52 years

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expressman33
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52 years

Post by expressman33 » Sun Jan 30 2022 11:23am

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macliam
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Re: 52 years

Post by macliam » Sun Jan 30 2022 11:43am

jeez, you're not wrong.

I remember drinking in the pub with old boys who had fought in WW1 and some who'd come home, still fighting for independence. Those who'd fought in WW2 were ten a penny........

Today is 50 years since the Bloody Sunday massacre.... a lifetime. Lucky for us.
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Re: 52 years

Post by blythburgh » Mon Jan 31 2022 10:34am

macliam wrote:
Sun Jan 30 2022 11:43am

Today is 50 years since the Bloody Sunday massacre.... a lifetime. Lucky for us.
And still no justice for those affected. Soldiers fired and killed innocent people peacefully marching. Who gave the order to fire? Why have they not been brought to book?
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Re: 52 years

Post by macliam » Mon Jan 31 2022 11:00am

As the relatives said, even after an admission that those killed had done nothing wrong and that there was no justiification for the killing, even after an "apology", they cannot turn the page whilst there is no justice for their loved ones.

The "powers that be" tried and failed to blame the victims, tried and failed to suppress the facts, tried and failed to whitewash the events, but succeeded in delaying justice for 50 years. One spokesman has suggested that, if no individual can be brought to book, even posthumously, then the same fate should befall the Parachute regiment as happened to Wermacht units accused of War Crimes - it should be dissolved and all "Battle Honours|" removed.

A sad outcome for those who fought bravely in the past, but some measure of recognition for the failure of the regiment to honour the victims of this crime.
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Re: 52 years

Post by macliam » Sun Aug 07 2022 7:52pm

Today there was a parade to mark the 51st anniversary of the Ballymurphy massacre.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-62459483

This follows the eventual ruling, only last year, that the 10 people killed, by the same regiment later involved in Bloody Sunday, were entirely innocent of any wrongdoing.

Only in June was it announced that the families of some of those killed would receive damages.

At a time when there is pressure to drop the shutters on killings during the troubles, this shows why any "statute of limitations" is unjustified when questions have been left unanswered for decades..... or worse, subject to official cover-ups.
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Re: 52 years

Post by pabenny » Mon Aug 08 2022 10:57am

When should we say that Bloody Sunday and like incidents are something that should stay in the history books?

I don't have an answer to that.

But I do know that those who were alive in the early 1970s are becoming an ever smaller minority. There comes a point when continuing to dwell on past wrongs is not helpful for the future. We can and do honour those who died in world wars without continuing to pick at the wounds caused by the Nazis.
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Re: 52 years

Post by Richard Frost » Mon Aug 08 2022 11:43am

pabenny wrote:
Mon Aug 08 2022 10:57am
When should we say that Bloody Sunday and like incidents are something that should stay in the history books?

I don't have an answer to that.

But I do know that those who were alive in the early 1970s are becoming an ever smaller minority. There comes a point when continuing to dwell on past wrongs is not helpful for the future. We can and do honour those who died in world wars without continuing to pick at the wounds caused by the Nazis.
Your comparison is disingenuous, This was a deliberate cover up over years by those in power. It could have been put to bed many years ago if those in power had been honest.

In the same way that those who have had to live for years surviving the blood scandals have been subject to the deliberate and cynical cover up by dishonest politicians over many years. The books should not be closed until justice has been delivered and the answer is not just more enquiries. Honesty and openness is the only way.
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Re: 52 years

Post by pabenny » Mon Aug 08 2022 12:06pm

Notwithstanding cover-up and dishonesty (largely by people who I would imagine are now dead), the question stands: should we let this stay in the history books?
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Re: 52 years

Post by Richard Frost » Mon Aug 08 2022 12:10pm

pabenny wrote:
Mon Aug 08 2022 12:06pm
Notwithstanding cover-up and dishonesty (largely by people who I would imagine are now dead), the question stands: should we let this stay in the history books?
The answer IMO as above. Yes until settled.
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Re: 52 years

Post by macliam » Mon Aug 08 2022 3:51pm

The children of those killed at Ballymurphy not only lost a parent, but were then bullied at school when "the authorities" told the press that their parent was an IRA gunman, or had bullets in their pockets, or had been throwing petrol bombs. Witnesses cried as they described the way in which the bodies had been thrown on top of each other in the back of a Land Rover.

Some described how the soldiers chanted "Where's your Daddy gone?" from a popular song when they went looking for the missing. Some had to leave the area having been threatened. The recent enquiry found all of the claims about the victims to have been lies - but there are still similar situations elsewhere.... so are we suggesting that these wrongs by those who were supposed to protect the innocent go unchallenged?

Equally, there are the families of the "disappeared", who await confirmation of what happened and, perhaps, a return of the remains for burial. There are also those affected by the various bombings who want to know why things happened as they did and who was to blame.

Perhaps if it had been your parent, or your childhood you would feel different. Some of these people affected are younger than me..... the perpetrators may not be much older than me ...... why should we forget and ignore what was done?
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