Exiting the stage… slowly… or where are the IRA? May 6, 2008
Posted by WorldbyStorm in Uncategorized.trackback
Fascinating comments by Martin McGuinness, Deputy First Minster of the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly. In a response to Unionist demands for the IRA to be dismantled in order to speed the way towards transfer of policing and justice powers he is reported in today’s Irish Times as follows:
McGuinness has stated that he does not know whether the IRA army council remains in existence.
That’s entertaining and to the inevitable follow-on he responded that: his focus was on Government in Northern Ireland. Excellent. He continued:
“The IRA have left the stage, they are totally and utterly out of the equation.
“Any attempt to drag them back on to the stage is a big mistake.”
And he added:
Referring to Dr Paisley’s recent visit to Cork, he noted how he was picketed by members of Republican Sinn Féin. “Specifically talking of what Ian Paisley has done over the course of the last year, who is doing more to end division on this island, Ian Paisley or the so-called Republican Sinn Féin protesters? I say give me Ian Paisley any time.”
Of course, the thought strikes that the good Dr. will have left the stage soon. Perhaps the words he meant to say were… given the choice between Peter Robinson and Ian Paisley… Well, on the other hand it is RSF, so maybe not.
Which IRA? The Official IRA haven’t been heard of since the
mid-80s (I think-I wonder what happened to their weapons?).
The Real IRA are still sporadically
active, the OIRA-split INLA are on ceasefire (and punishment beatings),
and the Continuity IRA are rumoured to have split.
I wonder-if McGuinness isn’t in contact with the IRA AC,
maybe they have disbanded.
The RSF comment no seeing it in context is really odd.
Very true Dec. Hmmm… that’s an interesting thought Starkadder in your last line.
“I wonder-if McGuinness isn’t in contact with the IRA AC,
maybe they have disbanded.”
More likely it’s just the temporary blindness striking again.
Pete, that’s terribly cynical of you
Sceptical, not cynical, WbS.
Ah, then there still lurks a residual optimism?
As always.
For the general condition.
Coming soon, IRA, IRA Classic, Surreal IRA, IRA’n Man (starring
.
Robert Downey Jr.) New IRA and I Can’t Believe It’s
Not The IRA!!
Of course, Starkadder.
Incidentally, what is it with the Christmas decoration avatars? Very… erm… Christmassy, in a sort of Apple Classic fashion…
IRA’n Man? Starkadder!
WBS,
I thought I had stumbled onto a quilting blog.
I’ve met young Shinners who insist the elders say there are still guns, but I have to laugh. My guess is when Britain came to the table around the issue of decomissioning they brought with them The List… the list that contains every bullet and ounce ever imported. So there was no wiggling out of that, because Britain knows what the ‘RA has. Why? Forty years of spies at every level.
And who cares if they disbanded, they’ve all got police badges on now anyways.
I figured, hey, while we’re being cynical….
The IRA haven’t gone away you know — we just can’t find them right now.
Theres no doubt there some guns, if only for personal security.
If the IRA are disbanding, what’ll happen to their
guns and explosives? Will they destory them, or will
the unscrupulous elements sell them to organised crime
or other terrorists?
Coming soon, IRA, IRA Classic, Surreal IRA, IRA’n Man (starring
Robert Downey Jr.) New IRA and I Can’t Believe It’s
Not The IRA!! .
and coming to an apple store near you….. iRA
Whether they exist or not, is there anything more depressing than seeing photos of “colour parties” at Easter commemorations? All the different IRAs have them, men dressed in scary, military black uniforms. It all spells Death Cult to me and I’m against death cults.
I know what you mean Joe all those awl codgers at Islandbridge every year….now that’s a real death cult.
I have attended Easter commemerations since I was about 7 years of age (although I haven’t been at one in the last 3/4 years). I never found them to be ’scary’ and in the 80’s I was actually on a WP colour party in Bodenstown (non-uniformed). I always had fond memories of Bodenstown - usually a day of craic and chatting to people you hadn’t seen in a while.
I wonder do you feel the same about say, a funeral like Mick O’Riordans that had a rather large colour party or the May Day rallies that usually have a uniformed (SIPTU) band to the front - scary?
A lot there John. I guess if you are going to an Easter commemoration run by an organisation you belong to, you aren’t going to be scared by the “colour party”. When I was in the WP I went to Bodenstown once. I honestly can’t remember if there was a colour party there but I’m sure it wouldn’t have scared me - it wasn’t hopefully ever going to come after me for any reason. But I would have been scared of Provo colour parties at that time - I would have seen them as the embodiment of green fascism. As I would RIRA or CIRA colour parties now. And yes I’m afraid of them because they want to kill unionists to further their aims and would probably start killing socialists too if they were getting in the way.
I don’t think your question in the last paragraph makes much sense. Surely you see the difference between a May Day celebratory “colour party” in the form of a band or a indeed a load of comrades of Mick O’Riordan marching carrying red flags at this funeral and the hard man, militaristic colour parties of the various IRAs. It just seems to me that implicit in such “colour parties” (why do they call them that when they mostly dress in black?) is a threat to force their views undemocratically (eg by killing) on people who disagree with them.
My question though is do you have to be an ex-WPer to post here?
Oh, definitely.
Following on from Joe I went Bodenstown with the WP a number of times and there was a colour party IIRC. I never thought of them as death cults, although I guess it depends on the organisation, and what the organisation stands for (and since organisations change that too is malleable). I understand your point, but, almost all societies lock into those traditions, all militaries, etc, etc. That’s, in a sense, the development of traditions as Hobsbawm would put it. Good or bad? Again, it depends on the organisation.
Dec, of our four or five founder contributors only one - me - was in the WP. Seriously.
Actually if you look at some of the photos/streams from last year’s Bodenstown WP commemoration you’ll see an accordian band comprised of nippers, wee’uns etc and later at the podium they have a guy singing a ballad unaccompanied. Not milliaristic although I do agree with Joe’s point that it wasn’t always thus and it depends which grouping you belonged to.
But there has been a conscious effort by the WP to tone all of that down and they’ve succeeded (but again they were not the worst offenders).
Coming from the North (never attended Bodenstown) I remember a lot of “hard man” colour parties- Provo/INLA- and not just at commemorations-they used to “practice” their godawful tunes by tramping around in flute bands in council estates in “catholic” areas.
As for being traditional or a reflection of history or whatever-I dunno-they always seemed to be a large creation of the awful sectarianism of the 70/80s etc ( and they (the bands) enabled these organisations to attract a lot of youthful new recruits) did they exist in such an aggressive manner prior to 1969?