"Belfast" vs "Good Friday" agreement

I love the way you interduce what-about-ism every chance you get.
Given that the British Army and British government are not in power in this country they are, for the purposes of a discussion about the Shinners in power in this country, irrelevant.
 
Purple said:
Given that the British Army and British government are not in power in this country they are,
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I think you find that they are in power in this country, hence alot of what the violence was about in the 20th century.

Purple said:
for the purposes of a discussion about the Shinners in power in this country, irrelevant.
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For the purposes of Shinners in power in this State i think you will find that the IRA has stood down and poses no threat to the security of this State in military terms.
 
The problem with SF is that everything is done on their terms for their benefit - Ourselves Alone could hardly be a more fitting name/slogan, are they still Provisional SF? or would that put the mockers on the 1916 fairytale they sell to the eejits.

Anyway, they'll keep objecting to housing to keep everyone in a lather, they'll try to make FG the DUP bogeyman they constructed in the North (by hollowing out UUP over decommissioning), attrition is their only game, the only snag is that they might actually get their go in the South, and then the sheen will come right off... twould nearly be worth it (if can avoid being pushed against the wall.....)
 
My worry is just plain old criminality. The IRA are a crime gang. The problem is that they have their own political party.
 
Purple said:
The IRA are a crime gang. The problem is that they have their own political party.
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The IRA, or PIRA, as associated with the political party Sinn Fein have been stood down and pose no threat to the security of this State. The Gardai are clear that the IRA remains in residual form with all activities pertaining to political activity, such as leaflet dropping.
 
That's your opinion and you are entitled to it.
Given the frequent connections with SF/IRA members and criminality I'm of the "if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck then it's a duck" view. The stories I've heard in work from people who live in Finglas, Cabra and Ballymun would also support that view.
 
WolfeTone said:
It is the opinion of the Garda Commissioner.
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It's his opinion that they are no threat to the security of the State but he is of the opinion that the Shinners are run by the IRA and senior IRA members are involved in criminality.
 
Purple said:
It's his opinion that they are no threat to the security of the State but he is of the opinion that the Shinners are run by the IRA and senior IRA members are involved in criminality.
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Have you a source for that? It differs from this article

Drew Harris says he agrees with PSNI assessment about IRA Army Council and influence on Sinn Féin

It also found that PIRA members “have been directed to actively support Sinn Féin within the community including activity like electioneering and leafleting”.

However, the report added that this strategy has “a wholly political focus”.

It also stated that the “PIRA leadership remains committed to the peace process and its aim of achieving a united Ireland by political means”.

There is this caveat

That Garda report found that a significant number of people who have associated with the PIRA remain criminally active.

But 'having associated with' and being an active member under the instruction of are two entirely different things.
 
Purple said:
Yes, that would involve them stopping diesel laundering, cigarette smuggling and various other criminal activities, or do you believe that they stopped all that after the Good Friday Agreement?
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Of course they stopped, after all, wasn't that what the Danske Bank robbery was all about?- their pension fund

and there goes those flying pigs again.............
 
WolfeTone said:
That Garda report found that a significant number of people who have associated with the PIRA remain criminally active.

But 'having associated with' and being an active member under the instruction of are two entirely different things.
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Sure lovely people.....

The armalite and the ballot box has been replaced by The sneer and the Fear. So MLMCD will do the sneering in the Dáil while some "criminally active" henchman will have your windows in.

Wouldn't vote for them in a fever dream.
 
WolfeTone said:
That Garda report found that a significant number of people who have associated with the PIRA remain criminally active.

But 'having associated with' and being an active member under the instruction of are two entirely different things.
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How very Jesuitical of you. In your opinion how many angles can dance on the head of a pin?
 
Seriously, how can PIRA be "wholly political" while associated with criminal activity? It makes no sense to me.
The logic being some people who have associated with PIRA remain criminal active but are no longer part of, or under instruction from PIRA.
In other words, the remnants of PIRA are nothing more than an ageing political talking shop. It gives them a sense of purpose into retirement.
But anyway using IRA as a banner for criminal activity has nothing to do with SF.
 
Or... the PIRA are running Sinn Fein from the background while they run what has become an exclusively criminal enterprise, as in they no longer blow up kids for the cause but they still have their protection rackets, smuggling etc.
"Wholly political" just means they aren't killing those children for the cause.
They turned over £12 million a year through their criminal activities while engaged in the "armed struggle" with overheads of £2.2 million. Even without the gullible Yanks and useful idiots donating to the cause their smuggling and racketeering would still generate a healthy wedge of cash. Why would they walk away form that?
 
Purple said:
Or...
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Yes, but no.

Purple said:
Why would they walk away form that?
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Anyone engaged in criminal activity has no part to play in SF. Whether they consider themselves in IRA or not. SF are not beneficiaries and the Eoghan Harris paranoia of Provos under the bed doesn't wash anymore.
Even the recent Abú database 'controversy' turned out to be a damp squib. Here was certain elements of the media trying to sinister up some detail about personal information being held on servers in foreign countries. As it turned out the same publication that 'broke' the story also holds personal data of its customers on databases in foreign countries in the EU. In the end, all that was discovered was that administrative procedures need to catch up with legal requirements insofar as the storing of personal data in digital form is concerned. Welcome to the 21st century.
 
Betsy Og said:
So MLMCD will do the sneering in the Dáil while some "criminally active" henchman will have your windows in.
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The point is lost, the so-called 'henchmen', if they are still engaged in criminal activity have nothing to do with SF. The last 'henchman' was the 'scandal' earlier in the year where a young member of SF quit after disagreeing with the policy on some thing or other and made an issue of it out on social media.
The 'henchman' who called happened to be her next door neighbour who lived a short distance away in the same country lane. Calling to each others houses was a regular occurrence.
 
WolfeTone said:
Anyone engaged in criminal activity has no part to play in SF. Whether they consider themselves in IRA or not.
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That sounds incredibly, even wilfully, naive.
WolfeTone said:
The last 'henchman' was the 'scandal' earlier in the year where a young member of SF quit after disagreeing with the policy on some thing or other and made an issue of it out on social media.
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Don't forget Patrick and Jonathan Dowdall. Jonathan was a Shinner Councillor. Are you seriously suggesting that all of his criminal links and activities were established after he lost his seat?
 
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