1981 remembered

[Tonto]

I wish you would post these up a bit quicker, I want to know how it ends.

Such a great piece of fiction writing. Keep up the good work.

PS did he really quote Kipling? Almost as ironic as SF selling Bobby Sands dinner plates!

[Jim_Murphy_74]

I wish you would post these up a bit quicker, I want to know how it ends.

Living TV paid him £25K as the UK's Biggest Loser?

/Jim

[lynchbhoy]

Apart from his heroic brave last stand that cost him his life as a hunger striker, Bobby Sands from IMO a position of low formal education wrote way above what he previously would have been expected. From the song 'back home in Derry' to the tomes as reproduced by Nally Stand on this thread.

Not only could the man write, but so well did he articulate his opinion and perspective on all things republican and political that he 'converted' numerous men from being academically 'apolitical' to become apreciative followers and avid readers of history/political publication.
He also impressed INLA men so much that they jumped the idealistic divide from irsp constituents to more mainstream republican idealology.

These days the fight over the five demands seems so small and silly modern day folk would wonder why this second hunger strike was commissioned.
Against the wishes of external IRA and INLA army councils these men volunteered and wouldn't be told to stand down. Their eventual posthumous victory of the five demands was the first salvo that cracked the apartheid type statelet as it was then.
This resulted in the deconstruction of the sectarian state and gave rise to the eventual peace that was brokered and sits there today giving decent life to all people's in the north of Ireland-- which was the desire behind the hunger strikers action.
Eventual reunification will come but only at a time of economic viability.
That will be in due course. We have come a long way and this final step is inevitable, and we can give thanks to the brave hunger strikers for kick starting all of this and helping create the peace that exists today!

The Northern Ireland state had cracked and broken years before the hunger strike. Stormont had fallen in the early 70s and the British government had introduced a whole raft of equality legislation in employment and housing which made NI a comparatively 'equal' society. A power sharing assembly (i.e like the one the Shinners take part in now) was on offer in the mid 70s. It was rejected by loyalists led by Paisley and by Irish republicans, who wanted nothing short of Brits Out and a 32 country republic. If the hunger strike and election of Sands achieved anything, it showed republican leaders like Adams and McGuiness that there was a political route out of the hole they'd dug for themselves. They took it. Now we have a whole raft of equality legislation and a power sharing assembly. The British Army has left our streets, but NI remains a part of the UK and and a UI is as far away as it's ever been. Wonder if Bobby Sands and the others would've thought their lives were worth offering up for that?

As for Bobby being a fantastic scholar / songwriter / etc etc. Anyone who believes that probably still reads the autobiographies of premiership footballers in the belief that they're written personally by Wayne, or Lamps, or Stevie G. A young man who wasn't able to spell the name of the school he attended and who made countless grammatical mistakes in the original comms that have been made available to journalists and writers, doesn't suddenly become a polished writer and diarist. Grow up.

Lol
Your revisionism cuts out best part of 20 years persecution!!
If you weren't about around these times or just want to forget, you'd best check your story out first!!
You obv don't like the fact that Sands wrote so much decent prose!

It seems like you are getting an English prem soccer player to help you write your stuff!

You can read the pain and hatred in other posts from those who preferred the old status quo and are jealous/bitter that the taigs had such heroes that would make the ultimate sacrifice like the ten heroes!

( not meaning you Jim - that was actually quite funny!)

[Rossfan]

I wish you would post these up a bit quicker, I want to know how it ends.

Such a great piece of fiction writing. Keep up the good work.

PS did he really quote Kipling? Almost as ironic as SF selling Bobby Sands dinner plates!

Have you not got a road to block?

[The Worker]

I wish you would post these up a bit quicker, I want to know how it ends.

Such a great piece of fiction writing. Keep up the good work.

PS did he really quote Kipling? Almost as ironic as SF selling Bobby Sands dinner plates!

Have you not got a road to block?

[Nally Stand]

[Nally Stand]

[Nally Stand]

[Nally Stand]

[Nally Stand]

[Nally Stand]

[Nally Stand]

[Tonto]

Flip, I've just realised this is the guy that killed himself.

Amazing that people make heroes out of suicide victims who were quite happy to support the death of those who, sadly, didn't have the same choice the suicide victims had.

The real heroes are those who died without fuss.

May all innocent victims of Sands' organisation and all other terrorist organisations rest in peace.  Their deaths were thankfully not in vain.  Unlike Robert's.

[Rossfan]

Don't forget the equally innocent victims of you're biased security forces Tonto.
Hint- David Cameron has been apologising for some of them.
Hopefully he or more likely his successor will get around to apologising for the rest of the innocents murdered by your Security forces ( not to mention the ones they got UDA/UVF etc thugs to kill).
If those Security forces had been even handed there would have been no need for the Bobby Sandses of the world to take up arms.

[Tonto]

Don't forget the equally innocent victims of you're biased security forces Tonto.
Hint- David Cameron has been apologising for some of them.
Hopefully he or more likely his successor will get around to apologising for the rest of the innocents murdered by your Security forces ( not to mention the ones they got UDA/UVF etc thugs to kill).
If those Security forces had been even handed there would have been no need for the Bobby Sandses of the world to take up arms.

Of course, you are right.  All innocent victims should be remembered.