The suspect bomb in London.... but this comment really annoyed me. It feels vaguely racist and yet I am not sure it is..

[BreeVanDerCamp]

All options, including the Irish, are open at this stage," said the source.

Right up there with the weather lady on GMTV this morning who pointed to the bands of rain and said, 'But it's okay because it's moving up to Scotland at the weekend'.

I'm with you, though.

Of course, if you point out that you're even the teensiest offended by such you get told to chill out, stop taking things seriously, etc.

My test is always this: take out 'Irish' 'Scottish' or 'Welsh' and insert 'Indian' 'Pakistani' or 'black'.

If it sounds offensive then, that's because it is.

Thanks EPIS, thats what I was thinking.

why could they not just say ''all options''?
Very odd, at best.

Whoever he was it appears to have escaped his notice, that there has been an outbreak of peace in Nothern Ireland.

Gerry Adams Martin Mc Guinness and Ian Paisley are all sitting down around the one table.

So why the fu** would they need to be considered?

Even worse when they say scotch!
Visions of driving past Gretna and being unable to move for bottles of whiskey wandering around!

They should have said Irish Paramilitaries if anything.

slightly depends on context. if it was talking about causes or contexts or issues then it's ok, if it was talking about suspects - ie people - then yes I agree with you.

well ok apart from the point Bree makes in that it seems pretty unlkely!

The whole article is here

It is offensive.

you;'re right - it's ill-thought out and does indeed sound racist

I wondered if I was just being sensitive but it would appear not.

I wasn't going to say anything about your spelling, just in case you are Irish and will blow me up.

Or would that be a one size fits all attitude.

It is offensive as it refers to a race - rather than to "paramilitary groups based in Ireland". The wording Implies "the Irish" are potential terrorists.

I'm old enough to remember anti Irish racism in the 1970s/80s and all the draconian legislation such as exclusion orders and Section 21.

It's offensive and shows why the mainstream media will never be trusted fully. They are all lazy and stuck in their ideas.

Just read the article and yes, it does sound offensive. It's the collective terminology that's the problem.

LGJ waves to HappyDaddy. Where ya bin ?

Well at least to be fair they headed that guys comments with "no intelligence"....

Iam sorry to say ( well not really ) that I am always a bit about these 'terroism experts' and their 'sources'. All bloody speculation and scaremongering .

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Cod you are incorrigible.

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So has he ever worked in terrorism or has he just read alot of books about it

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