Comments on The Pensive Quill: The sorry truth – Are we healing or hiding from th...

I wonder how long the bearded one will remain at t...

2012-09-15T20:39:38.554+01:00

I wonder how long the bearded one will remain at the helm,there is as you say Anthony a golden opportunity for qsf to grab hold of power in the south going begging,Adams is a mill stone round that part of the party, the southern wing,I,d bet they wished he had stayed in the black north,but given he is now ensconced in the safe seat he is a problem for the ambitious carpetbaggers,I,d bet he gets booted up the stairs as a figurehead president for life without any real powers.the chances of the truth ever emerging diminishing with the passage of time,and the notion of Adams running for president.dont hold your breath for any personal apology from the man that never was.

I am very wary of all these so called apologies, w...

2012-09-15T12:59:51.160+01:00

I am very wary of all these so called apologies, whether it be Cameron over Hillsborough or calls for the IRA to apologise for actions in the past. Funny how most of these apologising folk have little interest in apologising for the lives they are damaging today, but no worries about stepping up to the plate and saying I am awfully sorry for what my predecessors said and did.(This alone puts SF in a double bind as unlike all the others some of the same people run the outfit today as during the war)

I'm sure when Gerry and Marty fall off the twig some ambitious young shinner will say sorry for what the Provos did, but will it mean didley squat?

It is easy for the South Africans to apologise as they won their war, although they are working hard at loosing the peace.

Perhaps today's ANC leaders should apologise for that, but we all know that will never occur.

Peace and reconciliation; and apologies coming or being demanded from mainly one side, are a totally different kettle of fish.

By the way, did Dev or Collins ever feel the need to say sorry?

It is useful that Barney Rowan probes at these mat...

2012-09-15T11:40:40.309+01:00

It is useful that Barney Rowan probes at these matters and holds up mirrors which people can reflect in.

Something that many people are going to think about is just how honest is SF being here? How can they truly say sorry for Whitecross or Joanne Mathers when they deny ever having carried out such actions?

Acknowledgement of culpability would precede professions of regret. It is my own view that the senior leadership see the combined underbelly of the Irish Labour Party and Fianna Fail vulnerable. To be more presentable than McGuinness proved to be in the Presidential election, where the son of Private Kelly derailed his campaign, the party needs to put the Provisional IRA not only into in the historical past but also banish it to a completely different moral past. And the party view of that moral past has to gel with the view of wider Southern society for it to progress.

Tactically meritorious, even if opportunist, it still faces the problem of current leaders. The leadership qualities of Adams and McGuinness are useful in closing a door as they leave rather than opening a new one to step into. While they are at the helm, the same problems of the past are going to keep cropping up.

If there is to be genuine remorse for the past that inevitably means genuine remorse for the role of Adams in that past. All else is, as Mencken would have said, moonshine.

Larry You are correct about Coleraine. Good luck ...

2012-09-15T10:19:34.502+01:00

Larry

You are correct about Coleraine.
Good luck with your MA and PHD, I have a brother who lives in Ballycastle, he detests going to coleraine, I'm not a lover of it myself.

What i mean is, The Children of staunch Loyalist need to be educated on sectarian bigotry, then , and only then they might accept that being born on the Island of Ireland they are actually Irish, this is something which needs to get through to them, otherwise ,wars will continue forever on our Island and will always end up like the situation we see ourselves in today.

itsjustmacker Im doing an MA history and PHD. Nev...

2012-09-14T21:59:04.674+01:00

itsjustmacker

Im doing an MA history and PHD. Never even thought of contacting O'Dowd...aren't they moving the Irish History department from Magee in Derry to Coleraine. Just another stunt like the closong of Magee and building of Coleraine in the first place to prevent taigs getting degrees....and on SF watch too tut tut.

You seem to be advocating an end to sectarianism but at the same time highlighting the fact the loyalists/unionists will never change...i'm a tad confused.

itsjustmacker 'I also believe that all sectar...

2012-09-14T21:53:36.832+01:00

itsjustmacker

'I also believe that all sectarian murders were totally uncalled for. We are supposed to be trying to Unite the people, Green and Orange, Not Slaughtering each other ,without that happening we will never see a united Ireland.'

'If the British Made a declaration of intent to withdraw from Ulster, Don't think for one second the Orange Order and its Armies would sit down and say, OK you win. They would Mobilize in probably one week minimum with weapons left for them by the British'

seems to me SF share your logic and decided the only way to unite Ireland is within the UK eventually. The unionists are not Irish and never will be.

Larry. Sorry to hear you cant do your teaching MA,...

2012-09-14T21:25:18.633+01:00

Larry.
Sorry to hear you cant do your teaching MA, That is out of order.
There must be something that can be done. Try approaching the Education Minister!!! asif.

Just read this on the BBC News, Northern Ireland web site.

First Minister Peter Robinson has called on the Irish government to apologise for its role in the early years of The Troubles.

Mr Robinson said Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny should apologise for the role previous governments played in arming and encouraging the IRA.

Is Robinson going to Apologise , as Paisley's right hand man and 2ic of the uda , who was photographed with an AK47 in Israel, Maybe Martyboy can tell us, as I'm sure Peter told him what he was going to say, This is what we are up against, Hold a hand of friendship to them and they will slit your throat, Its the younger generation who need to be taught about sectarianism, It is a serious illness and needs to be CURED, Alas, that is out of PSF's scope. Lets see what happens when they all march for the Carson Bigot at the end of this month, Be Ready For The onslaught of sheer bigotry and dutch courage. PSF, get your finger out of your arse's and get off your high Horses, They are playing cat and mouse with you and you know it, Fools you for expecting to get a United Ireland by sitting in Stormont, Its called The Unionist's Castle. Its Only Our Rivers Which Run Free, and always will be while you sit in that Orange House.

Has The British Army/Ruc/UVF/UDA/UFF etc Offered a...

2012-09-14T13:22:38.189+01:00

Has The British Army/Ruc/UVF/UDA/UFF etc Offered any apologies, Except for Bloody Sunday.
I believe the Shankill Rd Bombing was a catastrophic, misinformed intelligence blunder by P.I.R.A.
Did The P.I.R.A. Army Council meet at the same time and place for every meeting? , NO, so why expect the UVF/UDA/UFF to meet in the same place and time for every meeting?. I also believe that all sectarian murders were totally uncalled for. We are supposed to be trying to Unite the people, Green and Orange, Not Slaughtering each other ,without that happening we will never see a united Ireland.
If the British Made a declaration of intent to withdraw from Ulster, Don't think for one second the Orange Order and its Armies would sit down and say, OK you win. They would Mobilize in probably one week minimum with weapons left for them by the British, but, Little do they know, that's exactly what the British want, Let the Irish Kill the Irish. To many innocent people have been killed in the conflict.

Yes Brian it is unfinished business 800 odd years...

2012-09-14T11:44:13.104+01:00

Yes Brian it is unfinished business 800 odd years of it,we will never get truth or justice while we have an English parliament presence in any part of this island,along with their agents in either so called loyalism or ex republicans,remove the pollution of perfidious Albion and with the clean air of freedom in our lungs we can at last speak and unravel the history of this island over the centuries and Englands destructive presence here.it will never happen while they remain entrenched here ..

That's a very good article. Adams and McGuinne...

2012-09-14T10:16:28.625+01:00

That's a very good article. Adams and McGuinness have moored the republican movement in the dry-dock of Castlereagh interogation centre in my humble opinion. The historical crimes unit is busier than ever with pensioned off bigots re-hired. The Smithwicks enquiry has been digging about relentlessly. The reality of the GFA is that some minor person like myself who served a 5yr sentence in the 1980s cannot do a Teaching MA 25 yrs later but the RUC and Brits are digging for more convictions with a passion. Now SF for more self serving vote catching crocodile tears want further wringing of hands, gnashing of teeth and no doubt RUC historical crimes unit meddling.??

Sooner or later SF need told, get the fuck off the merry-go-round your ticket has expired.