by 3rdforum Sat 22 Oct 2011 - 16:04
I'll just correct a few things if I may Cam. The modern IRA was born out of the civil rights unrest. Unionist mobs started attacking Catholic areas because they thought that their position of power was being threatened by the civil rights marches. The IRA which had existed in a previous form was restarted to protect these areas, mostly by a guy called Joe Cahill. The riots continued and as you said the RUC was unable to cope, so the British army was called in. They were initially welcomed by the Catholics who now had an armed presence between them and the Loyalists. The IRA started to arm as they didn't trust the UK government to remain impartial. In 1970, the army imposed a cerfew on the Falls Road area of Belfast ( did'nt impose a curfew on the loyalists who remained free to attack Catholic areas). IRa responded by killing a soldier who were now seen as colluding with the Unionist majority. Army responded by rounding up 350 people and holding without trial and so the troubles began. Bloody Sunday in 1972 was when the British army opened fire on an UNARMED civil rights march. 26 people were shot, 14 died. Thats when the bum syrup really hit the fan. Incidently, over here, we also had a previous "Bloody Sunday" in 1920 when a British army armoured car drove onto a football pitch and sprayed the crowd with a machine gun. It was in retaliation for the assassination of 14 British spies the previous night. 13 spectators and 1 player wee killed. 3 Republican prisoners "died" in jail that day also.
The Irish has has 800 years of attacks from Britain but as Cam said, it was only under Elizabeth I that they conquered. What followed was 200 years of genocide, ethnic cleansing, rape, murder etc. Cromwell was directly responsible for 150000 deaths alone. ( Whats Sir Walter Raleigh famous for?/ The potato ?? He and his troops rounded up 750 men, women & children, herded them into a church and burnt them alive. His punishment?? He got a 4500 acre estate in Kerry.) The native Irish became tenant farmers on their own land. Any produce/livestock was taken by the ( mainly English) landlords by way of rent. The Irish had only one food source, the potato. In 1847, the potato crop was destroyed by a new disease called blight. ONE THIRD of the produce being exported from Ireland at the time would have fed the population but profits came first to the establishment. Over the next decade 2 MILLION people died. Another 1.5 million emigrated. Our population has never recovered, it is still only half that in the 1840's.
The reason why some English think the Paddy's are thick? Native Irish were banned from schools on the basis that it was much easier to control an uneducated population. Local Catholic priests set up what became known as "hedge Schools" i.e. they were held in field behind hedges. If any pupil was caught, their entire family would be evicted and hence starvation would beckon.
These days, what happened in the past remains there. It was a really big deal over here when Elizabeth II paid an official visit. She laid a wreath a the garden of Remembrance in honour of ALL Irishmen who fell in armed conflict i.e. both those who fought against and for the Crown. ( Here's another little known fact 200000 Irishmen fought for the
British army in WWI, 50000 died, something similar in WWII. Thats
roughly 3% of our entire population!!)They closed down complete areas of the cities she visited just incase some dickheads would start shouting on about the past or even attack her. In Cork, she went on an impromptu walkabout and walked up the street to where the crowds were barricaded in. The cops and her agents went apeshit! It was brilliant. Hats off to her. I have to say there was a tear in my eye as to how far along the path of friendship the two countries have come.
I'm thrilled that relations between the two races, particularly in the last 15 years have improved so much. BTW, we , the Irish, have always differenciated between somebody being British and calling someone a Brit. We have always had respect for the British people, it was just the "Brits" we had trouble with.
P.S. Reg, I didn't take offence at your comments regarding Bloody Sunday, it was the comment ( and not for the first time ) that some people think the Irish are thick. I always try to see things from both sides e.g. I don't condone for a second the things Al Queda does, but I can see where they are coming from. As a Loyalist from East Belfast said to me, "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter." However, I don't somehow think that a thread like this would be allowed on other forums.
P.S. Cam, I met a Scotsman called Alex who also served 2 tours in the North. He was telling me that they were building a playground in the middle of flats and the IRA were shooting at them. He couldn't understand why, especially as they were doing something for the community. I tried to explain that in many Irish eyes, he was representing an army of occupation, the same as the French resistance shooting the Germans in WW2. I don't think he believed me though!
Friggin el, More hand outs, 
Sounds like it can never be put right then,