A United Ireland. Opening up the discussion.

[JPGJOHNNYG]

https://www.irishnews.com/news/northern-ireland/united-ireland-case-rests-on-outdated-view-of-northern-ireland-leading-academic-argues-MUD37MPCRBFILIX3Z4UT3DXTIA/

So everyone who votes unionist is a unionist, but not everyone who votes nationalist is a nationalist and the undecided are also unionists.

Yep that's Peter Shirlows thinking right there.

[Baile Brigín 2]

https://www.irishnews.com/news/northern-ireland/united-ireland-case-rests-on-outdated-view-of-northern-ireland-leading-academic-argues-MUD37MPCRBFILIX3Z4UT3DXTIA/

So everyone who votes unionist is a unionist, but not everyone who votes nationalist is a nationalist and the undecided are also unionists.

Yep that's Peter Shirlows thinking right there.

It being the 6, there is complexity. Not all Catholics want reunification. Some Protestants want it. But he seems to have taken a position and reversed his logic into it.

[brokencrossbar1]

https://www.irishnews.com/news/northern-ireland/one-of-northern-irelands-most-heavily-fortified-police-stations-to-be-sold-off-WNVWYEOEW5GBVIQXE6GIU4HPMU/

The PSNI has been given the green light to sell off one of the most attacked RUC and British army bases of the Troubles.

The former police and military barracks in Crossmaglen is one of seven properties the Policing Board has told the PSNI it can now dispose of.

The other sites include Knocknagoney, east Belfast, Holywood, Co Down, Rathfriland, Co Down, Beragh, Co Tyrone, Portrush, Co Antrim and Ballycastle, also Co Antrim.

Although not open to the public, Crossmaglen remains an "operational station" for PSNI officers.

During the Troubles the heavily fortified Crossmaglen base was a constant target for republicans in south Armagh.

Sitting in the centre of the nationalist village, the imposing structure was a target of many gun, bomb and other attacks.

Police and military personnel were also at risk when travelling to and from the base, with many casualties inflicted in the wider area.

A caged sanger linked to the base, which dominated Crossmaglen main square for more than two decades, was named after British soldier James Borucki (19) who was killed when a bomb left on a bicycle detonated close to the barracks in August 1976.

The sanger was targeted by the IRA several times, including by improvised flame throwers in the early 1990s, before it was dismantled in 2000 as the peace process evolved.


When the RUC and British army stopped using mobile patrols in south Armagh in the 1970s, the only way in and out of Crossmaglen was by air.

In the years that followed the IRA launched numerous gun attacks on military helicopters across the region, including several aimed at flights in the immediate area of Crossmaglen.

The confiscation of land belonging to local GAA club, Crossmaglen Rangers, in the 1970s fuelled ill feeling between many locals and the security forces.

The British government announced plans to return the ground to its rightful owners in 1999 and the last British soldiers left the base in 2007.


There was controversy in 2019 former PSNI chief constable Simon Byrne posted a photograph on Twitter of himself with heavily armed officers.


The incident prompted a review of policing in the area, which recommended the base should close.

At the time Mr Byrne said the station was "an emblem of the past" and had "no place in modern policing".

A decision to now dispose of the station, along with the six other sites, was taken by the Policing Board last month.

Members of the oversight group had previously heard that it cost £1.24m annually in running and maintenance costs for the seven sites.

Board chair Brendan Mullan said that "in seeking the board's approval to dispose, assurance was given on community engagement plans to negate any negative impact in terms of the delivery of local policing or access to police services resulting from the disposal of the designated sites"


He added that assurance was also provided that "no strategic risk to future accommodation needs or demand in relation to designated sites has been identified".

A spokeswoman for the PSNI said: "As per recommendation 6 of the South Armagh Policing Review, options for the site closure of Crossmaglen Police Station are currently being explored and progressed to enable its future disposal.

"While Crossmaglen Police Station is no longer open to the public, it remains at present, an operational station for police officers."


Probably as good a place as any to put this.  While this is an inevitable thing that was always going to happen actions like this will all form part of the next decade of change that is incoming,  removal of symbolism of the State bit by bit.  Will be interesting what happens when it is finally pulled down and I will be one of the many onlookers on that day!

[illdecide]

It's mad to think back of them days with the helicopters flying over your head whilst trying to kick ball. I suppose in Lurgan we had our fair share too so didn't need to take our eye of the ball for too long. Cross's old tactic, let the opposition look at the choppers and we'll take the ball...
As you say BCB, things are changing and moving faster than some think. Be great for the town to see them leave.

[seafoid]

Is sanger British Army slang or is it a  Cross term?
Progress has been slow

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aqrBCX76rgM

[Rossfan]

They should offer it to the GAA for a nominal sum

[illdecide]

They should offer it to the GAA for a nominal sum

They should offer it to Crossmaglen GAA Club for free and ask for forgiveness...

[brokencrossbar1]

Is sanger British Army slang or is it a  Cross term?
Progress has been slow

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aqrBCX76rgM

No,  that's the common term for these types of fortifications. It was believed that there was a tunnel from the main barracks to it as it was always manned and there was no visible entrance to it and no one was ever seen leaving it or entering it.

A wee story about the flame thrower attack that is part of the video shared. It was stated in the press that it was vacant at the time of the attack. A number of friends of mine were sitting watching the attack happen as it was around tea time on a mart day Saturday. They used the slurry tank on mart day as it didn't look conspicuous. Pure genius if you ask me. Anyway,  they watched as the attack happened and heard the screams from inside the Sanger,  there were observation windows which were open when the attack happened and that's how they got burned. The people who told me this are not bullshitters and 2 of them played for the county with distinction as they lived beside it. No word of any casualties at all. All part of the dirty war!

[DaleCooper]

The slurry tanker covered in dung was a popular method of smuggling diesel.

[marty34]

Off topic I know but one of the best books I've ever read is Bandit Country. A great read.

I think Harnden, the author, updated the book this year or last maybe.

[Armagh18]

Off topic I know but one of the best books I've ever read is Bandit Country. A great read.

I think Harnden, the author, updated the book this year or last maybe.

Didn't know that!

Read it years ago was fantastic.

[marty34]

Off topic I know but one of the best books I've ever read is Bandit Country. A great read.

I think Harnden, the author, updated the book this year or last maybe.

Didn't know that!

Read it years ago was fantastic.

Yeah, I think it was very hard to get. Sold out.

But he did a re-run but added a few new things to book as far as I'm aware. People had died so he could name them.

It was great from a historical point of view. Goes back into the area hundreds and hundreds of years ago.

I really enjoyed it. Must get the new version. You can order it in your local library, if you're a member there. Very handy.

[Armagh18]

Off topic I know but one of the best books I've ever read is Bandit Country. A great read.

I think Harnden, the author, updated the book this year or last maybe.

Didn't know that!

Read it years ago was fantastic.

Yeah, I think it was very hard to get. Sold out.

But he did a re-run but added a few new things to book as far as I'm aware. People had died so he could name them.

It was great from a historical point of view. Goes back into the area hundreds and hundreds of years ago.

I really enjoyed it. Must get the new version. You can order it in your local library, if you're a member there. Very handy.

Will get it asap, have the old copy tucked away somewhere.

Another excellent read is the Killing of the Reavey brothers, written by Eugene.

[brokencrossbar1]

Off topic I know but one of the best books I've ever read is Bandit Country. A great read.

I think Harnden, the author, updated the book this year or last maybe.

Didn't know that!

Read it years ago was fantastic.

Yeah, I think it was very hard to get. Sold out.

But he did a re-run but added a few new things to book as far as I'm aware. People had died so he could name them.

It was great from a historical point of view. Goes back into the area hundreds and hundreds of years ago.

I really enjoyed it. Must get the new version. You can order it in your local library, if you're a member there. Very handy.

Will get it asap, have the old copy tucked away somewhere.

Another excellent read is the Killing of the Reavey brothers, written by Eugene.

Harnden embellished things somewhat,  got a few locals drunk in the Cartwheel and got what he could. While a good read,  much should be taken with a pinch of salt

[armaghniac]

A spokeswoman for the PSNI said: "As per recommendation 6 of the South Armagh Policing Review, options for the site closure of Crossmaglen Police Station are currently being explored and progressed to enable its future disposal.

"While Crossmaglen Police Station is no longer open to the public, it remains at present, an operational station for police officers."

Probably as good a place as any to put this.  While this is an inevitable thing that was always going to happen actions like this will all form part of the next decade of change that is incoming,  removal of symbolism of the State bit by bit.  Will be interesting what happens when it is finally pulled down and I will be one of the many onlookers on that day!

Could you actually pull it down? It would be like those flak towers in Germany that were turned into hotels and apartments because they couldn't demolish the fecking thing.
In 1994, a few months before the ceasefire, they deployed 1200 personnel in Operation Rectify to make the place entirely bomb proof. This was the biggest post-war construction operation by the British Army. I always believed it was like an iceberg, with much of it below the surface, given the amount of fill taken out in earlier operations.

If it goes up for sale, then I am going to the viewing!
 

Harnden embellished things somewhat,  got a few locals drunk in the Cartwheel and got what he could. While a good read,  much should be taken with a pinch of salt

Its a bit like the Michael Collins movie, the big picture is fairly ok, the details not so much.