Gerry Adams arrested...

[Driver8]

He comes from such a lovely family. An uncle that aided Luftwaffe raids to Belfast shipping yards, a paedophile rapist brother and cuddly Gerry complicit in the murder of a mother of 10. Even John Terry's family would think twice about having them round for tea.

He'd still shag his wife though.

 

[Charlies Shinpad]

Him & McGuinness on a gibbet. On pay per view. Worth every penny.

To quicker death for me , I'd go for something long and painful

 

[hans kraay fan club]

The "allegation" against GA, as I understand it, is that he gave the order for the execution to take place. The problem with this is that it first has to be proved he was in the IRA, something that will be impossible to do unless someone's got a death wish. He has consistently denied being in the IRA.

Has he?

"While I have never disassociated myself from the IRA and I never will, I am innocent of any part in the abduction, killing or burial of Mrs McConville."

 

[Simster]

It always amazes me how much focus we place on the nasty f*ckers in the IRA (and I'm not denying they were exactly that), when there were people who were every bit as bad, if not worse, in the UDA/UVF and so on. They get about 1% of the media attention despite the fact that twice as many innocent Catholics were slaughtered than Protestants.

 

[father_and_son]

Like others have said I thought he couldn't be prosecuted and so arresting him would seem rather pointless.

That said, not sure how I feel about it. Surely peace is worth a few get-out-of-jail free cards ? The British have carried out equally vile actions in Ireland as the IRA - are those people going to be prosecuted as well ? Nope, leave well alone and let peace have a chance.

With his "immunity", presumably this is a fishing trip for information that at least gives a full picture of what happened. Maybe they believe he will give them enough to get someone else who doesn't have a GOOJF card. Wishful thinking. Can't see him ever grassing up his old comrades. Hence his info has to be given under caution as it would need to be admissible in court.

 

[mikeyjh]

Oh I appreciate that, it is a better place I'm sure, and the public there must be grateful that they're not constantly on watch for abandoned bags while out shopping.

I was only saying that there's still an awful lot of violence going on under the surface. Those men who used to bomb people have to do something with their time, and it's a bit like the gang violence that exists in some cities in Britain (luckily not really in Brighton & Hove). But in the main, it seems to be between the paramilitary organisations & their enemies, not aimed at the general populace any more.

Agreed. BTW, NI is a fantastic place to visit, Belfast a brilliant night out. If uou can Get someone to take you to some of the streets and pubs with 'history', quite a unique experience....

 

[Norman Baker suck my lozenge]

Agreed. BTW, NI is a fantastic place to visit, Belfast a brilliant night out. If uou can Get someone to take you to some of the streets and pubs with 'history', quite a unique experience....

Sounds like a laugh a minute,I hear the kneecappers arms up the shankill road does great live music every other Thursday.

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

It always amazes me how much focus we place on the nasty f*ckers in the IRA (and I'm not denying they were exactly that), when there were people who were every bit as bad, if not worse, in the UDA/UVF and so on. They get about 1% of the media attention despite the fact that twice as many innocent Catholics were slaughtered than Protestants.

I think the fact that the IRA brought their bombing campaign to these shores has a lot to do with it.

 

[mikeyjh]

Sounds like a laugh a minute,I hear the kneecappers arms up the shankill road does great live music every other Thursday.

Haha, perhaps I should separate brilliant and interesting....

 

[father_and_son]

I think the fact that the IRA brought their bombing campaign to these shores has a lot to do with it.

UDF/etc wanted continued unity with UK, IRA/etc wanted unity with the Republic. A Brit will feel the IRA were the bad guys and the Irish will feel the UDF are.

Pretty basic really!

 

[Buzzer]

I reckon Adams might just have a shout at escaping prosecution with an insanity plea. His Twitter account is bizarre.

[tweet]410180479233851392[/tweet]

[tweet]319835146201231361[/tweet]

[tweet]434223835421093888[/tweet]


...

[tweet]327682639479861248[/tweet]

 

[mikeyjh]

UDF/etc wanted continued unity with UK, IRA/etc wanted unity with the Republic. A Brit will feel the IRA were the bad guys and the Irish will feel the UDF are.

Pretty basic really!

To clarify, the numbers quoted earlier were also misleading. 60% of all deaths in the troubles were caused by Republican paramilitaries, that's why the IRA et al get the 'publicity'

 

[hans kraay fan club]

UDF/etc wanted continued unity with UK, IRA/etc wanted unity with the Republic. A Brit will feel the IRA were the bad guys and the Irish will feel the UDF are.

Pretty basic really!

A bit TOO basic, tbh.

I'm 'a brit', with an Irish wife, and I visit the Republic AND NI very regularly, and struggle to see anything OTHER than 'bad guys' on all sides of the conflicts.

 

[father_and_son]

A bit TOO basic, tbh.

I'm 'a brit', with an Irish wife, and I visit the Republic AND NI very regularly, and struggle to see anything OTHER than 'bad guys' on all sides of the conflicts.

Ok, I'll concede anyone with any intelligence will struggle to see "good guys" from the troubles or indeed any sectarian or terror-fought conflict (except Americans - they MUST have good and bad guys in everything).
Personally, I am in favour of a united Ireland and so politically fall on non-Brit side of the argument, despite being English.

 

[Simster]

I think the fact that the IRA brought their bombing campaign to these shores has a lot to do with it.

I make you about right - I think that has almost everything to do with it.

But of course, that was to be expected - these shores is where the seat of government of Northern Ireland resides. You'd think that bombing and murdering on UK soil anywhere (GB or NI) was equally newsworthy, yet judging by the media coverage down the decades, it seems that the IRA were far worse because they killed innocents in GB. I'll repeat it, the nationalist community suffered twice as much as the unionist in terms of body count.

UDF/etc wanted continued unity with UK, IRA/etc wanted unity with the Republic. A Brit will feel the IRA were the bad guys and the Irish will feel the UDF are.

Pretty basic really!

Not really. Plenty of Brits ought to be capable of seeing both sides. The only ones who I'd forgive for not being quite so impartial are the Brits who were actually affected, such as serving military who were posted there and saw it for themselves.

 

[Simster]

To clarify, the numbers quoted earlier were also misleading. 60% of all deaths in the troubles were caused by Republican paramilitaries, that's why the IRA et al get the 'publicity'

http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/violence/cts/smyth97a.htm

6.More Catholics than Protestants have been killed. The death rates for civilians are 3.01 per 1,000 population for Catholics and 1.26 per 1,000 for Protestants. If we include RUC deaths, the rates become 2.5 per 1,000 for Catholics and 1.9 for Protestants. If we exclude those killed by paramilitaries on their own side (Catholics killed by Republican paramilitaries and Protestants killed by Loyalist paramilitaries) then the rate becomes 2.3 for Catholics and 1.4 for Protestants;

 

[father_and_son]

Not really. Plenty of Brits ought to be capable of seeing both sides. The only ones who I'd forgive for not being quite so impartial are the Brits who were actually affected, such as serving military who were posted there and saw it for themselves.

It was a sweeping generalisation (I for one disagree) but the original question was "why do the IRA get all the publicity"... A: because the British establishment wanted it to be so and anyone opposing their view was, de facto, the "bad guys".

 

[Simster]

It was a sweeping generalisation (I for one disagree) but the original question was "why do the IRA get all the publicity"... A: because the British establishment wanted it to be so and anyone opposing their view was, de facto, the "bad guys".

Wise words.


It seems depressingly easy to hoodwink the public.

 

[father_and_son]

Wise words.


It seems depressingly easy to hoodwink the public.

Because the public are stupid. Individuals are clever, but the collective always seems to drop to the level of its most uneducated member.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

I reckon Adams might just have a shout at escaping prosecution with an insanity plea. His Twitter account is bizarre.

I would like to think that the crimes of a lot of people of that era weighed heavily on their mental states.