Call for Internment

by - Fri Mar 13, 2009 21:53

That gets people running for the I word ?

Oh that would be exactly what some people would like, no? A chance to leave the sunsglasses off and march up and down the quad doing drilling and saluting and appointing a heirarchy of officers in command and officers in charge and big dogs and daddy bears. Oh then there'd be the lectures on guerilla warfare and bomb making - just like the last internment time. Everyone in their own clothes of course. No need to smuggle transistor AM radios into the gaff up the arse of your wedded spouse to be passed around the nick up your arse.

How things have changed.

Nope.



There will be no return no an armed campaign & no internment either

by German-Irish Sat Mar 14, 2009 00:44

I have no problem with the word "Internment".

German spies or ordinary downed airmen lucky enough to parachute into Ireland were interned in the Curragh.

The downed Germans did not want to escape from peaceful Ireland.

They had a ball on "nights agreed not to escape"(The Geveva Convention accepted this to keep prisoners sane,) with the local girls and most of them never wanted to leave Ireland.

A lot of them married Irsh girls.

The Interned German prisoners in Ireland had the "Best War" ever.

Unlike their comrades in Stalingrad.

Interned CIRA and RIRA will be given mercy too.

Maybe.
..

by Patrick - none Sun Mar 15, 2009 20:53

Hello my German friend, no wonder you have no problem with the word Internment, you are not an Irish republican.

Internment is not about punishing a person because they are a criminal. The idea behind Internment is removing a certain group of people, usually of a political nature from society who the state sees as a threat to its security, especially in times of war. The atmosphere in the Curragh would have been one of a POW camp, lectures, arts and crafts etc. There’s no comparison to some of the terrible camps in mainland Europe during WW2, but to say that the Curragh was like a holiday camp incorrect, especially for Irish republicans.

Extract from the book, Internment, By John McGuffin.

De Velera defended internment several times during the war. ‘’Conditions were good,’’ he claimed. Press censorship forbade any contradiction. Small wonder that many people fell into the trap of believing that the Curragh was a glorified holiday camp. ‘’The internees were deprived of nothing but their liberty’’. As Sean Edmonds retorts, ’’You might as well say a man who has been held up and stripped in mid-winter had been deprived of nothing but his clothes’’. In fact, huts were damp, cold and draughty . The men had no privacy and were crammed 60 to a hut. Dysentery was common, lice endemic. The total number interned varied, but in all about 800 men were resident in the ‘’Curragh Holiday Camp’’ Constant herding and harassment led to friction and faction. The Curragh, during the war, was perhaps the unhappiest internment camp in Irish history

Another paragraph form the book Internment.

This was in strict contrast to the conditions meted out to the aliens and ‘spies’ interned during the war. Republicans were particularly bitter that whereas their guards had orders to shoot to kill any would-be escapers , the guards of the German prisoners were told to fire only warning shots over their heads. Moreover, German prisoners had it easy compared to Irish republicans. The ten spies--probably the most incompetent spies in the history of German espionage ---were housed first in Mountjoy and then in Athlone and Sligo. They didn’t have to live in cells, could move freely about the building, received good food, were allowed money and alcohol and were able to obtain extra provisions , even though a war was in progress.

In all , about 200 German military personal, of whom 164 were naval ratings, were interned in a special camp at the Curragh. All were shipped back to Germany in July and August of 1945. The Irish could hear German songs coming from the camp next door and knew that the German’s were allowed alcohol.

by Georgie McOrwell Sun Mar 15, 2009 23:27

The recent irrational acts of terror by republican dissidents serves only to dismantle our hard-won peace. They are the enemies of democracy. They have no legitmacy nor relevance in the current political and economic climate.
The words ‘bomb-scare’, ‘suspect device’ and ‘the shooting of…’, evoke a grim memory of a troubled past which no one in Northern Ireland, apparently, wishes to tread again. But these all-too-familiar phrases haunted the province following the recent murders in Antrim and Armagh; despite a consensus which echoes through our streets and out of Stormont: No return to terror.
The culprits of these senseless killings: hawkish splinter groups of the Continuity IRA and the Real IRA, with no motive other than destroying the democratic mandate for peace. And no hope either. For what it is that these groups think they can achieve through sickening acts of terror is beyond any logical person today. Armed-struggle didn’t work. Full-stop. Could someone please provide these morons with a brief history lesson? Or maybe the problem with them is that they’re too mired in history – their sense of legitimacy harks back to 1919 when Nationalists held the majority of seats in the Dial – while the rest of us in the North clearly desire peace. Together, the CIRA and the Real IRA are a pathetic lost cause, much like the lonely soldier still fighting a war long since over which exists only in his own mind.
The Provisional IRA knew that the only possible path for a unified Ireland would be through a peaceful democratic process, with Sinn Fein taking part in elected governance. The CIRA and Real IRA both rejected the Good Friday Agreement. They reject public opinion and all of our hopes and desires for a better Northern Ireland. Under the current economic recession, the last thing anyone wants is to slide back into the dark old days of tit-for-tat shootings, bombs, death and heart-break.
The greatest weakness of these dissident groups is that public opinion does not support their actions in the slightest. However, the police are only too aware that the rounding-up of terror suspects is a politically sensitive issue: handled in the wrong manner, it could serve to inflame the Nationalist community and create sympathy for such groups. After all, the ideology of armed-struggle was never popular in Ireland’s history, and was only made so in Nationalist areas in response to reactions to it by the state (for instance: the execution of the participants in the 1916 uprising; and Bloody Sunday, which served as a recruitment process for the IRA, followed by 25 years of more bloodshed and mayhem).
The First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy Minister Martin McGuinness displayed real leadership, for a change, in condemning both the killings of the 2 soldiers and police constable Stephen Carrol. Our politicians standing shoulder-to-shoulder was also reflected in the sentiments of the rallies in Belfast and Derry on the 11th of March. The message was clear: We the people do not want anymore senseless violence. McGuinness’ condemnation was also very significant. McGuinness, despite his past involvement in the Provisional IRA, is a democratic representative of the prevailing mood in the Republican/Nationalist community – no return to violence. These anti-democratic hawks haven’t a modicum of legitimate backing: they represent no one but their own sickening thirst for a disruption to our hard-earned peace.

by james Mon Mar 16, 2009 01:53

well said. that's a message that needs to be more publicised.

by Baggie Mon Mar 16, 2009 08:06

Mr Harris is from an Irish Republican background and has swung from the far left to the far right. Massive swings of political outlook invariably are the result of personal issues and usually how a person views their self worth.

Mr Harris has converted to the Protestant religion from his Catholic religion [although when he was a ‘leftie’ he claimed he was an atheist]. Somehow he sees now being a Protestant is important to the new found Unionist credentials.

The reason for this is his self loathing [Tony O’Reilly has it as well but not with the obvious mental issues] and as he tries to ‘find’ himself he apes what he sees are his betters. He was unhappy with himself and sees the problems for this unhappiness as his political beliefs and therefore his political opponents must have better beliefs and he adopts them.

Of course this won’t work and we will see another sea change in the near future. His current FF love-in is pure self interest.

I predict yogic-flying as a possibility. Anyone want to open a book on this?

by Tom Molloy Mon Mar 16, 2009 09:31

Harris a republican? Doubtful.
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/83820

by Baggie Mon Mar 16, 2009 10:42

Caligula’s horse - I smiled at that one.

His background not him.