Journalist shot dead in Derry

[Chocolatepeanuts]

I cant see another post about this. 29 year old Lyra McKee shot dead when dissident republicans fire at police during riots. 21 years since the Good Friday agreement. Im frightened for our wee country and my children's futures.

Another family devastated .

www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-northern-ireland-47985469

I knew Lyra. Not well but I was lucky to socialise with her on a few occasions.

Such a talented young woman. Can not get over this today. Real loss to journalism and activism in Northern Ireland.

That never gets mentioned in the news yet stabbings in London attract so much media attention.

Doesn’t surprise me. I couldn’t believe how ignorant my English husband was of the north/the British army’s acts of terrorism, the UVF, etc etc.

English media was pure propaganda. He was genuinely horrified to learn the history.

At least he educated himself before discussing the issue...👀👀👀

Sorry but you don't have to be from Norther Ireland to know it's wrong to murder an innocent civilian.
And no I'm not from NI but our neighbour was murdered by the IRA while serving with the Army in Germany. He was 19. He wasn't even on duty (as if it would then be ok). So I don't give a shit about your 'nuances'.

A terrorist is someone who uses violence for political objectives. So murdering a journalist seems to fit that definition.

how do you tell someone they’re thick as shit without getting deleted?

@IvanaPee I really don't give a shit about your opinion of me so fire away. I honestly despair knowing that people like you live in the same country as me.

ASAS The Stacey Dooley documentary actually proves my earlier point about certain people being put in positions of responsibility in society that they shouldn't have, eg one of the staff members (possibly director) of Community Restorative Justice is a man responsible and jailed for the murder of 2 British soldiers at an IRA funeral in Andersonstown in 1988.
IvanaPee I assumed the excusing terrorism remark was aimed at a post made by Breaker earlier in the thread. Although I do think the freedom fighter quote is a load of bollocks regardless of which country you apply it to.
MissEliza In terms of fighting by voting - that is another anomaly in NI. A lot of people vote strategically, eg vote DUP so SF can't gain a seat and vice versa. Many people do not agree with the policies/tactics employed by the DUP or SF but they vote for them anyway because they see a vote for the SDLP or Alliance as a wasted vote. Crazy but true.

Solitude I understand what you're saying. I think my point was rather that you can talk about freedom fighters rather than terrorists in countries where people have no access to basic democratic rights. You could perhaps argue this was the case in NI at one point. That's not the case in 2019.
I was quite impressed by the words of the Sinn Fein spokeswoman I saw on the news. I hope she is representative of her supporters.

Oh freedom fighter my hole. This is 2019 not 1919.The people who did this aren't an oppressed minority, they are vicious little thugs. Just as much as the vicious little thugs "protecting the community" on the other side. Running drugs and prostitutes more like.

To be clear: I am not saying that the dissidents from last night are freedom fighters.

I’m saying that the role the IRA played in the troubles was that of freedom fighter to many, many people. And that doesn’t just go away. It is an intrinsic part of the nationalist psyche.

To many people there will be no end to the fight for Irish freedom. Freedom to them is a 32 county United Ireland and nothing else.

Dreadful, devastating for her family

MissEliza I would love to believe anything that comes out of the mouths of any NI politician but I find it very hard to do so. If they meant what they said (regardless of which religion they are) they would be back in Stormont doing what they are paid to do. My children attend a school which received extensive funding for an extension to provide Sixth Form education - the extension was built, decorated, etc but Stormont fell apart and the building is now sitting empty because there is no one to allocate/authorise the next lot of funding for the staff etc. The money has been allocated, it just can't currently be accessed. One of my children was looking forward to doing A levels there but instead has to travel to a college in the next town. The list of similar examples is endless.

It is just awful. She sounded like an amazing woman.

IvanaPee

There is a serious problem with organised crime in NI, it has little to do with the reunification of Ireland, which I think many people are finally seeing.

I’m all too aware of the problem of organized crime in NI.

But it’s naive to ignore the history and politics around this.

And thanks to Chocolatepeanuts and SolitudeIsGreat for sharing you stories, it’s a massive cliche- but the more people are told the more people will know.

Ivana thank you for clarifying. I can appreciate what you're saying. It's not quite on the same level but I was brought up in Glasgow and it amazes me how many people still have the Protestant v Catholic thing wired in their brains.

IvanaPee I would be very surprised if most of the people "fighting" (and that covers all sides, for want of a better expression) could actually tell you anything historically accurate about the history of their fight.

I wish we could rename this thread

"Hey Brexiteers, the IRA are back - happy now you numpties!"

@MissEliza I should have been clearer in the first place.

It’s not too dissimilar to the Celtic Rangers thing, silly as that sounds.

All I know for sure is that people on both sides of the border despaired of what happened last night.

Not just for poor Lyra but the memories it brought back were genuinely horrifying. It’s a road we just cannot go down again!

I would be very surprised if most of the people "fighting" (and that covers all sides, for want of a better expression) could actually tell you anything historically accurate about the history of their fight.

As would I! But that’s part of the issue, I’m sure you’d agree. A real education would mean seeing both sides, learning the POV of both. That doesn’t tend to happen with extremists.

IvanaPee

No one is ignoring the history and politics around NI, what people are saying is that there is a far bigger picture than what is often presented as ‘Republican vs Unionists’.

If you took the green/orange divide out of the picture do you think the violence and crime would stop?

I do think if you've been brought up in Glasgow you'll probably find it easier to grasp how people hold on to hatred and division than people from the rest of the country. I feel all the bitterness is just self destructive really. I also believe NI has massive potential and decades have been wasted with this.