So then, soldiers on the streets again

[An Fear Rua]

the dupes and the newsletter have begun a campaign to have a parade for soldiers returning from duty.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7523204.stm

http://www.newsletter.co.uk/CustomPages/CustomPage.aspx?PageID=74102


With the usual soundbites of celebrating our heros from this part of the uk etc, all being dressed up beautifully, but is there an ulterior motive at work? some sort of compensation for a few banned orange marches?

Maybe the 12th, rememberance day etc isnt enough flag waving for one year?

Can anyone see marty and gerry throwing their weight behind the proposal? or more so will any objection carry any weight?



your thoughts.............

[Hardy]

Yes - just what the North needs. More parades.

[donalmac99]

the dupes and the newsletter have begun a campaign to have a parade for soldiers returning from duty.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7523204.stm

http://www.newsletter.co.uk/CustomPages/CustomPage.aspx?PageID=74102


With the usual soundbites of celebrating our heros from this part of the uk etc, all being dressed up beautifully, but is there an ulterior motive at work? some sort of compensation for a few banned orange marches?
Maybe the 12th, rememberance day etc isnt enough flag waving for one year?

Can anyone see marty and gerry throwing their weight behind the proposal? or more so will any objection carry any weight?



your thoughts.............

Id say  eamonn mcann and most irish anti war protesters would be willing to welcome them home. Sure arn't they calling for their withdrawl from Iraq.

[red hander]

It never fails to amuse me that the soldiers are always described as 'heroes', whether they be on the frontline or even feckin chefs.  Yeah, it's really going beyond the call of duty to make a vat of pasta to feed 200, that's really sticking it to the Taliban and al Qaida, that is.

Just because these parades are happening in Aldershot or Colchester (though I don't remember too many of them parading after finishing their tour of duty in the occupied six counties), the News Letter wants to jump on the bandwagon and perpetutate the myth that this place is as british as finchley ... sad and pathetic

[An Fear Rua]

I would very much doubt that only motive here is to welcome home soldiers, treating your heroes as pawns morelike.

[ziggysego]

I've my own theories about the whole thing, but I'm far to lazy to express them here.

Basically and the long and short of it, it's all the pomp before the British pull out. I'd say 5-10 years time.

[An Fear Rua]

I've my own theories about the whole thing, but I'm far to lazy to express them here.

Basically and the long and short of it, it's all the pomp before the British pull out. I'd say 5-10 years time.

Id say your giving them too much credit there zig, whole thing stinks of antagony

[Loughers]

Well they might as well have one in Dublin too for all the southerners in the RIR.  It seems to be ok now, but not in my book.

[Solomon Kane]

Nothing to get worked up about here boys. This happens in other places in the UK and is actually just part of the normalisation of society. Any parade is unlikely to be in a contentious place. You may not like it but then no-one is forcing you to watch it. I'm no fan of the goings on in the middle east myself but I recognise that Irish people from Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic have made sacrifices.


5-10 years? Dream on Ziggy.

[Donagh]

One would have thought we had enough child molesters and murderers on our streets without inviting more to walk down them. Still as they will have to comply with the parades legislation and give advanced public notice of their parades there'll be plenty of time for any conscientious objectors to organise their protests.

[magickingdom]

Nothing to get worked up about here boys. This happens in other places in the UK and is actually just part of the normalisation of society. Any parade is unlikely to be in a contentious place. You may not like it but then no-one is forcing you to watch it. I'm no fan of the goings on in the middle east myself but I recognise that Irish people from Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic have made sacrifices.

5-10 years? Dream on Ziggy.

what sacrifices exactly solomon? going over to someone elses country and telling them what to do? if an iraqi kills one of these soldiers is he a murderer in your eyes? i ask that as someone who hopes everyone of them returns safe and sound

[pintsofguinness]

It never fails to amuse me that the soldiers are always described as 'heroes', whether they be on the frontline or even feckin chefs.

It's the reaction when one of them gets killed amazes me - they're in the army! expect it!
There was even a bit on the morning news a while back about soliders complaining that they kept being sent on tours - THAT'S YOUR JOB!! 

[Solomon Kane]

Nothing to get worked up about here boys. This happens in other places in the UK and is actually just part of the normalisation of society. Any parade is unlikely to be in a contentious place. You may not like it but then no-one is forcing you to watch it. I'm no fan of the goings on in the middle east myself but I recognise that Irish people from Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic have made sacrifices.

5-10 years? Dream on Ziggy.

what sacrifices exactly solomon? going over to someone elses country and telling them what to do? if an iraqi kills one of these soldiers is he a murderer in your eyes? i ask that as someone who hopes everyone of them returns safe and sound

Dying, getting injured and more than likely traumatised at the site of bomb victims etc is a sacrifice in my book. I know a few ex soldiers who have been in some of these situations, without even having fired a shot in anger who have been badly affected by what they have saw. No training can prepare someone for this. These people are then expected to live normal civilian lives a few years down the line. Murder is all in the context of the situation. Roadside bombs etc are murder in my book because they are indiscriminate. It's a complicated situation there because Iraq is full of warring factions. Armed resistance from Iraqi elements could be argued as murder at the moment because there is a "democratically" elected government there, no matter how unpopular it may be to some, the option is there to change it in a number of years time. I don't have all the answers. Partition of Iraq may well be inevitable in the future. I just wish it was all over because it is a hell of a mess. People are dying for no good reason.

[Gaoth Dobhair Abu]

They are paid to do a job, let them stop gurning about it and get on with it or get out (preferabily thte latter).

I always said that any Brit, UDR or RUC man who got injured or t'other knew with they were signing up for and got well paid for it.
If your a fireman, north sea diver, miner etc... you get well paid because they are jobs that carry risks, you don't here them moaning.

No sympathy for the Brits and NO to parades.

[red hander]

Today's front page from the Snooze Letter  ... hurrah for our heroes I say, let's cheer them on the streets of Crossmaglen, Carrickmore and Kilwilkie...


Province preparing to salute our soldiers


Soldiers could soon be on parade on the streets of Northern Ireland

By Staff reporter
HOMECOMING parades for returning Ulster soldiers have moved closer with the news from Afghanistan that several are being planned for towns across Northern Ireland.
Speaking from their base in the Afghan desert yesterday, officers from the Royal Irish Regiment confirmed that plans are being made for possible parades in Belfast and up to three other towns across the Province.

The News Letter – which has been campaigning for such parades to honour the bravery of Ulster soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan – can also reveal that a homecoming parade has been organised for the English town where the 1st Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment is garrisoned.

While Belfast is still considering whether to invite the soldiers to march, Shropshire County Council said it would definitely be holding a parade on October 17 for the Royal Irish in the town of Market Drayton, where their Tern Hill base is.

The Army confirmed that any parades in Ulster would not just welcome home the Royal Irish from Afghanistan, but also the Irish Guards who have fought in Iraq, medics, Territorial Army personnel and other Ulster soldiers who have served in the war zones.

Unlike many of their counterparts in Great Britain, soldiers from Northern Ireland have not enjoyed the recognition of parades — instead returning from conflict and searing heat with little, if any, fanfare.

On Thursday an Ulster soldier in Afghanistan told the News Letter that when he returned from Iraq he was taken through a back exit at Stansted airport, which he said gave him the impression that the returning soldiers were an embarrassment.

It is thought that a homecoming parade in Belfast could be held on November 2, possibly to coincide with the annual Royal Irish service at St Anne's Cathedral.

Parades through the other three towns would take place on the days on either side of the Belfast occasion.

The First Battalion Royal Irish has been in Afghanistan since March, on a six-month tour that will end in the autumn.

The risks facing allied military personnel in Afghanistan have been underlined by a number of recent attacks, including one last week in which a Ranger from Belfast lost a leg.

Later in the week six Royal Irish soldiers sustained minor injuries after another bomb attack, also in Helmand Province.

On Tuesday, British forces experienced their first fatality in recent weeks, when a soldier from the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers was killed by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).

Speaking in Camp Shorabak, Captain Brian Johnston, the press officer for the First Battalion, said: "For the men serving with the Royal Irish Battle Group this would be a great way for the people from N Ireland to show there support".