Those without the power of recall might like
to remember the horrific reality of Sinn Fein IRA
It is not about the DUP , moderate Unionists , indeed any
right thinking person whatever their political beliefs , are
genuinely shocked that so many nationalist are endorsing
the IRAs campaign of violence against them .
They remember the horrific reality , the bombings , the murder
the funerals , the tears . This is something very real and what it
reveals about the nationalist people is very shocking . There are
other nationalist parties they could have voted for such as the SDLP
Thats the Social Democrat and Labour Party who never bombed ,
or murdered but then and now are a truly Irish nationalist party
Those who wish to vote for a party such as Sinn Fein IRA and
should be taking a long hard look at themselves and their conscience
A small example of what has changed ..

The nationalist vote in the largely middle class constituency of Belfast South
Here Deirdre Hargey , not a particularly impressive or articulate SinnFeiner
( although a former Lord Mayor ) took 20.3% of the vote , compared to 11.5%
for the SDLPs Matthew O’Toole a young , personable and highly competent
candidate who was considered one of the parties best performers .
Consider this result to comparable election for the first Assembly after the GFA:
Then the SDLP took 21.7% of the vote , compared to SinnFeins 6.4%

Now let’s take a look at Sein FeinIRA Deirdre Hargey .It is particularly noteworthy
that in 2005 Hargey was one of 70 people who said she was in the toilet in a South
Belfast pub during the murder of Short Strand man Robert McCartney by a group of
IRA men and “ saw nothing “ It was a particularly brutal murder . McCartney and his
friend Brendan Devine ( who survived ) were attacked with knives taken from the kitchen
and McCartney was taken to an alleyway to be finished off . The bar was then ‘ cleaned up’
in classic IRA fashion

The dead man’s four brave sisters and fiancée mounted an initially high profile campaign -
which took them to the Whitehouse and the European Parliament to try and bring the killers
to justice . They courageously named a former IRA commander Gerard Davison as the man
who had given the order that McCartney was to be killed

For their attempts they were shunned , vilified and demonised in the small Republican Short Strand
area where they lived , until they were finally forced to move away

Such was the outcry at the time Hargrey was dropped as Sinn Fein candidate and suspended .. non
of which stopped her from becoming Lord Mayor 13 years later , and topping the poll in Belfast South
17 years later . She may have turned a blind eye to a horrific murder - but that did not seem to bother
the mainly middle class nationalist voters of the Ormeau Rd, the Malone Rd, the university area ,
Stranmillis and Finighy , as well as the working class residents of the markets area

That is the vile scum that nationalists and republicans  are voting for , that is the political party and the type of person
they elect to represent them … that really is the ability to endorse evil , in spades

Now that’s the nature and the character of Sinn Fein and those who vote for them

I think it’s best on this thread if we concentrate on the difficulties to trade for companies
and business caused by the protocol ….

Bad news for Hoey,Habib,the dup,erg et al,the protocol is legal and put before the acts of union.

Great news for the majority in NI!

Sin a bhfuil!

Let’s be honest: barring some miracle, the DUP will come out of this election just as strong as from the last one. The party that’s proved its incompetence and corruption time and time again; that consistently slumps behind public opinion on LGBTQ and women’s rights; and that disregards its commitments both to integration and the Irish language sector, is likely to continue defining governance in the North. They will continue to use the Petition of Concern to veto progress and equality.

Previous elections have shown how the DUP manages to consolidate its dominance, even in the face of these scandals. So, the question for progressive activists becomes: how do we beat the DUP? What’s the most effective way to reduce their electoral power? In other words, how do we get people to stop voting the bigots in?

The answer lies in the reasons people vote DUP. A majority of their voters are not driven by support for their social or economic policies, or their method of governance. Instead, the DUP effectively campaign on the basis of “keeping them’uns out” (one has only to look at 2016’s “Keep Arlene First Minister” campaign to see this). As long as there is a Nationalist bogeyman- specifically that of Sinn Féin- to point to as a threat, the DUP will leverage it to get potential supporters to vote for them.

Having elections based on NI’s “constitutional question” fundamentally plays into their hands- and even if framing elections around Unionism versus Nationalism causes nationalists to vote for Sinn Féin, it will give them more reasons to enthuse their supporters in loyalist areas; the stronger the nationalist bogeyman, the longer the DUP can hide behind their unionism.

To be clear, discussing the North’s constitutional position is not sectarian. But the DUP use it to paper over the cracks of their corruption and bigotry. And in the unfortunate paradox of Northern Irish politics, the more Sinn Féin’s nationalism pushes for popularity, the further it gets from power to implement policies that benefit Irish people, working class communities, or even Irish unity, as the DUP use their unionism to power their extremism.

For real, decisive progress on equality and fundamental change in Stormont, the North needs an opposition that the DUP can’t use as an electoral asset.

This doesn’t mean activists should abandon their constitutional views. But it does mean we have to consider the best long-term way to achieve our political goals, and to deprive our opponents of the means by which to succeed. We have to de-sectarian-ise the North’s politics, to allow people of every background no reason to vote for the DUP. The bigots will only lose prominence once they lose the power to incite sectarianism.

The voices of the future in Ireland’s politics, for better or worse, must come from post-conflict organisations if they’re ever going to effectively overturn DUP rule and improve the lives of people in the North.

Here’s hoping that those post-conflict parties will continue to grow in this election, and provide accountability to which the DUP cannot shout “IRA!” in response.
Rate reply:

The interventions follows the resignation of Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) councillors Glyn Hanna and Kathryn Owen, along with others in the party's South Down association.

Mr Hanna said there was a "culture of fear" in the party and claimed he witnessed "bullying" at last month's meeting of the DUP executive, during which Mr Poots' election as DUP leader was ratified by party members.

He also alleged that people who had put their hands up at the meeting in support of a secret ballot on the leadership were told to put them down.

Party member Roberta McNally, who was also at the DUP executive meeting, said she "witnessed senior members telling people to put their hands down to enable to vote to be open".

Mr Hanna said the "bullying" that set it off for him was what happened at the meeting to ratify the new leadership.

"I watched senior members of the DUP going round and telling people to put their hands down so that there was no secret vote," Mr Hanna said.

"That really did put the lid on it for me."

The councillor claimed many elected members and DUP staff were scared to protest because their income depends on their position within the party.

Ms Forsythe said her voice was not being heard and was "better out of that party".

Reality Check contacted Mr Campbell about this claim and he corrected himself, saying that it was actually £1m an hour (he also tweeted this correction).

He added that it was not the ONS that said it - the line was in a briefing from the European Movement, an organisation that supports the UK rejoining the European Union (EU).

The £1m an hour figure was quoted by its director of communications on Politics Live in September 2022.

Brexit benefits

In the 19th century, Hanna roared in opposition to Home Rule that “our safety … lies in the union … with our kith and kin across the narrow seas”. In 1998 Paisley warned the authorities to allow the anti-agreement Orange Order march in Drumcree to go ahead. Otherwise, he said, “anyone with any imagination knows what is going to happen”. What happened was, loyalist paramilitaries set fire to Chrissie Quinn’s house in Carnany, burning to death three of her four small sons. Other Catholic families were forced out.

MAN whose body was pulled from a river in Co Derry last week has been linked to the sectarian murder of the three young Quinn brothers in 1998.

The remains of Raymond Parke, from Bushmills in Co Antrim, were discovered in the River Bann in Coleraine on Thursday.

His family had appealed for information just hours before his body was found.

The Sunday World reported that Parke was named in court as one of two men who had thrown a petrol bomb into the home of Chrissie Quinn and her four children in Ballymoney on July 12 1998.

The three youngest children, Jason (eight), Mark (nine) and Richard (10), were trapped in their bedroom and died.

Ms Quinn’s eldest son Lee (12) had been staying overnight at his grandmother’s house.

It emerged that Ms Quinn had tried to save her children before jumping from an upstairs bedroom window along with her Protestant boyfriend.

A neighbour said at the time that the children could be heard crying for help with one of them shouting that his feet were burning.

The family had only been living at the address for six days when it was attacked at the height of the Orange Order standoff at Drumcree outside Portadown.

In an interview with The Irish News last year Frankie Quinn, a brother of Chrissie Quinn, described how he identified the bodies of his nephews and remains traumatised by what he saw.

Parke never faced charges, however Garfield Gilmour was convicted of the murders but had the charges reduced to manslaughter on appeal.

He was jailed for 14 years in 2000.

The savagery of the triple killing made headlines around the world.

In April 1999, the Quinn brother’s former home was demolished to make way for a children’s play area as a memorial.

Yesterday, John Dallat, SDLP MLA for East Derry, called for the murder of the Quinn brothers to be reopened.

“That is the one case from the Troubles that is etched in my memory,” he said. “ I was there when the wee coffins were brought back to Rasharkin and the mother struggling to come to terms with what happened.

“The outcome of the court case was never satisfactory. Only the driver was ever convicted. If ever a case deserves to be reopened this is it and I will support the family in any way I can.

“The people responsible need to be brought to justice.”

Willie Frazer tried to "persuade" a journalist that the sickening sectarian murders of three children had been caused by a fire started inside their own home, a new book has claimed.
Award-winning writer Susan McKay claims the Loyalist victims campaigner, who died in 2019, made the false claim in the immediate aftermath of the UVF petrol bomb killings of the Quinn brothers.

The Co Antrim schoolboys were burned to death in 1998 in their Ballymoney home in a savage sectarian attack which caused revulsion around the world.

The critically acclaimed writer told how some of those she spoke to, including Frazer, had been "retailing ugly rumours" in the hours after the devastating triple murder.

Doubtless the very young children caught in
an IRA bomb .. the victims of the atrocities committed
by Sinn Fein / IRA and the very people responsible for such
barbaric acts are to be forgotten , as the killers receive
the support and endorsement and votes of nationalists
and republicans . What a twisted mentality they have

NEWSSPORTENTERTAINMENTBUSINESSLIFESTYLECULTUREPLAYERTVRADIOMENU
The loyalist paramilitary threat behind Northern Ireland's crisis
Updated / Wednesday, 23 Feb 2022 16:31
UDA and UFF murals in east Belfast. Photo: Kaveh Kazemi/ Getty Images
UDA and UFF murals in east Belfast. Photo: Kaveh Kazemi/ Getty Images
By Dieter Reinisch
University of Galway

More from
University of Galway
Opinion: the loyalist influence on unionist parties has pushed the DUP towards disrupting any political progress in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland stumbles through yet another political crisis. After threatening to leave the Northern Ireland Executive over the protocol that ensures the continuance of a frictionless border between Northern Ireland and the Republic since September, DUP First Minister Paul Givan resigned earlier this month. In his resignation speech, he said that "the delicate balance created by the Belfast and St Andrew's Agreements has been impacted by the agreement made by the United Kingdom and the European Union which created the Northern Ireland Protocol". A day earlier, DUP Agriculture minister Edwin Poots ordered officials to halt post-Brexit checks on goods arriving from Great Britain.

Many observers interpreted the move by the DUP as an attempt to win back support from the pro-Brexit electorate fiercely opposed to any Irish sea border. Last Friday night in Markethill, Co Armagh, thousands protested against what they see as the "grave threat’ posed by NI Protocol. When DUP MP Sammy Wilson took to the stage, sections of the crowd booed.



From RTÉ Radio 1's Today With Claire Byrne, Fine Gael TD Neale Richmond and DUP MP Sammy Wilson discuss the Northern ireland Protocol

The pressure on the DUP has also been reflected in the January polls. The LucidTalk poll for the Belfast Telegraph had Sinn Féin at 25%, well ahead of the DUP with only 17%. There is even a tiny possibility that the DUP could finish up behind the UUP, Alliance Party or even TUV in the May elections.

To turn the tide, the DUP aims to make Northern Ireland ungovernable – until the May elections or beyond. Loyalist paramilitaries have played a crucial role in developing this strategy. However, while public attention is focused on so-called dissident republicans who remain committed to the armed struggle, loyalist paramilitaries draw much less media attention. This is odd considering that loyalist paramilitaries have an estimated 12,500 members, while militant republicans have several hundred members by contrast.

The threat from loyalist violence has increased since Brexit. Since the last UK elections, mainstream unionist parties are paying heed to loyalist anger over Brexit and concern about a border poll. A year ago, the DUP met the Loyalist Community Council (LCC), which was formed in 2015 to represent the UDA, UVF and Red Hand Commando. These loyalists paramilitaries were responsible for over 1,000 deaths during the Northern Ireland conflict. Less than a week after the meeting with the DUP, the LCC sent a letter to Boris Johnson withdrawing support for the Good Friday Agreement.

UK Brexit negotiator Liz Truss visited Belfast during the same week and met Orange Order grand secretary Rev. Mervyn Gibson, but not representatives from SDLP, Alliance or UUP. Days later, Gibson told BBC Radio Ulster that "there should be no Executive in place for 'as long as it takes’ in order to remove key aspects of the Northern Ireland Protocol". In January, the Orange Order had collected over 50,000 signatures against the protocol.

Less than a week after meeting the LCC, agriculture minister Poots ordered a halt to post-Brexit checks, Givan resigned as First Minister of Northern Ireland, and DUP leader Donaldson warned that DUP would not return to the executive as long as the protocol is in place. Back in autumn, unionist leaders had already announced plans to refuse support for a Sinn Féin First Minister after the May elections.

The Ulster Defence Association, formed in 1971, had tens of thousands of members at its peak.

It killed hundreds of people during the Troubles in Northern Ireland and often claimed responsibility for sectarian murders using the cover name the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF).

The UDA had remained a legal organisation until it was banned in August 1992.

Notorious attacks by the UFF included the shooting dead of five Catholics at a Belfast bookmakers in 1992 and the Greysteel massacre the following year.

A former high-profile leader of the UFF is Johnny Adair, who was released from prison in 2005 after serving two thirds of a 16-year sentence for directing terrorism on behalf of the organisation.

He had been expelled by the UDA in 2002 and later left NI following a loyalist feud, after his Shankill Road power base crumbled.

In November 2007, the UDA issued a statement saying "the war is over".

It later said it had stood down the UFF and all UFF weapons were being put "beyond use", but that did not mean they would be decommissioned.

In 2018, the then PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton said members of the UDA and UVF were still involved in organised crime.

There have been threats this year to journalists and politicians following stories about the South East Antrim UDA's criminal activities in the Sunday World and Sunday Life newspapers.

Earlier this week, the West Belfast UDA were reported to have made threats against two journalists working for the Sunday World newspaper in NI.

Certainly, no-one from the city's Catholic community would ever have been foolhardy enough to set foot in the overtly Loyalist Hillfoot Glentoran Supporter's Club. However, this was Anne Marie's first trip to Belfast, and on the spur of the moment, she accepted an invitation to a function, possibly thinking that the patrons shared her own admirable non-sectarian world view.

What happened next is well documented in court depositions. It resulted in Anne Marie being overpowered by several men with onlookers encouraging them. She was first strangled by the local UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force) commander as others looked on.

Eventually, the lifeless body of Anne Marie, her throat cut to the spine by a knife, was dumped in the nearby wasteland at Ballarat Street, off East Belfast's Ravenhill Road. As far as the ethno-supremacist element within the Unionist community was concerned, it was just the end of another 'Taig', a member of the Untermenschen.




The lovely Glens

You can not preach about horrific and evil acts
If you vote for people to represent you -who planned and carried out horrific and evil acts
It’s just not possible to any sensible or reasonable mind

LFC has got an Enema coming up , god help the nurses if its  half as much sh1t as he puts up on these threads

A caller to a newspaper who asked not to be named
voiced the horror of local people to Anne Marie Smyths murder
Released under terms of the GFA the caller said he had been talking arrogantly
about the murder in bars and clubs in front of women and members of the UVF
“ people do not want to know what those scumbags did to that wee girl , it is totally shameful
  he better watch what he says in the future -  because his comments have
infuriated a lot of people in this area “ the caller said


Police investigate bar killing : Two masked men carried out a ruthless and clinical murder
One of them shot the victim several times in the pubs toilets . No one else was injured

The man who was killed was Stephen Manners
He had been convicted in relation to the murder of Anne Marie Smyth