".....shit-flinging over things that happened long ago,"
How long is long ago - 38 years ago is long ago for some people - why hold a Bloody Sunday enquiry - why not just gloss it over as Widgery tried to do?
More recently, the Birmingham Six, Guildford Four - are these too long ago - why were they released, exonertated and held up as classic cases of injustice - why bother - all in the past?
"and if the people of those counties wanted to stay French,"
What utter bollocks - apart from the fact the the people of Ireland as a whole have never at any time been asked if they wanted the return of the six counties forcibly retained under the threat of invasion as part of Britain - in fact, they had a civil war over it.
Empire is a thing of the past.
What on earth do you people think 'The Troubles' were about, Bloody Sunday, The Civil Rights Movement, The Hunger Strikers....?
I asked before; how long would British people go on fighting if Nazi Germany had won the last war - or would they have cosied down into the Third Reich and put Britain as an independant nation down to 'a thing of the past'?
THe situation as it stands TODAY is that six Irish counties remain under British rule long after the British Empire has become a thing of the past - this has led to bloodshed and protest it is this that has to be dealt with - if it is not, it will remain a festering sore within these islands.
The circle that has to be squared is that the people of those six Irish counties are just that - Irish (I'm not aware that any of us have the right to opt out of our nationality).
Not sure of the point you are point you are making about Carson, Keith; he led a military mutiny against Home Rule in 1914 - if he had led it in favour, he would have been executed, as were the Easter Week rebels.
Jim Carroll