[Mb-civic] Emailing: story - IRA shoots itslef in the foot.

[Cheeseburger]

Re:  Emailing: story - IRA shoots itslef in the foot.



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Dear Cheese,

It does my old heart good to read such an unabashedly pro-British piece.
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I'm laughing,Al, that's a good start, hehe...     :)



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There are one or two issues, however, for which, with a sinking heart, I
feel obliged to take up the cudgels on behalf of the poor old Lion. I am not
sure if it was your intention to provoke some reaction from me but if it
was, well here I am, rising like a young trout to a mayfly.

First of all I am sorry that you were unable to read the article. I will try
and did it up again and paste it to the main body of this message although
it is now pretty out of date. It was by no means a bit of anti-IRA,  MI5
black propaganda inserted into, of all places, The Independent, but a
factual report on how badly the IRA/Sinn Fein have been fucking up PR-wise
recently.

For a long time now the IRA and the protestant paramilitary gangs have been
pushing their luck. Because of the past and because of wanting to bend over
backwards to keep the peace process on track both the Eire and the British
governments have 'kept cool' (Bertie Aherne's words) over the drug dealing,
kneecapping, kidnapping, extortion etc but now their cup has overflowed.

First came the bank heist in the North; 26 mln pounds (about $50mln). The
Eire government were the first officially to finger the IRA, which was then
actually caught trying to launder the proceeds in Cork (Mick gives Paddy 26
mln in hot notes, Paddy gives back Mick 21 mln in clean ones, in bursts the
Garda). Still, that was only about money, admittedly a tidy sum, but no one
was hurt and although people on both sides of the border thought it was
pretty outrageous, in staunch republican areas they probably had a chuckle
about it. The problem was when they murdered Robert McCartney. This guy was
a tough, rock solid republican catholic from a hard pro-republican, pro-PIRA
(Provisional IRA) area of Belfast. He worked as a bouncer at a pub. Some IRA
men come in to drown their sorrows after going to a 'Bloody Sunday'
memorial, they drink a few jars, there is a fight, somebody tries to cut
McCartney's throat with a broken bottle and when that doesn't do the trick
he gets stabbed to death. The pub doors are closed and IRA forensic boys are
right round to clean everything up and make sure that none of the seventy
odd witnesses saw anything, which of course they didn't. The trouble was
that McCartney's family took rather a dim view about all this and refused to
keep quiet and what is more their - republican- neighbourhood agreed with
them and soon there were anti PIRA slogans all over the place just like in a
protestant neighbourhood (PIRA SCUM OUT! sic). People even started talking
to the Police; unheard of before. Bertie Aherne was up on his hind legs in
the Dail again, very pissed off and actually so was everyone else. The
upshot of all this, it may have been on the news in the US, is that the IRA
have belatedly expelled three members, one of whom has been arrested.
Really, Cheese, these people have to choose between being a criminal
organisation, or a bona fide political party, they can't have it both ways
(unlike your own dear GOP - sorry, I have gone too far). The political fall
out for Sinn Fein (the political wing of the IRA) has been terrible, hence
the 'shooting in the foot' quote in the Indie.

Now, Cheese, what you have to say about Britain and Ireland is fair enough
but pretty dated nowadays. Yes, over the centuries the British have behaved
abominably in Ireland and the Irish have long memories; 1648 (the sack of
Drogheda) seems just like yesterday. There is probably a hard core in Eire
itself, maybe 5%, maybe less of the people who can never forgive the British
and that is their privilege and I have no beef with them. But do you know
what? Eire, thanks initially to EU subsidies and then to its successive
governments' acuity and the efforts of the Irish (and actually the British
keeping the proddies under control in the North), has one of the most
successful economies, the lowest unemployment and the best education system
in the world and people there don't care about the past anymore. Why carry
that baggage around, man, forever playing the victim and blaming your
failures on the Brits? Forget it. No, the real blowhard guys with the 1916
mindset all tend to be descendents of the Irish, who made it to the USA,
Australia and Argentina and who still like to cry into their Guinness in a
nice, nostalgic, Yeatsian, Celtic glow. Fair enough but it ain't real; they
have no idea about what Eire or the Irish - or the British - are like in
2005. The Irish-Argentines are always being lectured by Irish Ambassadors
about this but there you are, it's fun to have a bogeyman and why not the
Brits.

I am sorry those two old tarts got up your nose with their 'God Save the
Queen' and their 'Rule Britannia' all those years ago but you shouldn't take
them as being that representative of the rest of us and I am sure you don't
really.
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I don't, Al.  As we're talking, sometimes, small percentages, I'm sure that
also remains one.



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Al Baraka
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Well, I can't say I'm not enjoying being educated about Ireland (by you Al,
Baker, Michael), a place my ancestors were spawned, as much as I am about
Iraq etc.

My offer still stands to settle it all once and for all, one table, one
representative of each of the 2? "warring parties", three revolvers, three
bullets each, and me.

After that conversation, we all three walk out, purportedly, and Ireland is
reunited in peace, tranquility, and prosperity.

If we can do it for Iraq, we can surely do it for Ireland.

:|

Or else we can just leave things as they are.

Yeah, sorry to hear the IRA still remains one of a few problems up there.  A
shame actually.  Not the entire pie, though, surely..?

I guess I will have to do a lot more research on the subject before I can
figure out a solution other than the one that remains nonexistent.

Funny, though, "people don't care about the past" is how we got into this
mess in America to begin with.

I guess you're right, Ireland should be no less privileged.

As if I, or anyone else, could simply snap their fingers and an actual
solution appear, but I will look into it in depth and see what I can find.

I should at least be able to educatedly b*tch about more than just The
Middle East etc.

One can only thank those who are more educated on certain matters for
sharing their wealth of information.  The ignorant remain in two categories,
enlightened and unacknowledging.

Finding a balance between recognition and exoneration of the acts of the
Past remains beyond me however.

If "southern" Ireland, among others, are fat and happy, then I will ignore
their prosperous throwing of hands up in futility turning-aside, and fix it
myself regardless.

If there can not be a United Ireland, then the people in the "North" of that
continent will at least not have to remain in hell any longer than
necessary, no matter who or how many different kinds of people helped put
them there.

Although I still lean toward my table idea as actually being the only
realistic solution, I will educate myself further before simply throwing my
hands up and resigning them to a fate of any countless amount of other
nations and regions and plights across earth that could be named.

Who knows, education or not, my blarney at a table with 2 people, 3 guns, 9
bullets, and 3 chairs might just be something they've never seen before
worth the price of admission.

That would at the very least if nothing else distract them long enough to
pick their pockets.

After our discussion, I'll meet everyone else in back and we can divide the
up the kitty.

They'll never solve it, we might as well have a piece of the action.

I continue to find it odd that people and countries can find peace,
prosperity, etc for themselves, but not for others.  The others simply just
suffer and die as a result of those in more favorable situations uncanny
inability.

It is as if somehow the fairies hexed them and their arms suddenly became
just not long enough.

But b*tching on a computer screen, about anything in the entire world, never
appears to do that much to solving a real problem (with a few exceptions),
and ticking off my desires, thoughts and reflections on the matter is
probably not going to make the slightest ounce of difference in any
household, street or pub in Northern IRELAND.

I'll simply, again, either educate myself and actually find a solution, or
simply throw my hands up as so many other frustrated solution seekers have,
again, at any number of global problems, areas, and countries, and have
another flagon of brew and see what's on the telly.

Releasing myself from my own sarcasmic depression about the entire matter, I
reflect that it is only the place that my ancestors came from, yet everyone
else threw their hands up long ago about the matter, especially anything
ridiculous as a United States Of Ireland, and it just can't compete with
places like Iraq, Iran, Syria, Israel, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Tibet,
WhereverTheF*ck, as a bonafide hot spot on the planet and in dire need of
the "Wisdom of Solomon" to come from outside entity and lift its hand and
make a miracle.

That nobody cries out for that miracle anymore (or that their cries are
either not loud enough, never heard, or intolerable), if I understand you
correctly, remains a pity.

Not as much as not believing in Fairies, the good wee folk, might be, but a
pity nevertheless.

Surely there must be a solution that nobody has thought about yet.

Inbetween Leave It To Beaver, My Girl Margie, and Topper, I'll give it a
think.

Thanks again for the wealth of (extremely well written) information on this
particular subject from you and all.  Don't ask me, sometimes you just focus
on things you can't do anything about, whether you've never been there or
not.

Another bad habit I must break.  To never think of it at all remains much
less stressful, and probably changes just about as much, well, at least for
places like Northern whatever they're going to rename it some day.

The rest, hey, they have oil, they'll always be free and united.

What Northern Ireland needs is a canal or something all across it, lol, then
they could charge the ships to go through, and their economy would boom
through the ceiling, then people wouldn't have to rob banks and kill each
other and etc, and everybody would be much more happier, safe and secure.

Here, grab a shovel...



Oh well, regardless, my table offer is still open.

Let me know what they decide.





Patrick

- "To err is human, to remain in hell is Northern whatever they are..."
They're your people.  Oh, yeah, I forgot.  No biggie, just reminding you.
Thanks.  My pleasure.  Let's go feed the cricket...   Ok...   Ok.......

.