I think it deserves a thread of its own. The death of a man who was considered a terrorist in his day and who ended up as one of the most respected world statesmen ever.
Nelson Mandela dies: Former South African president Mandela has died aged 95,
Goes without saying he be badly missed in South Africa foreby the rest of the world,
its pity Northern Ireland couldnt bring about a leader like him,
RIP Nelson
(http://www.biography.com/imported/images/Biography/Images/Galleries/Nelson%20Mandela/nelson-mandela-mural-1-sized.jpg)
A truly great man. Without him South Africa might have become Syria. RIP.
A sad, sad day. The world has lost it's conscience, a truly great man.
"I was called a terrorist yesterday, but when I came out of jail, many people embraced me, including my enemies, and that is what I normally tell other people who say those who are struggling for liberation in their country are terrorists. I tell them that I was also a terrorist yesterday, but, today, I am admired by the very people who said I was one."
RIP Nelson Mandela.
RIP Madiba.
Some man for one man. RIP Nelson
Quote from: armaghniac on December 05, 2013, 10:20:00 PM
A truly great man. Without him South Africa might have become Syria. RIP.
+ 1. A mighty man
Nelson managed to play for the Antrim Champions a few times
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/p240x240/1479068_10152099354597905_1460160538_n.jpg)
RIP Mandela
I remember the absurdly high expectations about what he could achieve when he was released. He exceeded those expectations. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
Quote from: Milltown Row2 on December 05, 2013, 10:44:12 PM
Nelson managed to play for the Antrim Champions a few times
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/p240x240/1479068_10152099354597905_1460160538_n.jpg)
RIP Mandela
good one Milltown ;D Rip to a great Statesman and revolutionary.
Quote from: Milltown Row2 on December 05, 2013, 10:44:12 PM
Nelson managed to play for the Antrim Champions a few times
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/p240x240/1479068_10152099354597905_1460160538_n.jpg)
RIP Mandela
Was there anything at which he did not excel? ;)
It's a wake for you and me.
A great loss for the world and not just for South Africa.
RIP
(http://media.joe.ie/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/mandela-cover-580.jpg)
Massive loss for South Africa.
RIP
That **** frasier making a real p***k of himself (i know its not hard) on the protestant coalition site in relation to mandela, that bollocks will never grow up
Rip to a great man.
Link wildweasel? I'd be afraid to google it!
RIP Madiba. I will never forget the day he walked free. We were training in Ferbane and it was all we could talk about. To become the leader he was, was brilliant to see. A true leader and statesman.
Sin e R.I.P.
RIP Nelson Mandela.
A great man and a great leader. The dignity with which he carried himself was inspiring.
Quote from: Wildweasel74 on December 05, 2013, 11:37:23 PM
That **** frasier making a real p***k of himself (i know its not hard) on the protestant coalition site in relation to mandela, that bollocks will never grow up
Had a look earlier. Some of the stuff posted was unbelievable...most of it is removed now. Some real racist stuff I wouldn't even repeat.
Quote from: AZOffaly on December 06, 2013, 12:04:58 AM
RIP Madiba. I will never forget the day he walked free. We were training in Ferbane and it was all we could talk about. To become the leader he was, was brilliant to see. A true leader and statesman.
One of the truly great moments I can remember in my lifetime when he walked free and set about making peace with his oppressors and freeing South Africa.
RIP Mandela, his legacy will be told for generations to come, long after those who labeled him a terrorist and jailed him have faded into insignificance..
A true great - I feel grateful to have been alive in his time. RIP.
I remember going into Dawson St to see him get the Freedom of Dublin in July 1990 - the day after the Irish soccer team came back from Italia 90.
He was genuinely surprised at the chants coming from the huge crowd
"Oh Ahh Paul McGrath's Da....."
Very funny and really only in Ireland could that happen.
Quote from: johnneycool on December 06, 2013, 08:39:13 AM
Quote from: AZOffaly on December 06, 2013, 12:04:58 AM
RIP Madiba. I will never forget the day he walked free. We were training in Ferbane and it was all we could talk about. To become the leader he was, was brilliant to see. A true leader and statesman.
One of the truly great moments I can remember in my lifetime when he walked free and set about making peace with his oppressors and freeing South Africa.
RIP Mandela, his legacy will be told for generations to come, long after those who labeled him a terrorist and jailed him have faded into insignificance..
Unfortunately, one such person is now the British Prime Minister. Cringed listening to his hypocrisy last night.
RIP Madiba.
RIP Mandela.
Some great quotes from him rattling round on twitter.
I spent time there during the dark days of apartheid and to tell the truth if the rest of the world had not been watching you wonder what would have become of the man. Still remember listening to a conversation among some educated whites where one of them, a woman as well, reckoned the biggest mistake the SA govt ever made was remitting his death penalty. Remember it all going off in a pub in hillbrow one night, there was a video juke box with one track blacked out AKA The Specials Free Nelson Mandela. That's what it was like at the time. Seem to remember a few displaced Scots and Nordies being to the forefront of that particular ruckus, for some reason 1980's SA seemed to draw a particularly strident type from those locales.
Haven't been back since he walked free, from contact with friends who remain there the place is unrecognisable. What a testament to Nelson and his colleagues and comrades.
A true inspiration to the world he can truely rest in peace now he has achieved what he set out to do. Few interesting stats for some posters to this discussion board. He grew up with no civil rights, he fought against the system,he was called a terrorist, he was imprisoned, he was shot, he became leader of his party, he worked for peace, he met with his enemies, he forgave those you had shot him, he wants peace for all, he has had troubles within his own family,his want for truth and reconciliation. Sound like anyone else we know off.
An Icon, perhaps the Iconic figure of my lifetime. A truly, truly great man who achieved the impossible. Genuine sadness when I heard the news last night. RIP.
For some reason today I think of those Dunnes Stores workers who stood up against apartheid at great personal risk. That was back when you had Irish people who would stand for things that were right even if it meant having to take on big corporations.
Over the next few days, the world will rightly pay tribute to Mandela. The most fitting of tributes would be for his suffering and efforts not to be thrown away by an incompetent and corrupt South African government. Zuma and his cronies are a shower of gangsters. The ANC is riven with warring factions. The South Africa of today and its current direction is not what Mandela fought for.
Quote from: gallsman on December 06, 2013, 11:38:57 AM
Over the next few days, the world will rightly pay tribute to Mandela. The most fitting of tributes would be for his suffering and efforts not to be thrown away by an incompetent and corrupt South African government. Zuma and his cronies are a shower of gangsters. The ANC is riven with warring factions. The South Africa of today and it's current direction is not what Mandela fought for.
While it may not be what he wanted it is steeping in the right direction and as we should know it takes a generation or 2 to really change the way things are in a place that has been torn apart by division and disparity.
The greatest testament he can leave is that his long walk to freedom allowed a nation to walk free as well but on a global scale he became the conscience of the world and he touched billions of people in an amazing way. We have lived at the same time as one of the most influential people who ever lived and for that I feel privileged.
He was great craic rip
Quote from: gallsman on December 06, 2013, 11:38:57 AM
Over the next few days, the world will rightly pay tribute to Mandela. The most fitting of tributes would be for his suffering and efforts not to be thrown away by an incompetent and corrupt South African government. Zuma and his cronies are a shower of gangsters. The ANC is riven with warring factions. The South Africa of today and its current direction is not what Mandela fought for.
They didn't negotiate the economic issues very well back in the early 90s.
It's going to take time for the ANC to split but the sooner, the better.
The South Africa of today and its current direction is not what Mandela fought forSin mar a bhionn. Pearse didn't die for clerical child abuse either.
Nelson Mandela was released from prison when I was only 10 years old, but I remember watching it live on the news. Whilst I wasn't aware of what was happening, I knew I was witnessing something historic and it's a memory that stayed with me.
A truly remarkable man and one of the few that you can honestly say made a global mark and changed the course of history for the better.
RIP Mandela.
Quote from: seafoid on December 06, 2013, 01:34:27 PM
Quote from: gallsman on December 06, 2013, 11:38:57 AM
Over the next few days, the world will rightly pay tribute to Mandela. The most fitting of tributes would be for his suffering and efforts not to be thrown away by an incompetent and corrupt South African government. Zuma and his cronies are a shower of gangsters. The ANC is riven with warring factions. The South Africa of today and its current direction is not what Mandela fought for.
They didn't negotiate the economic issues very well back in the early 90s.
It's going to take time for the ANC to split but the sooner, the better.
The South Africa of today and its current direction is not what Mandela fought for
Sin mar a bhionn. Pearse didn't die for clerical child abuse either.
RIP Nelson Mandela. The 'father of modern South Africa.' I often wonder if his child grew up as he expected. I'm sure there'll be loads of discussion to this effect in the months ahead.
QuoteThe South Africa of today and its current direction is not what Mandela fought for
What him and others in similar scenarios fought for was to give their country the chance to do things in a better, fairer way. SA is far from perfect but look at what it came from. Without Mandela I dread to think what may have happened. How much longer apartheid might have prevailed? What would have happened if he wasn't there to command the situation when apartheid fell?
Quote from: Wildweasel74 on December 05, 2013, 11:37:23 PM
That **** frasier making a real p***k of himself (i know its not hard) on the protestant coalition site in relation to mandela, that bollocks will never grow up
I can't understand why you're surprised. To be honest, like yourself, I went straight to Willie's site as I would have expected nothing less and, true to form, he didn't disappoint. I'm delighted, it shows him up for what he is. I hope Richard Haass and Meghan O'Sullivan get a chance to read it
I'd advise folk to stay clear of that PC facebook site. Some of the comments are vicious and nasty in the extreme from people of all ages (even a wee old woman holding a cute dog)...a shared future with those posters will be some craic. We'll be trundling along like we are right now for a long long time
RIP Nelson
Quote from: J OGorman on December 06, 2013, 02:33:53 PM
I'd advise folk to stay clear of that PC facebook site. Some of the comments are vicious and nasty in the extreme from people of all ages (even a wee old woman holding a cute dog)...a shared future with those posters will be some craic. We'll be trundling along like we are right now for a long long time
RIP Nelson
Made the mistake of looking 5 minutes. Terrible stuff. Still, that's why he's posting that shite, to get attention. Just ignore and don't feed the WASP.
Great man, and a great loss, but some of the people waxing lyrical have short memories as others here have already alluded. I saw this earlier and thought it was great...
http://www.okwonga.com/?p=869
thats a great link mcgrens thanks
Quote from: mc_grens on December 06, 2013, 02:50:02 PM
Great man, and a great loss, but some of the people waxing lyrical have short memories as others here have already alluded. I saw this earlier and thought it was great...
http://www.okwonga.com/?p=869
I liked that - 'You didn't break him in life, and you won't shape him in death. You will try, wherever you are, and you will fail.'
Listening to the wireless today I'd say that 'shaping' has already begun!
To all of ye up in the wee six, protestant, catholic and dissenter, I feel sorry for you reading that shite on that page. How can any of you expect to live with or in harmony with a bunch of absolute fucksticks like that? I'm actually angry after reading that shite.
Quote from: AZOffaly on December 06, 2013, 03:54:43 PM
To all of ye up in the wee six, protestant, catholic and dissenter, I feel sorry for you reading that shite on that page. How can any of you expect to live with or in harmony with a bunch of absolute fucksticks like that? I'm actually angry after reading that shite.
forward it onto Timmy Dooley, Billy Kelleher and the lads as it was utopia up here until the bad IRA set to work.
I'm sure they're not speaking for all Unionists, but by Jaysus they are hard to read. All I could think of was meeting one of them in Portugal or somewhere on holidays, and them saying something. There'd be war on European soil again.
Quote from: AZOffaly on December 06, 2013, 03:54:43 PM
To all of ye up in the wee six, protestant, catholic and dissenter, I feel sorry for you reading that shite on that page. How can any of you expect to live with or in harmony with a bunch of absolute fucksticks like that? I'm actually angry after reading that shite.
Jaysus. Must be bad if it got under your skin.
Quote from: AZOffaly on December 06, 2013, 03:54:43 PM
To all of ye up in the wee six, protestant, catholic and dissenter, I feel sorry for you reading that shite on that page. How can any of you expect to live with or in harmony with a bunch of absolute fucksticks like that? I'm actually angry after reading that shite.
AZ you get used to it...after 90 years. I'd love Alan Shatter to come and live here for 6 months. He'd be asking Adams where to sign up for the 'RA!! (Not that Gerry would know of course)
AZ do you have copyright on the word "fucksticks" or am I free to use it??
work away.
Quote from: AQMP on December 06, 2013, 04:34:32 PM
AZ you get used to it...after 90 years. I'd love Alan Shatter to come and live here for 6 months. He'd be asking Adams where to sign up for the 'RA!! (Not that Gerry would know of course)
If you added Alan Shatter to the mix, even for only six months, Armageddon would ensue.
Let's keep this a clean thread please girls. :D
RIP Nelson, a man who shaped a nation unlike few others, he gave me hope that one day, in my lifetime, that the Brits would leave the wee six and we would be United again.
(http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1499999/thumbs/o-NELSON-MANDELA-SPORT-570.jpg?6)
Normally I would start a craption competition, but I have too much respect for Mandela.
To emerge from 27 years in jail only to embrace your captors is something special. But to persuade your long suffering followers to start cheering for the 'enemy' in the way he did for the Springboks in 1995 was astonishing.
South Africa isn't there yet, but it is an an awful long way from where it was and that shouldn't be forgotten.
Mandela was far more than a great South African though. He was a real living icon of hope to people all over the world.
It will be weird explaining to my small kids who he was and what he did in their history studies, but I am looking forward to that question.
RIP to the greatest individual of my lifetime.
Great post Muppet. Rings true with me. Will look forward to talking to my girls about him. Enjoyed the photo too.
Thanks also to McGrens for the link. Very true.
Thankfully I avoided the wullie link. Perversely though it's good that people like that expose themselves for what they are. Take comfort from that if it has annoyed any of ye.
Quote from: AZOffaly on December 06, 2013, 03:54:43 PM
To all of ye up in the wee six, protestant, catholic and dissenter, I feel sorry for you reading that shite on that page. How can any of you expect to live with or in harmony with a bunch of absolute fucksticks like that? I'm actually angry after reading that shite.
It has always been there AZ, though when I say 'always', I mean since the Plantation, of course! ;) And that's the type of mentality that had free reign in the six since Partition, alas, until some folk had had enough.
One by-product of the social media proliferation has been the opening up of such crazed and benighted sectarianism to a much wider audience (beyond the wee six and the border counties). Enjoy :)
From Irish Times, 29.10.84, on FF, FG and Lab attitude to Dunnes Stores strike:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ba9ItGBIMAAtTuF.jpg:large)
Do you really think this is the right thread to try and score party political points?
Piss off Maguire who made you postngs police? The clip is relevant in terms of the hypocrisy abounding on the media at the moment - besdies the fact we've already had off topic postings to which you remained silent.
Quote from: Wildweasel74 on December 05, 2013, 11:37:23 PM
That **** frasier making a real p***k of himself (i know its not hard) on the protestant coalition site in relation to mandela, that bollocks will never grow up
You should check out some of the right wing sites in the states - rejoicing in Mandela's death and having nothing whatsoever to say about him except that he was a terrorist and communist.
Quote from: Maguire01 on December 08, 2013, 10:55:32 AM
Do you really think this is the right thread to try and score party political points?
Oh ffs.
Quote from: Maguire01 on December 08, 2013, 10:55:32 AM
Do you really think this is the right thread to try and score party political points?
;D ;D pot,kettle,black :-[
Adams invited by the ANC to Saturday's memorial service. Oddly, there's no mention of this on RTÉ. We're only told about Higgins, Gilmore (oh, and Bono) going to today's public memorial service.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-25302420 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-25302420)
QuoteOddly, there's no mention of this on RTÉ. We're only told about Higgins, Gilmore (oh, and Bono) going to today's public memorial service
.
Some people get to go to the wedding, some to the afters.
Quote from: armaghniac on December 10, 2013, 11:45:44 AM
QuoteOddly, there's no mention of this on RTÉ. We're only told about Higgins, Gilmore (oh, and Bono) going to today's public memorial service
.
Some people get to go to the wedding, some to the afters.
If by "the wedding", you mean today's public event, he was also invited to it too, but was unable to attend. McGuinness is there today though (also not reported on RTÉ).
It's a conspiracy
Quote from: muppet on December 07, 2013, 12:39:09 AM
(http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1499999/thumbs/o-NELSON-MANDELA-SPORT-570.jpg?6)
Normally I would start a craption competition, but I have too much respect for Mandela.
To emerge from 27 years in jail only to embrace your captors is something special. But to persuade your long suffering followers to start cheering for the 'enemy' in the way he did for the Springboks in 1995 was astonishing.
South Africa isn't there yet, but it is an an awful long way from where it was and that shouldn't be forgotten.
Mandela was far more than a great South African though. He was a real living icon of hope to people all over the world.
It will be weird explaining to my small kids who he was and what he did in their history studies, but I am looking forward to that question.
RIP to the greatest individual of my lifetime.
Vey good post - he was a superb individual, sums up my thoughts exactly. Humility and forgiveness in huge reserves. RIP.
As an aside, he did put his family in harms way, ultimately for the greater good of South African people and society in general. Would you be happy with your spouse, father, mother, brother, sister to do this?
His life's achievement was remarkable, and his message of forgiveness is one that I think has gotten a bit lost.
Having said that I'm not going to say much more until I've finished reading more about him. I've made a start on The Long Walk to Freedom.
Very good article by Gerry thornley in the Irish times for those with selective memories
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/rugby-family-has-shameful-past-in-propping-up-apartheid-regime-1.1622452?page=1 (http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/rugby-family-has-shameful-past-in-propping-up-apartheid-regime-1.1622452?page=1)
I'm sure there were other sports persons and entertainers who ignored the anti apartheid protests and played in Sun City or wherever to their eternal shame.
Seemingly yon lad that was doing all the signing beside the speakers at the rostrum was a spoofer and all he was doing was waving his arms around.
Quote from: johnneycool on December 11, 2013, 12:44:41 PM
Very good article by Gerry thornley in the Irish times for those with selective memories
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/rugby-family-has-shameful-past-in-propping-up-apartheid-regime-1.1622452?page=1 (http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/rugby-family-has-shameful-past-in-propping-up-apartheid-regime-1.1622452?page=1)
I'm sure there were other sports persons and entertainers who ignored the anti apartheid protests and played in Sun City or wherever to their eternal shame.
Gerry has soccer week, golf the week after, cricket then etc...no want of news stories during that era. Time to loom forward as Mandela did
This is crazy - the man doing the sign language at the memorial service was a fake, apparently making it up as he went along!
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/africa/man-doing-sign-language-at-mandela-memorial-was-a-fake-1.1624262
Quote from: J OGorman on December 11, 2013, 06:33:02 PM
Quote from: johnneycool on December 11, 2013, 12:44:41 PM
Very good article by Gerry thornley in the Irish times for those with selective memories
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/rugby-family-has-shameful-past-in-propping-up-apartheid-regime-1.1622452?page=1 (http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/rugby-family-has-shameful-past-in-propping-up-apartheid-regime-1.1622452?page=1)
I'm sure there were other sports persons and entertainers who ignored the anti apartheid protests and played in Sun City or wherever to their eternal shame.
Gerry has soccer week, golf the week after, cricket then etc...no want of news stories during that era. Time to loom forward as Mandela did
Was soccer a sanction-busting sport? No danger of a whites-only national team.
Quote from: deiseach on December 12, 2013, 09:22:10 AM
Quote from: J OGorman on December 11, 2013, 06:33:02 PM
Quote from: johnneycool on December 11, 2013, 12:44:41 PM
Very good article by Gerry thornley in the Irish times for those with selective memories
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/rugby-family-has-shameful-past-in-propping-up-apartheid-regime-1.1622452?page=1 (http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/rugby-family-has-shameful-past-in-propping-up-apartheid-regime-1.1622452?page=1)
I'm sure there were other sports persons and entertainers who ignored the anti apartheid protests and played in Sun City or wherever to their eternal shame.
Gerry has soccer week, golf the week after, cricket then etc...no want of news stories during that era. Time to loom forward as Mandela did
Was soccer a sanction-busting sport? No danger of a whites-only national team.
the point is, this is old old news being rehashed to fill a few column inches. Look to the future time is upon us
Quote from: J OGorman on December 12, 2013, 09:39:57 AM
Quote from: deiseach on December 12, 2013, 09:22:10 AM
Was soccer a sanction-busting sport? No danger of a whites-only national team.
the point is, this is old old news being rehashed to fill a few column inches. Look to the future time is upon us
I dunno. I get the feeling the average Irish Times reader needs to be reminded that things weren't always totes amazeballs in the land of Irish rugby. Those who cannot remember the past etc
Quote from: deiseach on December 12, 2013, 09:47:09 AM
Quote from: J OGorman on December 12, 2013, 09:39:57 AM
Quote from: deiseach on December 12, 2013, 09:22:10 AM
Was soccer a sanction-busting sport? No danger of a whites-only national team.
the point is, this is old old news being rehashed to fill a few column inches. Look to the future time is upon us
I dunno. I get the feeling the average Irish Times reader needs to be reminded that things weren't always totes amazeballs in the land of Irish rugby. Those who cannot remember the past etc
The rugby lads were self congratulating themselves on how the world cup in SA was used to 'bring the country together' however it would be hard to find another sport who openly flouted international condemnation for playing in and against SA just so much. I wouldn't say they propped up apartheid as Gerry does, but they didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with playing an all white team where blacks were second class citizens and that's a bit sickening.
I don't think the 'but that was the way it was back then' defence could ever be used.
Quote from: johnneycool on December 12, 2013, 09:56:15 AM
I don't think the 'but that was the way it was back then' defence could ever be used.
When you have useful idiots like Gareth Edwards still kidding themselves as recently as 2009 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/welsh/8063359.stm) that they made a contribution to the breaking down of apartheid, you can see the value of Gerry Thornley's article.
Quote from: deiseach on December 12, 2013, 09:47:09 AM
I dunno. I get the feeling the average Irish Times reader needs to be reminded that things weren't always totes amazeballs in the land of Irish rugby. Those who cannot remember the past etc
I think its pronounced 'amazeyballs'
Quote from: Never beat the deeler on December 12, 2013, 10:12:09 AM
Quote from: deiseach on December 12, 2013, 09:47:09 AM
I dunno. I get the feeling the average Irish Times reader needs to be reminded that things weren't always totes amazeballs in the land of Irish rugby. Those who cannot remember the past etc
I think its pronounced 'amazeyballs'
A day when you learn a new thing is a day not wasted.
Quote from: johnneycool on December 12, 2013, 09:56:15 AM
Quote from: deiseach on December 12, 2013, 09:47:09 AM
Quote from: J OGorman on December 12, 2013, 09:39:57 AM
Quote from: deiseach on December 12, 2013, 09:22:10 AM
Was soccer a sanction-busting sport? No danger of a whites-only national team.
the point is, this is old old news being rehashed to fill a few column inches. Look to the future time is upon us
I dunno. I get the feeling the average Irish Times reader needs to be reminded that things weren't always totes amazeballs in the land of Irish rugby. Those who cannot remember the past etc
The rugby lads were self congratulating themselves on how the world cup in SA was used to 'bring the country together' however it would be hard to find another sport who openly flouted international condemnation for playing in and against SA just so much. I wouldn't say they propped up apartheid as Gerry does, but they didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with playing an all white team where blacks were second class citizens and that's a bit sickening.
I don't think the 'but that was the way it was back then' defence could ever be used.
rugby ba$tards
Quote from: deiseach on December 12, 2013, 09:22:10 AM
Quote from: J OGorman on December 11, 2013, 06:33:02 PM
Quote from: johnneycool on December 11, 2013, 12:44:41 PM
Very good article by Gerry thornley in the Irish times for those with selective memories
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/rugby-family-has-shameful-past-in-propping-up-apartheid-regime-1.1622452?page=1 (http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/rugby-family-has-shameful-past-in-propping-up-apartheid-regime-1.1622452?page=1)
I'm sure there were other sports persons and entertainers who ignored the anti apartheid protests and played in Sun City or wherever to their eternal shame.
Gerry has soccer week, golf the week after, cricket then etc...no want of news stories during that era. Time to loom forward as Mandela did
Was soccer a sanction-busting sport? No danger of a whites-only national team.
There was at least one attempt in the early 80s which floundered on the complete indifference of white SA to soccer and black SA to sanction busting scabs. Lasted about two games I think. The Spacemonkey also played soccer out there during that era, which might explain his casual racism.
On a different note, good article here from Marina Hyde
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/06/follow-nelson-mandela-laugh-rightwing-fawning?CMP=twt_gu (http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/06/follow-nelson-mandela-laugh-rightwing-fawning?CMP=twt_gu)
ANC getting some ribbing on Question Time in Johannesburg
On another note, i am thinking of applying for a Sign language interpreter in South Africa, if a guy from the mental asylum can do it, so can i lol.
Quote from: Wildweasel74 on December 12, 2013, 11:27:36 PM
On another note, i am thinking of applying for a Sign language interpreter in South Africa, if a guy from the mental asylum can do it, so can i lol.
Mad story that.
A South African man accused of "faking" his ability to act as a sign language interpreter at the Nelson Mandela memorial has claimed he is a violent schizophrenic who "heard voices" and saw "angels" during the landmark event.
(http://i.imgur.com/Wv4GTI9.gif)
Quote from: Shamrock Shore on December 13, 2013, 04:48:07 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/Wv4GTI9.gif)
Yep, that makes perfect sense.
Quote from: playwiththewind1st on December 13, 2013, 07:56:31 PM
Quote from: Shamrock Shore on December 13, 2013, 04:48:07 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/Wv4GTI9.gif)
Yep, that makes perfect sense.
The sight of Obama standing beside that poor bastard made me laugh my arse off, to me this incident epitomizes the ineptitude of the Obama administration perfectly. :)
Quote from: stew on December 13, 2013, 09:48:35 PM
Quote from: playwiththewind1st on December 13, 2013, 07:56:31 PM
Quote from: Shamrock Shore on December 13, 2013, 04:48:07 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/Wv4GTI9.gif)
Yep, that makes perfect sense.
The sight of Obama standing beside that poor b**tard made me laugh my arse off, to me this incident epitomizes the ineptitude of the Obama administration perfectly. :)
Wonder what way he'd sign the gimp kennys speech that would truely be a sight to see ::)
All seemed to go a bit quiet on the Mandela front around the time Gerry showed up. Coincidence?
Quote from: Ulick on December 15, 2013, 01:57:08 PM
All seemed to go a bit quiet on the Mandela front around the time Gerry showed up. Coincidence?
What more is there to say ?
You might thibk it's all about Adams, but it isn't.
Quote from: Ulick on December 15, 2013, 01:57:08 PM
All seemed to go a bit quiet on the Mandela front around the time Gerry showed up. Coincidence?
There was a row when Gerry met his official translator:
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MBZlpDmqgUs/T9uNEA3vxBI/AAAAAAAABhM/Yn2XCxgDn8w/s1600/the-great-british-teddy-bear-company-highlander-1965-p.jpg)
What a great honour for ger to be asked to be part of madiba's guard of honour..
I suppose being able to spell his name helps
well he originally thought of taking up the sign lanaguage but that role was already taken lol
I thought your sign language boyo was class
RIP Nelson Mandela. A true inspiration and great friend of the Republican Movement
God Bless
Quote from: lawnseed on December 15, 2013, 07:52:51 PM
What a great honour for ger to be asked to be part of madiba's guard of honour..
I suppose being able to spell his name helps
I cant resist..
Neh neh neh na na ... ;D
Ireland's Nelson Mandela
John Wight is a writer and commentator specializing in geopolitics, UK domestic politics, culture and sport.
Get short URL Published time: January 02, 2014 08:39
AFP Photo/Peter Muhly
Tags
Europe, Human rights, Politics, UK
After Mandela's death, remembrance of his struggle against the state oppression of his people reminds us of Bobby Sands, another human rights defender, who fought for the same goals in Ireland.
Nelson Mandela's death on December 5 at the age of 95 resulted in a worldwide outpouring of grief and tribute, confirming that Mandela was respected and beloved as no other political figure or champion of freedom in modern history.
In Britain particularly, the political and media establishments outdid themselves in lavishing praise on the man credited with being the inspiration behind his people's long struggle to bring an end to apartheid in South Africa.
Prime Minister David Cameron – who in his younger years, along with his party and former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, was a firm opponent of the anti-apartheid struggle – spared no cliché as he said: "A great light has gone out in the world. Nelson Mandela was a towering figure in our time; a legend in life and now in death – a true global hero."
Reading these words, it is worth recalling that Mandela's greatness came as a consequence of his unflinching devotion and commitment to the struggle against the state oppression of his people, during which he had declared at his trial for treason in South Africa in 1964 - prior to spending the next 27 years in prison - that it was a cause for which he was prepared to die.
One man who did sacrifice his life for those principles, who resisted British state oppression both in and out of prison and to whom the British establishment not only did not pay tribute upon his death, but still reviles to this day, was Bobby Sands.
Hunger for justice
In 1981, Sands and nine of his comrades embarked on a hunger strike whilst incarcerated by the British state that would inspire not only Nelson Mandela and his comrades being held in Robben Island under apartheid at the time, but millions around the world.
By the time of Sands' death in 1981 the so-called Troubles in the North of Ireland had been raging since the late 1960s, when the Provisional IRA emerged from the failure of successive British governments to reform a sectarian and gerrymandered province, in which the minority Catholic/nationalist population were regarded as second class citizens, denied the same political and civil rights as their Protestant/unionist counterparts.
An Irish flag flutters in the wind May 3, 2001 in front of a picture of republican hunger striker, Bobby Sands, who died after 66 days on the hunger strike in the Maze twenty years ago tomorrow.(Reuters)
Young ordinary working class Catholics such as Sands were forced to make a choice between acceptance of a status quo under which they and their families were persecuted, intimidated, and forced out of their homes by loyalist mobs backed up by a bigoted police force, or resistance.
Sands chose the path of resistance and was arrested and imprisoned twice as a result. Upon his second arrest in 1976 he was interrogated, tortured, and sentenced to 14 years in prison in a trial presided over by three judges with no jury. During his first period of incarceration – 1972 to 1976 – Sands used his time well, immersing himself in books and study groups with his comrades to learn about the history of the Irish liberation struggle, national liberation and anti-colonial struggles throughout the developing world. They also taught themselves the Irish language of Gaelic, which enabled them to communicate amongst one another without being understood by the prison guards.
The removal of the political status of Irish republican prisoners had begun in 1976 under the then-Labour government led by James Callaghan. This was timed to tie in with the construction of the new purpose-built Maze Prison just outside Belfast, where both republican and loyalist prisoners were to be transferred from the existing Long Kesh Prison Camp nearby and other detention facilities across the province.
Margaret Thatcher and the Tories, replacing Callaghan's Labour government in 1979, were determined to continue the policy of criminalization of republican prisoners as part of a new offensive against Irish republicanism in general.
As determined as Sands and his comrades were to see their hunger strike through to the end, Thatcher was equally determined not to budge one inch from her government's policy of criminalization. This continued even after Sands was elected as a British Member of Parliament in the midst of his hunger strike in a local by-election, and even in the face of growing international condemnation over the British government's unwillingness to compromise.
Margaret Thatcher (AFP Photo)
Far-reaching legacy
When Bobby Sands died the impact was felt around the world. Opposition MPs in the Indian parliament observed a minute's silence and protest marches were held against the British government and in tribute to Sands and his comrades across the world, from Scandinavia to North America.
Following their example, Nelson Mandela led a hunger strike by prisoners on Robben Island to improve their own conditions. In Tehran the name of the street in which the British Embassy was located was changed to Bobby Sands Street, forcing it to relocate its entrance to avoid the embarrassment of Bobby Sands Street appearing on the letterhead of its stationery and official documents. Meanwhile Cuban President Fidel Castro spoke about Sands and his comrades during one of his speeches.
"Next to this example, what were the three days of Christ on Calvary as a symbol of human sacrifice down through the centuries?" Castro said.
Perhaps the most significant and powerful tribute came in the form of a letter from Palestinian prisoners incarcerated in the Israeli desert prison of Nafha. The letter was smuggled out and reached the Falls Road in West Belfast in July 1981. It read in part, "We, revolutionaries of the Palestinian people who are under the terrorist rule of Zionism, write you this letter from the desert prison of Nafha.
"We extend our salutes and solidarity with you in the confrontation against the oppressive terrorist rule enforced upon the Irish people by the British ruling elite.
"We salute the heroic struggle of Bobby Sands and his comrades, for they have sacrificed the most valuable possession of any human being. They gave their lives for freedom... The noble and just hunger strike is not in vain."
The sacrifice made by Bobby Sands and his comrades in the name of national liberation and anti-colonialism all those years ago remains a testament to the power of the human spirit.
Both Nelson Mandela and Bobby Sands struggled for the freedom of their people. A British establishment that now seeks to associate itself with Mandela's legacy while reviling the legacy of Bobby Sands positively reeks of hypocrisy.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
Comments (37)
Alima Anderson 02.01.2014 22:03
Sure you and all the Shinners will maybe get on an oul junket to South Africa, Gerry will probably be flying first class again, he might let you sit with him if you are a good wee boy.
Quote from: Saffrongael on January 02, 2014, 10:21:58 PM
Sure you and all the Shinners will maybe get on an oul junket to South Africa, Gerry will probably be flying first class again, he might let you sit with him if you are a good wee boy.
:-[ :- :-X :-[
Quote from: Saffrongael on January 02, 2014, 10:21:58 PM
Sure you and all the Shinners will maybe get on an oul junket to South Africa, Gerry will probably be flying first class again, he might let you sit with him if you are a good wee boy.
Not much chance of your leader getting a call up. ;D