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You would have hoped that a younger breed of DUP candidates might have been a bit more inclusive and less bigoted than their predecessors but when it comes to Pengelly she is just a continuance of the McCauslands, Campbell's, Wilsons, Wells and Poots of this world. For a barrister she also comes across as not exactly the sharpest tool in the box, she has a severe case of foot in mouth syndrome and is all about self promotion which constantly appears to backfire on her.

Sure people appear to have forgotten about the RHI scandal already. If she can survive that she can survive anything. That said, all of the negative publicity that they have received since cosying up to the Tories is bound to have opened their eyes slightly as to how they are perceived in middle England. I doubt if even they expected such a backlash.

And loyalist bigots lapping it up, reading about even someone from the south telling them what they'd love to believe about nationalism. Shes a disgrace, and a dangerous disgrace

Ruth knows her audience in the Belfast Telegraph and is playing to them.


WRT to Little Pengelly, if some people in that mixed development were to throw up a few tricolours she'd have the PSNI round in a heartbeat and they'd have no issues removing them.

Why should Pengelly be surprised that people were afraid to air their views about the flying of UVF flags? Did she think that people were going to openly complain to her association with loyalists and her background without any fear.   

I don't get a sense that there is much enthusiasm in either county for this match. The winner will get a renewed sense of belief though. For Geezer, you would have to feel that it is a must win match that were he to lose, then his position would be untenable. Win the match however and they can take a bit of renewed belief into getting a good run at the qualifiers. The winners are in the easy side of the qualifiers draw so there is an opportuinity to get 3/4 matches through the back door which might be enough to rescue the season. 

Will someone give me evidence of a serious attempt by the South to promote Irish Unity over the last century?

Of course they should be doing more but when it happens there has to be some level of acceptance from the unionists that it has been reached via a democratic vote and not something that is foisted on them. Listening to Leo Varadkar saying how much of a thrill it was for him to be in 10 Downing Street today wouldn't exactly inspire you with any confidence that he is going to fight any harder for nationalists in the north.   

[This wasn't when the game had gone away from them later on - this was from the get-go from Donegal. Woeful stuff.]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSNM6jxqSxQ

Match on YouTube

Compare and contrast Tyrone's defending and tackling in the first 10/12 minutes compared to Donegal's

Note the difference in terms of putting pressure on the player shooting -  even when a Donegal player did get space to get their shot off, Tyrone still had players diving in to try and make the block/distract the kicker. When you compare it to the pressure that Donegal were putting on the Tyrone players shooting, it was world's apart.

This wasn't when the game had gone away from them later on - this was from the get-go from Donegal. Woeful stuff.

It was evident from early on that Tyrone were able to get into scoring positions much, much easier and much more quickly.

It'll be interesting in the future to hear what the build-up and preparation for this game from a Donegal perspective involved. 

Short term, McGuinness in the Times should be an good read this week!

I don't want to be TOO hard on Gallagher, as this is a team in transition with a lot of inexperience and plainly a ton of work to be done to get us back to the top level, but it is ironic, based on what we've seen over the past three seasons, to think that way back when, there were those who thought that Gallagher was the tactical brains of the partnership.

I think McGuinness will be secretly delighted with this result as he has made no bones about his falling out with Gallagher in the past.

However I think Gallagher's biggest problem was that he over achieved with this team in the league. They aren't as bad as they looked yesterday but they are well short of where they were 3-4 years ago. It was a horrible style of football that McGuinness inflicted on gaelic football that is still pervading the game at all levels and age groups today, however you can't deny that he was a visionary with a serious set of balls to carry the plan through to a successful conclusion despite all of the negative headlines it brought. He was the ultra pragmatist whereas I think Gallagher is a bit more concerned with how others perceive his football philosophy to be.   

[admitted]

The fact is that Dublin recommended this to its people,as a preferred outcome.This was akin to Britain surrendering to Germany to maintain peace in 1939.

Jimmy Deenihan,a Dublin Govt minister,admitted in a recent tv debate that Irish Unity wasn't affordable

A bit like Brexit, the truth is he is guessing as he has done no such research. This man however has.

https://senatormarkdaly.org/2017/04/13/united-ireland-its-people-in-peace-prosperity-executive-summary/

It's obvious that there will be short term costs but mid-longer term there are obvious benefits.

Lets just hope that the San Marino crowd can take down Linfield in the first round. This is not a fixture you'd want to be attending, or certainly not the Belfast leg anyway.

No.I was totally immersed in Armagh's renaissance in the late 90s.

But you see the utter waste of time aspiring or waiting for a United Ireland

It's going to happen , it is inevitable at some point and I'm surer than ever after the events of the last 12 months. You might see it as a waste of time but I and I'm sure many other nationalists don't either. If you are around to see it you can sulk in the corner becasue your dream of an independent state is dead and your N Ireland culture will get watered down but you will just have to grin and bear it.

It doesn't matter a damn.I cannot think of any other nation in the world that freely seceded hitherto national territory under no duress,without as much as a whimper in 1998.

Did you express this outrage at the time?

Er if N I is independent there will be no point in marking out territory with flags of other countries.An independent North makes Unionism and Nationalism redundant.

If you think nationalists and unionist's will cease aspiring to be part of either an Irish unified state or the UK if an independent country is declared tomorrow, you're living in cloud cuckoo land. That's ok for you to say as an Alliance Party supporter, but the vast majority of people will not stop aspiring to be part of a reunified state or the UK just because an independent country is declared. 

[An independent North makes Unionism and Nationalism redundant.]

Er if N I is independent there will be no point in marking out territory with flags of other countries.An independent North makes Unionism and Nationalism redundant.

Pure nonsense.

Good to see Kildare getting back to being competitive again, hopefully it will make for a competitive Leinster final. Cain O'Neill seems to be going in the right direction with them.

Meat were very disappointing I thought. Listened to Bernard Flynn on the radio a few weeks back and he thought they were capable of upsetting Dublin this year. I took him at his word and expected to win this match but they were woeful. No physicality in the contest at all although credit to Kildare, they do seem to be improving.

I no longer vote on tribal lines but for candidate (s) who I agree with and who have a track record.

My preference would be for an independent Northern state,if economically viable ultimately,devoid of  toxic,bizarre and irrational allegiances to the British or 26 county states,which has brought about nothing but misery and division.

There was, to all intents and purposes, an independent northern state from 1922 to 1969, with zero interference from London as loyalist apartheid was practised unfettered. That worked out really well, didn't it? Speak for yourself. I feel total kinship with my fellow Irish, whether they're from Armagh or Cork.

Agree, I love this country, whether Killarney or Derry.
I think if we actually had the wit to realise what we actually have on this island, and reject the antagonist partisan aggression of orangism and their fellow travellers, we'd have some country.
I'm a northern nationslist and have loads in common with northern unionists snd southern nationalists , what I can't stick is those from the 26 counties (usually Fine Gaelers tbf) who try to ingratiate and respect everyone , except northern nationalists . E.g. Charlie Flanagan who is supposed to be an independent co-guarantor of the GFA , not stating clearly that James Brokenshire, can now definitely not be viewed as independent, since he's trying to form a government with the DUP. This is absolutely disgraceful. We all know the question marks over Fisnna Fail but at least Bertie and Albert proved advocates of northern nationalists when they were most marginalised . Sadly Miceál Martin has not followed suit. Fine Gael and their various coalitions, ( with a few  supporters on this board ), have consistently failed as advocates for northern nationalists, rather seeing their role as sucking up to unionists and the Tories...sadly replicating their role in the Anglo Irish conflict from 1916. Any chance Charlie and Leo that you would have the guts to confront the Partissn behaviour of the Tories and their orange mates in unionism?
What other country in the world would tolerate the weekly widespread celebration of beating your Catholic neighbours in battle over  300  years ago and dress it up as culture. When is the lone voice of 6 county nationalists going to be bolstered by those in the 26 counties , calling this nonsense out for what it is!
Inevitably northern nationalists  are portrayed as the other side of the same coin, and equally unreasonable. Tit for tat , 50/50, six of one /half a dozen of the other etc. This narrative is nonsense. If a republican band tried to march in a unionist area, they would not only receive no support they would be openly ridiculed by their own community - thus it never happens. However sectarian marches, continued loyalist killings and apparent sectarian behaviour around the Irish language and public funding, is only ever challenged by northern nationalists, who are portrayed as equally unreasonable . Apart from the likes of Jeremy Corbyn,  UK politicians have rarely fought our corner and have promoted the 50/50 lie. Fianna Fail  to be fair , though not overly vocal, usually had our backs, but since Sinn Féin has strengthened in the Dáil, self preservation has dictated that all other Southern politicians have neglected northern nationalists, to concentrate on undermining Sinn Féin, thus perpetuating the pathological political impasse in the 6 counties.
Will Leo Varadkar buck the trend and stand up to the Tories and orangism, I'll not hold my breath!

Excellent post ....

As for Leo .. will he F**K 

That was an excellent post alright. As for Leo, If he was English he would espouse British Tory policy so I would not expect any improvment there, in fact I think he'll be less of a nationalist than Enda was. Time will tell but he strikes me as the Dublin 4 'I'm alright jack' type.