Sure just leave the gate open…

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Mission accomplished by the Brits.

Yep, the arch-unionists are not only talking with nationalist and republicans, they're actively sharing power with them! And, they'll abide by the majority verdict in the imminent referendum for reunification. Slow learners indeed, and to think if the likes of Paisley hadn't been on his soapbox in the 50s & 60s at his anti-papist demagoguery we might have had no need for the 30 years' war... d'oh!

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Mission accomplished, and the fourth green field still the fourth quarter in the Kingdom.  Not bad eh, decent result all round, pity it took a while for the slow-learners.

I don't know if you have been down here in the 26 lately but I suspect if youn were you must have been at the Galway Air Showm yesterday and suffering from concussion by being one of the unfortunates thatb got injured when the Brits were demonstrating a helicopter and the door fell off and landed on someones head.  I expect to see the Mull Of Kintyre investigation team flying in tomorrow to frame Willie O'Dea for this, and quite frankly, it would not surprise me at all if you are one of them.

[Rossfan]

[....Willie O'Dea for this, and quite frankly, it would not surprise me at all if you are one of them.

Surely there's only one Willie O'Dea 

[Bud Wiser]

Surely there's only one Willie O'Dea 

yea, one of them, the Mull of Kintyre Investigation team.  Bad grammer or not it never ceases to amaze me how thick some people can be.  Thankfully there is only one Willie O'Dea.

[Hardy]

That's way too  many Willie O'Deas.

[magpie seanie]

The only ones slow to learn were the Brits about when to go home.  Glad to see your British Empire tag has reduced to United Kingdom.  Fact is, you are not even that now, neither united or a kingdom. In fact far from it.  You must be a fairly slow learner yourself to not know that (at my last count) there were 26 Sinn Feinn Councillors in the north OF IRELAND.  In the 2005 election the figures for Belfast alone returned 14 Sinn Fein Councillors, exactly twice the number of councillors that were elected from the Ulster Unionist party and a staggering twice the amount of councillors (2) elected from the Progressive Unionist party. 

I don't know if you have been down here in the 26 lately but I suspect if youn were you must have been at the Galway Air Showm yesterday and suffering from concussion by being one of the unfortunates thatb got injured when the Brits were demonstrating a helicopter and the door fell off and landed on someones head.  I expect to see the Mull Of Kintyre investigation team flying in tomorrow to frame Willie O'Dea for this, and quite frankly, it would not surprise me at all if you are one of them.

Class Bud!

[Evil Genius]

The only ones slow to learn were the Brits about when to go home.  Glad to see your British Empire tag has reduced to United Kingdom.  Fact is, you are not even that now, neither united or a kingdom. In fact far from it.  You must be a fairly slow learner yourself to not know that (at my last count) there were 26 Sinn Feinn Councillors in the north OF IRELAND.  In the 2005 election the figures for Belfast alone returned 14 Sinn Fein Councillors, exactly twice the number of councillors that were elected from the Ulster Unionist party and a staggering twice the amount of councillors (2) elected from the Progressive Unionist party. 

I don't know if you have been down here in the 26 lately but I suspect if youn were you must have been at the Galway Air Showm yesterday and suffering from concussion by being one of the unfortunates thatb got injured when the Brits were demonstrating a helicopter and the door fell off and landed on someones head.  I expect to see the Mull Of Kintyre investigation team flying in tomorrow to frame Willie O'Dea for this, and quite frankly, it would not surprise me at all if you are one of them.

Class Bud!

You're right, there, MS - Remedial Class...

[Billys Boots]

Remedial Class

Wey hey hey, I'm not alone anymore in EG's Remedial Class - take the seat near the door Bud!

[magpie seanie]

Well count me in for extra tuition too.

[rosnarun]

a little off point but
there was heard an amazing Stat on Wayne mccollough's look at the shankill last night over 4000 ulster solders fighting for england were killed in one day at the somme , that nearly 5 times as many that were killed in the 6 counties in 30 years of the troubles.

[SuperMac]

Just for all the slow-learners amongst you, worth going over the facts again:

1950s NI - relative peace, small British garrison.

1970s NI - IRA and loyalist onslaught, big British garrison.

2000s NI - relative peace again, small British peacetime garrison again.


Mission accomplished, and the fourth green field still the fourth quarter in the Kingdom.  Not bad eh, decent result all round, pity it took a while for the slow-learners.

1950s NI - relative peace, small British garrison.

1970s NI - IRA and  British / loyalist onslaught.

2000s NI - relative peace again, small British peacetime garrison again.

[Evil Genius]

a little off point but
there was heard an amazing Stat on Wayne mccollough's look at the shankill last night over 4000 ulster solders fighting for england were killed in one day at the somme , that nearly 5 times as many that were killed in the 6 counties in 30 years of the troubles.

Indeed. And not that I've any wish to open another controversy, but I think I'm right in saying that it was the slaughter on the Somme (1st July, 1916) which is being commemorated by the annual procession and parade at Drumcree. Which, without in any way defending the excesses that that benighted event now produces, is where the "tradition" in traditional route comes from, and goes some way towards explaining why it has such a strong hold in the hearts of the Unionist population ("Ulster's Nine-Eleven"?)

Indeed, some Nationalists accuse Unionists of having no "History" or "Culture", but just as many Nationalist grow up with the stories of the Easter Rising/Kevin Barry etc, "ussuns" have our own folk history and military tradition - in this case a British one - to reinforce our identity:

The Battle of Albert (first phase of the Battle of the Somme 1916): The Ulster Division was one of those selected to make the initial assault. It was in X Corps, with 32nd Division - a New Army formation - on its right facing the height around the immensely fortified position of Thiepval, and the regular army 29th Division, recently arrived from Gallipoli, facing Beaumont Hamel on the other bank of the Ancre. The Ulster Division faced an uphill advance, with the objective of capturing a large strongpoint complex in the enemy lines, called the Schwaben redoubt.

The Division's attack on 1 July 1916 has been covered by writers in immense detail, and has entered into Ulster folklore as a day of enduring memory. Overall the day was one of significant defeat for the British Army, when more than 57,000 men became casualties, of whom 20,000 were killed. However, it is often forgotten that three Divisions captured their objectives, and that several others while not doing so did perform exceptional feats. The Ulster Division was one of them: it captured and held for a considerable time the Schwaben Redoubt, despite virtually no progress being made by either Division on its flanks.

The Division was relieved on 2 July, having suffered 5,104 casualties of who approximately 2,069 died.

http://www.battlehill395.freeserve.co.uk/somme%20battle.htm

http://dnausers.d-n-a.net/dnetDkjs/sommewww.htm

http://www.irishsoldier.org/

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Just for all the slow-learners amongst you, worth going over the facts again:

1950s NI - relative peace, small British garrison.

1970s NI - IRA and loyalist onslaught, big British garrison.

2000s NI - relative peace again, small British peacetime garrison again.


Mission accomplished, and the fourth green field still the fourth quarter in the Kingdom.  Not bad eh, decent result all round, pity it took a while for the slow-learners.

1950s NI - relative peace, small British garrison.

1970s NI - IRA and  British / loyalist onslaught.

2000s NI - relative peace again, small British peacetime garrison again.

And... late 1960s - loyalist/RUC/B-Specials onslaught & pogroms

[Fiodoir Ard Mhacha]

Some coverage in the BBC website on the end of the British army's Operation Banner tonight.

The British army's operation in Northern Ireland will come to an end at midnight on Tuesday 31 July after 38 years.

Operation Banner - the Army's support role for the police - has been its longest continuous campaign, with more than 300,000 personnel taking part.

A garrison of 5,000 troops will remain but security will be entirely the responsibility of the police.

British troops were sent by British PM Harold Wilson to Northern Ireland in 1969 at the request of the Chicester-Clark Unionist led government after violent clashes between Catholics and Protestants.

When the first soldiers were deployed on 15 August 1969, commanders believed they would be there for just a few weeks.

At the height of the Troubles, there were about 27,000 soldiers in Northern Ireland.

The head of the Army in Northern Ireland, General Nick Parker, said the operation helped create the conditions for a political solution.

"What I believe the military have done here is make a significant contribution to the security in Northern Ireland that has allowed other people to make the difference through politics, social programmes and economics," he said.

Many unionists believe the army was a vital component in the fight against the IRA, a bulwark that protected them from a vicious republican enemy.

Republicans and many nationalists have a very different view. In their eyes, the army was part of the problem, not the solution. Critics point to the army's so-called secret war, the highly controversial use of agents and informers which led to allegations of collusion.

In future, soldiers based in Northern Ireland will be involved in training and will be available for deployment in foreign trouble spots, not on local streets.

Yeah, but have they learned any lessons from 38 years in the north. I look forward to a little lesson in history from concerned readers out there.

[Uladh]

They should be careful not to let the door hit them on the arse on the way out