sophia Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 I caught up with the first episode of "Spotlight on the troubles: A secret history" and I'd recommend it. Amidst repression, imperialism and poverty, there were some seriously bad guys back then. Des Long cut a cold and cynical figure and was matched by the hot and damaging Paisley rhetoric. (haha - there's a funny h in rhetoric) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacksgranda Posted September 27, 2019 Share Posted September 27, 2019 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-49850899 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doulikefish Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 Surprised none of the residents of Ni havent brought this uphttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-northern-ireland-49904286?__twitter_impression=true 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 Ulster Unionism deals with this stuff head on and doesn't sweep things under the carpet. Kincora got dealt with through the full force of the legal system at the height of The Troubles, for example. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 2 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said: Kincora got dealt with Really??? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 Culprits got convicted back in the 1980s. Compare and contrast with the BBC and Jimmy Saville. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 Unrelated to the above, how come protestant socialists or left leaning people have never had a leftish loyalist party to vote for? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacksgranda Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 31 minutes ago, doulikefish said: Surprised none of the residents of Ni havent brought this up https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-northern-ireland-49904286?__twitter_impression=true Because we knew we could rely on one of the usual suspects to bring it up. Surprised it took so long, notwithstanding it was only announced this morning. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 2 minutes ago, welshbairn said: Unrelated to the above, how come protestant socialists or left leaning people have never had a leftish loyalist party to vote for? Not sure that's true. The Northern Ireland Labour Party was left leaning and pro Union. It was often able to beat the UUP FPTP in working class parts of Belfast during the Stormont era. Since 1972 the DUP has been left leaning in economic terms as well as being socially conservative so there is a bit of a class politics angle to the DUP vs UUP split. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 4 minutes ago, Jacksgranda said: Because we knew we could rely on one of the usual suspects to bring it up. Surprised it took so long, notwithstanding it was only announced this morning. If it had been a Sinn Fein councillor I suspect the delay would be no longer. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacksgranda Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 12 minutes ago, welshbairn said: If it had been a Sinn Fein councillor I suspect the delay would be no longer. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 2 minutes ago, Jacksgranda said: Oim an ecumenical koind of man meself. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 18 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said: Not sure that's true. The Northern Ireland Labour Party was left leaning and pro Union. It was often able to beat the UUP FPTP in working class parts of Belfast during the Stormont era. Since 1972 the DUP has been left leaning in economic terms as well as being socially conservative so there is a bit of a class politics angle to the DUP vs UUP split. Can't remember the DUP or Ian Paisley ever being left leaning in economic or political terms. Relying on getting support from hardcore sectarians in the working class didn't make them socialists. Happy to be proved wrong though. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnydun Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 On 17/09/2019 at 22:40, sophia said: I caught up with the first episode of "Spotlight on the troubles: A secret history" and I'd recommend it. Amidst repression, imperialism and poverty, there were some seriously bad guys back then. Des Long cut a cold and cynical figure and was matched by the hot and damaging Paisley rhetoric. (haha - there's a funny h in rhetoric) Yes, I have been watching it. Paisley's early speeches sound like Boris's now. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 7 hours ago, welshbairn said: Can't remember the DUP or Ian Paisley ever being left leaning in economic or political terms. Relying on getting support from hardcore sectarians in the working class didn't make them socialists. Happy to be proved wrong though. Who exactly were pro-Union socialists in NI supposed to vote for during the Troubles when Labour was refusing to stand candidates or even let people from NI join? The advice from Westminster was vote SDLP who are so socialist that they are now in cahoots with Fianna Fail. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H Wragg Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 Who exactly were pro-Union socialists in NI supposed to vote for during the Troubles when Labour was refusing to stand candidates or even let people from NI join? The advice from Westminster was vote SDLP who are so socialist that they are now in cahoots with Fianna Fail. Where do the political parties in the Republic sit roughly on the spectrum, compared with UK parties? I am assuming Fianna Fail are the tories? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dundee Hibernian Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 Both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are right wing in outlook. However they portray as 'centre-right'. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 Labour are the traditional left wing party in the RoI (there are others nowadays as the left has splintered) and usually haven't had much support beyond the Dublin area and the other larger towns and cities, while Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are both centre right. The divide between the latter two still tends to revolve around what side your ancestors were on in the civil war back in the 1920s to a certain extent more than anything hugely ideological. The SDLP in NI started off with some left wing rhetoric and a left wing sounding name but soon turned into what was effectively a continental style Christian Democrat party aligned closely with the Roman Catholic church. It's unfortunate that UK Labour didn't provide a genuine left wing alternative at Westminster elections in NI, but a significant portion of their activist base have tended to be from an Irish RC background in areas like the west of Scotland or Merseyside over the years, so influential people with strong Irish nationalist sympathies within their membership have been able to steer things away from any Labour involvement in NI. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacksgranda Posted October 5, 2019 Share Posted October 5, 2019 Interesting read in today's News Letter - https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/politics/mi5-protected-martin-mcguinness-for-years-says-thatcher-s-spy-within-sinn-fein-1-9096070 Don't know how much credence you can place on the "revelations" of an agent, especially when he's promoting his memoirs, but it makes you wonder how many high ranking agents were in Sinn Fein/IRA - Carlin, Donaldson,Stakeknife - and why it took 30 years to end The Troubles. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 Can see why these memoirs would have to wait until after McGuinness died. You can't be done for libel where a dead man is concerned. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.