How should we set about ending the British occupation of Ireland?

Question

I have lived all my life if British occupied Ireland and have always supported those who seek to resist British rule. In recent years the Provisional IRA have betrayed the Irish people by surrendering their weapons and sending their political representatives to help administer British rule in the North. Recently the IRA have asked our people to give their support to the police force in the North even though these people have been involved in mass murder against Catholics in the North and still to this day, work hand in hand with Loyalist terror gangs. What do people think will be the best way forward for our people to end the British occupation, should we return to war or should we work within the political system to achieve an All-Ireland republic?

Paddy Ranger likes to go on about one case of a British spy who was executed for treason by the IRA. He also states a lie at the end that the Brits and Loyalists never killed a mother of 10. What about the women and children who were blown to pieces in McGurks Bar or in Dublin and Monaghan by UVF terrorists helped by British intelligence. What about the 3 Quinn children, burned alive in their beds by pro-British thugs. What about the many innocent Catholics tortured and killed by Loyalist terrorists for no reason other than for being Catholics. What about the scenes of Loyalists throwing blast bombs and balloons filled with urine at 4 year old Catholic schoolgirls

Answer 1

Tooly...
It's time to re arm and bomb England into submission."Burn everything British except their coal"

Answer 2

it would seem to me that the easiest way to have the army pull out of the Provence was to stop all violence and so remove the reason for them being there.as a catholic living in England i find it almost impossible to understand the sectarian violence that blights ulster.
the UK should cede ulster to the Eire govt and then lease it back for 100 years to give the people time to get used to the idea that Dublin will govern them.with luck all the hard liners will be dead and the folk who want to be British can move.
governments do not yield to violence they say. but its not the gov's who do the dying,just ordinary people with no say in the matter so all a return to armed conflict will achieve will be a return to the past.

Answer 3

What do you want to do - go back to the Terrorist activities - go the political route
Enough innocent people have died don't you think?
There are bad on both sides of the coin Catholics and Protestants
I personally do not have to live in Northern Ireland, and I suppose I do not have the right to make an opinion - but to me to start all the bombings and terrorist activities you will not do anything for your cause.

Answer 4

I would fight to protect my country , beliefs and family but in saying that it has got to be aimed at the right people not the innocent public.
I watched the film Michael Collins a few year ago and I fully understand why the IRA started and agreed with that but started disagreeing with the bombings and killing of innocent people, casualties of war, I don't think so.
The only real answer is for the British troops to leave Ireland and stop interfering, more bloodshed has been caused due to our presence.

Answer 5

I can't see why they can't treat it like Canada. Canada still has a bit of loyaty to Britan but they are their own country.

Answer 6

Who cares. Northern Ireland has a voice now, just accept it.

Every country has been taken over by a group at some stage.

Answer 7

And what about the millions of Irish and people of Irish descent living in England ??

There are more Irish in England than there are British in Ireland, this myth of British occupation is getting boring. The protestants in Northern Ireland have been in Ireland longer than white people have been in America. There is a large tribe in Northern Ireland of Irish people protestant who wish to remain BRITISH at the same time as being Irish, who the hell are you to deny them their right to decide ? And I am CATHOLIC the day we wake up and appreciate other peoples wishes besides our own is the day it will be peace in Ireland, I think its not a problem to have both tribal identities in Ireland and peace to reign, who are you you little upstart to want to destroy that.

The police force of Northern Ireland has killed less people than the IRA, the IRA has plenty of innocent Irish peoples blood on their hands.

Jean McConville was a Belfast-born mother of 10 who was abducted from her home and murdered by the Provisional Irish Republican Army around Christmas time in 1972.

Her body was buried secretly on a beach in County Louth, about 50 miles from her home. The IRA did not admit their involvement until over 20 years later, when they passed information on the whereabouts of the body.

After a prolonged search, co-ordinated by the Garda Síochána - during which the search area and time involved was expanded by the Gardaí - the search was abandoned, as no body could be located in the area specified by the IRA.

In August 2003, her body was accidentally found by members of the public while they were walking on Shelling Hill beach.

"A Garda escort accompanied the cortege to the border from where it made its way to Crumlin in County Antrim to be waked at the home of her son Michael. The funeral took place on Saturday with Requiem Mass at St. Mary's Church in Belfast. In his homily, Bishop of Down and Connor, Dr Patrick Walsh referred to Mrs. McConville's killing as touching "the depths of depravity". Monsignor Tom Toner, a friend of the McConville family, said, "Jean McConville and the other disappeared will forever stand in judgement on the shame and guilt of their murderers". A Presbyterian minister, the Rev. Ruth Patterson, read out comments from Mrs. McConville's children. "Among the mourners were Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) leader Mark Durkan and some of his colleagues. The Ulster Unionist Party was also represented but Sinn Féin politicians decided not to attend." [1]

Mrs. McConville, a Catholic convert, was buried beside her husband, Arthur, a British soldier who died from cancer, in Holy Trinity graveyard, Lisburn, County Antrim.

Her family contend that she was killed as a punishment for aiding a dying British soldier in West Belfast, but the IRA claimed that they had discovered she was passing information on local republicans to the security forces via a secret radio transmitter.

Jean McConville's children reject this claim and have called on the IRA to clear her name. In January 2005, Sinn Féin party chairman, Mitchel McLaughlin, claimed that the killing of Jean McConville was not a criminal act [2].

In response to McLaughlin's statement, SDLP Justice Spokesperson Alban Maginness suggested that the IRA were culpable for War crimes as Jean McConville was "killed ‘without previous judgement pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording all judicial guarantees which are generally recognised as indispensable’, and that constitutes a war crime in the definition of the International Criminal Court". A second war crime occurred by the IRA’s ‘ refusal to acknowledge deprivation of [her] freedom or to give information on [her] fate or whereabouts’" [3].

In July 2006, Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan stated after an investigation by her office that there is no evidence that Jean McConville ever passed information to the security forces. Mrs O'Loan said she would give the family more details of the findings of her investigation in the near future and would make those details public.

Mrs O'Loan said it was not her normal role to confirm or deny the identity of people working as agents for the security services. "However, this situation is unique. Jean McConville left an orphaned family, the youngest of whom were six-year-old boys. The family have suffered extensively over the years, as we all know, and that suffering has only been made worse by allegations that their mother was an informant. As part of our investigation we have looked very extensively at all the intelligence available at the time. There is no evidence that Mrs McConville gave information to the police, the military or the security service" [4].

In August 2006, Northern Ireland's chief constable Sir Hugh Orde said he is not hopeful anyone will be brought to account over the murder. Sir Hugh said: "Any case of that age, it is highly unlikely that a successful prosecution could be mounted."

As far as I can check the British, the Northern Irish Protestants have not killed an innocent mother of 10 before that honour goes to the cowardly IRA waaaankers

Answer 8

I'm guessing you'd have to do it the same way the United States did. You'll have to fight for it.

Sandy

Answer 9

give peace a chance.