Anonymous asked: Do you have or can find any pictures to do with an Easter Lily that you can post? Anything that is appropriate for this time of the year. Thanks. Up the 'RA mo chara :)
I do and I’ll be taking some pictures during the parade tommorow. Tiocfaidh ar la comrade :)
Anonymous asked: What do you dub "so-called" terrorism? Surely there are certain groups/acts that fall under the category of the completely reprehensible/irredeemable.
I mean what should moreso be described as freedom-fighters; I’m not saying terrorism and terrorists don’t exist I’m reffering more so to groups/armies/guerrillas/paramilitaries fighting wars against imperialism and colonialism. I refer to it in the none pejorative sense I suppose, though it is an entirely subjective matter.
Anonymous asked: what got you so interested in the IRA/Troubles?
I don’t actually know, I’ve always been interested in so called ‘terrorism’ and always been anti-imperialist so I suppose it was inevitable that I’d develope some interest in the subject. My interest in Palestine probably had something to do with it as with my general affinity to all things Irish. Irish mythology, music and culture have always attracted me. I supose some conglomeratiom of all these aspects and a general zeal for all things military lead to my passion for Republican History and the Troubles.
fmj556x45 asked: What are your favorite IRA movies?
They’re all so good! Hidden Agenda and Hunger are ones everyone should watch.
H3, In the Name of the Father, Michael Collins, The Wind that Shakes the Barley, Fifty Dead Men Walking and 5 Minutes of Heaven are all good too. The Devils Own is watchable and Borstal Boy is the biggest load of shite you’ll ever view.
Anonymous asked: Why do you support Irish political groups when you're English? Why do you think it's relevant to you? Don't you take an interest in what's happening in your own country at all? I'm sorry, but it's very strange to me when you're not even Irish. What do your family at home think of it? Sorry for all the questions. I'm really just very curious.
I take a massive interest in what happens in my own country and was involved in an awful lot of things back home; however the support base and the actual want of a new socialist government in England is essentially well, non-existant so for a long time I’ve focused on issues outside England still concentrating on the wrongs of capitalism, colonialism and imperialism (ie Cuba, Palestine, Ireland etc). I can’t exactly explain why I have such a prolific interest in Ireland but I don’t understand why you think it so strange; if you were to go back in time would you question Che as to his interest in Cuba as an Argentinian? I just don’t understand what country of origin has to do with a persons political viewpoint especially when England and Ireland are so closely linked and when the real adversary in this instance is British imperialism itself.
As for my family, they are mostly pro-Thatcherite, Tories from Orange backgrounds so well, they don’t exactly approve.
Anonymous asked: might be a silly question, but why do the IRA wear masks in most of their pictures?
They wear masks to conceal their identity; as all branches of the IRA are considered to be illegal ‘terror’ organisations and thus even membership of such can result to imprisonment.
This was slightly more relxed in the 70s and 80s and as you’ll see there area few pictures where you can see the faces of the members.
Anonymous asked: What was Connolly House used for exactly?
Connolly house as in one of the Sinn Fein offices? All I know is that Sinn Fein have used it as an office since about 1980 and that it was fired at with rockets by Loyalists in the 90s and later also turned out to have been bugged by the MI5. I’ll have a read and expand on this for you later!
Anonymous asked: what wasthe holy cross protest about?
In 2001 the Holy Cross protests began when largely Protestant residents in a Loyalist area of Ardoyne began a picket after accusations arose that Nationalist/Republicans had used the school route as a cover to carry out various acts (supposedly paramilitary against the community) and in particular a dispute over a fight that supposedly occurred when Republican men drove a car into a ladder which men were using to put up Loyalist flags however a local women living in the Loyalist areas said this was untrue and in actual fact it was the men putting up the flags who threw the ladder at the car. There were also allegations that the PIRA used the route when gathering intelligence. However the parents whose children were affected by the picket/protest believed it was an infringement of their rights and thus further dispute erupted. The key act that supposedly began the trouble occurred in December 2000, Protestant taxi driver Trevor Kell was shot dead in Ardoyne. The PIRA were suspected of involvement as forensic evidence linked the bullet with an IRA shooting in 1997. Later, the IRA was blamed for the “punishment shooting” of two men, one of whom is believed to have been questioned over Kell’s death, this incident led to increased animosity between Republicans and Loyalists.
The picket began in June when on the 20th the loyalist protesters blocked the front gates of the school and forced it to close, while the RUC advised parents not to attempt to enter the school. The stand-off continued until the end of school term on 29 June, with loyalists blockading the Ardoyne Road, and the RUC refusing to force children through and continued in September when the school year commenced (the RUC was now by this point the PSNI) three days into the school term a blast bomb was thrown at police. On Monday the 10th the protesters made a change in tactic, remaining quiet during the school run but shouting abuse at parents when they returned. Hower later in Septmber violence an abuse continued during the times in which the children were present, there were even accounts fo fireworks being thrown at parents.
On thursday the 22nd of November, First Minister David Trimble and Deputy First Minister Mark Durkan met residents of Upper Ardoyne, and the following evening, Friday 23 November, they agreed to call off their protest after 14 weeks. Until Christmas the sitution was largely peaceful but when the spring term commenced confrontations outside the shcool led to widespread sectarian rioting in North Belfast and the shcool was closed on the 10th. The next day the rioting seemed to have quietened but eh RHD (Red Hand Defenders) issued a death threat to the staff of the Catholic school. Security and police presence was therefore increased and the threat was never acted upon.
The worlds media had in the begining of the protest been focused on the sectarian violence but after 9/11 the focus obviously drifted to other global matters. The onyl noticable arrest made was that of Johnny Adair’s brother, James Adair who was imprisoned for six months for for riotous behaviour andobstructing police. Since 2002 Holy Cross has returned to normal bar a pipe bomb that was places in the entrance by Loyalists in 2003, however it was defused with no injuries and the school has remained in a state of normality since.
Hope that gives you some detail and clarification on what the protest was about!
Anonymous asked: Can you post some pictures of the Holy Cross riots/protests from 10 years ago!
Of course I can! :)
