Ireland-Northern Ireland

[timmy]

First of all, for the Irish on this board, Catholic or Protestant descent?

And, for the rest of the board, what are your opinion on the whole Ireland, UK thing? Should Northern Ireland be a part of the UK, or should there be a United Ireland? Personally, It is one of my hopes/dreams for Ireland to be united. But, I don't think it will happen any time soon, to great of differences in ideas and what have you. Post away, please!

[GCHSLax04]

Protestant and United Ireland, I'm not really all tooo irish though.

[BTlaxripper]

catholic...
I'm really not clear on the whole situation, can somebody explain?

[Frndlefire]

Go! Go! United Ireland.

[OcLaxer22]

From the small part of my family that came from Irland they were Catholic, And pretty Devoted to wanting Irland To be a whole catholic nation.

[timmy]

From the small part of my family that came from Irland they were Catholic, And pretty Devoted to wanting Irland To be a whole catholic nation.


It's Ireland. I-R-E-L-A-N-D.

[OcLaxer22]

Whatever...

[enjoi]

Whole ireland.

Seems asinine to have the parts seperate.

[roughrider]

catholic...
I'm really not clear on the whole situation, can somebody explain?

So this history dates back hundreds of years. During Oliver Cromwell's rule he took over Ireland and tried to force protestantism upon the Irish. He did so by uprooting the irish catholic nobility and replacing them with british protestants. He seized large estates and the like and offered it to the british. Basically Englad colonized Ireland. Ireland was mad for a long time, then rebelled and granted freedom-however it was only the southern part. The northern (Ulster region) remained with Britain because it was largely protestant too and much more favorable towards union with Britian(remember many of their citizens were british). This angered many Irishmen who began to uprise against the unfavor treatment they recieved.

to sum it up, whats wrong with Palestein is what is wrong with Ulster

I am 100% for the reunionization of Ireland and for complete rule on their part.

[Longest]

I think the people of Ireland should be allowed to decide what situation they want. If it was me, I'd want Ireland to be separate and on its own.

Dan

[TheKOB]

I’m a Catholic. As my name implies, I’m obviously quite Venezuelan. Kidding, of course. I’ve visited there, am a member of AOH, and so on and so forth. First of all, it’s sad how it came to be. It happened well before Cromwell. Cromwell was just the oppressor who tried to stamp Catholicism into the dust there once and for all (more so than anyone before), and he operated during a brief time when England had no monarch. His actions convinced those in charge that the monarchy wasn’t so bad after all. For example, in Ireland there’s a section of the country that is mainly rock with weeds growing up in between, that’s it. When Cromwell was traveling through it he had some cute quote about how there’s not a tree to hang a man, nor water to drown one. Sweet guy…in fact, “May the curse of Cromwell be on you” is still a popular epilate in Ireland.

When I visited Ireland a few summers ago, I was kind of irritated by the churches. All the old churches are now protestant. St. Patrick’s Cathedral…Anglican. Every church that existed prior to English “colonialism” (in this case, more like attempted genocide) is protestant. Rather irritating.

What’s the deal with Northern Ireland and Ireland? Basically, England didn’t want to rule over a place that was such a vast majority Catholic. They created incentives for people to go over there, such as land grants, etc. The problem was, this land already belonged to farmers, etc. NOT aristocracy. The Irish aristocracy, however, were the only people who had the ability to rise up.

At any rate, the majority of these settlers settled in Northern Ireland, which is closest to England. When the Irish revolted (many times) the English eventually got sick of it. Michael Collins (one of the leaders of the revolution that was successful) negotiated and got all of Ireland freed, except for the North, with it’s majority of Protestants.

The IRA made the transformation from an army fighting for the freedom of all Ireland to one fighting for the reunification of Ireland. By that time, people have grown weary of “The Struggle” so their activities drifted towards terrorism. It’s important to note that there are Protestant terrorism organizations who cause just as much trouble to the catholic areas as the IRA does to the protestant. The main problem is that these two groups (protestant and catholic) became so polarized that any sort of negotiation was pointless. The problem is still with both sides.

A downturn to violence began when a bigger focus was put forth towards political, not military means. Sinn Fein (shin-feign, Celtic for “ourselves alone”) was the political wing of the IRA and succeeded in winning many elections.

The problem with reunification is that Ireland wants back what is theirs (Northern Ireland) while the majority of the North (protestant) is constantly scared about what’ll happen to them when they become the minority, since the history is anything but soothing.

Should they be reunited? Yep, definitely. Ireland is not England’s (nor the UK’s) business or concern. Let them be reunited and choose their own destiny at the voting booth.

The same chance should be given to Israel and the areas under their control.

The difference is that in the Israeli government it still matters what religion you are. In the Ireland it doesn’t really matter what religion you are. The only places where these differences are visible is in the North.

Sorry for the (brief, believe me) history lesson. I am the History and Cultural Chair of the local AOH chapter…I couldn’t help myself.

[Ambidextrous]

I’m a Catholic. As my name implies, I’m obviously quite Venezuelan. Kidding, of course. I’ve visited there, am a member of AOH, and so on and so forth. First of all, it’s sad how it came to be. It happened well before Cromwell. Cromwell was just the oppressor who tried to stamp Catholicism into the dust there once and for all (more so than anyone before), and he operated during a brief time when England had no monarch. His actions convinced those in charge that the monarchy wasn’t so bad after all. For example, in Ireland there’s a section of the country that is mainly rock with weeds growing up in between, that’s it. When Cromwell was traveling through it he had some cute quote about how there’s not a tree to hang a man, nor water to drown one. Sweet guy…in fact, “May the curse of Cromwell be on you” is still a popular epilate in Ireland.

When I visited Ireland a few summers ago, I was kind of irritated by the churches. All the old churches are now protestant. St. Patrick’s Cathedral…Anglican. Every church that existed prior to English “colonialism” (in this case, more like attempted genocide) is protestant. Rather irritating.

What’s the deal with Northern Ireland and Ireland? Basically, England didn’t want to rule over a place that was such a vast majority Catholic. They created incentives for people to go over there, such as land grants, etc. The problem was, this land already belonged to farmers, etc. NOT aristocracy. The Irish aristocracy, however, were the only people who had the ability to rise up.

At any rate, the majority of these settlers settled in Northern Ireland, which is closest to England. When the Irish revolted (many times) the English eventually got sick of it. Michael Collins (one of the leaders of the revolution that was successful) negotiated and got all of Ireland freed, except for the North, with it’s majority of Protestants.

The IRA made the transformation from an army fighting for the freedom of all Ireland to one fighting for the reunification of Ireland. By that time, people have grown weary of “The Struggle” so their activities drifted towards terrorism. It’s important to note that there are Protestant terrorism organizations who cause just as much trouble to the catholic areas as the IRA does to the protestant. The main problem is that these two groups (protestant and catholic) became so polarized that any sort of negotiation was pointless. The problem is still with both sides.

A downturn to violence began when a bigger focus was put forth towards political, not military means. Sinn Fein (shin-feign, Celtic for “ourselves alone”) was the political wing of the IRA and succeeded in winning many elections.

The problem with reunification is that Ireland wants back what is theirs (Northern Ireland) while the majority of the North (protestant) is constantly scared about what’ll happen to them when they become the minority, since the history is anything but soothing.

Should they be reunited? Yep, definitely. Ireland is not England’s (nor the UK’s) business or concern. Let them be reunited and choose their own destiny at the voting booth.

The same chance should be given to Israel and the areas under their control.

The difference is that in the Israeli government it still matters what religion you are. In the Ireland it doesn’t really matter what religion you are. The only places where these differences are visible is in the North.

Sorry for the (brief, believe me) history lesson. I am the History and Cultural Chair of the local AOH chapter…I couldn’t help myself.

Dang...I wanted to give the history lesson today. What you said is basically it. Thats what's wrong with Ireland. Oh yeah, I'm half Irish/Protestant.