Ireland - wearing black armbands for a game near October 7th?

[mids2019]

So the Irish football team thought it would be some sort of protest to wear black armbands for their recent mat h against Israel and guess what strangely the Israeli team wore black armbands for the victims of the worst terrorist atrocity in their country. So the Irish were left wearing black armbands for victims of the Israeli Gaza conflict but I guess not the victims of October 7th? No wonder the Israeli players were pissed. Ireland then dress and threw the dummy out the pram by saying they shouldn't be playing Israel again......pretty pathetic.

You can also see how for countries like Ireland October 7th is being erased from history as when they went for their black armband protest they probably very stupidly forgot about the proximity of a day of Israeli national mourning.

Sinn Fein is an Irish Republican Party and it has increased its support in the South so there is a degree of overlap.
Similarly Kneecap has support from people in the south and people seem to find their use of terrorist language and symbolism amusing and satirical. I don’t. I think it’s glorifying a dark period from the past .

That said , I do agree the north ( particularly urban areas) are very different from the rural south .
I don’t believe many Irish people support violence. ( anymore than in the UK)
But extremism is increasing everywhere and Ireland is no exception.

Sinn Fein is an Irish Republican Party and it has increased its support in the South so there is a degree of overlap.

Not really. Sinn Fein in the South are very popular among working class people and young people who don't link them to the Sinn Fein of Gerry Adams. They are very much a grassroots party and at local level work tirelessly to improve their local communities. At national level however they will always struggle to get into government because no major party will go into coalition with them and there is a huge number of people, like myself, that would never vote for them because of their links to terrorism despite their efforts to distance themselves from this part of their past.
They are however losing support from their traditional working class voters because of their refusal to hop on the anti immigration bandwagon which is about the only thing I can respect them for.

Similarly Kneecap has support from people in the south and people seem to find their use of terrorist language and symbolism amusing and satirical.
Kneecap have support and appeal to young people the world over, it's not particularly unique to Ireland.

But extremism is increasing everywhere and Ireland is no exception
Of course it's not.

Sinn Fein is an Irish Republican Party and it has increased its support in the South

Not because it’s a republican party though @OpheliaWasntMad, that’s important to note.

Sinn Féin’s increased support doesn’t have anything to do with a disneyfication of what happened in the north. If anything it’s because Sinn Fein have managed to distance themselves from the IRA over the years and now spend most of their time (in the South) talking about housing and cost of living rather than a united ireland.

I think you are right about kneecap though. I don’t think songs such as Get your Brits out (which is a mythical night out with the DUP) can be seen as anything but satire. Terrorist symbolism isn’t in the past either in the North. It simmers and boils over at times.

You’re commenting on things you know absolutely nothing about. The North and the South, both rural and urban are different to each other. Obviously, the people living there have completely different experiences.

Counties bordering the north are not so different to the county on the other side in my experience.
But people have different experiences

Also there is rising extremism in Ireland, primarily our new Far Right. This is based around anti immigration sentiments, people proclaiming themselves to be Irish patriots: ironically the movement has an alliance with N.I loyalist groups and British far right groups.

These people are completely different people to those who protest on human rights issues such as Gaza.

They can feel the same as a visitor, I mean you don’t feel like you crossed a border at all. But it is a different experience to be Irish living in the Republic of Ireland to being Irish living in the north. I say this as someone who was raised in a border county… was a different time then of course.

Yes - I agree very different in terms of state run institutions and practices but culturally not so different in my experience. But I totally accept your experience is much greater .

Yes - I’m sure that’s true. But things are becoming polarised at both ends of the spectrum in every country. Some ( a minority I’m sure) of the pro Pal protesters are making life difficult or uncomfortable for Irish Jews . There is extremism on both ends . Not just far right . I regard Kneecap’s “kill a Tory” rhetoric an example of that.

Anyway. Thank you for explaining your position. I do understand it. I accept you know Ireland much better than I do. But that shouldn’t mean I can’t comment on what I hear or see. Equally it’s fine for you to tell me I’m wrong 🤷‍♀️

Thank you. I actually got a few messages, and on one of our Jewish Irish groups everyone was sharing kind messages they got from non Jewish friends yesterday.

There are lots of lovely Irish people. And I can't really blame some of them for believing the same old lies said over and over and over again on the media.

On the bright side...I feel safer in Ireland then I do in bigger Jewish communities so no worries, the Irish certainly don't have a monopoly on antisemitism.

There are other left wing parties, why do SF seem to be more popular than them if its not because of their republicanism? Currently SF have as many TDs as FG.

The kill a Tory rhetoric is nothing new for working class lads who grew up in a nationalist area, That’s not new. Neither is Irish support for Palestinians. And the way the support is expressed in the north (by a minority of people) glorifies terrorism. And we don’t see this type of support in the south.

Because they had a foothold already in Irish politics: because labour lost a lot of support after their disastrous coalition during the bust. They have really good outreach work in working class communities. I currently live in a disadvantaged area in Dublin and I’m involved in a lot of community things. I have a lot of respect for the SF people in the area who do a lot of, on the ground, work regarding community facilities, housing, anti racism….. very typical lefty type things.

It’s honestly bizarre that you think that it’s because of their republicanism. It’s because they stopped banging on about republicanism as their only topic. Read any analysis of the situation for that one. I think at the moment although people want a united ireland in theory that the south would be wary of what that means in reality.

Agree. They made a clear strategic decision when Mary Lou became party leader to move away from their aggressive Republican stance and have worked hard at becoming a legitimate political party distancing themselves from their past. This has been years in the making and the majority of people that vote for sinn fein today do so because of their policies on housing, cost of living etc and they are actually very good in opposition a thorn in the side of the bigger parties. Soc Dems biting at their heels though for the political space they occupy.

Yeah my 19 year old is a fan of Sinn Féin because of the housing crisis which is obviously one of the biggest concerns of him and his friends. They believe that we need a change to the status quo, keep voting for FG and FF and keep getting the same.

He was born a decade after the Good Friday agreement, we live 4+ hours away from NI, NI doesn't factor into his thinking when it comes to voting at all. He is more concerned about being able to get a job after college that pays well enough for him to be able to leave home and live a reasonably good life here in Ireland. It's the same with his friends none of them want to feel like they have no choice but to emigrate in order to live a good life and Sinn Féin talks the talk when it comes to that.

Good post

Yes, Mary Lou seems to have been a good choice for SF.

I have strong opinions on the housing crisis too, and transport. (Don't get me started on the ridiculous archaic payment system for public transport) Ireland seems to be plagued with mediocre leadership. :( Maybe I should start my own political party. No Jewish person that I know feels represented by any party here.

I've noticed a lot of Irish people (in middle class Dublin anyway) seem pretty indifferent to the North and a United Ireland.

A United Ireland won’t be accepted by ROI unless it can happen peacefully, and that looks like a very long way away. That’s before you even get to fears about how it would impact the economy.

I’m in the south (not Dublin) and while the NI situation hasn’t affected how I think about Gaza, I would not say I’m indifferent to it. But I think that could be an age thing (I’m mid 50s) as I remember the Troubles and my kids don’t. I don’t vote Sinn Fein, still don’t trust them and that’s not unusual in my age group.
The rise in their popularity among younger voters is definitely for reasons other than republicanism though.

I do think those in ROI care far more about NI than those in GB.

'I do think those in ROI care far more about NI than those in GB'
You're right. I'd imagine most in GB support a unified Ireland.

I doubt it will happen any time soon @Gloriia.

Most people in the UK would be more than willing to support a United Ireland in my opinion.
In contrast many people in the south I know have serious concerns about the repercussions of a United Ireland and aren’t as keen.

The decision regarding a UI is up to those in NI and ROI as per the GFA.
I’m sure those in GB would support it but that doesn’t make much difference really.

Yes - obviously I know that.

It’s just ironic ( especially given all the Kneecap rhetoric etc) that while most people in Britain would be happy to say goodbye to NI , it’s the South that doesn’t really want it and will resist it happening.