Messages

You're starting to have doubts after most western countries had a look behind the curtain and found the evidence it compelling enough to start a tit-for-tat spat with a world power. Right. It's all a conspiracy against poor Russia.

Has the lesson of the Americans and the Brits steaming into Iraq to destroy the WOMD been lost on you?

The death of Dr David Kelly left lots of questions in the playing out of those events.

Robin Cook's as well was a bit funny IMO, him being very outspoken on the WMD's and being Foreign Secretary.

You're starting to have doubts after most western countries had a look behind the curtain and found the evidence it compelling enough to start a tit-for-tat spat with a world power. Right. It's all a conspiracy against poor Russia.

What evidence? Post a link to it there.

Same evidence as Boris had, I'd imagine. 

Exactly,
   It's hard not to question the UK Government when the bold Boris goes on German TV and tells huge porkies;

https://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/did-boris-johnson-lie-about-porton-downs-evidence-against-russia

Jesus, some people are easy offended

I'm not offended, I just think they're donkeys.

It is a tad insensitive and ill timed considering they're "spit roasting" a cup.

Dickheads alright.

[Show the people that they would be better off in a United Ireland.]

No use standing on the back of a lorry in West Tyrone roaring about a United Ireland. Show the people that they would be better off in a United Ireland. Show them how the State would be  without excessive taxation. And dont use the old shite comment that the Brits will pay. They wont

IMO that is the crux of the matter. Prove to the people that they would be financially better off in a United Ireland and you're onto a winner, even a surprising amount of protestants would be in favour I'd guess.

But as I've said on here before it won't be the Shinners that will convince Protestants of that and that it has to be the sitting Government in the South who may have a lot more sway in the coming years depending on what impact Brexit has in the North.

Ironically enough I think the Special Status that the Shinners want will be an economic stimulant for the north and if anything prolong British rule and Arlenes wish to leave the EU in the same manner as the rest of the UK would increase the likelihood of a United Ireland.

Strange times.

In awe at the quality of Fionntamhnach's post above. Best I've read on this board for a long time.

Agreed

Indeed a good riposte to Sid, but will fall on deaf ears of those that don't want to hear as usual.

[So what is the link?]

So it was OK for Michael Collins to commit murder?

The murder of who exactly?

The Cairo gang.

Fairly clear that he orchestrated this.

Completely clear that he had popular support for his overall goal.
It's clear that the democratic process was being frustrated/denied.

But that doesn't mean anything goes. Did he have popular support for a campaign of violence or this act of violence? What options did he have? Did he conform to the rules of war (admittedly pre Geneva convention)?

I don't have the answers to those last bits.

Pre the execution of the 1916 rebels it was clear that the armed movement didn't have much popular support for armed insurrection that is well documented.
The homerule bill was being stifled and whatever in Westminster during WW1 and beyond, but at the same time due to gerrymandered in build unionist majority and abuse of power in the north the nationalist minority there would not have had a whole pile of options either as can be seen by the way the civil rights movements were met on the streets across the north which were by and large peaceful. There was no movement to a common ground by unionists then before the IRA were able to function.

Is there much of a difference in post 1916 Dublin to late 60's, early 70's Belfast or Derry?

So what is the link?

I was sober last Saturday during the day. But I was drunk on Saturday night. Therefore the darkness caused the drunkenness??? No need to look at other factors??

The link is that if people are denied proper democracy and basic civil rights then they will come out fighting if all other avenues are exhausted whether that's the 1916's or the late 1960's.

The Old IRA were good and New IRA were bad  peddled from Dublin was what I was questioning.

You're a busy boy this morning.

Being involved with teams in the lower Divisions for a few years now, it's hard to get a game moved between teams most of the time because most teams think you are missing players etc and want to get a perceived advantage. I think the County Board should look at this and stagger start times of certain games that draw an interest to the neutrals. It couldn't be that hard?

It would be harder than you think.

Take the weekend past for instance. All three Ards clubs were up in the glens.
Portaferry must have come to an agreement with Dunloy to play their games on the Saturday, fair play to them.
We approached the Dall for Saturday games as well as we run our annual 10k race on the Sunday, they couldn't facilitate as lads were working on Saturday. Fair enough.
Ballycran and Loughgeil played at the same time IIRC.
To facilitate spreading both games apart would mean an early start for one travelling team and / or a late journey home for another and this on Easter Sunday.

Parallel games in the Ards also affects gate receipts, would a North Antrim team be happy with an evening throw in down in the Ards on a Sunday, not getting home the far side of 10pm?

See things from both sides lads.

One thing that I think is prevalent that also contributes to this culture of elevating young men of school age onto pedestals for sporting achievements on the field.
Schools cup rugby in places like Methody, BRA etc, etc and getting onto the team elevates these lads as almost legends and with that comes the trappings of the jersey pullers on a  night out and all that goes with it beyond that.
The complainant knew that only too well by the correspondence with her friend the day after.
Taking the issue of consent out of it, the girls are pieces of meat, conquests to be bragged about.

For schools cup rugby substitute in McCrory cup, is there any difference in how these young men are lauded in an unhealthy way IMO.

Add in the easy access to porn and it's a recipe for disaster.

Meanwhile their Arab "brothers" are busy trading away with Israel

What sort of volumes as a % of Israeli GDP?

From my experiences Israeli goods (electronic mostly) are shipped into the EU , rebadged and then shipped into the Middle East.
Israel is propped up by western governments, not just America.

[Also quick thanks to yourself and David McKeown for the legal info. Never thought I'd say I learned a lot on the GAA Board, but I did!]

Justice done and seen to be done. Unanimity of it is very telling.

I take it from some of your posts that you are from a legal background. I have been somewhat taken aback by the reaction of some on twitter from people on both sides of the argument in relation to the verdict. Are their likely consequences for those expressing opinions about both parties? Also given the high bar of reasonable doubt, and the admission some of the defendants could there be a civil case in your opinion?

I have to say from a personal perspective I applaud Stuart Olding's reaction and apology to the complainant, cold comfort I'm sure to her, but I thought it took guts.

Twitter is the hotbed for fools and those with agendas. There will be no consequences really but there could be. The reality is that this is feeding people's agendas yesterday and today and maybe tomorrow but the old phrase that today's news is tomorrow's chip paper will kick in and they will be debating the 8th Amendment or whatever their next cause is.

It has been stated on here that there is the possibility of a civil action. As the balance of probabilities is the burden of proof there is w better chance that she might win it. I honestly am not sure that will happen in terms of running it to a hearing. If this woman does she loses her anonymity. If she starts one and doesn't run it the whole way to hearing and accepts an out of court settlement then she will be castigated as the perception will be that she did it for the money. Also if she runs it and loses then the stark reality is that the court would likely award costs against her and the costs of 4 defendants in a high court civil action will be huge. Easily half a million. I also think that given the seemingly very clear cut approach of the jury to a finding of not guilty then I reckon that she'd be on a hiding to nothing.

Olding is being applauded for his statement but read it again. He's basically calling her a liar. It may be couched up in nicer language but at the back of it all he's saying he doesn't believe her side of the story. That has been lost as well in translation.

Jeez, another 5 pages since yesterday evening!

Agree bcb1, I think the IP would be ill advised to take this any further.  Look at where we are today.  OK, not guilty all around, but she is still generating a lot of sympathy right from the #ibelieveher crowd to people like me and others here, who while fully accepting the jury's verdict as being the "right" one and being honest enough to state that I probably would have reached the same verdict, don't believe that she out and out lied.  The number of inconsistencies in her evidence taken in the round meant that the evidence was not near beyond a reasonable doubt.  So I still have sympathy for what she's been through.

Also although the defendants are free, they're not exactly leaving the court "without a stain on their character".  So again the focus is still on the four boyos and it remains to be seen how Ulster Rugby deal with this case.  There's still a lot of public opprobrium for them and their attitudes.  As reported on joe.ie Harrison's decision to decamp straight to the bar of the Hilton Hotel from the court at lunchtime made me ask has he learned anything from this process!?!?

All that could be lost with another case and given the speed an unanimity of the decision would she even make the "on the balance of probability" threshold?

Also quick thanks to yourself and David McKeown for the legal info.  Never thought I'd say I learned a lot on the GAA Board, but I did!

Sometimes you need to separate the wheat from the chaff and there was loads of chaff on this thread but the nuggets from David and BCB give a little more insight into what's going on.

The definition of legal rape was a very new concept to me and I'd say to 95% of the population at large.

Save your whatsapp messages for the mods investigation 

Oops, bloody phone crashed and wiped all my correspondence.

[Is that you MR, How many Darrens are there in St Galls]

Is that you MR, How many Darrens are there in St Galls?

Must be big Darren O'Hare from the club, the only other Darren I would know, but I'm going to go with the usual WUM who comes on once a year with various names and has a go at me, will see how long he/she last this time before losing the run of himself/herself and looses the plot

If he claimed to be the said NG clubman and reported you ... is that not a banning offense MR?

Apologies if I outed anyone, it wasn't my intentions.

I like MR2 thought it was the usual WUM who pops up on a regular basis.

[my own rugby club has 22 teams including women's, girls and disability,]

Saying he's wrong, which he patently is, isn't snobbery.

No but saying he's wrong while have a dig at three schools is what exactly? To me your projecting your own snobbery towards fee paying schools.

Point out where I had a dig at the schools?


I made reference to the fact that, in Ireland, rugby is clearly still very much an elitist sport, regardless of how many sit down to watch the national team play one of its biggest matches of the last ten years. The developmental route to the professional game very much goes through those elite schools. When you're arguing that it's "the sport of the people" that point becomes particularly relevant.

Why mention the schools at all then, you brought them up not me?

Rugby is not an elitist sport, anyone can join their local rugby club, my own rugby club has 22 teams including women's, girls and disability, how many GAA clubs can match that? The development route doesn't very much go through the elite schools. There are many pathways. Jacob Stockdale did not got to a fee paying school and he just won player of the 6 nations. Joey Carberry, Tadgh Furlong, Bundee Aki, Iain Henderson, Keith Earls also all starters, non-fee paying schools.

Do you increase your chances of a professional career if you go to a Michael's, Belvo or a Blackrock, absolutely, the culture of rugby in those schools the same way the culture of football in St Jarleths's improves your chances but it's not the only pathway.

The likes of Francis and MacKenna try to polarise people, I wouldn't give them oxygen.

Several, around the country I would imagine. How many rugby clubs can match it, as of a matter of interest?

Not many particularly the disability side. Does disability hurling or football exist? Genuinely don't know but I know the FAI have led way and now how 1000s participating in their football for all programs and the IRFU are following suit, very much in it's infancy with only I think 9 or 10 special needs team in Leinster. Girls rugby is growing at a massive rate, 7s is a big winner in the schools, very similar to ladies football in that manner. I get the image of rugby with MacKenna and Francis doing their best to ensure that stereotype exists. But once you move away from large cities and towns the cross pollination between GAA clubs, soccers clubs and rugby clubs is such that they probably struggle to exist if their members were one sport only.

Emm, I can't imagine wheelchair hurling to be honest. Can't really imagine it for football either.

Why would it have to involve wheelchairs? There's a hell of a lot of different disabilities.

There is wheelchair hurling, in it's infancy.

http://ulster.gaa.ie/2017/10/ireland-wheelchair-hurling-championships/

Not sure what that's got to do with the price of bread though!


I'd say most GAA clubs of a reasonable size have 20 plus teams.

We've a small catchment, not even a village and between hurling and camogie we'd put out almost 20 teams from U6's to adult in both codes and we don't bother the big ball.

Not sure why people bother with this shít from McKenna and Neil Francis, column inches for the eejits to get wound up about.

The DUP should join the Tory rebels and vote for the Customs Union. Then they can characterise the resulting outcome as administrative and veterinary inspections

Arlene will put up a token protest but then let it dwindle as it could potentially be an economic godsend to the wee six.

Many sending offs at the weekend or just in the Rossa game?

How did that game end up as there's nothing up on the Antrim web site yet?

WRT the fixtures I see its feast or famine stuff, but with the Joe McDonagh being played on Sundays there's little options available to the fixtures secretary.

I think our secretary mentioned to our senior panel that they'll have 7 games in 20 days late July to early August.