It Must be Marching Season

[LC]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6je5wqgwxpgo

SoS still digging his heels in re the budget.

[tiempo]

Hardline PUL would take a Netanyahu style outcome every single day, only an accident of birth, geography and sliding doors moments prevented a total genocide in the north, I often think the near miss at the Tory part conference in Brighton was one of the best things that ever happened, had the IRA assassinated Thatcher there'd have been an amphibious landing from the British army and UVF'ers armed to the teeth running around like Escape from LA

Talk of the GFA being the template for conflict resolution completely overlooks the oppression people lived under, they simply survived through pure doggedness at times, revenge really is the laughter of our children, fundamentally we've already 'won'. The ongoing sham is the last kick of a dying breed and a few opportunists looking to line their pockets

[Caesar]

Stephen Nolan has questions to answer as to why he has persistently platformed Bryson, an unelected loyalist agitator with links to paramilitarism.

Of course the answer is that he's divisive and controversial which is no doubt good for their viewership numbers, but that shouldn't be acceptable, and Nolan needs held to account.

The sooner someone take a proper look at who is funding and supporting Bryson behind the scenes, the better.

[johnnycool]

The end game here is bringing down Stormont,  blame the 'unreasonable' nationalists,  work on getting the GFA changed as they see the demographics changing so quickly and the very strong possibility of a border poll in the next 5-10 years. 50% + 1 is very attainable and they can see that.

Or am I giving them too much credence?

I've said this before and I'll say it again, most of the hardliners within Unionism live in wee unionist bubbles along the East Coast with little exposure to Irish culture etc barring the odd we interaction.

There are pockets elsewhere like in Derry, Portadown, Dungannon, Craigavon etc who are fighting against the tide also, but don't underestimate how much the Fleadh in Belfast has damaged their perception of how this unionist state has left to live.

The culture war they crave has begun in earnest and civic nationalism needs to driving hard against the normalisation of the OO, their coat trailing and the band culture that openly supports loyalist paramilitaries.

Paul Givan lighting an illegal bonfire needs highlighting every bit as much as roadblock Robinson standing in the middle of the road in Ballybeen.

Stephen Nolan has questions to answer as to why he has persistently platformed Bryson, an unelected loyalist agitator with links to paramilitarism.

Of course the answer is that he's divisive and controversial which is no doubt good for their viewership numbers, but that shouldn't be acceptable, and Nolan needs held to account.

The sooner someone take a proper look at who is funding and supporting Bryson behind the scenes, the better.

Does it never occur to anyone that Adam Smyth and Nolan probably share the same views as Bryson, so to them he's a useful conduit for their own prejudices.

[tiempo]

Stephen Nolan has questions to answer as to why he has persistently platformed Bryson, an unelected loyalist agitator with links to paramilitarism.

Of course the answer is that he's divisive and controversial which is no doubt good for their viewership numbers, but that shouldn't be acceptable, and Nolan needs held to account.

The sooner someone take a proper look at who is funding and supporting Bryson behind the scenes, the better.

The Nolan escapade is the opposite of cancel culture, there are people in the BBC well aware of what they're platforming and they are fully enabling it in order to create a culture war, British spook 101

[Milltown Row2]

Having a mini troubles or a troubles lite will be the target for the likes of the hardline unionist, as it stokes the fire for those who 'missed' the troubles growing up..

Gives a common enemy

Those far rights racists cnuts are raging that in the north we have this distraction away from their common enemy, black people.. The place is rotten, I will not be encouraging my kids to live here, poison being fed to so many by grifters

To get some craig from Marty, we still have dissidents wanting an UI by force who look at SF as traitors and sell outs..

Either way social media will continue to weaponised to fuel the hate..

Outside of that, its a lovely wee spot 

[brokencrossbar1]

The end game here is bringing down Stormont,  blame the 'unreasonable' nationalists,  work on getting the GFA changed as they see the demographics changing so quickly and the very strong possibility of a border poll in the next 5-10 years. 50% + 1 is very attainable and they can see that.

Or am I giving them too much credence?

I've said this before and I'll say it again, most of the hardliners within Unionism live in wee unionist bubbles along the East Coast with little exposure to Irish culture etc barring the odd we interaction.

There are pockets elsewhere like in Derry, Portadown, Dungannon, Craigavon etc who are fighting against the tide also, but don't underestimate how much the Fleadh in Belfast has damaged their perception of how this unionist state has left to live.

The culture war they crave has begun in earnest and civic nationalism needs to driving hard against the normalisation of the OO, their coat trailing and the band culture that openly supports loyalist paramilitaries.

Paul Givan lighting an illegal bonfire needs highlighting every bit as much as roadblock Robinson standing in the middle of the road in Ballybeen.

Stephen Nolan has questions to answer as to why he has persistently platformed Bryson, an unelected loyalist agitator with links to paramilitarism.

Of course the answer is that he's divisive and controversial which is no doubt good for their viewership numbers, but that shouldn't be acceptable, and Nolan needs held to account.

The sooner someone take a proper look at who is funding and supporting Bryson behind the scenes, the better.

Does it never occur to anyone that Adam Smyth and Nolan probably share the same views as Bryson, so to them he's a useful conduit for their own prejudices.

There has been a significant shift in the editorial approach within the BBC as a whole in the last 5 years and this will continue. It is openly going to the right as a whole and this is clear. Smyth and Nolan went to the same school and were in the same year,  this has been a relationship that has developed over many years. Given Smyth's fathers liking for cross dressing and the like who knows what other skeletons are in the cupboards....

[Armagh18]

Hardline PUL would take a Netanyahu style outcome every single day, only an accident of birth, geography and sliding doors moments prevented a total genocide in the north, I often think the near miss at the Tory part conference in Brighton was one of the best things that ever happened, had the IRA assassinated Thatcher there'd have been an amphibious landing from the British army and UVF'ers armed to the teeth running around like Escape from LA

Talk of the GFA being the template for conflict resolution completely overlooks the oppression people lived under, they simply survived through pure doggedness at times, revenge really is the laughter of our children, fundamentally we've already 'won'. The ongoing sham is the last kick of a dying breed and a few opportunists looking to line their pockets

Nail on head.

[ClubScene13]

I would half expect a bit of "real" trouble as well to kick off around this. They will never get down that road but they aren't going to take it lying down given a legal determination has been quashed. It only takes one header to light the touch paper. Band culture is rotten to the core and these applications for the lower Ormeau and G Road are an absolute embarrassment - I do think there is a significant silent element in unionism that are moderate and can see through this BS for what is. You aren't going to see them piping up on social media as much as wee Kenny from the estate in Newtownards is the only thing

[DaleCooper]

Largely agree Tiempo but theres still an expectation on "CNR" to give a wide berth to complete lunatics.

The entire parade /bonfire BS has to be radically reviewed. Seems year after year things are not being addressed.

The GFA was really only a cast over a broken bone and the proper rehab was never completed.

[Deerstalker]

Allison Morris said today all legal fees on both sides will be funded by legal aid so we could have a big to go yet

[LC]

Allison Morris said today all legal fees on both sides will be funded by legal aid so we could have a big to go yet

One of the biggest gravy trains in this country, with a lot of the high profile members of our legal profession having first class seats courtesy of the tax payer.

[Milltown Row2]

Allison Morris said today all legal fees on both sides will be funded by legal aid so we could have a big to go yet

One of the biggest gravy trains in this country, with a lot of the high profile members of our legal profession having first class seats courtesy of the tax payer.

Hopefully someone can come up with one thing these clowns (on the hill) have done that has benefited ordinary Joe

[Eamonnca1]

What's the end game here for the OO because it's not going to be a march down Garvaghy road. They can nit pick legal rulings all they want but a march will not be happening. It's been established that the police are not going to evict a single protestor from that road.  Surely they can't be that thick at this point to not know that.  So this is about them making a point, creating disturbance, creating ill feeling and rancour.  They're happy to wreck any relations there were in the Portadown area, and by the sounds of it in other areas where they think they should get to march where they want unrestricted.

There are nuances within unionism.

Some (like the ones who signed the letter) want nothing to do with parades. A Protestant friend of mine in one of the cycling clubs years ago said his family never took anything to do with the "oul lodges. They're about nothing but stirring up trouble." They might vote for Alliance and give transfers to UUP.

Some (like my old neighbours) would take a passing interest in the parades and would sit outside the house to watch them, but that'd be the limit of their participation. Likely UUP voters.

Some probably genuinely believe their own propaganda about how the OO is a harmless charity like the Rotary Club. Some of them are probably mild-mannered, others would be the pious fire-and-brimstone types, some of them thinking we live in the end times. DUP voters.

Some are all-in with the sectarian supremacism and yearn for the good old days when Fenians would be battered off the street by a police force that was basically the paramilitary wing of the Orange. There may be a few among them who actually believe it's achievable, and are overestimating the amount of support the Orange still have among police ranks. Jim Allister would represent this segment.

Then you have the half-educated yobs who just see a good riot opportunity and are itching to get wrecking the place, and probably don't fully understand what it's all about. They certainly wouldn't know who the Peep-o-Day Boys or the Defenders were. Voter turnout might not be high among this group.

A variation of that would be the half-educated yobs who have figured out how to use a search engine and suddenly think they're Edward Carson. Bryson would be this sort.

To answer your question, there are some who probably believe they'll get marching down the road, and they're fantasising about getting through the Lower Ormeau again. I wouldn't be surprised if they think they'll even get through the Tunnel & Obins St. even though that route's been dead to them for donkey's years.

There may be some chess-players in there thinking several moves ahead and aiming to collapse Stormont, but my honest impression is that most of them don't really know what they're doing. Like the ones that pushed for Brexit because they wanted the border back, they're pushing in a general direction that feels right, but not putting much thought into the actual consequences of their actions, resulting in a pattern of strategic errors that consistently undermine the unionist cause.

[red hander]

The end game here is bringing down Stormont,  blame the 'unreasonable' nationalists,  work on getting the GFA changed as they see the demographics changing so quickly and the very strong possibility of a border poll in the next 5-10 years. 50% + 1 is very attainable and they can see that.

Or am I giving them too much credence?

I've said this before and I'll say it again, most of the hardliners within Unionism live in wee unionist bubbles along the East Coast with little exposure to Irish culture etc barring the odd we interaction.

There are pockets elsewhere like in Derry, Portadown, Dungannon, Craigavon etc who are fighting against the tide also, but don't underestimate how much the Fleadh in Belfast has damaged their perception of how this unionist state has left to live.

The culture war they crave has begun in earnest and civic nationalism needs to driving hard against the normalisation of the OO, their coat trailing and the band culture that openly supports loyalist paramilitaries.

Paul Givan lighting an illegal bonfire needs highlighting every bit as much as roadblock Robinson standing in the middle of the road in Ballybeen.

Stephen Nolan has questions to answer as to why he has persistently platformed Bryson, an unelected loyalist agitator with links to paramilitarism.

Of course the answer is that he's divisive and controversial which is no doubt good for their viewership numbers, but that shouldn't be acceptable, and Nolan needs held to account.

The sooner someone take a proper look at who is funding and supporting Bryson behind the scenes, the better.

Does it never occur to anyone that Adam Smyth and Nolan probably share the same views as Bryson, so to them he's a useful conduit for their own prejudices.

It should be occurring to the bosses in London. The fact it hasn't shows they don't give a flying fiddlers f**k about this shithole statelet. Smyth needs looked at big time. His **** of a mother stood for TUV at last Assembly election in strong unionist area,but she was even too bigoted for them to win a seat.