There’s a bigger picture ye’re ignoring
It’s not the kids,it’s not whomever laid what wreath when or where,
It’s the whole environment of apathy that makes up deprived working class areas of the 6 counties
Both loyalist and nationalist
You seriously think those on both sides give a fuck about what free state ppl think?
This will happen again in August,
Etc etc
Ordinary ppl can’t change it .
Only government.
And of course there’s no working government out of Stormont for yrs.
Meanwhile funded 'advice centres ’
On both sides keep the chaps in beer money and a little leftover.
There’no appetite for change,
Same ppls kids grandkids are doing exactly what has been done for generations.
Lack of real employment and hope keeps the pot bubbling.
What happened Lyra also happened to the plastic gun victims, bloody Sunday,La Mon,Darkley hall etc etc
And unfortunately it’ll happen again.
Disenfranchised youth will always hit back at authority,cops know this end of.
Witnessed it first hand for yrs.
Not a cop in sight until the clubs m pubs enpty- then bingo.
Each and every Fri,sat and Sunday night in Waterloo place/ strand road, harass harassment harass,
PSNI/RUC no difference.
Like it or lump it
That’s life
Be it on sandy row,or central drive,Ardoyne
State stirs the pot
And Paddy and Cecil keep jumping in.
This time next year it’ll be no different.
UDA selling drugs openly.
Gangs of up to 60 loyalist thugs terrorising large parts of loyalist ulster, what happens?
Nada
I
This was true in the 60s and 70s. Its not true now and we shouldn’t be hiding behind victimhood. In the 1970s these lads would have had little chance of employment and virtually no chance of a house, the police were nakedly sectarian, political representation was thwarted and Catholic schools received half the funding of their protestant counterparts. Now the police are generally doing their best and are genuinely eager for nationalists to join, the schools in the bogside receive as much if not more per pupil than any grammar school in the north, political representation is there for the asking and there are jobs and houses for anyone with or without qualifications.
Any adult throwing a petrol bomb at a police man should be charged with attempted murder.
I wasn’t specifically referring to him
It’s just ain’t going to change any time soon
Ppl can huff n puff
,Tut tut,stamp their feet
It matters notba whit
Won’t change until money jobs n prospects are pumped in
It doesn’t matter how u look at it
Facts r fact’s
N west has some of the highest unemployment black spots in Europe
That breeds fear, disconnected ppl, low education goals,less prospects
Very few of that real ira saoradh outfit want to be anything other than unemployed, an honest day’s work would terrify them. They have absolutely no mandate for violence and it’s perfectly obvious that an occasional outbreak of thuggery is all they can amount to.
This is a difficult thought to articulate without coming across as defending the indefensible but it’s important nonetheless that justice is measured and not reactionary.
Firstly, there is no doubt that the optics are awful for anyone who has an interest in the peace process or in respecting victims. The organisers and the guy himself aren’t winning admirers with that move. But that’s not a concern of those involved and not a criminal offence.
Secondly, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that this chap had nothing to do with the killing. The security services in the six counties (and the 26) have been wrong many times before. There is a presumption of innocence which remains - even as unpalatable as the wreath laying may be for the vast majority of people.
Thirdly, the case against him so far seems far short of water tight. Perhaps there is more to it than I’ve read but it seems like he was seen on CCTV at the Saoradh office on the day in question. And the prosecution then allege he punched the air when a shot was fired based on apparently grainy images. And that’s it? It doesn’t seem a very strong case for a murder conviction.
None of which is to say that this guy is a role model. He doesn’t seem like a progressive type of chap. But we can’t lock people up and deny their rights based on the scale of the crime they’re accused of. It must be proportionate instead to the scale of their guilt for that crime.