Messages

They should be in any hardware store. They come on at the end of a sort of thin metal rod about 2 inches long and then you need a riveter to get them on the helmet and the metal rod part falls off. Me da usually keeps a supply of them for doing the same job. I must ask him where he gets them.

The Orange Orders rules highleights it as specifically sectarian. There would be no point in inclusion as you simply cannot become a member if you are a Catholic or are married to a Catholic. I'm sure they would be open to all other non-catholic ethnic minorities...

The GAA is aiming for inclusivity. I would like to see it where the level of acceptance of Rugby within nationalist communities could be replicated in unionist communities for the GAA. It is great to see the use of the traditional 'Ulster' flag (with the de Burgh cross) in greater numbers as opposed to simpkly the 'northern irish provincial' flag.

Is it the bit you clip your strap onto at the side of the helmet your looking for or the bit that attaches the faceguard to the forehead of the helmet?

What happened to freedom of expression???

Was in it before an all;-ireland semi-final there last year. I've never seen so many TVs in my life!! I nearly though i was in Curry's.

HP brown sauce is the business, i wouldn't be too fond of the other types of brown sauces. Us brown sauce lovers tend to look down on the red sauce lovers as uncivilised almost, haha.

I have to say that i'd be HP for most things i'd use sauce on like bacon/sausage baps or a fry or spuds or stuff like that. Red sauce woul;dn't get near my fry!

I would take red sauce on a burger or a hot dog but i would take an alternative for either. I don't think it matters what brand of sauce for the red, it all tastes pretty much the same to me.

It has to be the squeezy bottle for all sauces, the glass one is just in the way of progress!! a bit like the evil genius...

[Quite simply, you are erasing Unionism's commitment to using violence at every turn to achieve its political goals from the history books]

On which point, now that the Celtic Tiger has been poached and its bones ground down for Chinese medicine (or whatever), there is no longer even an economic case for Unity [sic]  to which Nationalists might point, in order to counter our inherent emotional antipathy which, following 30 years of  murderous assault by the new TD for Louth and his fellow gangsters etc, is now well-nigh implacable.

You have to laugh at this. Ye were amenable to the idea of a rapprochement with Irish Nationalism until the Provos came along? Quite simply, you are erasing Unionism's commitment to using violence at every turn to achieve its political goals from the history books

No erasure at all on my part.

Whilst it is true that in 1912, there was widespread, militant resistance amongst Unionists towards Home Rule etc, that was a century ago.

And History has taught us that the attitudes of the various religious/political groups in Ireland has varied throughout the ages eg Presbyterian support for the United Irishmen, or the participation of so many Nationalists in Redmond's Irish Volunteers in the Great War.

Therefore my point was simply that the effect of 30 years of "armed struggle" by the Provos (1970-2000 approx) was only to harden Unionist antipathy towards a United Ireland to implacable levels.

Or do you disagree?

1913...the UVF were set up in 1913...and i think someone is forgetting about a certain groups excursion into Monaghan...It's also funny how the 30 or so years of violence by Loyalist Paramilitaries also in both sides of the border haven't destroyed peoples hopes for an inclusive United Ireland.

It's always a good laugh to read why the Unionists wanted to opt out of a Home Rule Ireland anyway. The best point is about fears of religious discrimination against them as they would be in the minority...so what do they do? make themselves a majority and act out the religious discrimination themselves against the other side. Unionist desires to opt out of a Home Rule Ireland (I say home rule as an Irish Republic wasn't in the mainstream at the time (19th C.)) were based merely on fears. They feared that it would affect their economic status and the economic benefit from their position in the Empire yet they weren't actually going to leave the Empire with HR so this wouldn't have been affected.

I may be wrong but i think you'll find that the northerner stigma existed before partition. People in the rest of the country seen a difference between themeselves and the unionists in the north east of Ulster and unfortunately characterised the rest of the bunch along with them as northerners from the 'black north'. I've actually come across people who have asked me if i'm a Protestant simply because i'm from the 'north'. People will have examples of this at some time in their lives but you can't really generalise the whole population of the 26 as having this viewpoint simply because of an interaction(s) you may have had with a handful of people.

There are things that i have experienced though that do annoy me. Like I have had people say i'm from Northern Ireland rather than Derry. Severely annoying! But again i've had more people simply say i'm from Derry so i don't generalise everyone or at elast try not to, but unfirtunately people do tend to remember things that annoyed them.

There does appear to be some sort of snobbery in the media and among politicians (I think Martin was the biggest culprit to be honest) in some circles with 'Gerry coming down here telling us what to do'. One thing that irks me as well in newspapers is journalists trying to avoid using the term 'Northern Ireland', but replacing it with the term 'the North@, surely the capitalisation of the 'n' means that you are giving it the same proper noun status. I mean do they invulde Donegal? Would the people who use the term 'nordie' (a term which i used to hate but now would be pretty apathetic towards) for someone from Donegal? I mean i know loads of people from Donegal who sound almost exactly like me and unless you asked them where they were from you wouldn't know they weren't from the 6.

As someone said, partition has created a difference. Many people in the 6 have picked up anglicised habits that many probably wouldn't think about, such as listening to BBC Radio 1 or watching British TV and reading British media papers. Small things but they do undoubtedly contribute to an anglicising of the 6.

Just for the record, I love every inch of Ireland, I've been everywhere and wouldn't let anyone call me any less Irish than someone from Cork, Dublin, Limerick, Mayo, etc. etc. But individuals will try, i still generally feel that a referendum would come up with a yes for a 32 county Ireland because most people in the 26 do still have that desire...although sometimes they may be apathetic towards it. I think that a referendum might rekindle there feelings.

To be hoenst i wouldn't be surprised it FF get more seats that Labour. People are full of anger etc in public and still vote FF, sure they';ve gained a bit of resurgence in the past few polls and Labour are waning just a bit.

SF realistically will do well to get 12.

This poll is ruined by the Nordie savages already.

They can't resisting hitting the buttong if they see SF 

There's not a hope in hell SF will get anywhere close to 38% except on this board.

A little message from a TD in waiting    ......

I'm not anti-SF. I think they'll do pretty well and it's good for democracy to see an alternative view emerging. Dáil Éireann was getting very stale.
But every poll that is put up on this site is skewed unrealistically in favour of SF, and it's very frustrating as you never get an accurate representation. I know SF has a lot of voter's in the 26 counties (and more than ever now), but I don't think that can account for the huge swings in their favour on this site.
I would think that has to be down to people from the 6 counties voting (on these polls, not the GE  ).

Oddly enough Mayo, i'm going to agree with you. People shoudl click the first button (6 counties option) if they are gonna vote SF rather than spoiling the attempt to get an accurate viewpoint.

Of course us 'nordies' aren't allowed to vote in the 26 county election (although Doengal people can...thats not fair  ) . However, are the rumours true that 50 buses are being boarded and headed down the M1 from West Belfast?? 

The Welsh have a healthy respect for their own language as they are taught it by the fireside. It is also one of the only ways in which they can get in touch with their culture. Ireland is fortunate to have a rich array of cultural activities ranging from story-telling (English or Irish), dancing, Gaelic games, ceol, etc. etc.

The thing is though that many people don't seem to care about the language. It wasn't beaten out of the Irish like the English tried to beat Wlesh from the Welsh. Many Irish actually actively sought an English education in order to 'further' themselves. My big fear would be that Ireland would become a country smply of monoglots and the teaching of French/Spanish/German etc., would not change this in any way. People who are linguistically talented will tend to be good at all languages, so those who develop a good understanding of another language of the FG regime will be lost to their own language.

Tír gan teanga, Tír gan anam.

Thats a bit of a nightmare cicfada. I'd say SF wouldn't be too happy with that candidate. I doubt that would do their popularity any good! All i'll say is don't vote FG! They are gonna throw the culture away with the sovereignty!

Question, who makes better teachers? Ones who do the post grad or the ones who go to training school?

In my opinion the students who go to a training college, (Stranmillis or St Mary's in the North) are set well ahead in terms of preparation for becoming a teacher.  St Mary's students spend over a third of their time each year in an intensive placement situation, with continuous observation and assessment - over a four year course. 

Although students who do the PGCE do have an intensive year of work alongside a number of intensive placements, it's only one year.  They have no time to develop skills in comparison to those at the training college.  Should you be at St Mary's and make the discovery in your first year that you find classroom management to be tough, you have another three years to perfect and develop your skills - likewise for any other teaching skills/strategies. 

Just my opinion - open to debate - this could make for a more interesting discussion than whether or not teachers get it handy!

Your right on one thing, it is a more interesting discussion than that other myth. You get things as handy as you want them!

I wouldn't agree though on the route of your degree. It really balances itself out, the degree route gives you a higher level of expertise in your subject area but obviously the teaching intensive course at St. Mary's etc. gives you a stronger insight into the teaching profession. In saying that, i maintain that teaching is a natural thing for some people and it wouldn't matter if they did a post grad or 4 year course they would still be a good teacher. Teaching is still avocation for the best teachers.

Did anyone watch that debate there?

Pearse Doherty said that he'd cut ministers wages (180,000) by 40% and cut TD wages by 20%. The anchor asked him to ask others if they'd do the same and not a being would agree, FF siad they were making cuts to wages in the Dail but FG siad absolutely not. They'll cut child benefit and minimum wage but won't take a cut to their hefty wages....great leaders...

I wasn't really gonna weigh in on this because i am a teacher and have gone the route of the 3 year grad, then MA, then i year post grad. Now in terms of which route produces better I have to be honest and say that it doesn't matter a damn which route you take, it really depends on the individual. A good teacher will shine through whichever route they choose. I've seen crap teachers from the post grad route and crap teachers from the 4 year route. and vice versa for good teachers.

Now on the issue of teachers getting i handy. Holidays are absolutely fantastic. No doubt about it. The summer is such a great time to be a teacher. Other holidays during the year though do tend to be littered with marking and reports. I like to think that the summer holidays are basically overtime pay for the nights spent working til 9 or 10 or to be honest (overtime isn't paid otherwise). i've spent many a night into the wee hours...granted not every teacher is like this but the dedicated ones are like this. There are teachers and many other professionals who do very little work and it generally reflects in their final product.

I'm currently on a long sub and had last week off, but because i was a sub ( i get paid by the day) I didn't get paid for that time off, yet i was marking tests, coursework and reading up on different subjects simply to enhance knowledge. I wouldn't complain about it, i just do it because it has to be done. Hopefully it shows a few doubters that teachers don't simply work 9 to half 3 or whatever and go home.