A sad bit of irony, the paras thought the IRA had followed up the bombing with a gun attack. It was there own ammunition cooking off in the burning lorries. They opened fire on activity they saw on the republic side of the river. Thomas Hudson, London resident, shot and killed .

Seems one of the Provis suspected of the bombing blew himself up nine years later! Oooops!

Butterfingers. Whoops, boom! :eek::skull-rol

Results of a poll in to attitudes towards sectarianism 20 years on from the Good Friday agreement make grim reading, as reported on the Sky News website. Respondants describe thoughts such as “we’re still at war in our minds”, and on religion “even if you don’t practise your religion, you are stamped at birth”. 58% of 18-34 year olds from both sides describe having few or no friends of another religion. The province average is 51%, suggesting divisions amongst the young is actually greater.

28% of respondants believe power sharing will never resume.

A former IRA prisoner who now works with young people whose families were affected by the troubles describes a generation traumatised by 30 years of war. More people have committed suicide in Northern Ireland since Good Friday was signed, than were killed in the troubles.

On a more promising note, 68% of respondants would support integrated education.

The bitterness will probably never entirely go away, which is to be expected as it goes back centuries and can hardly be expected to vanish in a mere 20 years.

True, Grant's. I was born two generations removed from Ireland, yet I was fed from an early age the stories of oppression. I was in my teens before I ever set foot in Ireland for the first time, but by that time I viewed things in black and white, right and wrong terms.

Years later, I recognize our side had its atrocities as well. I've said many times, it was a dirty little war. But to the original point, I'm not sure outsiders can ever understand the bitterness. The fact the troubles actually ended is really quite amazing.

On the 20th anniversary of the Belfast Treaty, former Irish priminister Bertie Aherne has suggested that ordinary people would just rip downnany hard border imposed on the island after the UK leaves the European Union.

Quite right too, why should a foreign power be able to impose borders within the British Isles where none have existed largely for centuries? Aherne of course is pro-EU, but such an action would be two fingers up to the mockery that the EU makes of “free” trade.

I read yesterday that while most party leaders in the island of Ireland are marking the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, the DUP is marking the 20th anniversary of their party not supporting the agreement in any way whatsoever. Small wonder it won't work when one of the main parties in Stormont never wanted to share power in the first place.

Sinn Fein were against the agreement too at the time. Of course, being the second largest party in Northern Ireland now, they cling on to it like a dear old friend dying of cancer, because it gives them the unusual privilege of being a party of government instead of a party of opposition.

Just imagine if the person with the second largest amount of votes got the job of president of the USA, there would be never ending outrage, surely? ;)

Twenty year old man shot in both legs in West Belfast last night.

I wonder what he did to deserve that.

Here's a clue from the BBC Northern Ireland web page:

"Five people have been arrested following a police operation targeting republican paramilitary group the INLA.

The arrests followed 12 searches in Belfast, Lisburn, Crumlin and Newtownabbey, County Antrim, on Friday.

Three men were arrested under the terrorism act and a fourth on suspicion of human trafficking and controlling prostitution.

The operation targeted extortion, paramilitary-style assaults and prostitution, police said.
◾Who are the INLA?

More than 200 PSNI officers took part in the Paramilitary Crime Task Force operation supported by the National Crime Agency and HM Revenue and Customs.




The operation involved officers from five different police stations across three different police districts.

The headquarters of the IRSP (Irish Republican Socialist Party), which is aligned to the INLA, on the Falls Road in west Belfast were searched"

A spokesman from the IRSP had complained of a publicity stunt, suggesting the PSNI were trying to balance things out because several raids against loyalist crime groups have occurred in recent months. The PSNI response was that paramilitaries of any sort will be targeted if they are involved in criminal activity.

Have to admit I'm a bit out of touch. Never had much truck with the INLA. I had no idea they were still around.

Well, civil war provides a cover for all sorts of criminality. Just look at North and East Africa! Criminals? Us? Never! We were just funding our war against the imperialist oppressor! ;)

Of course, if the criminality continues after the cease fire, then you get an idea of the real motives behind the war....

After the officials decided that walking up the Shankill singing solidarity forever, handing out copies of the communist manifesto was a better way forward , a hard core broke off forming the inla. They were more doctrinaire marxists as opposed to the left leaning, but not Marxist, Sinn Fein and the provos.

Just a bit of history.

Legend has it the Sicilian Mafia started life as a resistance to French occupiers of the island.... ;)

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood has stated that "an attack on a public representative is an attack on democracy itself" following an arson attack on a Londonderry Sinn Fein councillors car.

Well, criminality, yes, perhaps, although there are plenty of elected representatives that aren't really representing the people that voted for them. What does my nut though is when snow flaky, entitled, precious elected representatives in councils and parliaments across the country insist that they should not be subject to any form of verbal attack, criticism, or name calling. Get a fucking grip! Unless you have a really good profile, there is a good chance that around 90% of the electorate think you're a complete cunt, and the Earth would be better off if you were launched in to space!

Just speculation, but an attack on a sinn fein counselor might tend to be blamed on the loyalists. Given it took place in Derry, I would suspect the dissidents. While they see loyalist as the enemy, they view sinn fein bevahour since good Friday as treasonous.

They wouldn’t be the only ones to think that way. A revolutionary organisation that would cede Crown property to a supra-national organisation seems treasonous to me.

Some drunk idiot broke in to an elderly West Belfast couples home and stole their car. when confronted he told them he was taking their car for the IRA. Interestingly enough, when he sobered up the only thing he kept denying was that he was acting for the IRA. The moron most likely realized that when the when the PSNI was done with him, he had much more serious problems for making a false claim of acting for the IRA.