Wednesday 18 May 2011

Eirigi, the Queen's visit, and the Dublin-Monaghan car bombings

Having the laptap and wi-fi on holiday can be a disadvantage.  Like checking out the RTE news to see the Nationalist Socialists of Eirigi and their rent a (very small) crowd protesting at the visit to Ireland of the Head of State of our closest neighbour.

Lizzy even laid a wreath for the fallen boyos of 1916 – more than I’ve ever done, so why are these crackpots kicking up such a fuss?

Were they throwing stones through stained glass windows when the scale of Church abuse in our rotten little republic became evident?  The eventual disclosure of the Magdalene Laundries?  Did they threaten the physical integrity of Bertie and his FF cronies who ruined the country?

No, they didn’t – Irish institutions, you see... and they don’t attack those. It’s the Brits that are responsible for all our ills in their minds. “Britain out of Ireland!!!!”. "Saoirse Anois" ("Freedom Now").  Half wits.  

Then we had the spectacle of Gerry Adams laying a wreath at the site of one of the Dublin bombings on Parnell Street. Gerry Adams? Bombings?  How many wreaths has he got?

Now, while I have every respect for the relatives of the 33 people murdered by no-warning UVF car bombs in Dublin and Monaghan, in May 1974, it sticks in my craw to see Gerry Adams and Sinn Fein using their plight to their advantage. The relatives of those who died have every right to get answers, but they should not be dependent on the likes of the Shinners and Adams to push for them. Goodness knows, they have enough blood on their hands themselves.

I was a kid when the bombings occurred, and only for there being a bus strike at the time I, or my family, might well have been in town on the day. I have seen a Yorkshire Television documentary on the bombings and read a book on it many years back. The concensus was that there had to be collusion of some sort between members of the British armed forces in Northern Ireland and Loyalist terrorists... at the very least. 

And it is not hard to imagine it. At that time, like a deadly Venn diagram, there was an obvious intersection between the Ulster Defence Regiment, the UDA and the UVF. Some of its members could not resist bringing their guns home with them for a spot of extra-curricular Taig murdering.

But we have moved on from there. Adams – now a politician in the Dail – eventually sat round a table and jaw-jawed with Trimble. McGuinness and Paisley became the Chuckle Brothers. Pity it took them 20 years to do so.

Sure, the relatives of the victims of the “Troubles” need to find out what happened in instances of collusion, even when a man who denies ever being in the IRA is stepping forward to champion their cause. They should have a representative of greater integrity than that.

And even if they get answers, you can be sure the likes of Eirigi will still linger in our midst like a particularly smelly fart.




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15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Eirigi - complete twats. Several of them were wearing Celtic F.C. jerseys. Which is a team in Scotland. Which the Queen is head of.

Wonder if they are ardent Man U supporters too?

Eoghan

Ella said...

@ Eoghan, you are right some of them were wearing celtic shirts, and on the footage I saw, I did see man u shirts too. Gobshites. It brought to mind the film, The Van (Roddy Doyle's book) set during Italia 90, when Larry (Colm Meaney) rushes into his living room wearing his Brit busters t-shirt whilst checking the Man U results! Classic

Anonymous said...

At least there is something to take from this. Thankfully, the gobshitery has been limited to those morons. It's a testament to how the majority has moved on that such a visit can even take place and pass with barely a shrugged shoulder from the general public.

Progress is good in any form.

anna said...

RTE- like the Hopeless National Broadcasters they are - had nothing on the website on the 37th anniversary of the Dublin/ Monaghan bombs- though there was a mention of the wreath laying on the 9pm TV news.
It WAS on the breakingnews. ie website ( this is The Cork Examiner- a good Irish newspaper ).
Even a paper I despise, the Irish Independent had an article on the anniversary.
Puzzled not to find it on Irish Times yesterday - however Today in IT Vincent Browne did an Excellent article- not just about likely British Government Collusion But Just as Shocking ( and too typical of there ) the victims war forgotten in months by their Own Government- that the 1916 Rising set up , to Give Irish People A Fair Deal (!).
Why did the Queen arrive on that day?? She may have a packed diary and it was hard to slot in otherwise- I read an amazing fact: Prince Charles ‘s diary is booked out solid for more than a year, maybe 2 years ahead.
BUT I was Hugely Impressed by the quiet dignity of the Victims families- in the simple statement that they hoped the Queen might now manage to get undisclosed files released.
As Vincent Browne said - if it was believed the Irish government had helped the IRA bomb Birmingham- and then Refused to disclose files ( as the British have done in this case) there Would be Uproar in Britain - and a breaking off of diplomatic links.
BUT this is how an Irish government gets away with treating its own people.
As for Eirigi… how about doing something constructive, such as, in a dignified way help the Dublin/ Monahan victims ?? What did all their flag burning achieve yesterday? HOW DID it help 1 Irish person live a better life? Or will William Hague’s statement that he and Eamon Gilmore will be setting up a British/ Irish chamber of commerce be of greater benefit to the Irish nation?
OF COURSE it would have been of Enormous benefit to the 1974 victims families, if by some miracle a new British/ Irish enquiry into the bombs had been announced yesterday- but do the antic s of Eirigi bring that day any closer?
I have worked near O’Connell st for 3+ years- and walk past the Talbot St memorial daily- and actually I Never Did see so many flowers there as yesterday.
Maybe the Startling coincidence of the Queen arriving on that day will focus a great deal more media attention , especially in the UK, on these disgracefully treated victims.
As for Adams…that man reminds me more and more of a hyena- YES Does he have hundreds of wreath in store??
This visit Represents a Huge step in cementing Anglo Irish relations- and stabilising peace on this island.

Anonymous said...

To the first commenter, why does it matter what the members of Eirigi were wearing? I mean, sure, if you want to boil it down to the basest points of argument and be pendantic about it, then their choice of clothing matters a lot.

In response to the third paragraph of the blog post, Eirigi don't condone violence or destruction in any form. It's actually why they were formed: many people became disenfranchised with the needless violence and death associated with Sinn Fein and chose to use their voices instead of weapons.

The kids who burned the Union Jack are not members of Eirigi, and any mention of Eirigi by them is simply a lie. This has been verified by many members of Eirigi who want nothing at all to do people who see their ideology as the perfect excuse for smash and grab.

I know three high-ranking members, including the spokesman, who feel strongly about all of the issues that you accuse them of ignoring -- especially the abuses perpetrated by the church.

That they choose to focus *mainly* on one issue, especially at a time when the wound of that issue is being re-opened, says nothing about them as an organization.

That you're bashing them while clearly knowing as close to nothing as you could about them while acting like you know everything says a lot about you, sir.

The Gombeen Man said...

I know enough. The anti-Brit ticket is the raison 'd'etre for these nutters, rather than opportunism in this instance. "Reopening wounds"? Whose? Yours? Eirigi's? A Head of State from our EU nearest neighbours visits? Please explain.

My impression is that people are in general indifferent or benign about the visit. With the exception of these cultural nationalist half-wits.

Sure, Eirigi don't chuck bombs and shoot people, they wave placards. But pray tell me how their failed model of nationalist (republican) Socialism (an oxymoron in itself, socialism supposedly based on class, not creed or nationality) takes into account the existence of a large number of protestant working class people in the north who will have no tack with their Gaelocentric vision of a united Socialist Republic? Is that where the "Britain out of Ireland" sloganeering comes in? Oh, and what is meant by the nonsense phrase "freedom now" as translated into the vernacular?

Finally, have they not heard of the Good Friday agreement? Even Adams, McGuinness, Paisley and Trimble got there in the end.

Eirigi are the slowest learners of all. But at least they are just an irritant - like a smelly fart that won't go away. But arseholes can sometimes be guilty of that.

Ponyboy said...

GM - for fuck's sake you're on your holliers. Now Eirigi and its attendant horde of misguided prickeroonies can wait for your attention once you're safely installed back in GM Manor. In the meantime get out there and sup up some of that black Cahors. Lie back next to that pool and think of nothing other than 848cc R4's cruising by on the D roads nearby and thank Jaysus for Herr Porsche and his vision for the future. Don't make me fire up the PonyExpress Jetstream and have to pay those exhorbitant landing fees at Bergerac just to come down there and force your sorry arse back to the holiday grindstone.
Yours ever lovingly Ponyboy

The Gombeen Man said...

Ha ha. Very good advice PB. Bloody wi-fi!!!!

Right, back to the pool and feck the lot of them.

;-)

Ponyboy said...

Good man - and here, don't forget to leave the laptop under the bed. I had a look at Eirigi's campaign against banrion Eilis a dho and to be honest, their commander in chief Brian Leeson apears to me to be nothing more than a bully and a man who would be very dangerous given any power.
Eirigi won't be an organisation that today's newborn arrivals at Hollis street will ever get to hear about. Must be nearly time for a cafe au lait.

Anonymous said...

Move on from what exactly?Is it that while you live in peace and free from british rule you say to hell with my fellow Irishmen up north?
I will support fine gael and mry mcaleese and commemorate the 1916 rising.The men of 1916 had every right to shoot at the english army because they were fighting an occupying force.How dare those men up north fight a war with the brits!Those men in maghabery deserve to be strip searched and beaten.I hope you have the intelligence to realise the hypocrisy of the irish government and mcaleese.I think it is a far greater hypocrisy than an Irish man who wants a united Ireland supporting an english team.Afterall it is not arsene wenger,alex ferguson or abramovich inflicting injustice on irish people.

The Gombeen Man said...

I "live in peace and free from British rule". Are you telling me I should be grateful for living in a rotten little republic run by corrupt shysters since 1922?

I am more affronted about the 89 years of misrule by "my fellow Irishmen" than the supposed 800 years by "The Brits".

On the football front, I think people wearing Scottish/English football replica jersies are simply evidence of our close cultural ties with Britain. I have a Leeds United top myself.

Just out of interest, how do you plan to coerce the Protestant/Unionist people into your United Ireland?

I won't be celebrating the Rising, by the way, whose leadership contained neo-Gaelicist, cultural nationalists like Pearse and de Valera - the representatives of the new Irish ruling class.

But I do see the hypocrisy of the Irish establishment celbrating it, while condemning subsequent unmandated violence that took inspiration from it.

anna said...

I am 50 and grew up under John Bulls' tyranny in NI- did very well out of good free health care and very good free education- things Often denied to people down here by this Very class ridden society ( Did you know that while main land UK has a lot of private schools, ROI actually has a few more- and ROI has the highest % of privately educazted school kids in Europe). As for heath care- here is fine IF you have plenty of money to pay for it- BUT good health care is free for all in the NOrth.
YES i grew up in an area that did not see the worst of the troubles- other catholics experienced bad things that i did not. STILL that was a Long time ago- and NI catholics have done Enormeously well since then- ALL under John Bull's tyranny. Every thing I have read recently speak of how many NI catholics have become millionaires. I am just reading a lot on Queen's visit- certain articles commented on Mary Mc Aleese's shared reference points with the Queen, saying' we only got BBC TV recently'.Very True- I find a lot of what went on down here ( re the Brits and NI) was like Brainwashing in a remote mountain kingdom in the furthest Himalayas. For 1 thing- When NI catholics are supposedly prisoners of the Brits HOW is it that I never hear anything like the same hatred of the Brits from NI catholics- as I do from those down here?? Do you get NI catholics demonstrating in great numbers- because they Long to be joined with down here?
AND every time people in this country ( ROI) were treated badly by their own government ( child abuse, lack of job and education opportunities, sexual repression, class distinction and favouritism in jobs etc etc ) they were welcomed in the UK.
SOME day Irealnd may well be re-united- and ONLY if the vast majority of people in NI- protestant and catholic want it. No moves being made in that direction at the moment.
BUT peace all over Ireland- Just what we always wanted. Let's all live in peace, all over Ireland, try to make it an Enlightened place with no warped hatred steeped in the past, either north or south- and wait to see waht new political developments the future brings.
Small thought: seems a sinn feiner said to Vincent Browne he was not imprssed by Queen's apology- VB then said ' When did the IRA Ever apologise for anything?'

ANNA said...

This comment was under an IT article by Stephen Collins entitled ' Fitting Queen comes when Garrett bows out.'(IT Sat 21/5/2011)
The comment is from a Robert Cousins:"A typical feature of long standing Republicanism is the failure to acknowledge the situation in Northern Ireland with it's majority Unionist population. Republicans typically use descriptions like 'British occupation', and how the British have held on to Northern Ireland with Garrisons of troops etc. This always ignores the fact that they are there because the majority of people in Northern Ireland WANT them there and wish to remain part of the United Kingdom. The British are not keeping Northern Ireland by force. On the contrary, troops were marched in to try and keep order initially and protect the Catholic minority. The UK has nothing to gain from holding on to NI, it's not some last ditch attempt to cling on to a small remnant of the old Empire. NI is a drain on Britain, It has cost them so many lives and costs billions to run every year.
Where the GF agreement succeeded was in brining Unionists to the table by agreeing to the concept of the "Internal Solution". Something Republicans swore they would never allow. Plus the dropping of Articles 2&3. The GF has succeeded because we have left the future of NI in their hands, to be decided by them and them alone. What Garret Fitzgerald was instrumental in doing was in starting the process of tearing down the dreadfully narrow way this country was being defined. A country that ignored the sacrifice of Irishmen in WWI, that glorified people like Pearse and others while sneering at people like Parnell, O'Connell and Redmond. And what really was the result of the men of 16 and the road they took us down? They did not establish an All Ireland republic, it led to Partition, they plunged the country into Civil war, the remnants of which still exists today in the strangeness of our political parties and the language used to describe them. And we substituted one stifling power for another, removed the British and installed a depressing, intolerant theocracy that held ridiculous power in this country for far too long and inflicted untold misery on so many. For too long in this country we had to put up with small minded bigots telling us what the definition of being "Irish" meant. It mean being Catholic, glorifying in Pearse and his merry men, Hating the Brits and embracing the GAA. And our small mindedness and pettiness led us to ridiculously remain neutral in the Second World War when the free world was facing a vile fascist. God forbid if you weren't Catholic and had the nerve to question Ireland's history and played and enjoyed one of the "Garrison Games".
People on this Island, from both main traditions, still have a lot of growing up to do. "

Anonymous said...

EIRIGI PAEDOPHILE CUNTS. THEY'RE SO THICK THEY CAN'T PRAY AND MASTURBATE AT THE SAME TIME

The Gombeen Man said...

Erm... I'm not sure about the paedophile bit...

I take it you are not a fan, then?