jca@abnji.UUCP (james armstrong) (01/03/85)
How many of you really know what the IRA stands for? Which IRA are you refer- ing to? The British Army was originally sent to Northern Ireland to defend the Catholic minority from Protestant violence! There was a group of the Catholic population which resented that. (I don't know why, maybe they had a martyr complex.) They were propbably provoking the Protestant violence. The most active group of Irish "Nationalists" is the INLA (Irish National Liberation Army). They support the overthrow of British rule in Northern Ireland, THEN the overthrow of the democratically elected government in the Republic of Ireland, and the replacement of that government with a vanguard of socialism to build Ireland into a Democratic Socialist Republic, along the lines of East Germany. If you want that, go give your money to Noraid.
jack@vu44.UUCP (Jack Jansen) (01/11/85)
> From: jca@abnji.UUCP (james armstrong) > How many of you really know what the IRA stands for? Which IRA are you refer- > ing to? The name 'IRA' has been in use even before the Republic of Ireland was freed. It has *always* denoted the people who fought for a free Ireland (ALL of it!). > > The British Army was originally sent to Northern Ireland to defend the > Catholic minority from Protestant violence! Nope. The British army was sent to Ireland a hundred years or so ago, since the Irish were sick and tired of being denied even the simplest of human rights by the english oppressors. > There was a group of the > Catholic population which resented that. (I don't know why, maybe they > had a martyr complex.) I won't comment on this phrase, lest I should use some *very* unpolite language. > They were propbably provoking the Protestant > violence. Okay, so now I come over to your country. I kick you out of your house. I deport your children to Australia to forced-labour camps. I force you to work for me, and have you pay taxes that are higher than your income. I deny you the right to use your own language. I burn your churches, kill your priests, and forbid you to practice your religion. I deny you the right to be educated. AND DON'T YOU DARE SAY ANYTHING ABOUT IT, OR YOU WILL PROVOKE MY VIOLENCE!!!!!! Or, to stay with the current Northern Irish situation (which you were probably referring to) : Have you ever noticed that it is the only place in the so-called free world where you are guilty until you can prove yourself innocent? Or the fact that the Irish have <=20% of the members of parliament, while being >=40% of the population? > > The most active group of Irish "Nationalists" is the INLA (Irish National > Liberation Army). They support the overthrow of British rule in > Northern Ireland, Great. Only please replace "rule" by "oppression". > THEN the overthrow of the democratically elected > government in the Republic of Ireland, and the replacement of that > government with a vanguard of socialism to build Ireland into a Democratic > Socialist Republic, along the lines of East Germany. Well, this is new to me. How do you know this? Have you got any contacts in the INLA? Are you a seer? (Disclaimer: I do *not* support the more militant wings of the IRA, like the INLA, but if someone shows a complete lack of factual knowledge of the present and past and starts shouting like this I tend to get *VERY* angry (must be my Irish blood :-)) -- Jack Jansen, {seismo|philabs|decvax}!mcvax!vu44!jack or ...!vu44!htsa!jack If *this* is my opinion, I wasn't sober at the time.