Queen shakes hands with IRA terrorist

[rocks 494]

Can you quote me where I called *you* "English" ? No ? Then take your loss like an adult and move on.

You used the word English instead of British. You messed up, it's OK to admit you did something wrong, we are all human.

Didn't read the rest of your post until here. Try to be more interesting and maybe I won't fall asleep reading your posts.

Are you reading the same thread that I am ? I have no idea what your ancestry is, nor have I ever stated anything about it. Again, quotes or it didn't happen. (Are you perhaps confusing me with another poster ?)

Well obviously, if you don’t know the history of Ireland, then you can’t possibly be of Irish descent - it's common knowledge that this information is transmitted via DNA.

Try and keep track of your random babble, it's tiresome having to find your post and quote it.

Again, thanks for telling me what I know, what I don't, and my ancestry! I will cherish this nugget of invaluable information.

Sorry, but you're wrong again. St. Patrick's day is not an official public holiday in the U.S.

It's a public holiday in Northern Ireland, which is where we are talking about. I linked you to the public holidays, you didn't bother to read it though. Imagine that.

You need to calm down - maybe light a candle or something. I am an Irish American. Are you ? I would snicker at any American who tried to tell a British person how most British people feel, too.

You need to stop denigrating Irish Americans by saying that many Irish Americans are IRA supporters.

You haven't addressed my slavery comments. Imagine that.

[rocks 494]

I think you greatly underestimate the number of Americans of Irish descent who sympathize with the occupied. There are some 36 million Americans of Irish descent, and another 3 million who call themselves Scotch-Irish.

I think you greatly underestimate how many British descent Americans there also are. Many Americans don't care about Europe, their idea of being Irish is participating in St Patrick's day.

It's interesting that you believe that "Irish Americans" must somehow be over-counted, yet "English Americans" must somehow be under-counted.

See my previous post, you are incorrect about English British descendants. I never once said the word "English".

We were talking about ethnic groups. The term "British" includes a lot of different ethnicities. Still trying to pad those figures ?

You got it wrong. Plus you didn't like me using "British" because it affected your argument negatively.

I'm British, not English. Britain is full of people like me. Maybe it's too complicated for you to understand?

Edited June 28, 2012 by rocks

[Captain Oates 911]

You got it wrong. Plus you didn't like me using "British" because it affected your argument negatively.

I'm British, not English. Britain is full of people like me. Maybe it's too complicated for you to understand?

All Brits are devils until one of their own emigrates to Britain - at that point they become acceptable Brits

These people have the Brits to thank for stopping the practice of suttee

Not sooty and sweep

suttee was where the widow gets burned alive at the cremation of the husband

We said we would hang any of them that did it and it stopped

The Brits were and are a great civilizing force and were fully justified correcting the horrible aspects of the colonists cultures

Unfortunately we were unable to deal with goatee beards before we left America

[rocks 494]

All Brits are devils until one of their own emigrates to Britain - at that point they become acceptable Brits

These people have the Brits to thank for stopping the practice of suttee

Not sooty and sweep

suttee was where the widow gets burned alive at the cremation of the husband

We said we would hang any of them that did it and it stopped

The Brits were and are a great civilizing force and were fully justified correcting the horrible aspects of the colonists cultures

Unfortunately we were unable to deal with goatee beards before we left America

You almost made me choke again. Guess that serves me right for eating at the computer.

I hadn't heard of sati before, that's really quite shocking. I'm by no means proud of our colonial past but at least we prevented that along the way. It is a shame we didn't get around to the goatees and country music though.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

I'm an Irish-American, with ancestors from North and South. I had some cockamamie and romantic thoughts about the North before I moved to the UK. What I learned in 12 years over there was that the majority of the people of the North want to stay in the Union because of the massive economic boon they have from being part of the UK. Honestly, I think the UK would be better off economically as just Great Britain, and I say that with respect to the people of Northern Ireland. But until the majority decide to leave the Union all this self-determination cr@p is just that -- a load of BS that is unfortunately supported by a bunch of uninformed Americans who don't know jack about day to day life in both Northern Ireland and the UK as a whole.

OMG I don't have enough plus ones.

[Captain Oates 911]

OMG I don't have enough plus ones.

The honeybunch is ace but she can be more snappy than an alligator sandwich - but its still comes from a good heart.

Its true the NI lot want the subsidies but so do the Scots. Can't blame em - I am partial to a nice subsidy myself

We should put the Kurds in NI and then the southerners would be bleating for the proddies back tout suit and then some

The sight of Irish dancing makes me gip more than the thought of green beer so I will get the 16th of my DNA which is Irish, removed at the first opportunity

Let's hope all these people never go to the Yorkshire Dales (in summer) or the whole world would move there

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

i dislike the term "occupation" as it refers to the North mostly because it just sounds inflammatory.

Walk up and down the Shankill and Falls road area of Belfast and there's quite enough there that's inflammatory, thank you very much.

I am a cold war baby brought up in the safety of the American heartland. Vietnam and Belfast blowing up on my TV screen was far away. America was untouched and so was I.

It was quite chilling to stand in front of the Iron Maiden mural in Stroke City, not 1/4 mile from my husband's house. Even the remnants of hate, up close, was a wake-up call.

The IRA were murderers but so were the Shankill butchers and the UVF. All are punished, as that boy from Stratford-Upon-Avon penned.

They used to keep the Walls of Derry cordoned off at night; you can walk them freely now. It is a long way to go before the barricade between and Falls and Shankill comes down in Belfast. If a handshake helps it happen one day, then I am all for it. The day it does, and they snip off bits of tin to keep as souvenirs in the same manner they handed out bricks in Berlin, I hope they let this bit still stand:

"Free us all from the prison of mistrust, misdeeds and misunderstanding"

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Invade Ireland, murder and starve to death the people there and replace them with Scots so that they make up the majority in Ulster. That's exactly what happened.

Edited June 29, 2012 by Bad_Daddy

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

Invade Ireland, murder and starve to death the people there and replace them with Scots so that they make up the majority in Ulster. That's exactly what happened.

That was a lovely follow up.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

That was a lovely follow up.

Seeing how you made the effort to post on this thread, do you know how the Scots ended up being the majority in Ulster? Do you think they went there on vacation and then decided to stay?

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

Seeing how you made the effort to post on this thread, do you know how the Scots ended up being the majority in Ulster? Do you think they went there on vacation and then decided to stay?

I do.

Do you know the legend of the Red Hand?

I'm sure you'd like to think my Protestant husband has steeped me in British Imperialism and forced me to mend Union Jacks while painting the curbs red, white and blue. Not so. Irish history goes back further than that.

[Captain Oates 911]

Invade Ireland, murder and starve to death the people there and replace them with Scots so that they make up the majority in Ulster. That's exactly what happened.

All that was hundreds of years ago while Americans were massacring Indians

You know we can't go back hundreds of years and if you knew anything of Ireland you would know that the Catholics carried out mass murders back then as did Cromwell's lot

This is 2012 and nobody wants ethnic cleansing or the north to be put under catholic law.

Its doing very well as it is and the last thing they need is hobby Irishmen from America stirring up old enmities

Edited June 29, 2012 by Ashud Cocoa

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

"hobby irishmen"

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

All that was hundreds of years ago while Americans were massacring Indians

You know we can't go back hundreds of years and if you knew anything of Ireland you would know that the Catholics carried out mass murders back then as did Cromwell's lot

This is 2012 and nobody wants ethnic cleansing or the north to be put under catholic law.

Its doing very well as it is and the last thing they need is hobby Irishmen from America stirring up old enmities

Who was in Ireland first? The Brits or the Irish? The only ones to commit ethnic cleansing in Ireland as far as I know were the Brits. Did Ireland invite the Brits to invade their country, commit genocide and then relocate a bunch of Scots into Ulster? If that's how it was then I missed that part in my history book.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

Who was in Ireland first?

The Vikings?