N. Ireland Marks the 10th Anniversary of the Omagh Bombing
CorporateWhore
Posts: 1,890
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iGb5eoQGkk1IIk6RHZK1e2Z0LP4A
Signs that the republican cause remains popular in N. Ireland?
But in an indication of the strong emotions still stirred by the attack, some relatives vowed to boycott the ceremony due to a dispute over the wording of the memorial.
And the lingering tensions between communities were also underlined by anti-Protestant graffiti found daubed overnight on five rural halls run by the Protestant Orange Order fraternity in the British province.
Signs that the republican cause remains popular in N. Ireland?
All I know is that to see, and not to speak, would be the great betrayal.
-Enoch Powell
-Enoch Powell
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
Republicanism is still popular with regards to Sinn Féin - and hence graffiti etc. is to be expected, IRA graffiti is common enough in in Dublin - but dissident republicans have very little support. Any they do have is concentrated in pockets places like Derry, Belfast, and North Tyrone. The one thing a guerilla group needs more than anything (and something the Provisional IRA had) is local support, and the Real IRA are not widely supported.
I'm too young to remember the worst of the Troubles, but the Omagh bomb is something I remember very clearly. I remember the minute silence (possibly the Sunday after it, or else sometime in the following week) because I was at a mass and they held the minute's silence outside. The cars driving by pulled in on the path and stopped for the minute. It was surreal.
If there can be a positive out of something like Omagh, it's that it destroyed the Real IRA. After the Good Friday Agreement, there was a lot of mixed membership between Provisional IRA and Real IRA (hence how they got the capability to do something liek the Omagh bomb). Once the bomb went off and the devastation became apparent, a lot of IRA supporters went off violence. It also spurred the British and Irish governments to pretty much cripple the Real IRA.
I've heard a few news stories of some RIRA leaders getting arrested in the process of trying to purchase weapons in Eastern Europe.
I've also heard that some of these paramilitary groups have taken to crime and drugs because funding has dried up elsewhere.
What confuses me is this: why would the RIRA target civilians? Why wouldn't they attack a British military target, if they were opposed to British rule of N. Ireland?
There is no better way to become isolated than to target civilians. It seems to me, as the IRA began to target military less and less, they became less and less popular.
-Enoch Powell
They claimed the Omagh bomb was intended to be closer to the Omagh courthouse, and that they attacked towns to try cripple NI infrastructure....i remember that from the time.....although i still cant see any logic in it. The did try bomb a few military targets but never caused major damage and/or usually the bombs were found before going off. (they did bomb a barracks somewhere in Derry i think, but didnt hurt anyone)
As for the drugs issue; theres a lot of talk that the IRA is one of the main drugs sellers around Dublin, and there was a spell around 2000 where over 50 people were gunned down in gangland killings...all related to drugs deals. But until then Dublin gangs werent renowned for such high numbers of murders....so many started suspecting the involvement of a more "professional" and serious group.
I dont know the exact details obviously, but thats the gist of what ive heard. (workin in an area with huge drugs problems). The thing is that its not widely known if these guys are former Provos, or Real IRA, or even if its definitely going under the umbrella of the IRA.
Nah. Your not imagining it.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20000922/ai_n14342295
I think their main target at the moment is Catholic police officers, because they know that if the police become trusted by nationalists, the less inclined nationalists will be to turn against them.
The Real IRA are riddled with informers at the moment. They couldn't sneeze without the PSNI or Gardaí knowing. Hence why anything large scale they try to do - bombs, or arms deals - gets found out, and only individuals operating (ie, shooting police officers) happens.
The PIRA didn't deal drugs. They were murderes and bastards, but not drug dealers. The INLA (Irish National Liberation Army), which was big in the 80s, is mostly involved in drug dealing now. I haven't heard of them being involved in anything to do with fighting the British Army. They're essentially drug dealers around Dublin.
Are the PIRA inactive now? they ceased the armed campaign i know, but is there any other activities still going on under that name?
Not that I've heard of. I think the last IMC report said there still is an Army Council and they keep a small number of guns, but they're not capable of mounting any kind of attack. I would say a few former members fell into crime (of the non-terrorist variety), for example the Paul Quinn murder.