Northern Ireland Thread

2cents

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Are those lads mates of that fella that got dismembered or what cause they all look about 12 ffs
They would be friends with the son of one of Lawlor’s murder victims. The same guy whose voice you can here in this video confronting Lawlor on the street in Dublin in December:


The guy was actually shot in Finglas couple of weeks ago, but survived. Him and his mates would be late teens/early twenties.
 

Paxi

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They would be friends with the son of one of Lawlor’s murder victims. The same guy whose voice you can here in this video confronting Lawlor on the street in Dublin in December:


The guy was actually shot in Finglas couple of weeks ago, but survived. Him and his mates would be late teens/early twenties.
Fair enough mate thanks. Morbidly, it makes me want to watch Love/Hate again. I'm a twisted cnut. :lol:
 

2cents

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Fair enough mate thanks. Morbidly, it makes me want to watch Love/Hate again. I'm a twisted cnut. :lol:
Lawlor actually has an open Instagram account with pictures and videos of his travels - on a bike ride in Spain, at the Coleseum in Rome, giving football jerseys to Palestinian kids in Bethlehem. Stuff like that. I think truth is mostly stranger than fiction.
 

Paxi

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Lawlor actually has an open Instagram account with pictures and videos of his travels - on a bike ride in Spain, at the Coleseum in Rome, giving football jerseys to Palestinian kids in Bethlehem. Stuff like that. I think truth is mostly stranger than fiction.
I haven't got an Instagram account. Would love to have a peek though.
 

2cents

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In case you guys still interested, media are reporting that the Guards believe Lawlor was set up by the well-known Dundons from Limerick, on behalf of the traveler gang from Drogheda that he was feuding with. Apparently Guards stopped two Limerick women in Portlaoise with €50,000 which they had seen being handed to them by some Drogheda, they’re speculating this was payment for the murder.
 

balaks

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Scared to say it but the signs are that NI may be dealing with COVID better than any other part of the UK so far. Fingers crossed this continues.
 

arnie_ni

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Scared to say it but the signs are that NI may be dealing with COVID better than any other part of the UK so far. Fingers crossed this continues.
DUP were getting killed in the press early for not having a united ireland approach as well.
 

balaks

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DUP were getting killed in the press early for not having a united ireland approach as well.
I think the ROI closing down early helped to make the rest of us in NI realise this was really serious and pressure started early here to close stuff so I think that has helped a lot here as opposed to the rest of the UK were people were desperately trying to avoid lock down for as long as possible.
 

cyberman

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I think the ROI closing down early helped to make the rest of us in NI realise this was really serious and pressure started early here to close stuff so I think that has helped a lot here as opposed to the rest of the UK were people were desperately trying to avoid lock down for as long as possible.
Yeah, a lot of businesses in Derry, for example, were closing down in spite of government advice with Arlene parroting whatever Boris said earlier that day.
The schools around me were having a meeting about closing down against government advice the day school closures were announced.
Ireland as a whole have been very proactive and demanding actions from their politicians during this. Hell Leo was in the States for Paddys day still expecting it to continue until the public outrage put a stop to it.
Our politicans get a lot of praise for being slower then public outcry for some reason
 

balaks

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Yeah, a lot of businesses in Derry, for example, were closing down in spite of government advice with Arlene parroting whatever Boris said earlier that day.
The schools around me were having a meeting about closing down against government advice the day school closures were announced.
Ireland as a whole have been very proactive and demanding actions from their politicians during this. Hell Leo was in the States for Paddys day still expecting it to continue until the public outrage put a stop to it.
Our politicans get a lot of praise for being slower then public outcry for some reason
Yeah without a doubt Ireland (as a whole) is coming through this better than many others - I was very concerned about our lack of ICU beds and ventilators in NI (still am to be fair) but so far we have been able to manage. That week or so prior to the UK shutting down has proved pretty crucial I think and the fact we all decided to shut down even before the government told us to has no doubt saved many lives here.
 

thebelfastboy

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It's been handled well here but one of the major factors for us not being hit as bad is surely more to do with the fact that we don't have the same densely populated areas with mass connected transport systems etc.
Long may it continue
 

balaks

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It's been handled well here but one of the major factors for us not being hit as bad is surely more to do with the fact that we don't have the same densely populated areas with mass connected transport systems etc.
Long may it continue
No doubt that is a contributing factor - we are a rural country generally and population density is relatively low. This along with our reasonably swift closures has helped a lot. The question is though how do we move forward from here?
 

Art Vandelay

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No doubt that is a contributing factor - we are a rural country generally and population density is relatively low. This along with our reasonably swift closures has helped a lot. The question is though how do we move forward from here?
We have a big massive party in the streets. With marching and bands and drinking. Then a big giant group hug.

I think the danger is starting to open things up then finding out we can't cope and there's no lockdown in place to stop the spread. I think it needs to be a very slow and gradual lift of the lockdown like really slow one step at a time. At the end of the day people are still fairly stupid, I mean I just stood in a queue outside Supervalu only for them to say feck it and send everyone in at once. Then I saw at least 3 people walking about with gloves on touching everything before scratching their faces with the gloves.
 

balaks

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For those that are interested - there is a great guy on facebook who is doing daily analysis of COVID in NI and it's very informative. He is called Aaron Donaghey and you can add him as a friend to get the daily updates.
 

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Covid deaths in NI up by a third today due to community deaths now being counted. Very sad news but not unexpected.
 

Green_Red

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I'm from the town where all this is centred. I knew the guy who was shot 6 times last year well. I know most of the people involved either through friends or acquaintances. Completely bonkers. The kids today have taken this to a whole new level. When we were kids it was a kicking you had to worry about if you crossed someone. Now it's a bullet or even worse, chopped up. Completely mad.
 

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I'm from the town where all this is centred. I knew the guy who was shot 6 times last year well. I know most of the people involved either through friends or acquaintances. Completely bonkers. The kids today have taken this to a whole new level. When we were kids it was a kicking you had to worry about if you crossed someone. Now it's a bullet or even worse, chopped up. Completely mad.
Whats this about? Previous comments have all been about coronavirus
 

Eire Red United

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So another 3 weeks of lockdown confirmed. Can’t see it holding up to be fair especially since Leo has announced some relaxation and Boris is expected to over the weekend
 

lsd

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So another 3 weeks of lockdown confirmed. Can’t see it holding up to be fair especially since Leo has announced some relaxation and Boris is expected to over the weekend

Can't see Boris relaxing much as there are still around 600 dying every day .
 

lsd

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But NI can, and should, follow their own protocol.
They arent as badly hit as the UK

Yes because more people respected the lockdown and did not break it like in other countries .

People are going to have accept that a lot of things will never go back to how they were
 

Eire Red United

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Yes because more people respected the lockdown and did not break it like in other countries .

People are going to have accept that a lot of things will never go back to how they were
Mad scary times. But things will get better, hopefully this time next year everything is back to normal. Stay safe all.
 

jeff_goldblum

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Not related to anything I've read above in the thread, but a question for those with a direct connection to the north and/or knowledge of the feeling on the ground.

I've seen massive arguments between politicians and their more vocal online supporters about a potential Irish Language Act. Assuming the more entrenched republicans and unionists will more often than not fall on the sides you'd expect, do less entrenched voters have strong views either way? And are unionist politicians blocking it out of a legitimate concern or is it just pettiness?
 

lsd

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Not related to anything I've read above in the thread, but a question for those with a direct connection to the north and/or knowledge of the feeling on the ground.

I've seen massive arguments between politicians and their more vocal online supporters about a potential Irish Language Act. Assuming the more entrenched republicans and unionists will more often than not fall on the sides you'd expect, do less entrenched voters have strong views either way? And are unionist politicians blocking it out of a legitimate concern or is it just pettiness?

It's pettiness . You are talking about people who went and made up a nonsense language like Ulster Scots out of spite because of the irish language.

That said whether its worth all the fighting that goes on at Stormant is another topic .

Will it really make a difference to anyones life if it ever passes ? Probably not . I can think of a lot more things to worry about especially now .

If it is not the irish language act they would find something else to argue about . You are talking about two completely opposite parties with nothing in common other than pettiness being asked to govern together
 

arnie_ni

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It's pettiness . You are talking about people who went and made up a nonsense language like Ulster Scots out of spite because of the irish language.

That said whether its worth all the fighting that goes on at Stormant is another topic .

Will it really make a difference to anyones life if it ever passes ? Probably not . I can think of a lot more things to worry about especially now .

If it is not the irish language act they would find something else to argue about . You are talking about two completely opposite parties with nothing in common other than pettiness being asked to govern together
Hardly anyone speaks irish in the north though.

Unionists are stupid for blocking it, nationalists are stupid for pushing it so hard. It wonr change anyones life.

Its just a dick swinging contest at this point and neither will back down
 

lsd

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Hardly anyone speaks irish in the north though.

Unionists are stupid for blocking it, nationalists are stupid for pushing it so hard. It wonr change anyones life.

Its just a dick swinging contest at this point and neither will back down

Are they still arguing about it at the moment ? I pay very little attention to anything they say lately other than co vid related which very strangely they seem to be doing ok on
 

Deery

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Not related to anything I've read above in the thread, but a question for those with a direct connection to the north and/or knowledge of the feeling on the ground.

I've seen massive arguments between politicians and their more vocal online supporters about a potential Irish Language Act. Assuming the more entrenched republicans and unionists will more often than not fall on the sides you'd expect, do less entrenched voters have strong views either way? And are unionist politicians blocking it out of a legitimate concern or is it just pettiness?
A lot of people I’ve asked about it couldn’t care less about an Irish language act and of course it’s pettiness it’s the DUP for God’s sake.

The two parties got on just fine throughout the whole lockdown and now it’s easing up they’re complaining about abortion. It’s got to a point were it’s just bullshit now, from both sides but what are you going to do.
 

Steve Bruce

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Hardly anyone speaks irish in the north though.

Unionists are stupid for blocking it, nationalists are stupid for pushing it so hard. It wonr change anyones life.

Its just a dick swinging contest at this point and neither will back down
The only thing I'm worried about with it is the cost other than that I couldn't care less if theirs an ILA or not & to be honest most people I know from both back grounds are the same.

Once this is settled their will be something else that will be of utmost importance that will be argued about in which the majority don't care about right now but will become the next big thing.

Local politics here is tiresome & repetitive boring rubbish.

Your last line is the most apt line for Northern Ireland politics
 

jeff_goldblum

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Thanks for the responses all. As someone who has had (and is still having) a difficult time learning the language whilst living in a place where it isn't indigenous and resources aren't readily available, it's sad to me that there remains no official recognition for it in a decent chunk of its native land. It's also sad how it's become a symbol of the underlying tensions between SF and the DUP (from what people are saying, it appears to be the DUP, rather than the average unionist voter, who have an issue with it, correct me if that's a misreading.)

I was interested to read recently that a CoE church in Coventry had blocked the family of an Irish parishioner from putting an innocuous Irish-language phrase on her gravestone unless it was accompanied by an English translation, partially for fear of people seeing it as a 'political statement'. Assuming they haven't gone round adding translations to all the Latin in the churchyard, it seems that the idea of the Irish language as being inherent seditious seems to have hungover from the colonial era.
 

Kinsella

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Not related to anything I've read above in the thread, but a question for those with a direct connection to the north and/or knowledge of the feeling on the ground.

I've seen massive arguments between politicians and their more vocal online supporters about a potential Irish Language Act. Assuming the more entrenched republicans and unionists will more often than not fall on the sides you'd expect, do less entrenched voters have strong views either way? And are unionist politicians blocking it out of a legitimate concern or is it just pettiness?
The latter mostly.

In my opinion the main reason that unionists generally are against the ILA is because they think it will change the feel of the place. And that's just more grist to the mill for many nationalists.
 

arnie_ni

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This story about the missing boy is a bit mad. Cycling about naked after he fell of the bike?
 

lsd

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This story about the missing boy is a bit mad. Cycling about naked after he fell of the bike?

The Noah kid ? Sounds like he had some kind of brain injury . Doesn't look good for him poor kid .