Joseph, I know that we are unlikely to agree, but you have to understand, that when the Republic of Ireland was created, that the majority of people living in Ulster wanted to remain in the Union. They feared what they saw as a Catholic theocracy. I know that you as a republican will disregard their wishes, in favour of Ireland as a whole, but you have to empathise if you are ever to understand.
I appreciate that you are Irish, and that's great for you. The English and Irish have a shared history, we all live in the same group of islands. Hundreds of thousands of Irish have settled in the UK. We all know Irish people, or people of Irish descent here in England - if we don't have it ourselves. Even my kids have Irish descent, and I'm as East Anglian as it comes. That was part of the tragedy of the troubles. We actually get on very well if we stop fighting over history, religion, and identity.
The IRA were bad from our perspective. As a kid, I grew up with the fear of IRA bombings. I would see their victims on TV. I don't dislike the Irish, on the contrary as I said - but the IRA were a terror-ist organisation. I don't agree with what many loyalists did to Catholics in the North. Two wrongs don't make a right. However, what the IRA did was also morally wrong.
The troubles were an awful period in Anglo-Irish history.
You need to do some proper research and not just listen to family gossip. Whilst I can understand what drove some of the members of the IRA to do some of the things they did I cannot condone what they did, particularly during the 1970s, The IRA started off as a bona fide political force and ended up as a shield for thuggery, terror and misrule. There were a lot of bad people in the IRA who did a lot of bad things.
They were bad when they forgot what they were there for and started on there own community and killing anyone even children if they got in there way , they also broke up and some of there splinter groups have turned into selling drugs . There all evil Ira's Uvf's etc that Ulster has a lot to answer for ..
Cafe bombings and shooting up funerals are generally frowned upon. The IRA is so sloppy that they've killed more Catholics like yourself than English sympathizers.
I think that the fact that they kill people who have absolutely nothing to do with the political situation, and that even they know it accomplishes nothing also contribute to their image. The bombings accomplish nothing. They would get more done by working on a political level. Instead they blow up cafes. I guess if your mom was killed by one of their bombs you might have a different opinion.
When a country goes to war, they attack that country. When the IRA goes to war, they attack sandwich shops and coffee houses full of their own countrymen.
Of course the English treated the Irish like crap. But if you think that blowing up an innocent man (who may even be Irish and catholic) while he's eating his lunch will make things better, you have some growing up to do.
Being bombed in the street is NEVER an excuse for anything. The IRA are terrorists and that's all there is to be said.
The IRA were not bad. They were just fighting for their country. They were only bad when they killed innocent people
IRA are known as the thickest murderers ever. Fact
From your other questions, it appears you are an American. Have you ever been to Northern Ireland?
The IRA were in a minority of people in NI who wanted to leave UK, so you believe it was alright to bomb and shoot people who disagreed, do you?
Read the CIA report: They were involved in violent crime (eg bank robberies); had links to Colombian drug cartels; Were linked to international terrorists in Libya.
Unfortunately, naive "Irish" Americans believed it was some sort of freedom fight. They were evil terrorists. UVF were no better.
I was around and so was my British husband who had to fight in NI against the IRA. He saw his friends shot and blown up.
You sound like an ignorant kid.
You say they did bad things but were not bad. Shooting someones kneecaps off because they did not pay "protection money" is not good.
