Sorry to hear what you went through, Comrac. My Dad and his family came here from Poland after WW2. His parents were Zachary Polakow, from Kropotkin in Russia and Elizabeth Federow from Bialystok in Poland. They lived in Russia when my Dad and his younger sister were born. then, during one of Stalins purges, my grandad Zachary was interened in a prison camp for being a Russian Orthodox priest.

Grandma Elizabeth was evicted from the house and told, as a foreign national, to leave Russia with not a penny to her name, a young son and a baby daughter. She made her way back to Poland, living off what she could find and sleeping in hegerows at night. They were eventualy reunited when Zachary was freed and joined her in Bialystok.

Then came the Germans. They destroyed most of the city and turned where they lived into a gheto for Jews and dissidents. They somehow survived that until Rusia changed sides and threatened to annexe eastern Poland. Caught between two evils they could do nothing but leave their home, land and families to start a new life, first in Italy and then in England.

The war that cost them everything was as a result of politics. The stupidity of politicians. Maybe even the idea of a united Europe with token borders? Did they blame anyone? The Russians? The Germans? Funily enough, no. They made a good life here. Zachary died of a lung disiese, possibly brought on by conditions in the Soviet labour camp, in 1964. Elizabeth lived until she was well into her 80s and loved England as her home. My Dad is, thankfully, still with us at 85 and has the most optimistic attitude I have seen on anyone.

OK - The British did some awful things in Ireland. Don't forget it. You will never forget what happened to you. But until you can put it behind you, as millions before you have, and look to the future instead, what chance is there of peace? As for Sinn Fein. Well, they are politicians. A very easy scapegoat and one whom I suspect have done more good than you will ever admit to. Why replace the politicians who are local to you and did fight for your rights with a beurocratic and distant European model? Like I said before, whoever you vote for the government always gets in.

Cheers

DeG