[Donut]

Originally posted by Oblivion437: I don't know, but I have a vague suspicion that things are generally more tolerated on the European subcontinent that I would likely be ill at bearing witness to. To put the difference in a realm readily accessible, I'll use film. A movie like Salo: Or 120 Days of Sodom would NEVER be made in the US... As for the Northern Irish problem, as of 2004, it's over 1400 years old, not 300. It started when Catholicism proliferated there in the seventh century, creating, along with widespread use of Gaelic as a common language, an innate set of cultural differences between Ireland and their future ruler-by-force, England. The English spoke, well, English, and due to the work of Henry VIII the Anglican Church held sway over religious matters, and disapproved of Irish catholicism, and attempted to stamp it out. There was always a sort of undercurrent of contempt for English authority since being taken over. No one likes their whole country being grabbed from them, after all. With the potato famine (which brought on the massive Irish Emmigration outward, into the US) and apathetic reaction from the English government (and some being driven so far into starvation to be forced into cannibalism) to the whole situation, that was the spark, but the match would some time to burn. After WW1, with the fallout leaving opportunity open, and new political stirrings causing further agitation, the revolt started. It didn't end until the serious bloodshed had really taken the toll, but the Irish Free State was created with dominion over the Irish people, now free from English rule...almost... Part of the compromise agreement was the including of the seperate of Northern Ireland, which was heavily populated with Protestants and in general those Irish were not so motivated to rebel, considering themselves English citizens. The Irish Republicans have had factions degenerate into terrorist organizations, with a public front in the Sinn Fein (We Ourselves in Gaelic) party, to some extent or another, not actually coordinating activities, but standing as legitimate and even respectable men to keep certain authorities from finding certain dirty facts. Those facts include ties to drug and gun smuggling rings, ties to Irish organized criminal organizations operating on the continent, in the US (Boston and New York City, mainly) and backing from wealthy Irish-Americans. Their apparent purpose is now long past, the goal that they want can definitely be achieved on the negotiating table, unlike 80 years ago, where blood was a necessary price to pay for anything you wanted from England...

Oblivion, your post is wrong in so many ways I really don't know where to start. Although the internet is an immensely useful tool it can never be used to analyse such a complex problem such as the Irish troubles. You have visited a number of sites and put together a mish-mash of facts, opinions and vague impressions that bear little resemblance to the true situation. It's like looking at the world through a keyhole, or a number of keyholes in this case. You are missing the bigger picture.