Martin McGuinness

[Axl]

I saw something on Facesnake earlier which sums up my sentiments :-

 

"Martin McGuinness was an unapologetic, murdering terrorist, but thats OK because he was involved in the peace process. Thats like saying Jimmy Saville was an horrific paedo but its OK because he did lots for charity. Get a grip."

This

[Al Massey]

I saw something on Facesnake earlier which sums up my sentiments :-

 

"Martin McGuinness was an unapologetic, murdering terrorist, but thats OK because he was involved in the peace process. Thats like saying Jimmy Saville was an horrific paedo but its OK because he did lots for charity. Get a grip."

 

Perfect!!!

[SupraAyf]

I was having a bad day until the news of his death came in. It cheered me e up no end. I had a beer that night!

[Jellybean]

What would you guys have done as a young second class citizen in 1960s Derry?

 

Certain professions are not open to you due to your religion and partition has economically crippled the city, cutting it off from it's natural hinterland despite being only 3 miles from the border. Entering politics is not really possible either, you can't vote cos you don't have a house and you can't get a house because you're a Taig. Even if you could vote the electoral boundaries in your predominantly nationalist city are rigged in such a way that a unionist minority holds control. You can't express your chosen identity as an Irish person. You cannot display the flag of your nation - it is against the law. You see what is happening with the African-Americans in the USA and seek civil rights, but on the first attempt in 1969 you are beaten off the road at Burntollet by a mob of unionists including members of the B-Specials, an irregular force comprised of only one side of the community. And as your civil rights movement gathers force, 14 of your unarmed friends and neighbors are shot dead in the street by an elite British Army regiment.

 

People are talking about Martin McGuinness as if he woke up one morning and decided, on a whim to launch a terrorist campaign and then equally woke up another morning and decided to sit down with Ian Paisley. The reality is both processes evolved fluidly and he was not always in the driving seat of either. But it should be remembered above all that he was born into an apartheid system and through his actions, violent and peaceful, questionable or not, as a young and as an older man ended up concluding his life on an equal footing with the same civil and human rights as everyone else on the island.

[j_jza80]

He still chose to murder innocent civilians. I respect that he chose to change his ways, and persue a lasting peace in the only way possible - through diplomacy.

 

But his undoubtedly vital contribution to the peace process doesn't change the fact that he was a murdering scumbag, who became the very thing he claimed to be against.

[Al Massey]

So attacking innocent British lives in London was ok because of what was happening in his home town in London?

 

Attacking soldiers and their families and children in Germany ok because what he went through in Ireland, by his own people?

 

Is any terrorism ok because in some way or another they are being separated, segregated, labelled and disenfranchised from the local population and unable to vote?

 

I'm just trying to work out where you draw the line of what is ok and what isn't ok.

[Swampy442]

This.

 

[Annabella]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch5u8YbOyIE

 

Inciting.

 

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/victims-of-ira-violence-react-to-the-death-of-martin-mcguinness-35550917.html

 

Lots of differing opinions.

[SupraAyf]

What would you guys have done as a young second class citizen in 1960s Derry?

 

Certain professions are not open to you due to your religion and partition has economically crippled the city, cutting it off from it's natural hinterland despite being only 3 miles from the border. Entering politics is not really possible either, you can't vote cos you don't have a house and you can't get a house because you're a Taig. Even if you could vote the electoral boundaries in your predominantly nationalist city are rigged in such a way that a unionist minority holds control. You can't express your chosen identity as an Irish person. You cannot display the flag of your nation - it is against the law. You see what is happening with the African-Americans in the USA and seek civil rights, but on the first attempt in 1969 you are beaten off the road at Burntollet by a mob of unionists including members of the B-Specials, an irregular force comprised of only one side of the community. And as your civil rights movement gathers force, 14 of your unarmed friends and neighbors are shot dead in the street by an elite British Army regiment.

 

People are talking about Martin McGuinness as if he woke up one morning and decided, on a whim to launch a terrorist campaign and then equally woke up another morning and decided to sit down with Ian Paisley. The reality is both processes evolved fluidly and he was not always in the driving seat of either. But it should be remembered above all that he was born into an apartheid system and through his actions, violent and peaceful, questionable or not, as a young and as an older man ended up concluding his life on an equal footing with the same civil and human rights as everyone else on the island.

 

I suppose when you put it like that then............. Yeh right.

 

I'm having a few more beers at the weekend to further celebrate his demise.

[Burna]

But did he like dags?

[TheBlades]

Mr McGuinness (the murderer) chose peace instead of prison.

 

Next: Gerry Adams please.

[Tony]

Rih