Good News In Northern Ireland

[Quinn]

I've been waiting for this a long time:

The Financial Times Limited 2007
Paisley, Adams strike N Ireland deal
By John Murray Brown and Reuters

Published: March 26 2007 03:00 | Last updated: March 26 2007 12:33

The leaders of Northern Ireland’s main Protestant and Catholic parties struck a deal to start sharing power on May 8 after their first ever face-to-face meeting on Monday.

The agreement was announced by DUP leader Ian Paisley and Sinn Féin’s Gerry Adams at the end of their meeting.

“Today we’ve agreed with Sinn Féin that this date will be Tuesday, May 8, 2007,” Mr Paisley, sitting next to Mr Adams at the negotiating table, said. ”I believe we can lay the foundations for a better, peaceful and prosperous future for all the people of Northern Ireland,” he added.

Mr Adams in turn, said the agreement marked the start of ”a new era of politics on this island”.

Mr Paisley has until now refused to talk to Mr Adams because of Sinn Féin’s alliance with the Irish Republican Army (IRA) guerrilla group which was responsible for nearly half of the 3,600 killings during 30 years of sectarian conflict in the province.

Tony Blair, Britain’s prime minister, welcomed the agreement calling it “a very important day for people of Northern Ireland”.

The British government had threatened to shut down the Northern Ireland assembly unless the parties on Monday produced a compromise timetable for restoring self-rule.

Peter Hain, the Northern Ireland secretary, who had earlier said March 26 was a deadline "set in stone", indicated on Sunday he might be ready to give the process more time if the parties "come forward with consensus and tell us what they want to do".

This follows a weekend decision by the DUP executive calling for a six-week delay to allow the party to test the stated commitment of Sinn Féin to support local policing and the operation of the courts. The DUP's 120-member executive voted by 90 per cent for a resolution to "support and participate fully in a Northern Ireland executive if powers were devolved to it on an agreed date in May of this year".

Following this month's assembly elections, Mr Paisley would be entitled to be first minister in a power-sharing executive as head of the largest party. Martin McGuinness, Sinn Féin's chief negotiator, is set to be nominated as the deputy first minister, as Sinn Féin is the largest party representing the nationalist side.

The initial reaction of Sinn Féin to the weekend rejection of Monday's deadline by the DUP was to insist the government go through with its threat to shut down the institutions.

Alex Maskey, Sinn Féin assembly member for South Belfast, said: "There is no question of us acquiescing to a delay."

However Mr Hain on Sunday indicated London might be willing to accept some slippage in the timetable, recognising the potential splits in Mr Paisley's party, with several senior figures strongly opposed to sharing power with republicans without more time to verify Sinn Féin's bona fides as partners in government.

Playing down his disappointment at the DUP’s executive decision at the weekend, Mr Hain emphasised the progress that had been made. "This is the first time the DUP has said they will share power with Sinn Féin. People said this would never happen," he said.

-Quinn

[trish]

Certainly is good news. I do remember the letter bombs, car bombs and other fall out from the British occupation of Northern Ireland. From this distance it seems to me that the British were able to handle the daily threat of terrorism without giving up their individual rights. Still, they occupied Ireland and now finally their stay looks like it may come to an end. Also from this distant overseas perspective, it seems that the violence in Northern Ireland and in Britain has subsided over the last…what…ten years? I know the Clinton administration was able to brag of a vague diplomatic success there. But I suspect the real political progress is due to the growing high tech economy of Northern Ireland. People who have jobs, and consequently money to spend, have better things to do with their time than fight.

[Quinn]

To be honest, I was thoroughly skeptical of the Good Friday Agreement when it first came about, not trusting the Unionist side. I'm glad to say that I was largely wrong. Though it’s been a slow, at times turbulent, process it is definitely bearing fruit for everyone. The Nationalist/Catholic population is getting access to the equality of opportunity it has long desired, and the Unionist/Protestant population is seeing the stability that allows for the type of foreign direct investment it wants.

I think your point about economic realities driving political realities is spot on. It used to be that the then industrialized North enjoyed a significantly higher standard of living, but with the economic ascension of the Republic – thank you very much, EU – that has all changed. Now the Celtic tiger enjoys one of the highest living standards in the EU and has lots of money/technical expertise to invest in the North’s already improving economy. I believe these same economic realities will eventually cause the North to unify with the Republic, though that may be a decade or two off.

[ezed]

This is fuckin pissa!!!!!!! (Boston Irish) To see the entire island at peace...I can die now. (I'm being serious now). I was raise Irish catholic. Hated the Orangemen! But things lessen as you get older. You realize they were protecting what they had. If things work out in the north.. watch out. Protestant's/Catholics is a silly division. Time to bury it for good and smote those who raise it again.

The Brit's are okay. It was an inherited problem. The Brits are good people.

I'm babbleing like a drunken Irish idiot, so I'll sign off.

[Quinn]

ILCB,

Your opinion is a commonly held one and certainly has plenty of merit. Despite the progress that has been made, strong divisions and a lot of hatred still exist – and probably will for some time. I do, however, respectfully disagree with the view that any potential Irish reunification is unlikely to occur before the end of this century. If you look at the prosperity the Republic is enjoying and the effect it has had on the traditional divisions between Protestant centers in the South and the Catholic majority there, I think there are some encouraging developments, particularly among the younger generation.

I believe changing economic realities will eventually have a similarly positive effect in the North. As the Republic continues to surge ahead of Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK (per capita GDP, etc.), I am of the opinion that reunification will eventually prove attractive to a currently scared Unionist/Protestant population (greed always tops bias if given a chance). I understand this represents a very optimistic, highly speculative assessment – an independent Northern Ireland would probably happen first, before any voluntary reunification with the South could ever take place – but the difference I saw in the North during visits in my teens and a few years ago (Derry, Belfast, etc.) leaves me encouraged.

-Quinn

[ezed]

Big things happen in small steps.

[Jamie Michelle]

It was the British government which staged most of the "IRA" bombings, in order to provide a pretext for Northern Ireland's subjugation:

"British double-agent was in Real IRA's Omagh bomb team," Neil Mackay and Louise Branson, Sunday Herald (U.K.), August 19, 2001 http://web.archive.org/web/20011230123418/http://www.sundayherald.com/17827

"Ulster spies to 'blow MI5 cover,'" Rosie Cowan, Guardian (U.K.), July 6, 2002 http://www.guardian.co.uk/military/story/0,11816,750427,00.html

"IRA torturer was in the Royal Marines: Top republican terrorist exposed in court documents as a special forces soldier," Neil Mackay, Sunday Herald (U.K.), December 15, 2002 http://web.archive.org/web/20021222064350/http://www.sundayherald.com/29997

"Top double agent in IRA guilty of 'up to 40 murders'," Irish Independent, May 12, 2003 http://web.archive.org/web/20030514200538/http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=405475

"Focus: Scappaticci's past is secret no more--Liam Clarke reveals how he discovered the identity of the British Army's prize 'mole' but could not reveal it throughout four dangerous years," Sunday Times (U.K.), May 18, 2003 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2091-683795,00.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/newspapers/sunday_times/ireland/article1133402.ece
http://www.irishfreedomcommittee.net/NEWS/may_2003.htm

"The army asked me to make bombs for the IRA, told me I had the Prime Minister's blessing ... then tried to kill me; Exclusive: confessions of a secret agent turned terrorist," Neil Mackay, Sunday Herald (U.K.), June 23, 2002 http://web.archive.org/web/20020627142956/http://www.sundayherald.com/25646

"Thatcher 'gave go-ahead for IRA assassinations,'" Neil Mackay, Sunday Herald (U.K.), June 23, 2002 http://web.archive.org/web/20020627143738/http://www.sundayherald.com/25739

"MI5 'helped IRA buy bomb parts in US,'" Enda Leahy, Sunday Times (U.K.), March 19, 2006 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2092574,00.html

"The story of an unsung hero," Laurence White, Belfast Telegraph (Independent News and Media), August 9, 2006 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/features/story.jsp?story=701894
http://www.geocities.com/tetrahedronomega/Belfast-Telegraph-The-story-of-an-unsung-hero.htm

"UK agents 'did have role in IRA bomb atrocities,'" Henry McDonald, The Observer (U.K.), September 10, 2006 http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,1869019,00.html

"Her Majesty's Terrorist Network: Former IRA moles expose British Government sponsored terror," PrisonPlanet.com, September 21, 2006 http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/september2006/210906hermajesty.htm

Alex Jones interviews Kevin Fulton and Martin Ingram, September 21, 2006 http://prisonplanet.tv/audio/210906fulton.mp3

Chapter 3, "British Intelligence: Her Majesty's Terrorist Network," in Order Out of Chaos: Elite Sponsored Terrorism & the New World Order by Paul Joseph Watson (Alex Jones Productions, 2003) http://www.infowars.com/pdfs/order_ch.PDF
http://sandiego.indymedia.org/media/2006/10/119693.pdf
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0974338109/

"Stakeknife Named: British double agent who murdered for the IRA" http://cryptome.org/fru-stakeknife.htm

[VIDEO] BBC Interviews Kevin Fulton http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsa/n5ctrl/progs/06/hardtalk/fulton10apr.ram

Stakeknife: Britain's Secret Agents in Ireland by Martin Ingram and Greg Harkin (University of Wisconsin Press, 2005) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0299210243/

"Explosive Art," Martin Ingram's Blog http://www.opertiondinnerout.blogspot.com
http://www.explosive-art.com

The below is an archive of mainstream major media news articles about how the British MI5/MI6 staged most of the IRA terrorism and supported al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden:

http://www.prisonplanet.com/archive_mi5terror.html

[guyone]

It was really William Wallace

[Somedude21]

"YOU MAY TAKE OUR LIVES...BUT YOU'LL NEVER TAKE OUR FREEDOM!"

[ezed]

It was the British government which staged most of the "IRA" bombings, in order to provide a pretext for Northern Ireland's subjugation:

"British double-agent was in Real IRA's Omagh bomb team," Neil Mackay and Louise Branson, Sunday Herald (U.K.), August 19, 2001 http://web.archive.org/web/20011230123418/http://www.sundayherald.com/17827

"Ulster spies to 'blow MI5 cover,'" Rosie Cowan, Guardian (U.K.), July 6, 2002 http://www.guardian.co.uk/military/story/0,11816,750427,00.html

"IRA torturer was in the Royal Marines: Top republican terrorist exposed in court documents as a special forces soldier," Neil Mackay, Sunday Herald (U.K.), December 15, 2002 http://web.archive.org/web/20021222064350/http://www.sundayherald.com/29997

"Top double agent in IRA guilty of 'up to 40 murders'," Irish Independent, May 12, 2003 http://web.archive.org/web/20030514200538/http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=405475

"Focus: Scappaticci's past is secret no more--Liam Clarke reveals how he discovered the identity of the British Army's prize 'mole' but could not reveal it throughout four dangerous years," Sunday Times (U.K.), May 18, 2003 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2091-683795,00.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/newspapers/sunday_times/ireland/article1133402.ece
http://www.irishfreedomcommittee.net/NEWS/may_2003.htm

"The army asked me to make bombs for the IRA, told me I had the Prime Minister's blessing ... then tried to kill me; Exclusive: confessions of a secret agent turned terrorist," Neil Mackay, Sunday Herald (U.K.), June 23, 2002 http://web.archive.org/web/20020627142956/http://www.sundayherald.com/25646

"Thatcher 'gave go-ahead for IRA assassinations,'" Neil Mackay, Sunday Herald (U.K.), June 23, 2002 http://web.archive.org/web/20020627143738/http://www.sundayherald.com/25739

"MI5 'helped IRA buy bomb parts in US,'" Enda Leahy, Sunday Times (U.K.), March 19, 2006 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2092574,00.html

"The story of an unsung hero," Laurence White, Belfast Telegraph (Independent News and Media), August 9, 2006 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/features/story.jsp?story=701894
http://www.geocities.com/tetrahedronomega/Belfast-Telegraph-The-story-of-an-unsung-hero.htm

"UK agents 'did have role in IRA bomb atrocities,'" Henry McDonald, The Observer (U.K.), September 10, 2006 http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,1869019,00.html

"Her Majesty's Terrorist Network: Former IRA moles expose British Government sponsored terror," PrisonPlanet.com, September 21, 2006 http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/september2006/210906hermajesty.htm

Alex Jones interviews Kevin Fulton and Martin Ingram, September 21, 2006 http://prisonplanet.tv/audio/210906fulton.mp3

Chapter 3, "British Intelligence: Her Majesty's Terrorist Network," in Order Out of Chaos: Elite Sponsored Terrorism & the New World Order by Paul Joseph Watson (Alex Jones Productions, 2003) http://www.infowars.com/pdfs/order_ch.PDF
http://sandiego.indymedia.org/media/2006/10/119693.pdf
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0974338109/

"Stakeknife Named: British double agent who murdered for the IRA" http://cryptome.org/fru-stakeknife.htm

[VIDEO] BBC Interviews Kevin Fulton http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsa/n5ctrl/progs/06/hardtalk/fulton10apr.ram

Stakeknife: Britain's Secret Agents in Ireland by Martin Ingram and Greg Harkin (University of Wisconsin Press, 2005) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0299210243/

"Explosive Art," Martin Ingram's Blog http://www.opertiondinnerout.blogspot.com
http://www.explosive-art.com

The below is an archive of mainstream major media news articles about how the British MI5/MI6 staged most of the IRA terrorism and supported al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden:

http://www.prisonplanet.com/archive_mi5terror.html

Man, you'd try and turn a used condom inside out and recycle it.

[chefmike]

Can't you see, Ezed?

THEY ARE EVERYWHERE!