I did three tours in N.Ireland and I can assure you we didn't gun anyone down, I have a chest full of medals but I have two that I can say I honestly deserved and one of them is N.Ireland, I have a lot of bad memories about that place, there are a lot of veterans on this site so try and be a little respectful.Do you think the club do it out of respect, or because every other club does it and they feel they have to?
I would love it to be for entirely respectful reasons but can't help but feel that in this day and age, it is because nobody wants to be the club that didn't do it.
I don't share any views with James McClean but given his background, and where he is from and what happened there, I understand why the Catholic/Republican community of Derry have little affinity for an institution that gunned them down as they peacefully protested. Why this is so abhorrent to some mystifies me.
I did three tours in N.Ireland and I can assure you we didn't gun anyone down, I have a chest full of medals but I have two that I can say I honestly deserved and one of them is N.Ireland, I have a lot of bad memories about that place, there are a lot of veterans on this site so try and be a little respectful.
No protests were peaceful in that place, its called the fog of war.. I don't expect you to understand it.I am referring to Bloody Sunday and please don't assume my family is without military service. I've a friend serving in Iraq as we speak too.
No protests were peaceful in that place, its called the fog of war.. I don't expect you to understand it.
Whilst I understand your view, I hope you will understand that I heartily disagree.Im certainly not defending illegal and mudereous actions in Ireland but whether you like it or not they are the main reason we live in a free society that we do today. They are two separate issues surely.
It's horrible the way that the whole thing has been hijacked. Nobody in their right mind could possibly have a grudge against wounded veterans or the families of those who have been murdered in the name of war.It's political because it seeks to deflect from political incompetence that caused the wars in the first place.
There was no need to fight the First World War. None. It was a result of political macho posturing in the same way that Trump is posturing over North Korea. It started as a result of Serbian militant nationalism and the subsequent loss of face to Austro-Hungarian pride. And instead of our politicians being real statesman and helping deflate the tension, they stoked it & dragged us into something that was fuck-all to do with us. So because no one would take a step back, millions died.
And if WWI hadn't been fought, there would almost certainly not have been an even more catastrophic second war. And without WWII, there probably wouldn't have been wars in Korea, Vietnam & the Balkans, plus many lower-level conflicts in the Middle East & Africa.
So the poppy, whatever its original purpose, is a deliberate piece of political deflection, taking the focus away from the mistakes of the political class that led to war and onto the sacrifice of those poor sods & their families who had to pay the price of those mistakes, most of whom had no fucking choice but to put their lives on the line.
Couldnt agree more.No , but possibly in the top 10.
The winner of that award goes to Ashley Young .... what an odious twat!
Whilst I understand your view, I hope you will understand that I heartily disagree.
The British Army certainly never did anything for my country's freedom.
Sorry mad4city I appear to have responded in your quote.
Interesting thought that. Let me know what part of the following you dissagree with? If the UK had fallen to Nazi rule in 1940/41 would Hitler have stopped at the Irish Sea or the Northern Irish border. Persoanlly I think not as we would have retreated to NI and plans were discussed with your government at the time to set up a redoubt in the Republic. Alternatively even de Valera, who loathed the UK, acknowledged that if Ireland were invaded by the Germans the UK would come to your aid and help the Irish fight them in the Republic. Undoubtedly the UKs fight in the early stages of the war helped keep Ireland a free sovereign state. Dont forget many Irish men enlisted in the uk armed forces and Ireland tacitly aided the allies despite your declared netrality and De Valeras loathing of the UK government.
Very well put.Many brave, virtuous men lost their lives in the first world war. Many brave and virtuous men survived it. They are all dead now, god bless them. Many of them didn't want to fight in this war but were compelled to do it from an imposing government. Many of the survivors didn't want commendation or remembrance for it, war and death was a nasty experience for them that they didn't want revisited. The fight was against a dogmatic regime that would not tolerate differences of opinion. It was a fight to be able to express your opinions without dogmatic derision. I can understand why football players wear the poppy as a mark of respect. I also understand why a player would wish not to. That's his right.
A lot of squaddies certainly were over the years.So was anyone gunned down or not?