Ireland and Rugby

I've blogged on this in the past: the Ireland rugby team and their political symbols. Yesterday I watched Ireland vs Australia. It was a good entertaining game. Yet the IRFU have once again shown their political side by their choice of flags at the start of the match. They had two flags leading them out: The Republic of Ireland flag and the 9 county yellow Ulster flag. That means three counties were represented twice!

If the IRFU had any decency they would either have both the RoI and NI flags or a common flag e.g. Cross of St Patrick, rugby flag. Either it is a joint Northern Ireland + Republic of Ireland team or it's not. When we had a DUP minister for sport, nothing was done about the issue. So there isn't much chance of the current convicted SF/IRA terrorist who occupies that office doing anything. But why are the Unionist politicians so quiet about it all? Yes, some of our best Grammar schools play rugby to the exclusion of football - something that doesn't help the NI football team. But have most of our Unionist grammar school boys and girls been so indoctrinated by their schooling that they're willing to cheer for the tricolour team when Ireland are playing and then go back to being Unionists at the end of the game? I for one haven't been indoctrinated and demand that the IRFU recognise the Northern Ireland state - otherwise, let's have a Northern Ireland rugby team.

McGuinness needs to confess crimes

Lord Tebbit has rightly said that Martin McGuinness should confess his crimes before standing for the presidency of the Republic of Ireland. The Provisional Sinn Fein/IRA group keep saying they favour a truth commission to hear accounts from all sides. The only problem is that the Provos have been telling lies as part of their strategy for many years. We are supposed to believe that Adams was never in the killing side of their organisation. McGuinness told us for many years he was also never in the terrorist death squads until he changed his mind and gave 'evidence' to the inquiry about the incident on 30 January 1972 in Londonderry. He has failed to give any evidence on the many people he has murdered or told others to murder. So Martin, let's hear the truth for once. Any chance?

Are Provisional Sinn Fein-IRA Scum?

There has been much talk about Ulster Unionist leader Tom Elliott calling some Sinn Fein supporters scum.

I would have to agree with the following:

"Terrorists around the world don’t get called nice names except in this part of the UK: we call them Deputy First Minister, Sinn Fein Ministers etc. Yes, Sinn Fein now support the PSNI. But they continue to defend the murders they carried out against their neighbours. Their message is not clear especially when it comes to the so-called dissidents.

Tom Elliott may have been provoked into using such a term as 'scum'. But many people in the Republic of Ireland, the UK and further afield would also call Sinn Fein 'scum' until they say sorry for the broken lives and heartache they caused to their families."

Spotlight on Northern Ireland Water

The recent BBC Northern Ireland Spotlight programme examined the crisis at Northern Ireland Water.

Items which should have been of interest to BBC NI are:

• The appointment of Sinn Fein/PIRA member Mairtin O’Muilleoir to the board (he was interviewed, but no mention of his political connections) along with a Republican trade union member;
• The appointment of Padraic White - husband of Fianna Fail member Mary White who co-founded Lir Chocolates and also visited Colombia seven times during the trial of the Sinn Fein/PIRA terrorists in Colombia. Senator White hasn't shown the same interest in human right abuses by Sinn Fein/PIRA;
• The confidence Sinn Fein/PIRA Minister Murphy had in the interim board; convicted terrorist Murphy said at the time: "The new interim board members have a great depth and breadth of experience which will enable them to meet the challenge of their future roles."
  

When the BBC has reported on other scandals, they have pointed out such political connections. Yet, silence about them in this programme. And the questions towards Minister Murphy were soft to say the least.

Murphy can continue on in his role as a result of the Belfast Agreement/St Andrew's Agreement form of Government in Northern Ireland. In any true democracy, he would be sacked.

Tom Elliott is right about the GAA

Tom Elliott is right to say that he wouldn't attend GAA games. The GAA has various stadiums and cups named after Sinn Fein/Provisional IRA/INLA terrorists. It still allows its grounds to be used to glorify the murder of Protestants and others by those terrorist organisations. It continues to fly the flag of another country and play the anthem of the Republic of Ireland at games. And then it pretends to be open to all!

Despite all this it is rewarded large sums of money from the tax payer. It receives more coverage on the publicly owned BBC than Northern Ireland football including the NI internationals. We have had a series of DUP Ministers of Sport, yet so far they have done very little to stop the sectarian GAA receiving funds if it doesn't reform. Every other organisation in Northern Ireland has to show they are open to all to receive such large amounts of funding.

The GAA is allowed to get away with keeping its terrorist link. The BBC, UTV and the NI Government treat them as a normal 'sporting' organisation. The dogs in the street know that if this was a Loyalist organisation, funding would have been stopped long ago and there would be no coverage on TV. How long do we have to keep appeasing those with blood on their hands?

DUP U-turn in Support of Terrorist Shrine

Gregory Campbell scrapped the Maze Stadium project because many people in the DUP said it would become a shrine to the Provisional IRA terrorists who committed suicide there. Now the DUP leader has indicated he is willing to go ahead with a terrorist shrine without the stadium! The Provos seem to be in control at Stormont. Due to the system of Government, they can threaten to collapse the Executive if they don't get their own way. Robinson is becoming more and more Trimblesque in his dealings with Sinn Fein-PIRA.

It's time the DUP pressed for a more normal system of Government at Stormont which doesn't involve every party having to be in the Executive.

A Friendly Neighbour?

If the Republic of Ireland is now a friendly neighbour to Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, why are they continuing to poach players from the Northern Ireland football team? Yes, some people in Northern Ireland decide to take up foreign passports from the RoI. But NI is part of the United Kingdom and has its own football team like England, Scotland and Wales. It's time the political leaders in the RoI started showing some respect to their neighbours in Northern Ireland UK.