You shouldn’t be casting judgement on something you know nothing about. End of story.
Trying to diminish The Troubles as both being as bad as each other is nonsensical. Those who grew up here realise what the RUC were like and those who grew up here know what that if there were lots of decent people in the RUC the culture of sectarianism, intimidation and violence against one community would never have been allowed fester.
You never had any experience of the RUC so it’s a bit rich to lecture other people who had on how they should regard them.
I took a man I know here, who served in the army and then in the RUC until retirement, to a Down game in Newry. He nearly had tears in his eyes when he saw the PSNI stopping traffic and letting pedestrians cross over to the ground from the cemetery side, with the occasional fan even saying thank you to the cop. He just couldn’t believe the PSNI were working at a GAA game, he was on a high from it for days after and telling everyone he knew.
If you really think it was the ordinary cops who were deliberately botching investigations or providing protection to psychopaths like the Jackal then you are very naiive. Of course there were horrible sectarian bastards in the RUC, and far more than any comparable force, but there were plenty of decent sorts as well. Using the type of language you have been using here to describe Unionists and all ex RUC men shows you to be an immature individual, you need to pull yourself together and start meeting more than like-minded sorts in your safe pub.
But isn’t that a bit pathetic? Doesn’t that tell you all you need to know about the RUC?
And TBH, if he’s that nice a guy, why did he get involved in such an organisation?
(I should say that I’m probably a little more on your side than the Italian’s here, I have “friends” in the PSNI, my family and I obviously have experience of the Troubles / UDR, no fucking shit he lacks maturity)
I’m not following your thinking here, what’s pathetic about it or what does it tell me about the RUC? It was unthinkable in his day because the nationalists would not have wanted the RUC at the ground, and it would have been unsafe for any RUC man to place himself there. He was just thrilled things had turned so much and so relatively quickly.
He is a very nice man. I’m not going to go into his background here or what role he had but I suspect he joined because he wanted to do some good for the community he came from, and there wasnt an alternative police force to join. I always laugh at those from the south who have an idealistic view of places like Crossmaglen that had no police force and all issues were sorted locally - lift the lid on Crossmaglen and it is one of the most dysfunctional parts of the country with absolutely appalling levels of domestic abuse.
If he’s good man what was he doing in the Army and RUC? If the Army and RUC had good men then how could such an abhorrent culture continue to exist?
As I said, you have zero real life experiences of these bastards, I had as had any northern nationalist and not many of them are fond ones.
You want to lecture on something you have no understanding of to people who have had real life experiences, it takes some level of arrogance to do that.
My life experiences showed me the RUC were seeing family members, threatened, abused and intimidated by RUC/UDR. Your life experiences are of sitting in a pub with nice RUC retiree. You never actually experienced the RUC, but for some reason have appointed you as an expert of how nice they were.
I’m thinking of going to Cross for Stephen’s night with the restrictions in Monaghan.
Anyway, the Wild West doesn’t come close to that place, at least the Wild West had a sheriff. Like fuck, what you’ve said there is the biggest understatement I’ve ever seen on TFK. I remember once there were some bad young lads, late teens / early 20s troublemakers, who ended up killing one of the town cats for a laugh. No police force obviously so the RA’s response was to shave these lads head and parade them through town centre one night, kicking the shit of them.
Fucking dysfunctional? Even in the like of Cullaville, big bruiser lads going around in wife-beater vests, looking like rugby hookers except obviously there’s no rugby, and some little wife or little toddler daughter coming behind with a big black eye and everyone looking to the ground embarrassed to even see it.
Coming from a sad little junkie from some shithole in Tipp who has to create a fictional wife and child to try and impress people on an internet forum - I find that a bit rich.
Crossmaglen has some of the nicest, most decent people you will ever meet. However everything you say there is true, and that’s only scratching the surface. There are absolute scumbags in the place that have everyone there living in fear, and love nothing better than beating the shit out of easy targets whether it be a teenager or their wife. I suppose its a bit like the RUC in some ways!
Most of the social issues around South Armagh culminated with the fall of the Provos.
The Provos would regularly get lambasted for kneecappings and such but they instill some law and order in the place, place has went to fuck with joyriders and louts since then.
A very important thing to say about Crossmaglen is the area was still Gaelic speaking whenever partition came in. It would be a bit like taking Dingle now and putting it into Northern Ireland - like what would you expect to happen?
In that regard the whole thing is a fascinating social experiment. For example, on the subject of (minor enough) sex abuse scandals by the IRA in Belfast, rather than viewing that as a case of “The IRA are so evil” I think the right way to view all that is as a lesson in what happens when a community tries to exist without a police force and without “institutions of justice” (eg courts and prisons). It should be viewed as just an examination of human nature (which is basically the same everywhere) and why such institutions are necessary.
I misunderstood this, I assumed that the RUC wouldn’t police a football match. (Well they attacked enough Catholic churches and football stadiums anyway.)
You can say that the RUC/BA terrorised the nationalist community and that will shape the views and opinions of the people who were at the receiving end of that.
Would a decent person want to be employed by a police force that routinely lined up Catholic civilians for murder, harassed, intimidated and threatened people because of their religion, surname, political identity or who botched or obstructed investigations because they did not want justice to be served.
The RUC were disbanded due to the sectarian and abhorrent things they did to one section of the community. A culture doesn’t exist in a force like that if there are loads of good people in it.
A good man does not stand idly by. Maybe that’s a thing you cowardly free staters share in common with those nice RUC men, doing nothing in the face of naked sectarianism.
There you are tarring all of us as cowardly free staters, and you know nothing about us. Go out and have a few pints for yourself and chill out.
Do you think everyone who joined the Gardai are corrupt, or all priests are paedo deniers? I take it you go to mass? Why don’t you stop going to mass?
As a church going Catholic you would be appalled if someone said a culture of child sex abuse doesn’t exist in an institution like that if there are loads of good people in it. That is clearly complete bullshit about the many great priests, just as it is about decent RUC men.
I did say that the RUC were scum and it’s fine for an outsider like you to say you know a nice former RUC officer but you didn’t experience their violence and sectarianism so ergo you don’t know what you’re talking about ergo you shouldn’t be lecturing on things you don’t have experience of.
You’re cowardly free staters if you feel the need to get haughty and lecture others about the actuality of a life you never experienced.
Did you ever have a gun pointed pointed to your face by a police officer for being a Catholic, got the lard kicked out of your for being one, had your life threatened for your religion or political ideology? That’s the reality catholics in the north faced on a daily basis so I don’t think you’re in any position to lecture them on how they feel about RUC officers.
