GAA Outreach in Action...

[imtommygunn]

Protestant Coalition
4 hours ago
The innocent victims demand that Marty McGunniness be arrest over bloody Sunday,after all he said he was walking about with a Thompson machine gun but he was no danger to anyone.And if you be leave that, i may as well tell you the pope is a prod.The innocent victims of south armagh thank the parachute regiment for what they did,so tell the PSNI to go get stuffed boys ulster stands with yous on this.

Surely this statement by frazier/and buddies is an arrestable offence thanking the parachute basically for what they done on blood sunday

It is quite amusing watching the tit for tat between that LAD page and those guys.

Some of those posts on those kind of pages are beyond ridiculous. The bitterness of guys like this know no bounds. The worst is that people actually listen to this guy.

I read on one of those posts that Frazer said Irish dancing was "a rythmical form of terrorism". If it was anyone else I would think someone was taking the piss but not so sure with this guy...

Absolutely insane.

[Jeepers Creepers]

I take it there will be a campaign to rename 'Cromwell Street' in the Botanic area in Belfast!? Might as well be Adolf Avenue!

[theticklemister]

Wonder what Joe feels about loyalist flute bands which carry the names of dearly departed sectarian killers on their drums / uniforms? Wonder if he feels that's noone else's business too? Wonder if he'd feel it was noone else's business if those same bands were receiving public funding for their activities and claiming to be 'reaching out' to nationalists at the same time?

You're a t**t, Joe. Sorry, but you are. If you can't see that naming grounds after members of the organisation responsible for La Mons, Shankill, Enniskillen, Teebane, Darkley, Kingsmill, etc etc etc while holding your hand out for tax payers money might be an issue, then you're a t**t.

Was Kevin Lynch a sectarian killer? McDonnell or Doherty sectarian killers?

I mean if Loyalists named their flutebands after a UVF man that died on hungerstrike then may be you'd have a point. If the GAA named clubs after individuals who actively engaged in sectarian killings then you'd have a point.

These men died on hungerstrike which was an emotive issue for the broader nationalist community, not just republicans. If you are unable to differentiate between the circumstances in which these men died (whether you agree or not with their politics) and the likes of the much eulogized Brian Robinson who randomly shot the first fenian he could find then maybe you are the t**t.

Kingsmill was sectarian, was it not? Prods lined up against a van, the sole Catholic identified and told to take himself off. If that isn't sectarian murder, then I don't know what is. Maybe not as random as Brian Robinson's attack, but hey, no brownie points for being better organised sectarian killers, eh? Darkley, an attack on prods in a prod church. Is that not sectarian? That's the organisation that the hunger strikers belonged to. One of the guns used at Kingsmill was linked to hunger striker  Raymond McCreesh.  The GAA should not allow itself to be linked to an organisation which committed such sectarian atrocities. It should not receive public funding while it does. Joe's an intelligent man, he should be able to see that. The fact that he can't makes him a t**t.

This has been done to death but....

As Joe Brolly clearly stated, Kevin Lynch hurled for both Derry and Dungiven with distinction.

Their decision to rename their club reflects the sentiment held in Dungiven at that time that a former and well decorated player such as KL was worthy of commemoration. Given the exceptional circumstances of his death, and that of the other hungerstrikers, I don't see anything untoward with ONE out of thousands of GAA clubs being re-named after a hungerstriker given the links he had with that club.

As for your examples of Darkley and Kingsmill; yes they were abhorrent sectarian crimes. Are they being glorified? NO. It's the exact same as me saying the laying of a wreath at a British Army war memorial is somehow glorifying Bloody Sunday or The Ballymurphy Massacre. Should wreath laying be discontinued because of the hurt, pain and killings inflicted on Nationalists by the British Army? What do you think?

The decision to name the club after Kevin Lynch has nothing to do with his talent as a hurler. There must be countless players down through the decades who have served their club and county longer and with more distinction - why not honour them? Lynch was singled out because of his activities off the pitch and therein lies the problem: some people within the GAA think that a member of the provisional IRA is a suitable person to commemorate. The vast majority of people throughout the 32 counties view that organisation as  a bunch of murderers, on the same level as the UDA or UVF, rather than on the same level as the British Army, which is the comparison republicans (and only republicans) like to make.

Please give us some evidence to back up you claim here Myles.
I'm looking forward to this ....should  be good!
Can't wait in fact!!!!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Kevin Lynch died when he was about 25. He'd been in prison for 4 or 5 years before that. So when exactly did he play football or hurling 'with distinction'? Did he play for the senior teams at all, or was his success just in the minor teams? If his contribution to his club / county was all done by the age of 20 (or earlier) is that really the best Dungiven could do? Have there been no distinguished players or club men or women who have played with distinction, before going on to play a role in running junior teams, or helping administer the affairs of the club or county? How many other minor players have had clubs named after them?

Yer last comment there Myles........my club in Ireland is named after one of our club minors, Brian Og McKeever and by God every member of the club is proud of that fact.

[Milltown Row2]

Wonder what Joe feels about loyalist flute bands which carry the names of dearly departed sectarian killers on their drums / uniforms? Wonder if he feels that's noone else's business too? Wonder if he'd feel it was noone else's business if those same bands were receiving public funding for their activities and claiming to be 'reaching out' to nationalists at the same time?

You're a t**t, Joe. Sorry, but you are. If you can't see that naming grounds after members of the organisation responsible for La Mons, Shankill, Enniskillen, Teebane, Darkley, Kingsmill, etc etc etc while holding your hand out for tax payers money might be an issue, then you're a t**t.

Was Kevin Lynch a sectarian killer? McDonnell or Doherty sectarian killers?

I mean if Loyalists named their flutebands after a UVF man that died on hungerstrike then may be you'd have a point. If the GAA named clubs after individuals who actively engaged in sectarian killings then you'd have a point.

These men died on hungerstrike which was an emotive issue for the broader nationalist community, not just republicans. If you are unable to differentiate between the circumstances in which these men died (whether you agree or not with their politics) and the likes of the much eulogized Brian Robinson who randomly shot the first fenian he could find then maybe you are the t**t.

Kingsmill was sectarian, was it not? Prods lined up against a van, the sole Catholic identified and told to take himself off. If that isn't sectarian murder, then I don't know what is. Maybe not as random as Brian Robinson's attack, but hey, no brownie points for being better organised sectarian killers, eh? Darkley, an attack on prods in a prod church. Is that not sectarian? That's the organisation that the hunger strikers belonged to. One of the guns used at Kingsmill was linked to hunger striker  Raymond McCreesh.  The GAA should not allow itself to be linked to an organisation which committed such sectarian atrocities. It should not receive public funding while it does. Joe's an intelligent man, he should be able to see that. The fact that he can't makes him a t**t.

This has been done to death but....

As Joe Brolly clearly stated, Kevin Lynch hurled for both Derry and Dungiven with distinction.

Their decision to rename their club reflects the sentiment held in Dungiven at that time that a former and well decorated player such as KL was worthy of commemoration. Given the exceptional circumstances of his death, and that of the other hungerstrikers, I don't see anything untoward with ONE out of thousands of GAA clubs being re-named after a hungerstriker given the links he had with that club.

As for your examples of Darkley and Kingsmill; yes they were abhorrent sectarian crimes. Are they being glorified? NO. It's the exact same as me saying the laying of a wreath at a British Army war memorial is somehow glorifying Bloody Sunday or The Ballymurphy Massacre. Should wreath laying be discontinued because of the hurt, pain and killings inflicted on Nationalists by the British Army? What do you think?

The decision to name the club after Kevin Lynch has nothing to do with his talent as a hurler. There must be countless players down through the decades who have served their club and county longer and with more distinction - why not honour them? Lynch was singled out because of his activities off the pitch and therein lies the problem: some people within the GAA think that a member of the provisional IRA is a suitable person to commemorate. The vast majority of people throughout the 32 counties view that organisation as  a bunch of murderers, on the same level as the UDA or UVF, rather than on the same level as the British Army, which is the comparison republicans (and only republicans) like to make.

Please give us some evidence to back up you claim here Myles.
I'm looking forward to this ....should  be good!
Can't wait in fact!!!!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Kevin Lynch died when he was about 25. He'd been in prison for 4 or 5 years before that. So when exactly did he play football or hurling 'with distinction'? Did he play for the senior teams at all, or was his success just in the minor teams? If his contribution to his club / county was all done by the age of 20 (or earlier) is that really the best Dungiven could do? Have there been no distinguished players or club men or women who have played with distinction, before going on to play a role in running junior teams, or helping administer the affairs of the club or county? How many other minor players have had clubs named after them?

Yer last comment there Myles........my club in Ireland is named after one of our club minors, Brian Og McKeever and by God every member of the club is proud of that fact.

http://www.derryjournal.com/sport/steelstown-s-finest-brian-og-mckeever-1-2131501

touching story

[glens abu]

That is a very moving piece,he must have been an amazing lad and I am sure everyone involved with his club must be so proud to have know him.RIP

[theticklemister]

Just reading that back brings ye to tears again

[stephenite]

Just reading that back brings ye to tears again

Very moving. Who wrote that article?

[theticklemister]

Just reading that back brings ye to tears again

Very moving. Who wrote that article?

joe brolly

[Applesisapples]

I'm gonna be honest here. Since when was the GAA about appeasing Unionists?

Some people might argue that the Orange Order was never "about appeasing" nationalists, but it doesn't mean that some people from the "other side" don't find some parts of their organisations/ activities offensive.

Are we still content in 2013 to operate an "I don't give a f*** what they think" attitude?  We know Brolly is, but I was hoping to come on here and see more liberal/ open-minded thinking from some others here.

The truth is that, whatever the circumstances of Lynch's death, he wasn't put away for handing out sweeties to sick children, but was, in fact, a member of a terrorist organisation. No amount of revisionism from Irish Republicans will change that and, although I have no time for Robinson or the DUP, I agree with him that there is no difference between historical or contemporary terrorism.  The scum who murdered Mr Black or Constable Carroll or the soldiers in Antrim a few years ago are exactly the same class of human being as those who carried out similar acts in the 70s, 80s or 90s.

If people don't understand why the name "Kevin Lynch" attached to a sports club can be deemed offensive then, to be honest, I don't see much evidence of community outreach. But if you don't understand that, then here is a heads-up: don't bother criticising unionists for being openly anti-GAA.

OK then, if that is a fact then NI was founded on historic terrorist violence and the threat of inssurection. That makes it an illegal entity...applying your logic. I have said before I suspect that many of those debating the troubles were either not born or too young to remember the '60's, '70's and early '80's. There would have been widespread support and sympathy for the IRA and the hunger strikers in that period when catholics and nationalists were very much under siege from the British and Unionists. Time have changed and we are inching towards equality, it is therefore hard to judge that period by what we have today. I applaude Joe Brolly for saying what he said, whatever his motives. Unionism still cherry picks what is terrorism and what is acceptable violence.

That's not true, and I speak as someone old enough to remember the 60s, 70s and 80s. The IRA may have enjoyed support in Catholic working class areas, but it was by no means universal and it didn't extend much outside those areas. The SDLP was the largest supported nationalist party right up to the 1980s. Sinn Fein only became the best supported nationalist party after the peace process had started and when they showed they were prepared to move beyond violence, after John Hume had opened the door for them and shown them the road forward.

What exact part of the north did you grow up in? I am not from a working class background. I and my family would not have had any support for the IRA's killing. But at that time to be catholic was to be second class, to play GAA was to be a terrorist and that was evident from the actions of the state, unionism and state forces. So with the exception of the uncle toms most catholic nationalists whilst not on the face of it supportive of some of the IRA's actions would have had an understanding. This is a fact lost on a lot of Southerners and conveniently forgotton by some nationalists. You drew the line and everyone new which side to stand on.

[Franko]

I'm gonna be honest here. Since when was the GAA about appeasing Unionists?

Some people might argue that the Orange Order was never "about appeasing" nationalists, but it doesn't mean that some people from the "other side" don't find some parts of their organisations/ activities offensive.

Are we still content in 2013 to operate an "I don't give a f*** what they think" attitude?  We know Brolly is, but I was hoping to come on here and see more liberal/ open-minded thinking from some others here.

The truth is that, whatever the circumstances of Lynch's death, he wasn't put away for handing out sweeties to sick children, but was, in fact, a member of a terrorist organisation. No amount of revisionism from Irish Republicans will change that and, although I have no time for Robinson or the DUP, I agree with him that there is no difference between historical or contemporary terrorism.  The scum who murdered Mr Black or Constable Carroll or the soldiers in Antrim a few years ago are exactly the same class of human being as those who carried out similar acts in the 70s, 80s or 90s.

If people don't understand why the name "Kevin Lynch" attached to a sports club can be deemed offensive then, to be honest, I don't see much evidence of community outreach. But if you don't understand that, then here is a heads-up: don't bother criticising unionists for being openly anti-GAA.

OK then, if that is a fact then NI was founded on historic terrorist violence and the threat of inssurection. That makes it an illegal entity...applying your logic. I have said before I suspect that many of those debating the troubles were either not born or too young to remember the '60's, '70's and early '80's. There would have been widespread support and sympathy for the IRA and the hunger strikers in that period when catholics and nationalists were very much under siege from the British and Unionists. Time have changed and we are inching towards equality, it is therefore hard to judge that period by what we have today. I applaude Joe Brolly for saying what he said, whatever his motives. Unionism still cherry picks what is terrorism and what is acceptable violence.

That's not true, and I speak as someone old enough to remember the 60s, 70s and 80s. The IRA may have enjoyed support in Catholic working class areas, but it was by no means universal and it didn't extend much outside those areas. The SDLP was the largest supported nationalist party right up to the 1980s. Sinn Fein only became the best supported nationalist party after the peace process had started and when they showed they were prepared to move beyond violence, after John Hume had opened the door for them and shown them the road forward.

I'd imagine that the areas you describe would have accounted for a huge majority of the Catholic population at the time.

[lynchbhoy]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Kevin Lynch died when he was about 25. He'd been in prison for 4 or 5 years before that. So when exactly did he play football or hurling 'with distinction'? Did he play for the senior teams at all, or was his success just in the minor teams? If his contribution to his club / county was all done by the age of 20 (or earlier) is that really the best Dungiven could do? Have there been no distinguished players or club men or women who have played with distinction, before going on to play a role in running junior teams, or helping administer the affairs of the club or county? How many other minor players have had clubs named after them?

ok myles, you obv dont know.your full extent of your research was to find out how old he was when he died. yes 25.
He was a hugely influential and popular player in Dungiven.
various stories about how he was 'setanta-esque' as a young hurler but off the top of my head these
-played feile u14 hurling competition 10 or 14 days after an appendix opperation after sneaking out of his house
-was listed as one of the XV best ever feile players , others on the team sean og ohailpin, brian whelahan, michael Duignan..
-was captain of the Derry u16 team to win the all Ireland B championship (I asked a team mate of his from that team once when I was in america how good was he and the man told me that he was the team)
- Kevin Lynch's oldest brother was on holidaysand bumped into a guy from Offaly on holiday. Two Gaa men had a good chat,The Offaly man saying he was from the hurling area and into the small ball game- KL's brother said that he was from a place that wasnt much good at hurling - Derry. The other man replied, no thats not true. Feile was on in our parish a number of years prev and there was a young Derry player that was the best out of all 14 players at all levels on show that weekend. He often wondered how he would fare out, but heard since that the lad had died on hunger strike. KL's brother said , that was his youngest sibling. The man shook his hand and said that he was the best underage player he had ever seen.

so myles, these ar some of the stories that I recall. kl played in home club at older levels with even more distinction for a while until he went to England to work with his brothers. He played football and hurling over there too - getting on their county minor squads.

no harm to you, but your anti republican bias blinds you.
You dont know the reasons why KL joined the INLA (most could hazzard a good guess...clue ...retaliation after severe provocation to him and his family)
you dont understand why he was on two hunger strikes not one or his reasons to even go on them in the first place.

you dont understand GAA, you are for all intents and purposes a unionist. nothing wrong with that , but dont perport to be a taig.

you dont understand the feelings of the people and club members in Dungiven.
if you want to find out what they think, just read page 63-65 of Pat Spillanes second book - no pat on the back.
you will realise that there is no way that the club will ever be changed from Kevin Lynch's.

In 50-100 years time all about the war will be forgotten, and like the men of 1916, the Hunger strikers will be remembered as heroes who helped break the second class citizen ceiling for nationalists/catholics/republicans. Hume et al on their own were not getting to it. The 10 men and many more helped in tandem to win this equality.

Club names will not irritate those who want to be irritated.
Likewise the street names in belfast dont matter to rationally minded folk.
Clubs like Banagher's pitch names after the great Fr McNally wont preturb idiots then either.

its great to have an opinion, but if you dont know what you are talking about myles, then youd be better keeping it to yourself.
youd look less like an 'amadan' then !

[deiseach]

In 50-100 years time all about the war will be forgotten, and like the men of 1916, the Hunger strikers will be remembered as heroes who helped break the second class citizen ceiling for nationalists/catholics/republicans. Hume et al on their own were not getting to it. The 10 men and many more helped in tandem to win this equality.

I wonder when the Oscar Traynor Cup stopped being a celebration of a terrorist and became a memorial to a man who (presumably; the intrawebs isn't very helpful in this regard) did the Irish soccer world some service.

[Myles Na G.]

I'm gonna be honest here. Since when was the GAA about appeasing Unionists?

Some people might argue that the Orange Order was never "about appeasing" nationalists, but it doesn't mean that some people from the "other side" don't find some parts of their organisations/ activities offensive.

Are we still content in 2013 to operate an "I don't give a f*** what they think" attitude?  We know Brolly is, but I was hoping to come on here and see more liberal/ open-minded thinking from some others here.

The truth is that, whatever the circumstances of Lynch's death, he wasn't put away for handing out sweeties to sick children, but was, in fact, a member of a terrorist organisation. No amount of revisionism from Irish Republicans will change that and, although I have no time for Robinson or the DUP, I agree with him that there is no difference between historical or contemporary terrorism.  The scum who murdered Mr Black or Constable Carroll or the soldiers in Antrim a few years ago are exactly the same class of human being as those who carried out similar acts in the 70s, 80s or 90s.

If people don't understand why the name "Kevin Lynch" attached to a sports club can be deemed offensive then, to be honest, I don't see much evidence of community outreach. But if you don't understand that, then here is a heads-up: don't bother criticising unionists for being openly anti-GAA.

OK then, if that is a fact then NI was founded on historic terrorist violence and the threat of inssurection. That makes it an illegal entity...applying your logic. I have said before I suspect that many of those debating the troubles were either not born or too young to remember the '60's, '70's and early '80's. There would have been widespread support and sympathy for the IRA and the hunger strikers in that period when catholics and nationalists were very much under siege from the British and Unionists. Time have changed and we are inching towards equality, it is therefore hard to judge that period by what we have today. I applaude Joe Brolly for saying what he said, whatever his motives. Unionism still cherry picks what is terrorism and what is acceptable violence.

That's not true, and I speak as someone old enough to remember the 60s, 70s and 80s. The IRA may have enjoyed support in Catholic working class areas, but it was by no means universal and it didn't extend much outside those areas. The SDLP was the largest supported nationalist party right up to the 1980s. Sinn Fein only became the best supported nationalist party after the peace process had started and when they showed they were prepared to move beyond violence, after John Hume had opened the door for them and shown them the road forward.

What exact part of the north did you grow up in? I am not from a working class background. I and my family would not have had any support for the IRA's killing. But at that time to be catholic was to be second class, to play GAA was to be a terrorist and that was evident from the actions of the state, unionism and state forces. So with the exception of the uncle toms most catholic nationalists whilst not on the face of it supportive of some of the IRA's actions would have had an understanding. This is a fact lost on a lot of Southerners and conveniently forgotton by some nationalists. You drew the line and everyone new which side to stand on.

I grew up in north Belfast, where something like 25% of all the killings during the troubles took place. Who did I fear in those dark days? The tartan gangs; the sectarian killers of the uvf and uda, who trawled the streets looking for random Catholics to kill; and the IRA, with their indiscriminate, no warning bombs. Of that list, only the IRA was a threat to me personally. The others were more of a threat to my father and older members of my family, but IRA bombs killed children too. Did I fear the security forces? No, they were no threat or bother to me. Nor did they ever bother the older members of my family who were members of GAA clubs. Do I 'understand' the IRA? Yes, but then I also 'understand' why the US bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but I still think that those actions were immoral and unjustifiable. I also 'understand', to an extent, what motivates Islamist extremists to strap themselves with bombs and blow themselves up in crowded places, but not for a moment do I think what they're doing is right. Most Catholics in the north knew where the IRA came from, most Catholics may have shared some of their aims, but not for a second do I believe that the majority of Catholics were supportive of their actions. And your Uncle Toms jibe is an insult to people like John Hume who believed passionately in non violence and did far more to bring about conditions of equality than McGuinness, Adams or Kelly ever did.

[theticklemister]

I'm gonna be honest here. Since when was the GAA about appeasing Unionists?

Some people might argue that the Orange Order was never "about appeasing" nationalists, but it doesn't mean that some people from the "other side" don't find some parts of their organisations/ activities offensive.

Are we still content in 2013 to operate an "I don't give a f*** what they think" attitude?  We know Brolly is, but I was hoping to come on here and see more liberal/ open-minded thinking from some others here.

The truth is that, whatever the circumstances of Lynch's death, he wasn't put away for handing out sweeties to sick children, but was, in fact, a member of a terrorist organisation. No amount of revisionism from Irish Republicans will change that and, although I have no time for Robinson or the DUP, I agree with him that there is no difference between historical or contemporary terrorism.  The scum who murdered Mr Black or Constable Carroll or the soldiers in Antrim a few years ago are exactly the same class of human being as those who carried out similar acts in the 70s, 80s or 90s.

If people don't understand why the name "Kevin Lynch" attached to a sports club can be deemed offensive then, to be honest, I don't see much evidence of community outreach. But if you don't understand that, then here is a heads-up: don't bother criticising unionists for being openly anti-GAA.

OK then, if that is a fact then NI was founded on historic terrorist violence and the threat of inssurection. That makes it an illegal entity...applying your logic. I have said before I suspect that many of those debating the troubles were either not born or too young to remember the '60's, '70's and early '80's. There would have been widespread support and sympathy for the IRA and the hunger strikers in that period when catholics and nationalists were very much under siege from the British and Unionists. Time have changed and we are inching towards equality, it is therefore hard to judge that period by what we have today. I applaude Joe Brolly for saying what he said, whatever his motives. Unionism still cherry picks what is terrorism and what is acceptable violence.

That's not true, and I speak as someone old enough to remember the 60s, 70s and 80s. The IRA may have enjoyed support in Catholic working class areas, but it was by no means universal and it didn't extend much outside those areas. The SDLP was the largest supported nationalist party right up to the 1980s. Sinn Fein only became the best supported nationalist party after the peace process had started and when they showed they were prepared to move beyond violence, after John Hume had opened the door for them and shown them the road forward.

What exact part of the north did you grow up in? I am not from a working class background. I and my family would not have had any support for the IRA's killing. But at that time to be catholic was to be second class, to play GAA was to be a terrorist and that was evident from the actions of the state, unionism and state forces. So with the exception of the uncle toms most catholic nationalists whilst not on the face of it supportive of some of the IRA's actions would have had an understanding. This is a fact lost on a lot of Southerners and conveniently forgotton by some nationalists. You drew the line and everyone new which side to stand on.

I grew up in north Belfast, where something like 25% of all the killings during the troubles took place. Who did I fear in those dark days? The tartan gangs; the sectarian killers of the uvf and uda, who trawled the streets looking for random Catholics to kill; and the IRA, with their indiscriminate, no warning bombs. Of that list, only the IRA was a threat to me personally. The others were more of a threat to my father and older members of my family, but IRA bombs killed children too. Did I fear the security forces? No, they were no threat or bother to me. Nor did they ever bother the older members of my family who were members of GAA clubs. Do I 'understand' the IRA? Yes, but then I also 'understand' why the US bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but I still think that those actions were immoral and unjustifiable. I also 'understand', to an extent, what motivates Islamist extremists to strap themselves with bombs and blow themselves up in crowded places, but not for a moment do I think what they're doing is right. Most Catholics in the north knew where the IRA came from, most Catholics may have shared some of their aims, but not for a second do I believe that the majority of Catholics were supportive of their actions. And your Uncle Toms jibe is an insult to people like John Hume who believed passionately in non violence and did far more to bring about conditions of equality than McGuinness, Adams or Kelly ever did.

Ye are very lucky then

[reddgnhand]

I'm gonna be honest here. Since when was the GAA about appeasing Unionists?

Some people might argue that the Orange Order was never "about appeasing" nationalists, but it doesn't mean that some people from the "other side" don't find some parts of their organisations/ activities offensive.

Are we still content in 2013 to operate an "I don't give a f*** what they think" attitude?  We know Brolly is, but I was hoping to come on here and see more liberal/ open-minded thinking from some others here.

The truth is that, whatever the circumstances of Lynch's death, he wasn't put away for handing out sweeties to sick children, but was, in fact, a member of a terrorist organisation. No amount of revisionism from Irish Republicans will change that and, although I have no time for Robinson or the DUP, I agree with him that there is no difference between historical or contemporary terrorism.  The scum who murdered Mr Black or Constable Carroll or the soldiers in Antrim a few years ago are exactly the same class of human being as those who carried out similar acts in the 70s, 80s or 90s.

If people don't understand why the name "Kevin Lynch" attached to a sports club can be deemed offensive then, to be honest, I don't see much evidence of community outreach. But if you don't understand that, then here is a heads-up: don't bother criticising unionists for being openly anti-GAA.

OK then, if that is a fact then NI was founded on historic terrorist violence and the threat of inssurection. That makes it an illegal entity...applying your logic. I have said before I suspect that many of those debating the troubles were either not born or too young to remember the '60's, '70's and early '80's. There would have been widespread support and sympathy for the IRA and the hunger strikers in that period when catholics and nationalists were very much under siege from the British and Unionists. Time have changed and we are inching towards equality, it is therefore hard to judge that period by what we have today. I applaude Joe Brolly for saying what he said, whatever his motives. Unionism still cherry picks what is terrorism and what is acceptable violence.

That's not true, and I speak as someone old enough to remember the 60s, 70s and 80s. The IRA may have enjoyed support in Catholic working class areas, but it was by no means universal and it didn't extend much outside those areas. The SDLP was the largest supported nationalist party right up to the 1980s. Sinn Fein only became the best supported nationalist party after the peace process had started and when they showed they were prepared to move beyond violence, after John Hume had opened the door for them and shown them the road forward.

What exact part of the north did you grow up in? I am not from a working class background. I and my family would not have had any support for the IRA's killing. But at that time to be catholic was to be second class, to play GAA was to be a terrorist and that was evident from the actions of the state, unionism and state forces. So with the exception of the uncle toms most catholic nationalists whilst not on the face of it supportive of some of the IRA's actions would have had an understanding. This is a fact lost on a lot of Southerners and conveniently forgotton by some nationalists. You drew the line and everyone new which side to stand on.

I grew up in north Belfast, where something like 25% of all the killings during the troubles took place. Who did I fear in those dark days? The tartan gangs; the sectarian killers of the uvf and uda, who trawled the streets looking for random Catholics to kill; and the IRA, with their indiscriminate, no warning bombs. Of that list, only the IRA was a threat to me personally. The others were more of a threat to my father and older members of my family, but IRA bombs killed children too. Did I fear the security forces? No, they were no threat or bother to me. Nor did they ever bother the older members of my family who were members of GAA clubs. Do I 'understand' the IRA? Yes, but then I also 'understand' why the US bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but I still think that those actions were immoral and unjustifiable. I also 'understand', to an extent, what motivates Islamist extremists to strap themselves with bombs and blow themselves up in crowded places, but not for a moment do I think what they're doing is right. Most Catholics in the north knew where the IRA came from, most Catholics may have shared some of their aims, but not for a second do I believe that the majority of Catholics were supportive of their actions. And your Uncle Toms jibe is an insult to people like John Hume who believed passionately in non violence and did far more to bring about conditions of equality than McGuinness, Adams or Kelly ever did.

I've read some shite on this board but that takes the biscuit.