In ‘celebration’ of Biden’s scheduled visit.
This is very well done. I have lived in the Irish Republic since before the end of the Troubles and used to spend a lot of time there. Many of the couples in our middle ages club back then were from “mixed” marriages between the cultures and shunned by both. We stayed in Catholic areas and “Protestant heck holes” (per the residents). I saw the murals, had a house firebombed two doors down from where I was staying, and just missed being blown up in the Omagh Bombing. They had originally targeted the history fair in Carig Furgus but changed their minds at the last minute. We used to do a lot of demos in Omagh as well. BREXIT has rekindled the whole mess and it is very worrying.
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It took me a long time to find a video description that was accurate.
I was in Ireland for a very short time and it was just wild!
Thank you for your input. I appreciate knowing that this is pretty spot on & it’s not just me who thinks so.
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It is probably the best such video I have seen made recently. Even a few years ago, an American friend (herself Catholic) who married an Irish Catholic could go anywhere in Belfast. Still, her husband couldn’t because people who grow up there can “spot” someone from the “other side” in about 30 seconds. I have an American-born friend here in my village who has a Ph.D. in conflict negotiations and para-militaries who was sent up to mediate meetings between the UVF and the IRA - she said both were some of the “most horrible and terrifying” people she ever met. She had to go home and lay in bed watching cartoons after every meeting. Her main work is on the horrors of child soldiers in Africa, so for her to say that really got me. Obviously, the documentary couldn’t cover everything in an hour but they do a very good summery of most the major issues.
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The uploader has not made this video available in your country
Too bad.
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@Kimberley
I’m sorry to hear you can’t view this. I don’t know if it’s downloaded to Rumble or other sites.
@Melodi
Your friend is right about the sheer terror of The IRA. Most people think “Arab Terrorists” and don’t realize where a lot of other terror organizations, even The Mossad, got at least part of their training in strategies and tactics, from The IRA. The British are no stroll in the park either; somewhat reminiscent of The American Revolution in ideology. Beheadings and disembowelments, all a part of 1970’s provisionals. Never has a psychology been so complicated and so simple at the same time. Trying to explain the situation to Americans, was and is, near impossible. One man I spoke with decades ago said, “I just don’t get it, they’re all White”. The most visceral (& truthful) answer I’ve ever heard and right back to square one. I don’t even try to explain it to anyone anymore. There is some twisted logic in the old saying, “God invented liquor so The Irish wouldn’t rule the world”.
As a Prostie, I wouldn’t set foot on any part of that island ever again. Not even as a tourist. No thank you! Beautifully green it may be but have to pass on it.
The history of Ireland in British expansion of their empire is a crime against civilization. Divide and conquer especial…to this day.
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The Irish Republic is a perfectly safe place to visit unless you go to an urban heck hole at night. Those are pretty much the same the world over. In my experience and that of my friend, the negotiator, BOTH the IRA and the UVF (Ulster) were “some of the most terrifying people she had ever met.” It wasn’t just one or the other.
Now it is also true that after the peace agreement, another friend told me that it was mostly IRA members who couldn’t settle for a life going from “subcommander so and so to ‘would you like fries with that.’” So they exported their services and became “revolutionary trainers for hire” in South America and parts of Africa. But especially in Latin America. That was all the older generation. The older folks in the IRA mostly settled down and followed the example of Jerry Adams, who moved to the Republic and went into politics in a big way. But the “new kids on the block” on both sides of the North are taking names like “Continuity IRA,” “The New IRA,” or “The New Ulster Defense Forces” (etc.). I suspect some of the “Old Guard” on both sides tacitly agree with them or even advise them. But the young people like that Rap/Rock group in the documentary supply the new “cannon fodder” if things get ugly, which they could. So far things are mostly simmering below the surface.
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@Melodi
Thank you so much for all the great information! I haven’t been to Ireland since the 1980’s, which is why I had such a time trying to find a video that met the accuracy of what my friends have told me who’ve been there more recently. Have a hunch The New IRA will outdo the Old Guard, once things come to a full boil well enough. Noticed that Rap/Rock and no doubt they will be the fodder. Such a shame.
Again, thanks for the truly informative response!
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