(no subject)

[hellison]

So the Orange Order has finally replied to all the accusations of starting the trouble, joining in the riots, attacking the police, with, surprise surprise, a HUGE denial. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4243684.stm


They are totally blameless. There's no evidence at all they were bad (except of course that video the cops have of them).
Those Orangemen throwing rocks at cops? They were just lifing their hands to protect themselves. They're all DECENT PEOPLE OK?? NO bad ones. Not at all. Oh no.
A big boy MADE them do it! This bit particularly gets me...
"The extent to which ordinary, decent and reasonable men have been goaded into behaving out of character by the authorities and their insistence on appeasing and rewarding nationalists at the expense of loyalists."

Um. So, grown men can't take responsibility for their own actions? And the organisation to which they belong can't take any responsibility when it's done in their name, wearing their regalia?
I may be wrong here, but aren't most of the Protestant sects (is that the right word?) - Presbyterianism, Methodism etc, centred on individual responsibility and making individual choices based on conscience?

And there's that 'they took my toys and gave it to that dirty boy over there' arguement again. I know I keep comparing them to toddlers, but that's what they sound like. A pampered, spoilt only child who's arrived at school and for the first time been made to share his toys and do what he's told, so he pitches a huge tantrum, smashing things, kicking the floor and screaming to get his own way.

If they'd just come out and say 'ok, some of our members acted wrongly and we'll look into that' they might seem a bit more credible. Also, you know, condemning the rioting, violence, robbery, burnings and so on would help a bit. But no. They're staying firmly on their royal barge floating down that river. And the Belfast Grand Master, the one who refused point blank to condemn any of the violence is now saying he wouldn't do anything differently?
What fucking world do these people live in?
I am all out of boggle. In fact I am enraged. Maybe I should go sit in a road and block traffic, then fire some petrol bombs around to express myself as is my apparent right.
Anyone got a spare toddler I can hit with a brick? I have a point to make!


And on that appeasing nationalists bit, one of the papers this morning was talking about a study which shows that the loyalist/protestant communities are actually still getting more of the funding, investment, education opportunities etc than the nationalist/catholic ones.
Haven't found a link to it yet, will keep looking.

Comments

[malvino.livejournal.com]

I have a solution, flood the poorest areas with asylum seekers and economic migrants without skills who are neither Catholic or Protestant and who don't care if they're Irish or British as long as the government won't torture them and they have the right to work.

Ireland's still hugely underpopulated in comparison with the rest of Europe, NI in comparison with England particularly, both governments are stable and relaxed and really people would be better off under either with peace rather than making themselves miserable for nothing.

If they saw how much they actually have and how much others would give to have what they have they might get on with living instead of fighting.

[hellison.livejournal.com]

We do actually have some asylum seekers and a lot of immigrant workers, particularly eastern european. They get beaten up, threatened, burnt out quite a bit. Mostly in loyalist areas - tho it does happen everywhere.
The chinese community have also come under attack in loyalist areas for presumably being hard working, quiet and not burning things enough.

[malvino.livejournal.com]

More of them needed then, oh, and don't forget that the thugs can be locked up for crimes such as racial hated without becoming martyrs for the cause (beating up a catholic is obviously understandable sectarian violence).

[hellison.livejournal.com]

But they are keeping their areas CLEAN and BRITISH.

Combat 18 have been linked to some of the paramilitaries here, and tend to show up for the 12th parades.

[malvino.livejournal.com]

Yeah, so what they need is a good dose of decent people, still, maybe the new anti-terror laws will help

[hellison.livejournal.com]

Hopefully, tho I can imagine there'll be a bit of a shock when they realised the laws will actually be applied to THEM as well as the IRA.

[malvino.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the BNP is getting the same, they've been asking for someone to do something about the radical muslem clerics and such for years, now they're all in the dock on charges of being arses :)

[hellison.livejournal.com]

heh, don't you just LOVE it when that happens?

[adelpha.livejournal.com]

I wonder how many of the fsckwits that attack them nip round to the indian/chinese takeaway later.

[hellison.livejournal.com]

for example - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4244252.stm

[adelpha.livejournal.com]

"They may have protected themselves but there certainly wasn't violence. If a policeman comes at you with a baton you'll certainly put up your hand or something to stop them,"

Honest, yer honour! I was raising my hand to protect myself from a police baton, and the lit firebomb slipped out of my hand and into the crowd!

[hellison.livejournal.com]

It is a bit ridiculous. Even other Orangemen are saying that - one guy phoned into the radio to say the Grand Master is either blind or hasn't seen any footage.

The worst of the rioting seems to have stopped, tho it might take off again at the weekend. They're still doing the bloody roadblocks tho.

[adelpha.livejournal.com]

At the risk of sounding snobby, don't these people have jobs/schools to go to?

[hellison.livejournal.com]

That's been said a lot lately. The protests don't start til 4, so the kids can get home from school in time to sit in the middle of a motorway/main road.

As for the adults, no, they appear to be happily claiming their benefits before doing their best to scupper those of us working to pay for them. Can you tell I'm getting bitter?

[adelpha.livejournal.com]

*resists the urge to make Murphy's references*

The other question that springs to mind... These riots are meant to be religion-based, right? How many of the rioters have been to church in the past 12 months?

Apart from to pinch the lead off the roof.

[hellison.livejournal.com]

heh very very few. They pack their kids off to various sunday schools every week to get shot of them for a few hours and go back to lying about in their pjs.
Mind you having driven the buses that take the little treasures to sunday school, I can't really say I blame the parents for wanting them out of the way for a bit...

[adelpha.livejournal.com]

I wonder what they'd say if you asked them why they were doing it.

'Well, it's a day out for the kids...'

Or maybe they're just hoping they'll get run overso they can make their millions from one of those no-win-no-fee claims companies.

Me, cynical?