Paramilitaries Still targetting GAA members

[passedit]

A player on the PSNI gaelic team apparently.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7397420.stm

Officer hurt by booby-trap bomb
Map of Northern Ireland

An off-duty police officer has been injured by a booby-trap car bomb in County Tyrone.

The explosion happened at Drumnaby Road in Spamount village, outside Castlederg at about 2130 BST on Monday.

The officer, a Catholic, suffered serious leg injuries, however, they are not thought to be life-threatening.

He was rescued by a member of the public who dragged him from the car wreckage. Dissident republicans are being blamed for the attack.

The policeman, who is not stationed in the area, is understood to have been visiting someone.

Councillor Derek Hussey, who went to the scene, said the quick thinking of the member of the public saved the man's life.

"One of the first on the scene, a civilian, is understood to have opened the car door and taken the occupant out of the car," the UUP representative said.

Damaged car
Forensic teams are studying the damaged car

The former MLA praised "the actions and the courage of that particular individual".

Secretary of State Shaun Woodward has condemned the attack.

"The contrast between the PSNI officer, dedicated to serving the community, and those with no politics, no support and no principles, who carried this cowardly attack could not be clearer," he said.

"As Northern Ireland moves towards a new and better future, there remains a tiny minority of contemptible, criminal elements who have been rejected by the people, north and south.

"They will not be allowed to stand in the way of progress."

The police have been warning for some time that dissident groups have been trying to increase their activities and that they were actively targeting police officers.

In November, the Real IRA shot two officers in Londonderry and Dungannon, and in February police mounted a huge security operation across Northern Ireland because of fears that dissidents were planning another shooting or bombing.

[Gnevin]

If a newspaper said "GAA member in drugs bust" or something like that  you'd be up in arms. So why is the title of this "Paramilitaries Still targetting GAA members" ?

Plus according to the article  "Dissident republicans are being blamed for the attack"

[bennydorano]

It is a bit disengenuous, but how many times has the GAA got the short end of the stick?  My favourite being the Sunday Mirror headline of many moons ago " Bushmills sponsors terrorism" because Gearoid Adams played on the Antrim team!

[passedit]

If a newspaper said "GAA member in drugs bust" or something like that  you'd be up in arms. So why is the title of this "Paramilitaries Still targetting GAA members" ?

Because that's what happened. Catholic gaa playing psni men are way higher up the dissidents list than Trevor Plod.

Plus according to the article  "Dissident republicans are being blamed for the attack"

Here's me thinking that they were paramilitaries. My bad.

[Gnevin]

If a newspaper said "GAA member in drugs bust" or something like that  you'd be up in arms. So why is the title of this "Paramilitaries Still targetting GAA members" ?

Because that's what happened. Catholic gaa playing psni men are way higher up the dissidents list than Trevor Plod.

Plus according to the article  "Dissident republicans are being blamed for the attack"

Here's me thinking that they were paramilitaries. My bad.

I didn't see anything about his sporting preferences in the article

[Evil Genius]

The headline is disingenuous at best, deliberately misleading at worst. Or does Passedit consider that this man was targeted because he is a GAA Member? And by his use of the word "still", does this imply that the people who committed this attack have in the past been responsible for attempting to murder GAA members? If this officer was also interested in e.g. Birdwatching, would this produce the headline: "Paramilitaries take to targeting ornithologists"?
What title would Passedit have used had the bomb gone off whilst this man had e.g. his children in the car? Or was giving some of his fellow GAA Members a lift to training? Or their children?

Quite simply, this man will have been targeted because he is a police officer. The fact that he is also RC and a GAA member may be a "bonus", in that intimidating members of that community from serving in the police is a first step towards isolating the police from the community which they seek to serve. Plus, of course, if he lives in a predominantly Nationalist community, or even a mixed one, his whereabouts and movements are more likely to be known to the perpetrators than if he lived in a predominantly Unionist area. And past experience has demonstrated that given a choice between a "soft" target which offers a good chance of escape, and a "harder" target which increases the chance of detection, terrorists invariably choose the former.

Anyhow, if we were ever to reach a stage where every RC/Nat/GAA member of the PSNI were either murdered or intimidated off the force, would the perpetrators then cease their campaign? Or would you be reduced to renaming your threads something like: "Paramilitaries Still targeting Soccer players", every time "Trevor Plod" gets blown up?

[Donagh]

For years we had unionists telling us that the IRA targeted the RUC and UDR in border areas because they were Protestant, not because they were members of the members of Brit paramilitary forces. Now we have them telling us PSNI officers are being targeted because they are members of that organisation and not because of their religion or membership of other groups. Go figure...

Looks like they are no closer to understanding out the thinking outside their own community than they were 20 years ago.

[Gnevin]

For years we had unionists telling us that the IRA targeted the RUC and UDR in border areas because they were Protestant, not because they were members of the members of Brit paramilitary forces. Now we have them telling us PSNI officers are being targeted because they are members of that organisation and not because of their religion or membership of other groups. Go figure...

Looks like they are no closer to understanding out the thinking outside their own community than they were 20 years ago.

Now we have them  When was EG elect official unionist spokesman? Congrats on the new job EG!!

[Donagh]

Now we have them  When was EG elect official unionist spokesman? Congrats on the new job EG!!

EG isn't the only person to comment on this incident today, but as he's the most visible bigot round these parts, the point can be directed at him.

[Evil Genius]

For years we had unionists telling us that the IRA targeted the RUC and UDR in border areas because they were Protestant, not because they were members of the members of Brit paramilitary forces. Now we have them telling us PSNI officers are being targeted because they are members of that organisation and not because of their religion or membership of other groups. Go figure...

Looks like they are no closer to understanding out the thinking outside their own community than they were 20 years ago.

In many cases, the Security Forces were targeted because they were just that. But in others cases, individuals were chosen because they were "soft" targets, preferred over other more "high-profile" or "spectacular" targets. These "soft" targets were often so because they were e.g. community police officers or traffic cops. Sometimes they were easier to get at because they lived in mixed, or even predominantly Nationalist areas. As such, these soft targets included a higher proportion of RC officers than elsewhere and as I acknowledged, their religion/background doubtless made than an ever more welcome target than the "average" peeler or squaddie, since it was a priority to drive a wedge between the Nationalist community and the security forces in the first instance, for both ideological and pragmatic reasons (i.e. allow the terrorists greater ease of movement etc).

But you can't acknowledge that without also acknowledging that the IRA etc also deliberately targeted e.g. vulnerable Protestant members of the security forces, even including long retired ex-members, who happened to live in border areas. And when these were all either murdered or driven out, they then also turned on their Protestant neighbours with no connection whatever to the security forces. It happened along the border in Fermanagh, Tyrone and Armagh, just as it had done 80 years before in the southern border counties and places like West Cork.

As for this unfortunate individual last night, would you care to speculate on what you think would happen when the last RC police officer in Tyrone or Fermanagh was either murdered or intimidated out? Would they then turn on the Protestant officers, or leave them be? And if it were the former, what would happen when all the Prod officers were dead or driven out? Would the ordinary Prod members of the population be any safer? Or would their presence, as people who choose a different path from their fellow Irish neighbours, be so objectionable that they, too, would have to be driven out?

In the end, tactical considerations might dictate the order in which their opponents are attacked, but the terrorists's strategy remains the same, whether we are talking about the Provos or the Dissidents (or their "Loyalist" counterparts, for that matter). That is, use terror to destroy or drive out anyone who insists on pursuing a different political path. And anyone who doesn't believe that need only Google e.g. "Douglas Deering" of Rosslea. Or "Seamus McIlwaine". Or to save time, they could try this piece:
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/genocidal-killer-who-got-up-close-and-personal-496465.html

[Evil Genius]

Now we have them  When was EG elect official unionist spokesman? Congrats on the new job EG!!

EG isn't the only person to comment on this incident today, but as he's the most visible bigot round these parts, the point can be directed at him.

So being the "most visible bigot round these parts" also makes me fair game as being representative of all Unionists everywhere then, does it? How does the refrain go? "Sure themmuns is all the same, anyway..."

Physician Heal Thyself 

[his holiness nb]

I think the likes of Nifan and Chrisowc have proved in their time here that the sad wee catchphrase repeated by a small few of "themmuns is all the same" is not quite the case, and the ones repeating it know this.

Face facts, its the guys stirring shite who get the abuse here, the other OWC guys who dont look for trouble and have a bit of manners get on fine.

[Evil Genius]

I think the likes of Nifan and Chrisowc have proved in their time here that the sad wee catchphrase repeated by a small few of "themmuns is all the same" is not quite the case, and the ones repeating it know this.

Try telling that to Donagh, then, for posting:

"For years we had unionists telling us that...       ... Now we have them telling us..."

[his holiness nb]

I think the likes of Nifan and Chrisowc have proved in their time here that the sad wee catchphrase repeated by a small few of "themmuns is all the same" is not quite the case, and the ones repeating it know this.

Try telling that to Donagh, then, for posting:

"For years we had unionists telling us that...       ... Now we have them telling us..."

Precisely, its the like of Nifan and Chris that prove "themmuns" is not all the same.

From the likes of yourself and Sammy, one would easily come to that conclusion.

Maybe "lots of themmuns is the same" is more accurate 

[Evil Genius]

Maybe "lots of themmuns is the same" is more accurate 

Or desperate...