Saturday, November 05, 2005
Anti-Irish News Letter taints moment
I was very disappointed to read this editorial from the News Letter as they have taken a very noble and decent gesture made by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern on Thursday, which I posted on here, and they have effectively pissed all over it with what I consider to be a diabolical, anti-Irish diatribe. Permit me to take some excerpts from the piece.
"There are a great many people in Northern Ireland with family connections to the First World War who would vehemently disagree with the political philosophy of Bertie Ahern and the tragic legacy of militant republicanism which his party inherited in the 1920s."
Actually the republicanism of Mr Ahern's party wasn't militant but there are a great many people in Ireland who would 'vehemently disagree' that militant republcianism was 'tragic'. I'm sure they would say that the militant actions of the British were truly 'tragic' such as how the soldiers of the 2nd/6th South Stafforshire Regiment killed no less than fifteen civilians while the Rising took place. Civilians bayoneted in cold blood despite their pleas!
"Indeed, later during the Second World War, when the then Irish premier Eamon de Valera was closing the Republic's ports to British ships and fostering a cosy relationship with Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime in Germany, the southern Irish recruitment to the uniform of the Crown was quite pronounced."
This old horseshit again. It's disgraceful that a newspaper can come out with such historically inaccurate and insulting phrases about Eamon de Valera 'fostering a cosy relationship with Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime'. De Valera was NOT sympathetic towards Hitler or the Nazis. The 'condolences' he sent to Hitler were as a mark of respect to Edouard Hempel, the German ambassador to Ireland, who had respected Ireland's neutral stance throughout the war.
As John Bowman states in 'De Valera and the Ulster Question 1917-73':
"With the news of Hitler's death on 30 April 1945 de Valera insisted - ignoring his closest advisers - on expressing his sympathy to Hempel (Hempel was German ambassador to Ireland). He believed Hempel's conduct throughout the war to have been 'irreproachable' and he believed it would have been 'an act of unpardonable discourtesy' not to have called. He was aware of the inevitable propaganda, telling Hempel:'No matter. I do what I think is right.' Maffey, (Sir John Maffey was Britain's representative in Ireland)...believed that de Valera's condolences to Hempel, particularly as they had been followed by the revelations of Buchenwald, 'gradually took on a smear of turpitude'."
This article, courtesy of the Guardian, also contains interesting reading:
"Sir John (Maffey), however, observed in 1940: "I dined with [de Valera] and he expressed the strongest anti-German and anti-Russian sentiments and deeply regretted our inability to help Finland."
God forbid the News Letter actually CHECK THE FACTS. We wouldn't want to destroy their MYTHICAL view on Irish history now would we? The News Letter weren't done though:
"Bertie Ahern's visit to the Somme Museum was a welcome break from the "Ourselves Alone" mindset and anti-British rhetoric which marred Anglo-Irish and Ulster-Eire relations in the the 20th century."
Of course "Ulster will fight and Ulster will be right" did absolutely no harm to Anglo-Irish and Ulster-Eire relations, isn't that right?! "Ourseves alone" referred to Irish self-sufficiency by the way. Nothing shameful about that.
"There is no contradiction in people of all creeds and classes in Ireland marking the "shared history" of our war veterans."
Indeed there isn't - until of course you start writing the most heinous, inflammatory anti-Irish guff that many of us have read in a long time!
Shame on the News Letter. If you want to take issue with the idiocy of this newspaper and their facts (cough) then you can contact them here.
Believe it or not but the News Letter claim to be 'The pride of Northern Ireland'. Apparently they are making NI proud by talking absolute rubbish!
One thing's for sure - they're not the pride of NI's education system!
"There are a great many people in Northern Ireland with family connections to the First World War who would vehemently disagree with the political philosophy of Bertie Ahern and the tragic legacy of militant republicanism which his party inherited in the 1920s."
Actually the republicanism of Mr Ahern's party wasn't militant but there are a great many people in Ireland who would 'vehemently disagree' that militant republcianism was 'tragic'. I'm sure they would say that the militant actions of the British were truly 'tragic' such as how the soldiers of the 2nd/6th South Stafforshire Regiment killed no less than fifteen civilians while the Rising took place. Civilians bayoneted in cold blood despite their pleas!
"Indeed, later during the Second World War, when the then Irish premier Eamon de Valera was closing the Republic's ports to British ships and fostering a cosy relationship with Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime in Germany, the southern Irish recruitment to the uniform of the Crown was quite pronounced."
This old horseshit again. It's disgraceful that a newspaper can come out with such historically inaccurate and insulting phrases about Eamon de Valera 'fostering a cosy relationship with Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime'. De Valera was NOT sympathetic towards Hitler or the Nazis. The 'condolences' he sent to Hitler were as a mark of respect to Edouard Hempel, the German ambassador to Ireland, who had respected Ireland's neutral stance throughout the war.
As John Bowman states in 'De Valera and the Ulster Question 1917-73':
"With the news of Hitler's death on 30 April 1945 de Valera insisted - ignoring his closest advisers - on expressing his sympathy to Hempel (Hempel was German ambassador to Ireland). He believed Hempel's conduct throughout the war to have been 'irreproachable' and he believed it would have been 'an act of unpardonable discourtesy' not to have called. He was aware of the inevitable propaganda, telling Hempel:'No matter. I do what I think is right.' Maffey, (Sir John Maffey was Britain's representative in Ireland)...believed that de Valera's condolences to Hempel, particularly as they had been followed by the revelations of Buchenwald, 'gradually took on a smear of turpitude'."
This article, courtesy of the Guardian, also contains interesting reading:
"Sir John (Maffey), however, observed in 1940: "I dined with [de Valera] and he expressed the strongest anti-German and anti-Russian sentiments and deeply regretted our inability to help Finland."
God forbid the News Letter actually CHECK THE FACTS. We wouldn't want to destroy their MYTHICAL view on Irish history now would we? The News Letter weren't done though:
"Bertie Ahern's visit to the Somme Museum was a welcome break from the "Ourselves Alone" mindset and anti-British rhetoric which marred Anglo-Irish and Ulster-Eire relations in the the 20th century."
Of course "Ulster will fight and Ulster will be right" did absolutely no harm to Anglo-Irish and Ulster-Eire relations, isn't that right?! "Ourseves alone" referred to Irish self-sufficiency by the way. Nothing shameful about that.
"There is no contradiction in people of all creeds and classes in Ireland marking the "shared history" of our war veterans."
Indeed there isn't - until of course you start writing the most heinous, inflammatory anti-Irish guff that many of us have read in a long time!
Shame on the News Letter. If you want to take issue with the idiocy of this newspaper and their facts (cough) then you can contact them here.
Believe it or not but the News Letter claim to be 'The pride of Northern Ireland'. Apparently they are making NI proud by talking absolute rubbish!
One thing's for sure - they're not the pride of NI's education system!
# posted by United Irelander @ 1:07 AM 
© 2008 United Irelander.
