In reply to Roisin's yammering about Paddys and Micks been used as offensive terms to apply to Irish people you might think that would make her realise just how cutting and low such epitphets are. Also, yes Ireland has been persecuted mercilessly for 800 plus years but ahem, ever hear of little things like Masada, the revolt of the Macabbes etc which happened even further back in world history?

If you take the conscious chose to seize the racist and bigoted terms others have used about the Irish and transform then that is fine as you are Irish and can make that decision. Don't presume you have the right to make that choice for a Jewish person, the Black and Tans were grotesque, as was the apartheid state in the North -but they are a candle beside an inferno next to the Final Solution.

And even as a Nationalist whose politics often shade into Republicanism I do get a wee bit tired with the 800 years of oppression bit. Malcom X had the message for the black man that he had to see past previous injustices and realise his own dignity and worth. Yes, we should recall the injustices done but they don't define us a nation.

Marcus