Good Friday Agreement - 20 years on

[Happyhonkaman]

My bad. Of course I should have mentioned the two above. They were instrumental.

And Albert Reynolds, he put in the work.. Bertie stuttered and cut the bow

 

[jimmym]

And Albert Reynolds, he put in the work.. Bertie stuttered and cut the bow

Id give bertie credit, unlike Bruton who had no interest, i heard on rte
radio earlier that in 1998 66% of voters voted SDLP/UUP, now it is reversed,
The british played the normalisation game i.e as time moves on the militants on both sides grow old, drift away and the threat of violence receeds, all things considered life up there now cant be bad at all,

 

[ocides]

Id give bertie credit, unlike Bruton who had no interest, i heard on rte
radio earlier that in 1998 66% of voters voted SDLP/UUP, now it is reversed,
The british played the normalisation game i.e as time moves on the militants on both sides grow old, drift away and the threat of violence receeds, all things considered life up there now cant be bad at all,

Quite right about Bruton. A buffoon of a man.

 

[SoundMan]

And the main man himself John Hume

Hume who came up with the the power-sharing Sunningdale Agreement, Anglo-Irish Agreement and the Belfast Agreement.

He won the Nobel Peace Prize along with David Trimble.

Hume was a political colossus in the north. Unfortunately anyone who read The Committee or witnessed Trimble and Paisley's triumphalism down the Garvaghy Road or cosying up to King Rat know exactly what kind of a creature Trimble is beneath the veneer. Trimble wasn't fit to lace Hume's boots but they felt they had to award something to someone on the unionist side to counterbalance that given to Hume who so richly deserved it for all his work.

Hume is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, politicians of my lifetime. Selfless

 

[jimmym]

Hume was a political colossus in the north. Unfortunately anyone who read The Committee or witnessed Trimble and Paisley's triumphalism down the Garvaghy Road know exactly what kind of a creature Trimble is. Trimble wasn't fit to lace Hume's boots but they felt they had to award something to someone on the unionist side to counterbalance that given to Hume who so richly deserved it for all his work.

Hume is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, politicians of my lifetime. Selfless

Agree with all of that, Hume was a giant of a man who took a major gamble which led to the peace of today,

 

[jimmym]

It will take decades.

Sinn Fein do not want the Norn Iron state to succeed as if it worked people may not want any United Ireland so keep it on the edge of crisis and failure all the time and waffle in about border polls and permanent instability.

The D.U.P will cling limpet like to Britain forever no matter what even if it impoverishes the six counties via Brexit. They are slowly declining and backward and the young people will savage them long term. They are happy to be ruled from Westminster as long as the money keeps rolling in.

Both parties avoid any responsibility but demand votes at election time and as long as they are not slaughtering each other in the street who really cares?

cant argue there,

 

[Duffs]

Until they take the teaching of all religions out of schools and back in the home, there will never be peace in the North.

 

[jimmym]

Dont underestimate the task Adams and co had in selling the deal to the
IRA volunteers particularly in areas like south armagh and east tyrone,

 

[ocides]

Until they take the teaching of all religions out of schools and back in the home, there will never be peace in the North.

So you suggest taking teaching out of a controlled environment and in the hands of a possible bigot in their own home is the answer to lasting peace in the North. Seriously?

 

[SoundMan]

Until they take the teaching of all religions out of schools and back in the home, there will never be peace in the North.

If they were to teach them properly there'd never be any violence.

I think there was an elitist attitude built up there over many generations going back hundreds of years. The modern world has shrunk and shown people that there's good and bad everywhere and that folk are folk.

Bit by bit the elites are having their privileges nibbled away and it's less and less to do with what school you went to or where you worship and more and more to do with your education and skills - as is the case in most modern societies. And that I think is a good thing. Naturally the former elites don't like the erosion but they just need to embrace the new concept. They're no less able to be educated and skilled. It's just a slight realignment on realistic and modern criteria, rather than on what great big beardy in the sky you worship or what particular path you deem best to worship the same guy-in-the-sky.

More and more in the north don't label themselves as Irish or British but as NornIrish. And if that's what the majority up there want then so be it. Down here we tend to think of ourselves as Corkonians living in Ireland ;-)