"Can we drop the silly abuse please Jim?"
Can you stop this hatred of the Irish Keith and answer the points honestly?
"Jim, NI is a vast money pit into which our national wealth has been squandered."
Northern Ireland was created by Britain in order to appease a sectarian group who were natural allies to British Imperialism
The Six Counties that were annexed were the most lucrative parts of the Island - that's why they were granted as settlements way back in history
Britain continued to profit from those counties from the produce of the land and from the industries that were developed there - the industrial North was an investment, not a "money pit" (statements like that earn you the description "stupid little man" every time you make them
The idea of Britain as a benefactor pouring money into a State out of the goodness of its heart is as stupid at it gets.
Unionist Northern Ireland has always been a part of Britain's right wing political strategy - hence the present deal which has cost the British taxpayer £billion as a bung - a bribe to give a political party support - the fact that this deal has been done with a party with terrorist links is an indication of British ruthlessness.
The party that Britain left in charge has shown its true mettle throughout its reign - sectatian violence, inequality, religious bigotry.... all part of the British influence
Your bleating about giving the people what they want has never taken the inequality and oppression Unionist brought to a sizeble minority of the people whose "rights" you shed your crocodile tears over
You have supported the sectarian violence by minimising it (and on one sick occasion, blaming it on "schoolchildren")
You have either justified it or, as you are doing now, refused to discuss it.
The idea that any country can rule another or part of another is now a historical anathema - you refuse even to acknowledge that fact.
You have denied the historical violence and the appalling misrule that has twisted and deformed six counties, and now you present it as an act of charity "a money pit"
Your ignorance and hatred of the Irish is a shining example of many centuries of British rule - it is the one valuable contribution you make to these discussions
Jim Carroll