Wolfgang, if you find so-called "radical republic leanings" so very off-putting, then you were never very genuine in your so-called "pro-catholic sympathies" and that is easily sussed out in your posts to these threads in general Wolfgang.

I suspect you are a very nice, well mannered, polite German gentleman Wolfgang, even though I have never met you. But anyone who claims to be persuaded one way or the other by conversations in internet chat forums such as this aren't very credible to begin with, no matter how many times you've visited, or how many books you've read. Your preference for using the Catholic/Protestant labels rather than the very accurate republican/nationalist and unionist/loyalist labels speaks volumes to people on the ground in the north. The Troubles in Ireland, from the time of plantation to today, have not been a result of religious difference, everything to do with national allegiances, ie British/Irish allegiances. The so-called religious aspects related to the Troubles are rooted in English history, and Henry VIII's and his descendants choices, not Irish history.

A lot of people visit Ireland and remain blisfully ignorant of what is going on day to day in the north. In fact, that is precisely what most people do. When they do visit the north, they usually are free to travel in areas which are no go areas for republicans, certainly, and stick to the neutral, safe areas, venues, and tourist destinations, rather than the areas where there could be political violence, just as most Northern Irish citizens do.

This thread is not about to turn nasty. You are quite conviently mislabelling the expression of strong opinions as rudeness, in order to score what I call "politeness points" in the argument, just as many nice, polite, well mannered middle class people around the world do. No surprise there. If more people allowed frank, straightfoward debate to take place, where people were openly questioned about the assertions and made to prove them either in word or deed, we would have much less violence than the amount of violence currently tolerated in the world today. And that fact has nothing to do with Northern Ireland, and everything to do with it.

Polite people don't call Orangemen bigots, do they? No, no...that would be nasty. An ad hominem attack. It seems that in some circles, such as ones you yourself travel in Wolfgang, ruffling well mannered feathers is much, much worse a crime than spewing a bigot's rhetoric.

And I note Wolfgang, that none of the Irish and British Mudcat members are rushing to agree with you either.