to be by somebody other than SF. But who other than SF is interested in persuading them?

Militarily, no campaign will achieve a united Ireland. If the Provisional IRA which I belonged to failed then what other IRA can succeed?

In my view there will not be a united Ireland and no one has come with anything that has persuaded me to the contrary.

Rog T,
No doubt things have changed. Many of us...

2009-04-08T20:25:00.000+01:00

Rog T,
No doubt things have changed. Many of us remain interested in why they changed. Very few of us want them to change back to what they were. Stiff Little Fingers were a group that were on the go I think while I was on the blanket protest. They like much else in the world at that time passed me by. Led Zeppelin continues to hold me in a time warp.

Non violence being the answer – I think we have a human obligation to ensure it is the answer but unfortunately it doesn’t always work out that way.

I think you are right that some people have been around far too long and that cannot be good for progress. Although I am not convinced that they alone keep up what you call the fixation with the past. In a small society there really is no escaping the past, just finding ways of dealing with it.

I know you’re directing the question at Anthony, b...

2009-04-08T01:21:00.001+01:00

I know you’re directing the question at Anthony, but I’ll step in and hog the limelight.
From my point of view, violence won’t unite the country and neither will supporting PSF. The remaining alternative is to make the most out of your own life, fight for social equality, seek the removal of the shoneen class from power in the south and then just wait for a nationalist majority.

Hi Anthony.

I've read an awful lot of artic...

2009-04-06T02:07:00.000+01:00

Hi Anthony.

I've read an awful lot of articles you have written and I was wondering if you could outline to us how you believe a united Ireland can be achieved. Or do you believe it is unachievable?

The reason I ask this is because you oppose the SF strategy as well as military strategies of the dissidents.

But what is the alternative? It's something a lot of readers of your blog would like to know.

Cheers
M.

AM,

I think it's only when we examine the p...

2009-04-05T16:31:00.000+01:00

AM,

I think it's only when we examine the past, we realise how much things have changed. I went to see Stiff Little Fingers on Friday night. I've no idea what you think/thought of the band, but as someone with irish ancestry growing up in London they seemed to me to offer some sense of normality and hope that one day the situation might be better.

Listening to songs such as Alternative Ulster and Suspect Device were a sudden jolt. I hadn't realised how much my perception of the situtation had changed till I heard songs that had such an impact.

I guess I come from a different place to you, having always believed that non violence was the answer.

As a Barnet Councillor recently made some anti Irish racist comments, I've been looking around for some inspiration for my next blog.

The conclusion that I've drawn is that the likes of Adams, Paisley et all are too rooted in the past to take the situation forward. We eed a new generation of Irish politicians who are a bit more forward looking.

I suspect that Ireland won't truly move on until this generation have moved on. It seems that there is a (not surprising) fixation with old rows and old deals.

Comments on The Pensive Quill: Wrong Measure

M, it’s nice to know my blog has sufficient reader...

Rog T,No doubt things have changed. Many of us...

I know you’re directing the question at Anthony, b...

Hi Anthony.I've read an awful lot of artic...

AM,I think it's only when we examine the p...

Rog T,
No doubt things have changed. Many of us...

Hi Anthony.

I've read an awful lot of artic...

AM,

I think it's only when we examine the p...