pearse maguire

Fuel protests and protesters are right to be on the streets. The Govt needs to do more. But listen folks, don’t lose sight that the a far right wing president & a fascist leader, a war criminal in Isreal have visited this crisis on us.

The Good Friday Agreement was a culmination of work from John Major, Tony Blair, the British Army and many deeply brave people in northern Ireland. You are currently allowing prosecution of the British Army veterans, unlike the IRA, which spits in the face of this legacy.

𝗕𝗼𝗯𝗯𝘆 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘆𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗮𝘆 Ulster Unionist Justice Spokesperson Doug Beattie MC MLA has said that the illegally erected statue of Bobby Sands is part of a wider, deeply entrenched problem in Northern Ireland. Doug Beattie MC MLA said: “The issue around the illegally erected statue of Bobby Sands is a symptom of the issues that still plague Northern Ireland, not the total sum of the problem. As a society, we have not moved on, and neither can we, because we are deliberately dragged back to the legacy of the Troubles and division on a near daily basis. If it’s not filling the column inches in newspapers, a two-minute time slot in our daily news programmes, a combative item on radio and television, or the continuous vitriolic attacks on social media, then it’s being used as an election tool by politicians. Society can’t get away from it because it’s become a business for so many who see it as the ability to sell something; to increase readership, viewers, listeners, or voters. “The reality that faces Northern Ireland today is clear; we have more memorials, murals, and parades to those who murdered innocent men, women, and children than we do for those innocent men, women, and children who were murdered. This is not likely to change because no opportunity for change has been created, and nobody is willing to take the first step in coming up with an alternative. Instead, we’ll spend our time debating flags as innocent victims are expected to walk past memorials and murals dedicated to those who murdered their loved ones on a daily basis. The Bobby Sands statue is just another addition to this macabre and appalling spectacle which has been normalised in Northern Ireland. “Having spent three years on the Flags, Identity, Culture, and Traditions (FICT) Commission, it seems obvious to me that there are some in society who simply don’t want change and some who view it as an opportunity. Sadly, the overwhelming majority seem to find it easier to conform in silence, so this story will be filed away as it drops out of the news cycle.”

23 years ago today in Gaza, British photographer Tom Hurndall was shot in the head by an Israeli sniper while trying to protect Palestinian children. Humanity will never forget him