I recommend reading it too. But I suspect not for the same reasons as you.
Its reads, as a patronising tantrum of a commentator that is figuring out that they have lost control of the narrative, oblivious to the reality that they have lost the narrative a long time ago.
That said, its important to state that the IRA, all paramilitaries and the armed forces of the British state, are a cancer on Irish society.
The brutality of their actions should never been forgotten and the pursuit of justice for all innocent victims and their families should be pursued.
But the article above, and more like it, are juvenile at best, a desperate attempt to hanker for relevance at worst.
In the same week that SF were accused of providing cover for the perpetrators of the grotesque murder of Paul Quinn, and Conor Murphy being called upon to tell PSNI what he knows about it, a High Court judge in NI berated the PSNI for not disclosing what the police know about the grotesque murders of the Miami Showband massacre.
All these victims deserve justice, no more no less than any others.
Its obvious to me the contradictory position of some using the Paul Quinn murder and alleged cover-up by SF to protect IRA members as reason why they are unfit for government, but simultaneously push for SF to support the PSNI as the legal authority to investigate such crimes. The very sam police organisation that is accused by a High Court judge of withholding information into the investigation of the murder of others.
This is all part of the complexity and legacy of a prolonged brutal conflict. We can all spend the night and day accusing, blaming, in fits of 'whataboutery' till the end of time, or, we can try move to a place where the legacy of the conflict, while never forgotten or ignored, is not allowed to be used as a tool to patronize, scare-monger, or sow further resentment.
The political landscape is far from perfect, but the cut and thrust of social and economic issues is what matters for the populous at large.
The legacy of the conflict is also important, it is a subject that I study closely. Any commentary that is prepared to offer articulate, reasoned argument on any aspect of the conflict , from any side, from any perspective, has to be welcomed.
The article above is hashbag, patronising, diatribe of a narrative that has long run its course.
Eillis O Hanlon, Eoghan Harris, Ruth Dudley Edwards et al, should move on. They offer nothing constructive now.
They would be minded to dig out Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a Changin' " and give it a good listen.
www.independent.ie
