gdp's Comments

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Nothing underhand in Gerry Adams arrest - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

Sun, 4 May 2014 16:36:56 +0000

However there does seem to be something underhand in Sein Feins handling of this arrest. They vassilate every minute and are in dissaray- from slandering PSNI with acccusations of "the dark forces within".. to (hinting) threatening to withdraw support to the PSNI - thus endangering the Peace process. Meanwhile supporters carrying banners portraying Adams as a man of peace alongside Mandela try to legitimise to the world media that sentencing Adams will destroy the peace. Now with Aams release we hear there was never any threat to the peace process. Thankfully the SDLP had a midicom of wit, rejecting yet another SF's wobbly - that the arrest was "politically motivated". They point out that Adams himself presented himself and could have decided the timing. No one to blame but himself. SF's houdini antics in attributing blame to all and sundry continues unabated. Someone has suggested SF will only be happy when they have their own police force. They may not be far of the mark. No democratic society should be held hostage like this.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Nothing underhand in Gerry Adams arrest - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

Sun, 4 May 2014 16:23:16 +0000

You're reply seems to show no sympathy to the family who underwent seeing their mother abducted in front of her children. Surely we should all be glad to see whatever evidence is coming forward- and leave the consequecnes to the justice department

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : McConville case: Adams meets police - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

Thu, 1 May 2014 07:28:53 +0000

Tony the peace we have is welcome but it's a dogey one and having played with justice and left so many hurt and disallusioned - the prospect real peace seems just a mirage. Think if we'd had proper justice + peace. I think we'd be much further on

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : McConville case: Adams meets police - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

Thu, 1 May 2014 07:17:56 +0000

Why doesn't he just come clear ! He says he'll never dissociate himself from the IRA. He was influential in the organisation . and he must have know where the body was buried... yet all these years for the family of J McConville. SF saying his presenting himself is politically motivated.. so what does this mean... motivated to get more votes if he walks out of Antrim police station? Is he using it as a SF football to make demands for security forces to be prosecuted? Or does SF hope he's held right up to the election- preventing him canvassing- leading to protests of unfairness.. we all wait with baited breath to know their tactics. Only goes to show SF IRA Adams - all one and same thing- but that's no secret. Awaiting the fallout in the Republic.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : The Queen and Martin McGuinness - the idea that victims would be expected to welcome ex-IRA commande

Wed, 9 Apr 2014 14:12:35 +0000

Yes your right -it does show the amazing grace and mercy shown by the Queen.. however I don't think for one moment that she forgets that the organisation McGuinness proudly associates himself with- mudered her cousin Lord Mountbattan. The fact that the Irish President 's itinerary included visiting Mountbattans memorial was not an accident. I have always felt claims by Nationalists equating army and police brutality with that of their combatants unjustified. Sniping or bombing uniformed security officers was always going to be much easier than scrambling and weaseling out terrorist nests protected as they took refuge in nationalist supporting areas or across the border. Really there was no equal contest. Putting a gun to the heads of those 2 Lurgan police officer heads was repugnant and symptomatic of how IRA conducted their struggle. I think you'll find that one day- it will all come out and all people will be repulsed by their brutality. I can see why S Morrison is sickened but on the other hand I can see how this act can be interpreted from a Christian point of view ""If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." -so exercising kindness will tend to soften the person and melt his hardness separating evil impurities and bringing out the good in him. Let's hope this is so.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : We must give hope to working class Protestant boys - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

Sat, 5 Apr 2014 13:25:50 +0000

I would like some clarification on the results of the GCE A level results. They pit different schools together and make their assumptions on the % of students that get "A" level passes at grades A-C. Theoreticaly if 1 school had 20 A level students and 19 got the target grades - they'd get 95% and place them in the best 10 schools counrywide. Then take a school with 200 A level students. If 170 got the target grades - 85% - would knock them down -proabbaly aroung 20th countrywide (don't have figures). Surely theres a greater chance of the larger number having varied results due to students ability, different teachers involved and perhaps bigger classes and wider choice subjects availabe because of larger numbers. Finally there is no mention how many got A's. One school could have only 80% of students getting 3 A-C "A" levels. But of those 80% perhaps 70% got grade "A". This is not evident from the league table. The comaprison results are arbitrarily devised but I notice their inventor wisely adds a disclaimer: that these results should be used with caution and not as a guarantee of the best schools.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Peter Robinson made big mistake misrepresenting me over cuts, rages Martin McGuinness - BelfastTeleg

Sat, 5 Apr 2014 12:57:02 +0000

This banter between the two is orchestrated for the election. just round the corner They are upping the heat and taking us all for fools. Fear tactics and squaring up to make their respective "fans" get out to vote ensuring their voters turn out en masse to vote the hard men back in again and give them the comeupance over the other if they get enough.. And where will that leave us. Back with the same circus and sectarian slogging. I'd say change your voting pattern and put both these contestants in the corner to borrow a boxing term after the great win last nite by Framton - showing he can come from Tigers Bay and fight for Ireland without giving up his identity and background. BTW unless SDLP and UUP come up with a 3rd way ...I'd say ignore them. There are a few remaining options.. not hard to work out!

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Alliance counting on Lo to give party a winning high - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

Wed, 26 Mar 2014 01:02:33 +0000

"Unionists were in the majority in four counties of the Ulster (Antrim, Londonderry, Down and Armagh), and formed a large minority in the remaining counties of Fermanagh and Tyrone". So it seems they comprised a large minority in those 2 counties. "Sir Edward Carson had expressly urged the new Prime Minister, Sir James Craig, to ensure absolute equality in the treatment of Catholics, so to guarantee the stability of the new state" We know this didn't always work out. "Discrimination, however, took place, particularly in the areas of housing, employment and local government representation, with the former Northern Irish prime minister, Lord Brokeborough proclaiming that the new entity was "a Protestant state for a Protestant people. The extent of such discrimination is disputed. and there was also widespread poverty among Protestants: for example, recovery operations in working-class areas after the Belfast Blitz of 1941 revealed that both communities had disadvantaged elements." I got this from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unionism_in_Ireland

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Alliance counting on Lo to give party a winning high - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

Wed, 26 Mar 2014 00:13:15 +0000

what else could be done about those parts that weren't pro-British. Could they have been annexed by the Irish Free State? Did that new State make any attempt to come to their aid or seek exemptions for them being governed by the new Northern Ireland? Did the constituents themselves protest? I don't know the facts about how people felt then other than the Unionist persistence that Home Rule would not be tolerated. The Republic seemed to go along with partition in the sense that they didn't resist it. Does that not suggest they recognised the vehemence of opposition to Home Rule by Unionists and acquiesed to it? Why else were these areas included. It would be good to hear an impartial view on this.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Alliance counting on Lo to give party a winning high - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

Tue, 25 Mar 2014 23:59:18 +0000

Using your logic and jargon I could easily say you are a marxsist Iwho supports IRA murders of vunerable mothers and defenceless innocents. I don't know how you get those chunks of N Ireland voting for Irish independence. The overall vote for Ulster resoundingly voted anti- United Ireland. Do you then create getto areas surrounded by Unionist dominated ones. I admitt I don't fully understand how it could have been different. Unionists made up 25% of the all island vote and the vast majority of their seats were from Ulster. That's the story coming from the 1918 election statistics you have provided and from which you proceed to slander Unionists as fascists. You have persistently dragged these derisery labels into the discussion which only highhlights your mindset on these matters and hatred for anything that doesn't fit your worldview. By reacting strongly I admitt I have erred through falling into the same mudslinging that does no favours to create tolerance and equality in an already divided society that goes back hundreds of years.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Alliance counting on Lo to give party a winning high - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

Tue, 25 Mar 2014 23:24:21 +0000

I dare say it would have been the reverse had they been incarcerated in the then Irish Free State. Times have changed - the Irish Republican army was around then and it would not have been an idyllic situation -that is only the stuff of mythology. That same IRA has inflicted 30 yrs of war on this society and for what. We're no better off than before and Nationalists, according to opinion polls, don't share your vision of a United Ireland. That's democracy for you.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : A history of our last 800 years (in 10 minutes): Imagine you were asked to explain the last eight tr

Tue, 25 Mar 2014 22:58:38 +0000

I quite like this article- it is quite fair and that in this country means a lot. It describes our two tribes we have and how they might appear to a "neutral". Neither side get what they wish- the upper hand. We from both traditions through birth largely know what the problems are. Perhaps what we lack is the ability to see what a neutral sees looking in.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Alliance counting on Lo to give party a winning high - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

Tue, 25 Mar 2014 22:13:10 +0000

This evidence doesn't support your conclusions. "The Irish Unionist Party won 22 seats and 25.3% of the vote island-wide" and "They won 23 of Ulster's 37 seats (Cavan's two seats were uncontested) and 58.1% of Ulster's vote. For the six counties which became Northern Ireland, the Unionist percentage was 66%". 66% in Ulster and Edward Carsons Irish Unionist party got 25% island -wise- that means every 4th Irishman supported the Union. That just about blows your interpretation out of the water. You can't dispute the electroatal results and all this about anti-democratic fascists etc is simply a figment of your imagination. Ulster whatever way it's charted had a majority of Unionists. Sein Fein got their votes largely from the remainder of Ireland. Ireland then had 2 distinct political groups based on identity aspirations. So the majority in the north voted for the Union. To make a deal with Sein Fein for a United Ireland then would not have meant democracy for Unionsits. Democracy is essentially government by the people with the goal of creating a state of society characterized by formal equality of rights and privileges. Ireland was a theocratic State and as such would have descriminated against Unionists. The Church essentially ran the state. The electorate from 1/4 of the island voted emphatically they wanted nothing to do with it. I think many now would agree they had cause to be concerned then.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Alliance counting on Lo to give party a winning high - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

Sat, 22 Mar 2014 21:55:33 +0000

I don't see whete u come to conclusion that ireland was a unifief countey since brian boru. Its been undet English yoke for centuaries and an english pope called for one of the first invasions. You then raise some interesting (from the point of view I've never heard of them) points about the votingand tyrone s down and derry being excluded the vote. On the basis of ypur first premise on a unified iteland I need to treat these claims ad spurious inlesd you start refetencing your claims. Im not saying you're msking things up.just want to see what vote you're talking about and what evidence you have to support ure views thanks

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Alliance counting on Lo to give party a winning high - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

Sat, 22 Mar 2014 18:15:52 +0000

Could Anna-Lo have shot herself in the foot with this surprising comment. David Forde certainly didn't get a chance to read her script before she devilered the statement. She seems to be back -tracking in her speech today. That only seems to confirm she realises her comments could have cost her votes. Allinace were doing well recently but this is a significant setback.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Alliance counting on Lo to give party a winning high - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

Sat, 22 Mar 2014 18:05:51 +0000

You omitted to say that the majority in the north were Unionists and though they upsurped the wishes of the south- a United Ireland then would not have led to a democracy. The South was a theocracy ruled by the Catholic Church and hostile to the wishes and aspirations of Unionists. The Unionists would have been ethnic -cleansed Their wish to be British would almost certainly have been tramped over. They showed their intentions then by signing the Covenant to avoid that scenario. Many Protestants found themselves abandoned in the south after partition and preferred to leave rather than live under a Roman Catholic system that discriminated against them. It's easy to see just a simplified one-way view of history. It's not so simple.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Fly Union Flag every day, urges UUP - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

Tue, 18 Mar 2014 12:27:16 +0000

Perhaps he's making us think about sovereignty and identity. NI is different from other parts oof the UK. The Welsh and Scotish have a different axe to grind re. being British. I was always struck by a Prsbyterian moderator's description on the identity of NI Protestants and NI Catholics in the late 90's. He said Catholic/Nationalist identity is positively Irish and Catholic and since Vatican 2 , not hostile to Protestant churches or their ministers, unless a daughter or son wishes to marry one of them.The negative part is anti-British. People from a Protestant/Unionist identity are positively British and Protestant and to some degree Irish. They probably define themselves as being from N Ireland. The negative part is most strongly expressed in not being Catholic. So if we accept his assessment is still valid in 2014, Protestant identity involves being British while Catholics is essentially being non -British. Thus the flag/identity issue won't just go away. On sovereignty NI is still an integral part of the UK. It's still British but we have to respect those who see themsleves as anti-British. Being British positively drives Protestants/Unionists while being British negatively drives Catolics/Nationalsts. I haven't read what Alliance are advocating re flags but this is still a hot potato and we need to understand both sides aspirations and allow cultural identity to be expressed by both.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Gerry Kelly \'not in breach of code\' - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

Wed, 12 Mar 2014 07:56:51 +0000

Yur right.it wudnt be that same description but exactly the same sentiments.see from my mimus hit rally that I've proven my point.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Peter Robinson\'s climb down over on the runs is the biggest ever performed by the DUP - BelfastTele

Tue, 11 Mar 2014 22:55:01 +0000

This was written 5 days ago but the fallout from the deal has been a complete climb down by Teresa Villiers- so u could say his showmanship threat of resigning led the way for the entire OTR scheme being abandoned. A case of a bit of knee jerk propaganda concerning Robinson's tactics.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Belfast Trust chief executive Colm Donaghy resigns - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

Tue, 11 Mar 2014 22:43:47 +0000

Its been a very difficuly job for Donaghy never mind Poots. Who is up to it? Hearing of patients compromised in A&E possibly dying on tyrolleys, or the MRI scanner delays for the Childrens hospital . Closing other A&E's and moving the BCH A&E to the Royal has simply not been sustainable. It's the present organisation that is rocking.