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[The sense among republicans in particular that this has never been reciprocated, and that McGuinness had thus been made to look a fool, was no small matter in Stormont's collapse – it was voiced strongly to the Sinn Féin leadership by party members.]

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/foster-has-blown-an-important-opportunity-by-not-meeting-the-pope-1.3604235?mode=amp


However, there remains an enormous appetite in Northern Ireland for symbolic acts of rapprochement. There have been three such moments since Stormont collapsed: Ian Paisley jnr thanking Martin McGuinness for his leadership and friendship to the Paisley family; Foster and O'Neill shaking hands at McGuinness's funeral; and DUP and Sinn Féin former ministers Edwin Poots and John O'Dowd speaking of the need for reconciliation, after Sinn Féin's Barry McElduff was accused of mocking the Kingsmill massacre. All provoked an outpouring of public emotion. Such acts might not sway a single vote for Sinn Féin and the DUP but they demonstrate the desire for agreement amid the fog of anger, making agreement easier to reach.
Meeting the pope could have been another such a moment, in large part because it is the only unionist gesture comparable to McGuinness's 2012 handshake with the Queen. The sense among republicans in particular that this has never been reciprocated, and that McGuinness had thus been made to look a fool, was no small matter in Stormont's collapse – it was voiced strongly to the Sinn Féin leadership by party members.

And not just party members, many ordinary nationalists are flabbergasted by the total lack of respect emanating from Foster and the DUP the supposed leaders of Unionism.

Both spot on.  It always amazes me how a lot of commentators, journos and the "why don't they all just get back to work" brigade seem to ignore this point.

'RA songs at a Wolfe Tones concert, Limerick hurlers singing "Sean South", sectarian chanting at Windsor Park...who'd have thunk it??

Yep, saw most of it. The Carlow Rose has gone down a storm. joe.ie was live tweeting during it, very funny.

The Newfoundland Rose has to win!

1) are there Catholics who vote for the DUP?

2) are there Catholics who attend and celebrate Twelfth parades?

1. There are bound to be some, but an infinitesimally small proportion of the population, a couple of hundred at the most.

2.  Fewer than 1).

I don't think this has ever happened to Antrim!

So many for Antrim...

In football, my late father never got over the 1946 semi-final against Kerry.

In hurling it has to be the 1991 semi-final against Kilkenny.  Both semis played as a double header.  Antrim were the better team for about 60 mins but in the other 10 mins Eamonn Morrissey scored 2-2 and we lost 2-18 to 1-19.

God be with the days when we could beat Westmeath 5-15 to 1-05 in the quarter final!

Limerick clearly the better team in a match riddled with errors, poor shooting, poor passing and skill wise the quality was low (as was the refereeing for the most part).  The game was rescued by the excitement in the last 12-15 mins.  Glad for Limerick, it would have been devastating for them had they even drawn a game they should have won by 10.

Listening to Marty Morrissey would put years on ye.

Oh for a ref with the dedication to implementing the rules of my fellow county man John Gough.  He set the standard in '83.

A poor quality match in which Tyrone were the better side but nearly blew it with a combination of bad shooting and some terrible decision making summed up by McClure kicking the ball into Beggan's hands with a minute to go.  Have they not watched the Dubs play keep ball?? The ref was worse that atrocious but overall I don't think the result would have been different with a decent ref.

Dubs by 10 in the final.

It is a hate crime though and it should be followed up on as such.  I don't care if themmuns do it 500 times every summer.  We shouldn't do it EVER as it's lowest of the low, gutter trash behaviour.  We should be above it.

That bonfire should be removed immediately along every wee sc**bag associated with the building of it.

Whoever did this are class A, knuckle dragging idiots.  Bonefires on 9th August are every bit as ridiculous as those on 11th July and have little or nothing to do with how I see my Irish identity and culture.

[having led the most famous fightback in the history of the sport.]

http://www.dangerhere.com/eamon-dunphy/
😂😂

He was right about Gerrard!

The whole Ronaldo stuff was more amusing.

He was bang on about Stevie G though!

Gerrard had the European Cup in his hands about 100 minutes later, having led the most famous fightback in the history of the sport.

I take it this is tongue in cheek??

http://www.dangerhere.com/eamon-dunphy/
😂😂

He was right about Gerrard!

It won't make any difference to the outcome but I think we could have done without Damien Duff's comments yesterday.

Especially since he hasn't a clue what he's talking about.

DUP have suspended Paisley's party membership pending further investigations.

We bet Galway in 2012.  Not too relevant but just wanted to get that in.