posted
All right, this is a very touchy subject with some Irish or English personages, so if you are particularly emotionaly attached to this, please, try and keep it civil.
All right, so for the last eight hundred years, the Irish populace has been fighting an english invasion and control of their nation. Without much success, though theywere the ony nation to successfully beat the tar out of the Romans, and also kicked the tar out of the Vikings at the battle of Clontarf bay, under the ledership of Brian Boru, the first High King to unite Ireland in many many years. And then came the English under Strongbow, and english mercenary.
Since then their have been many revolutions, mostly unsucessful, until 1918 when Micheal Collins form a group of fighters who used guerilla urban warfare to strike the English with devastating effect, he then formed the peace pact which gives Engand contol of the Ulster province. He was the assasinated. Ever since the irish have fought on, some as terorists, and some as soldiers, striking only soldiers.
The question is, why haven't the English gotten the point, loss is inevitable. Is it pride? Arrogance? What? And what are your opinions on the situation?
quote: All right, this is a very touchy subject with some Irish or English personages, so if you are particularly emotionaly attached to this, please, try and keep it civil.
Okay, but you know what that means... if we get into a verbal conflict it's going to be a civil war. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Posts: 127 | Registered: Aug 2004
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posted
Presumably Ireland is enough of an economic positive for England to offset the cost of the war.
Posts: 1364 | Registered: Feb 2003
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posted
Well, that last bit isn't really true, is it Drogo? I mean, hasn't Ireland's IT sector really done phenomenally well in recent years?
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
My good friend Bono had something to say concerning this:
quote:And let me tell you something. I've had enough of Irish Americans who haven't been back to their country in 20 or 30 years come up to me and talk about the "Resistance," the Revolution back home. And the Glory of the Revolution. And the Glory of dying for the Revolution. F*** the Revolution! They don't talk about the glory of killing for the Revolution. What's the glory of taking a man from his bed and gunning him down in front of his wife and his children? Where's the glory in that? Where's the glory in bombing a Rememberance Day parade of old-age pensioners, their medals taken out and polished up for the day. Where's the glory in that? To leave them dying, or crippled for life, or dead under the rubble of the Revolution, that the majority of the people in my country don't want.
posted
Brief intro - England has occupied Ireland for about 800 years. England gave Irish land to Englishmen, who ultimately became the bulk of the Protestants in Ireland.
Irelnd is an independent country now, but the island is split into two parts, one of which still belongs to England. This was the result of gerrymandering during the vote on which parts would become independent. The more recent terrorism has been about the "9 counties" still under British rule. These counties have a Protestant majority. The Catholic minority and the Protestant majority have had many violent clashes.
But the IRA's target has always been England's rule of the 9 counties.
quote: why haven't the English gotten the point, loss is inevitable.
Well, since I haven't been convinced that it's inevitable, I'm not surprised that they haven't, either.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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posted
In fairness to the English, Irish raiders did a considerable amount of damage before, say, the Norman Conquest. Getting your own back is an ancient and honourable tradition. And incidentally, Clontarf Bay was a fluke; the Vikings kicked Irish ass for centuries before that.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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