Albatross wrote:
Yeah, I prefer Michael Collins too, if only because the British are portrayed as human beings, as opposed to the baby-eating savages preying on the whimsical Irish poets/bumpkins that appear in 'The Wind...'

 Dreadclaw69 wrote:

 Wyrmalla wrote:
I was going to mention it, but then that would beg the question of if that represents the early IRA and Hunger is it under Thatcherism, what film takes it into the present?

No, Breakfast on Pluto doesn't cover the 1970's period...

No idea, does The Crying Game count?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crying_Game

 Albatross wrote:
According to Frazzled's usual logic, as applied to Israel/Palestine, we should begin airstriking Northern Ireland.

Also, McGuinness has a fething nerve.

And as if Northern Ireland didn't have enough conflict each side actually picked sides in the Isreal/Palestine conflict and fly the flags along with their own. Republicans support the Palestinians, Loyalists Isreal.

You mean the esteemed Deputy First Minister Mr McGuinness? The Butcher of Derry? (please note, he didn't get that nickname for his cuts of meat)


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:
I prefer Michael Collins. Good film as well.

Dear God that film was terrible. I can confirm, for all those who have seen the film, that the War of Independence was not fought over Julia Roberts

I will say that Alan Rickman was great in it, but he rarely disappoints.

 KalashnikovMarine wrote:
Or defeat them before that in Braveheart!

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:
What do you mean that the war of independance wasn't fought over Julia Roberts? You are a liar! Next you'll be telling me that Mel Gibson didn't defeat the British in the patriot!

 KalashnikovMarine wrote:
Bosh! Everyone knows that the healthy British diet involves fresh infant!

 Albatross wrote:
According to Frazzled's usual logic, as applied to Israel/Palestine, we should begin airstriking Northern Ireland.


Also, McGuinness has a fething nerve.

 Frazzled wrote:

 Albatross wrote:
According to Frazzled's usual logic, as applied to Israel/Palestine, we should begin airstriking Northern Ireland.


Also, McGuinness has a fething nerve.

Wo what? Have advocated anything other than 1) not understanding what the deal is, and 2) expreessing sadness at the situation?

GET THEE BEHIND ME SATA er TROLL!

 Albatross wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:

 Albatross wrote:
According to Frazzled's usual logic, as applied to Israel/Palestine, we should begin airstriking Northern Ireland.


Also, McGuinness has a fething nerve.

Wo what? Have advocated anything other than 1) not understanding what the deal is, and 2) expreessing sadness at the situation?

GET THEE BEHIND ME SATA er TROLL!

'They were preparing to mortar us, therefore we should airstrike them' - Isn't this pretty much your attitude when it comes to the Palestinians? I mean, I'm paraphrasing, but still...

 Albatross wrote:
Ha! Good point. I'm willing to bet you'd airstrike a supermarket for failing to double-bag your groceries!

 Rented Tritium wrote:
So would I be correct in assuming that each time one of these groups stops fighting and a splinter group forms, it's slightly smaller than the last one? That sounds like progress.

 Frazzled wrote:
Further help here - whats the issues? I thought the IRA thing was done.

The IRA have a history of splitting. The Official IRA (OIRA) went on ceasefire in the 1970's and never took up arms again, those who were unsatisfied split to form the Provisional IRA (PIRA), once the Good Friday Agreement was signed and they and their supporters (mainly Sinn Fein) started to use the ballot box those who still insisted on using violence split to form the Real IRA (RIRA) and the Continuity IRA (CIRA). These two groups are usually referred to as Dissident Republicans, along with Oglaith na hEireann (OnH) and the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA).

 Albatross wrote:
Well speaking as someone who was there just a few weeks ago, the Troubles aren't back, it's just a bunch of bedsit weirdos who are fed up of the islamic lads pulling focus. When you can go out drinking in Castlewellan as a fighting-age male with an English accent and not have so much as an eyebrow raised, it's not a return to the bad old days. There was a time when doing that could get you very killed.

 Spyral wrote:
Also as an ex-pat - dreadclaw knows what he's talking about.

 Da Boss wrote:
I've expressed surprise that all these loony republicans haven't gone after any of the bankers, "regulators", politicians and developers who caused the recent property crash in Ireland. It would get them piles of political capital at home, and it'd be within their scope.

Not saying I think they should, btw. Just surprised it hasn't happened yet.

A dissident republican terror group in Northern Ireland threatened Wednesday to target banks and bankers as it seeks to destabilise the peace process, in comments to a newspaper.
The Real IRA launched a tirade at financial institutions in Britain's "colonial and capitalist" system which it accused of leaving millions of victims, in remarks to Britain's Guardian daily.
The threat is the latest attempt by the group, that formed after breaking away from the Provisional IRA when the latter was engaging in peace talks, to undermine British rule of the province.
"We have a track record of attacking high-profile economic targets and financial institutions such as the City of London," said the group's leaders in a series of written responses to the paper.
"The role of bankers and the institutions they serve in financing Britain's colonial and capitalist system has not gone unnoticed.
"Let's not forget that the bankers are the next-door neighbours of the politicians.
"Most people can see the picture: the bankers grease the politicians' palms, the politicians bail out the bankers with public funds, the bankers pay themselves fat bonuses and loan the money back to the public with interest."
They added: "It's essentially a crime spree that benefits a social elite at the expense of many millions of victims."
But security sources in the British province cited in the paper played down the threat.
They stressed that the Real IRA lacks the logistical resources of the Provisional IRA to carry out a bombing campaign similar to the ones that hit the City of London in the early 1990s.
The group has just 100 activists, according to the Guardian.
But its leaders insisted they were confident of increasing "the volume and effectiveness of attacks."
The Real IRA, which formed in 1997, last year claimed to be behind the murder of two British soldiers who were shot dead.
The group is opposed to the peace process which led to the creation of a devolved Northern Irish executive in which republican and pro-British unionist former foes share power.
A 1998 peace agreement largely ended three decades of conflict by groups fighting for and against British rule of the province, although sporadic attacks continue.

The Real IRA has admitted bombing two banks in Northern Ireland as well as the UK City of Culture office in Derry, and has warned that it will continue to target economic interests.

In a statement to the Guardian laced with anti-capitalist rhetoric, the Real IRA said the bombings and future targeting of the banking system were its response to bankers' "greed" and were meant "to send out the message that while the Irish national and class struggles are distinct, they are not separate".

The attacks and the language used in attempting to justify them appeared designed to tap into the widespread public loathing of the banks on both sides of the Irish border.

The republican dissident group was unapologetic about bombing the office of the UK City of Culture 2013 in Derry last week. It said the office was a symbolic target because the City of Culture award to Derry underpinned British rule.

In its most bellicose warning yet to the banks on both sides of the Irish Sea and the border, the Real IRA said: "The IRA has recently carried out a number of bomb attacks on the banking establishment.

"Such attacks are an integral part of our strategy of targeting the financial infrastructure that supports the British government's capitalist colonial system in Ireland. The impetus to carry out this type of attack is directly linked to pressure from working-class communities in Ireland as a whole.

"At a grassroots level, working-class communities are suffering most from the effects of cuts to essential services and poverty is now endemic. Families who have lost income as a result of the financial crisis – caused by the bankers – are being intimidated and some are being evicted from their homes."

The organisation added that "the ruling class of bankers and politicians are disconnected from the consequences of their disastrous policies and decisions".

In May, masked men threw a holdall containing a device into Santander's branch in Derry city centre. In August, a bomb was thrown into Santander in Hill Street, Newry. A Real IRA bomb caused major damage to a branch of the Ulster Bank in Derry last year.

The terror group attempted to link the banks to the Police Service of Northern Ireland. "In the six counties, the effective power of the system is vested in heavily armed PSNI units who, ultimately, enforce bank repossessions of homes, vehicles, etc," it said. "The PSNI is not a police force, it is a political militia and a social control tool designed to protect the interests of the British establishment whether financial or political."

In September last year, the Real IRA had issued a warning that banks and bankers could be targeted.

As well as the attack in Derry's Guildhall Square last week, a bomb was left there on 12 October last year. The organisation predicted such incidents in the runup to Derry becoming a City of Culture in 15 months' time.

The Real IRA statement said: "The IRA has also carried out bombing operations against the so-called UK City of Culture offices in Derry city centre. It should be obvious that our objection is focused on the political exploitation of Derry's name and culture. Republicans view this charade as an elaboration of the well-choreographed 'peace process' which resulted in former IRA personnel serving as British ministers.

"This time, the whole nationalist community is expected to join in celebrations of their place within the United Kingdom and thereby realise the Thatcherite policy of regarding the six counties as being 'as British as Finchley'. Expressions of Irish identity within the context of 2013 will be effectively 'licensed' by the organisers under the banner UK City of Culture."

The group added: "The timing of the UK City of Culture is linked to the economic crisis: cash-strapped businesses naturally follow the carrot of increased revenue in 2013, politicians under pressure to produce jobs are totally compliant, anyone who objects is smeared or labelled a 'dissident'. The goodwill of our communities is being held to ransom, critical thinking is seen as dangerous, whole communities are being encouraged to adopt a herd mentality. The IRA will continue to challenge this; resistance will continue."

The bombing of the City of Culture office caused outrage throughout Derry and beyond, with hundreds demonstrating against the attack.

A Real IRA representative also told the Guardian that the Sinn Féin deputy first minister, Martin McGuinness, was under no physical threat. McGuinness, a candidate for the Irish presidency, has claimed his life has been under threat from republican dissidents in recent years. "Why would we turn him into a so-called martyr?" the Real IRA representative said.

 Dreadclaw69 wrote:
I don't think they were too worried about what happened to the van, hence the guy on motorbike with a spare helmet. Once they'd done whatever it was they were going to do they'd probably burn it to destroy the evidence.

 AlmightyWalrus wrote:
I'd imagine they'd see if they could salvage the mortars TBH; those can't be too easy/cheap to get a hold of.

 Dreadclaw69 wrote:
What I thought was a decent film that explains the IRA pre-partition is "The Wind That Shakes The Barley". If you take out some of the more socialist themes the director uses its pretty good.

 sebster wrote:
But those socialist themes are what marks the film as a unique comment on the issue. If it didn't explore the idea of the revolution as a social revolution as well as a national revolution, it wouldn't have been anything other than yet another movie about the troubles in Ireland (and one with a particularly crude take on the British involvement).