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Brexit: give me a positive effect... XIII

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But think of all the cheese we can export to Australia that huge cheese market of erm….25m people. We couldn’t have done that when in the EU, allegedly.
Don’t forget we just signed a trade deal with Lichtenstein- they’ll go crazy for our plastic cheddar- with union jacks on the label.
 
Just been emailed that Bill Frisell has a European tour later this year. Europe, excluding the UK of course damnit!! Another Brexit dividend :mad:
 
This post stands out for its utter vacuity, but you've done a few since that come close.

You keep mentioning me in a sort of 'offhand' way. You've just done it again. Have I rattled you?

Not responding until you revert to your usual long winded incomprehensible word salads. My eyes glazed over with boredom reading the above. it just too damn short. You must be on the dry? Need to check the dictionary on the meaning of vacuity. It might be a compliment :)
 
Michelle, eh, first name and all that.

Didn't she take a day off a while back with Mary-Lou to illegally attend some dead IRA thug's funeral?

What was it you were saying about knuckle-daggers again?
Would you prefer that I burst into song?

Well, hello, Mary Lou, goodbye, Part-
-Tition, Ireland, may all our dreams come true!
From you, Mary Lou, should never Part-
-Tition, great! DUP truly screwed!


Well, this does happen to be the name of the lady in question, so why not? And it's merely a recognition of reality - unless the Unionists of whatever stripe can get their respective acts together, the Shinners stand a fighting chance of being the biggest party at the next election, and will name the First Monster.

This potentially brings its own problems, especially if Sinn Féin forms the next Irish Government. In spite of the frequent furious denials, it seems that they take their orders from the IRA Army Council in Belfast. This is why the ladies attended that funeral - they essentially had no choice. This is why Dublin is desperate to deny Sinn Féin a share of government, even if it meant sleeping with the enemy (Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael essentially represent the two sides of the post-Partition civil war that actually killed far more Irishmen than did the British).

The big problem with Sinn Féin/IRA is that they are not knuckle-draggers to the same extent as are the Loyalists - they have a clear goal in mind, a solid historical justification for it and are pursuing it. And they have been very successful. Gerry Adams's great insight was that the romantic attachment to the gun and the bomb was never going to work, and his project (outlined in columns in An Phoblacht while interned) was "the bullet and the ballot". Psychological evaluations of IRA active service members found remarkably few psychopaths, whereas the Loyalist side (e.g. the Shankill Butchers) was full of them.

So, the upshot is that the Republican side are not the religious buffoons of the Loyalist side, which makes them far more dangerous. The only way that the Loyalists can counter them is by not behaving like right eejits and making a solid case for continued union and its benefits, something that has nothing to do with Derry's walls, the Boyne, Lord Carson, the Covenant, the Somme and all those other Protestant sacred symbols.
 
Good post, and interesting.

Just to be clear, whilst I'm not fond of of the IRA (and am fully aware of who Michelle and Mary-Lou answer to), I'm no more so of the Rev Paisley's zealots.

I wouldn't be poking my head above the parapet though and quoting research that finds the IRA murderers are/were somehow less vicious than loyalist ones, it's a pretty low bar, and on balance not a great look.

Both 'sides' fought, and died, on the Somme in 1916, the Ulstermen at Thiepval, the Catholics at Guillemont-Ginchy. Amongst those who fell at the latter (forgive me if I've mentioned him before) was Tom Kettle of the 9th Royal Dublin Fusiliers, Irish Nationalist, barrister, poet, writer, famed orator, and one-time MP for South Tyrone, who prior to the war had been running guns into Ireland, but later became a convert to a peaceful settlement.
 
Good post, and interesting.
I wouldn't be poking my head above the parapet though and quoting research that finds the IRA murderers are/were somehow less vicious than loyalist ones, it's a pretty low bar, and on balance not a great look.

I think the bar has never been set that high by most of the players in Northern Ireland - State sponsored and employed ones included. Re-reading Phil Rees' excellent tome at the moment:

https://books.google.ie/books/about...MJ1eAC&source=kp_book_description&redir_esc=y

A worthwhile read for anybody under the illusion that politically inspired thuggery, violence and murder is an exclusive preserve of 'terrorists'/insurgents (or however the ruling powers that be deem to describe them at any given time).
 
I wouldn't be poking my head above the parapet though and quoting research that finds the IRA murderers are/were somehow less vicious than loyalist ones, it's a pretty low bar, and on balance not a great look.
Definitely not less vicious, but, in the case of the Republican side, you're dealing with people who see themselves as a resistance movement in enemy territory. This confers a certain legitimacy, in their own eyes, if nothing else. And of course there is a solid 800-odd years of British misrule as a basis.

Both 'sides' fought, and died, on the Somme in 1916, the Ulstermen at Thiepval, the Catholics at Guillemont-Ginchy. Amongst those who fell at the latter (forgive me if I've mentioned him before) was Tom Kettle of the 9th Royal Dublin Fusiliers, Irish Nationalist, barrister, poet, writer, famed orator, and one-time MP for South Tyrone, who prior to the war had been running guns into Ireland, but later became a convert to a peaceful settlement.

Indeed they did - the 36th (Ulster) Division was combined with a number of other Irish regiments on that awful 1st July 1916 - they are all mentioned in the museum in the Ulster Tower at Thiepval. The particular import of the ex-UVF men's action on that day was that it formed a sharp counterpoint with Pádraic Pearse's IRB actions on Easter Sunday in Dublin. The Home Rule Bill, the one that the UVF had sworn to oppose, violently if necessary, had been suspended by the start of the First World War, and the two events, showing, to British eyes, loyalty on the one hand, treachery on the other, gave rise to the desire to do something to reward the loyalists of Ulster. The idea of Partition goes back to the 1880s, but the events of 1916 made it inevitable.

If you're interested in such things, my old school, Queen's University, Belfast has organised a brilliant series of talks on Partition and its centenary. They are presented by leading authorities in the UK and Ireland and are, in some cases, quite eye-opening. My father was born in Lisburn. I hadn't heard that there was an anti-Catholic "pogrom" in the 1920s that essentially destroyed all Catholic-owned businesses.

https://www.qub.ac.uk/talks-100/
 
Great new angle, Sinn Fein-IRA along with Brussels are attacking us now along with the verminous* Scots. New enemies everywhere we look. What hope Brexit Britain?
*by kind permission of The Spectator
 
Great new angle, Sinn Fein-IRA along with Brussels are attacking us now along with the verminous* Scots. New enemies everywhere we look. What hope Brexit Britain?
*by kind permission of The Spectator
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you...
 
Great new angle, Sinn Fein-IRA along with Brussels are attacking us now along with the verminous* Scots. New enemies everywhere we look. What hope Brexit Britain?
*by kind permission of The Spectator

There is a serious concern for the NI Unionists on that front though - ditched by Boris with no major friends of note in Westminster, even fewer across the Border, with not much support anywhere in Europe, and indeed a hell of a lot less in the Whitehouse. If they're hoping to come out of this with any hope of being seen as credible political partners, then they need to get the thinking caps on and figure out how to position themselves sensibly on the political stage for the future. The old faithful guiding vision of Ulster says No wont really cut it any more.
 
If things don’t improve Sammy is going to turn Hulk-like into his alter-ego. He’s halfway there already.
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yes, as in “why do they hate us so much?”

There is a serious concern for the NI Unionists on that front though - ditched by Boris with no major friends of note in Westminster, even fewer across the Border, with not much support anywhere in Europe, and indeed a hell of a lot less in the Whitehouse. If they're hoping to come out of this with any hope of being seen as credible political partners, then they need to get the thinking caps on and figure out how to position themselves sensibly on the political stage for the future. The old faithful guiding vision of Ulster says No wont really cut it any more.
Spot on and not something to celebrate even if it looks like unionism is in crisis and decline because political instability can lead to civil disorder. Having said that, the responsibility for deterioration in the peace lies 100% with Boris Johnson. He blatantly lied to the Ulster Unionists now he’s trying to shift blame to Europe and elsewhere. A disgraceful act for party political gain threatening the monumental efforts of other, better leaders in ending decades of bloody violence. John Hume will be spinning in his grave.
 
yes, as in “why do they hate us so much?”


Spot on and not something to celebrate even if it looks like unionism is in crisis and decline because political instability can lead to civil disorder. Having said that, the responsibility for deterioration in the peace lies 100% with Boris Johnson. He blatantly lied to the Ulster Unionists now he’s trying to shift blame to Europe and elsewhere. A disgraceful act for party political gain threatening the monumental efforts of other, better leaders in ending decades of bloody violence. John Hume will be spinning in his grave.

The deterioration in the peace lies 100% with the Irish Protocol. Johnson, for all of his many faults, is not 100% responsible for the Protocol.
 
There is a serious concern for the NI Unionists on that front though - ditched by Boris with no major friends of note in Westminster, even fewer across the Border, with not much support anywhere in Europe, and indeed a hell of a lot less in the Whitehouse. If they're hoping to come out of this with any hope of being seen as credible political partners, then they need to get the thinking caps on and figure out how to position themselves sensibly on the political stage for the future. The old faithful guiding vision of Ulster says No wont really cut it any more.

Like the Roman or any other empire the screaming normally starts when the game is up. You rarely get realisation that your previous behaviour and control is approaching the end and there is no way of reversing it. There is hope that beyond the Dups who are an endangered species that NI is going to start along the path of modernity that has been well travelled by Ireland. Complete disconnect between the voters and the political establishment.
Unfortunately because of the history and potential for violence it could go badly wrong.


The deterioration in the peace lies 100% with the Irish Protocol. Johnson, for all of his many faults, is not 100% responsible for the Protocol.

Another example of a dodo just before extinction. Muddling on in a parallel universe when the ship has sailed. Everyone knows Bojo wears the empires new clothes and is an empty vessel. He holds complete responsibility from start to finish for Brexit, Irish Protocol, deterioration etc etc caused by his leadership and desire for power. No amount of bull or hot air can hide that fact.

Himself and Farage are the terrible twins who lead the charge. They were the gorgeous poster boys raging on about the wonders of Brexit. All the other bit part actors played their parts but those two are the ring leaders.
 
The deterioration in the peace lies 100% with the Irish Protocol. Johnson, for all of his many faults, is not 100% responsible for the Protocol.
When the Brexit- induced crises really get going, no doubt you’ll be in simulated shell shock- deliriously unaware of very deep trouble Britain is in and Boris won’t be putting a gun to his head above the shop- he’ll be in the Caribbean at someone else’s expense writing his memoirs with a handsome advance from Aidan Barclay or Rupert Murdoch.
 
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