Jim Carroll; Date: 27 Aug 10 - 02:46 PM

Mixing things up a bit here aren't you Jim?

If the British Government or the Northern Ireland administration had any intention of discussing the future of the six counties, they would have done so back in the sixties, instead of standing back and allowing the RUC and then the Loyalsts kick the shit out of the Civil Rights marchers.

None too sure of the constitutional position of the Stormont Parliament are you Jim? Not surprising considering the total bollocks you believe about about the founding of the Irish Free State and of Northern Ireland itself. There was that extremely short period where the island of Ireland was united and completely independent for as long as it took the political representative from the North to cede from the Irish Free State and the autonomous self governing area known as Northern Ireland came into being. Punch line here Jim is that for much of the 60's the british Government had no say or interest in the internal affairs of Northern Ireland.

They did however begin to take an interest once the NICRM got under way. It was indeed the very actions of the RUC and the Ulster 'B' Specials that caused the British Government to intervene. My first tour our task was to provide protection for Catholic/Nationalist/Republican areas and to oversee the disbanding and disarming of the Ulster 'B' Specials. We faced street protests, rocks and stones, petrol bombs, crude nail bombs and the like - all came from "Loyalist" paramilitary groups.

'The Troubles' of the seventies and eighties so sickened the British public that they (as has been pointed out here numerous times) would have been more than happy to see the six counties ceceed from the Union.

I do not believe that the people of mainland have ever thought much about Ireland period, in the 1960's Paisley was a figure of fun and ridicule as were the IRA as mimicked by Peter Sellars (Aw jaysus we'll blow up the Albert Hall 'n all). The British public by and large well 100% behind the efforts of the NICRM, but that started to recede once the bombings started. The "Official" IRA had taken the right tack on things when they decided to stand clear as the NICRM was making progress, this of course gave birth to the "Provisional" IRA who wished to take up and expand the "so-called" armed struggle (armed struggle in as much as that meant deliberately setting out to kill as many innocent civilians as possible and others by execution who do not shoot back).

I agree Jim that if at any time from 1922 onwards if a referendum had ever been conducted on Ireland that included the population of Great Britain the North would have been cut adrift in an instant. Just in exactly the same way today that Scotland would be independent tomorrow if English voters could vote on the matter.

In 1972 Harold Wilson attempted to establish an International peacekeeping force in the North of Ireland - The USA; Canada and the other NATO Members quite rightly told him where he could put his proposal.

Big change in British attitude came in 1979, not with the arrival of Margaret Thatcher, but with the departure of Lord Louis Mountbatten (Without a shadow of a doubt one of the greatest fuck ups the PIRA made, and they made many).

Throughout the 70's, 80's & 90's the Republican paramilitary organisations were riddled with informers right to the highest levels. Ceasefires Jim were generally called by the PIRA, not by the Government

Faced with this situation, the British Government had to do something - hence, it

- Assumed direct rule of the Province;
- Placed security forces at the disposal of the civil power;
- Maintained rule of Law & Order;
- Took measures to protect the civilian population;
- Worked towards a political solution with all parties.

Were they successful? I would say so.

Oh one last thing Jim if the British Government were ever going to be bombed to the conference table it would have happened a damn sight earlier than 1996, by then there had been how many PIRA requested ceasefires?