BBC Today programme very keen to paint the notion that the past few nights of Republican thuggery on the streets of Northern Ireland are in some way linked to “contentious” Orange Order Parades. This is so outrageous that I thought I might set the record straight. In most instances, the violence is taking part in IRA controlled heartlands and those terrorists firing at police officers are out to KILL them. The reason why the BBC plays the establish game is that to delve too deeply into these riots might expose the rancid appeasement that lies at the heart of the “peace process.” It’s a little tricky to spin the line that violence does not pay whilst IRA godfather Martin McGuinness sits in high office and the scum on the streets of Northern Ireland are merely following the template provided for them. Odd how the BBC chooses not to investigate that line of thought. Instead, it chooses who is interviewed very carefully and the impression that this is a little local difficulty is conveyed so the lotus-eaters here can keep on dreaming…
SANITISATION OF RECREATIONAL RIOTING
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From what I’ve been able to glean from the low key BBC reports it appears that we have had two nights of extensive rioting in the Catholic areas, the police have been fired on with shotguns and petrol bombed, and at least four of them injured.
Levels of violence such as this have been ocurring on the Israeli-Palestinian borders for decades and yet the BBC still manages to run regular reports on this foreign conflict. Why hasn’t this rioting within our own country been the lead story on the BBC, at least up until this morning when it seems they are giving it a bit more coverage?
There may be official bodies that monitor (poorly) the balance of BBC news output, but are there any bodies that can pull them up over stories they choose to ignore for political reasons? I think not.
So the “peace process” is just another failed cock up, as we all knew it would be. It has never existed except in the twisted little minds of MPs. So who is surprised?
Now , remind me , what happened to “de-commissioning” ?
“…Now , remind me , what happened to “de-commissioning” ?…”
Well, some nice IRA men said, “Look, here are our weapons (or at least, a selection of them), see how we destroy them and/or render them inoperable before your very eyes” whilst secreting the vast majority (in good working order) in a stash somewhere handy for later retrieval and use. Then they said ” Now we are a bona-fide part of the ‘peace process’, and here are a couple of our decommissioned terrorists (messrs McGuiness and Adams) who you can have as token Westminster MPs as a sign of our, cough, goodwill. They won’t necessarily be attending any sittings, though – you can’t have it all – oh, and thanks for releasing all our ‘innocent’ mates”.
Natsman,
Now why am I not surprised ? !
Isn’t the violence “disproportionate”?
Roland,
I watched some film clips of it today and was amazed at the restraint of the NI police.
If it was the orange men rioting, boy would you see a totaly different attitude from the BBC. It has taken side yet again.
Johnny,
On “The Daily Politics” today, even with Andrew Neil present, the point that lovely , pouting Jo Coburn was pushing was that it was young people on both sides who were rioting ? Eh ?
I thought everyone was going to be friends now after the Bloody Sunday inquiry. The BBC told me that justice had been served and everyone just wanted to move on now and have a peaceful joint-government. Those shootings the other day were supposed to be an abberation perpetrated by loners with no connection whatsoever to Sinn Fein and just wanted to destabilize things, which Sinn Fein certainly do not.
Every time there’s a shooting or some kind of PIRA or whatever incident, the BBC reassures me that these are lone acts, just a tiny, miniscule subset of totally independent criminals, not related to the old IRA or today’s Sinn Fein (which are the same thing when they’re at home, but never mind). That protesting crowd yesterday sure didn’t look like a tiny, isolated portion of the population to me. Has the BBC been lying to me all along about the situation in Northern Ireland?
BBC certainties and prejudices:
Republicanism good except for US republicanism which is very very bad.
Appeasement very good and to be the first wepaon of choice when dealing with BBC approved ‘freedom fighters’.
Moral equivolence where the terrorists are at the equal of western states.
Loyalism very bad, loyalists getting murdered was just bad people getting what was coming to them IF it was reported at all it consisted of ‘dead loyalists got what was coming to them’ style of reportage.
The NI peace process was actually a surrender by the UK state, a surrender that snatched defeat from the the jaws of a victory, a victory won with the blood and sacrifice of thousands of loyal UK patriots whose memory was spat upon and derided and insulted by the appeaser state when it became convenient for the traitor state to so do.
After years of difficult warfare made more difficult every year by the imposition of impossible tactical and strategic restrictions on troops and police the security services had the PIRA/INLA by the throat ready for the kill and just at that point the appeaser traitor establishment stepped in to negotiate a total surrender to republican terror.
How many loyal men and women now crippled or widowed by terrorism now have to watch smirking and swaggering ex terrorists living it up on huge salaries while dismantling the traditional symbols of loyalism within town halls and government buildings?
Right at the point of victory newlabour stepped in and took over negotiations and swiftly gave the republican negotiators everything they asked for and much more, simply because the newlabour side were in fact republican sympathisers to start with.
Loyalists were brow beaten and threatened and bribed and tricked into a deal which the BBC played a huge part in portraying loyalists in a bad light whereas the republican side were shocked to find every niggling demand was met with eager agreeement.
As soon as the political classes could dump the very people whose sacrifice handed the UK virtual victory they did so, no victory parades and no statues to the fallen.
Mo Mowlem republican sympathiser and loyalist hater undid painstaking evolutionary negotiations preparations and did more to strengthen republicanism in one day than ten years of bomb attacks.
The PIRA always had one powerful friend and supporter, a firm and loyal supporter of republicanism greater in value than any money raising trawl round the bars of Boston, the BBC was the IRAs best friend.
Mo Mowlem …….. And the traitor Blair.
‘Reacreational rioting’. Great, if sinister term. And totally accurate.
Apparently 8 year-olds were dashing back for tea before telling ‘Mam’ they were off for a bit more fun down the riot.
Evidently the last 13 years of investment in the area and their schooling may have passed them by.
Like so many other things, concessions and common sense erosion by such as the BBC means logic will never redress the obvious fact that trying to kill police personnel should rather reduce the slack society cuts perpetrators, not offer new ways to hold fellow humans to account for cheap media gains.
Hence from Moaty to petrol bombers, should any of the poor loves suffer a certain amount of firm response, the cry of ‘disproportionate!’ will echo from TV speakers the length of the land.
Good job no one was spraying a Thomson around, lest an errant rubber round in response chipped a nail amongst those having a stone-throwing party.
I am sure the footage will suggest which vantage points the BBC felt might offer the best opportunities, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some motivational suggestions were also made to help the ratings… and narrative.
The rioting occured becasue the “elders” of the IRA were now into “politics and not violence” – therefore these “kids” had no one to restrain them from the worst rioting in 8 years.
This is the true story – I heard it on Radio 5 lite this morning.
Unbelievable !
Listening to the BBC reports I assumed it was those damn Budhists rioting again. I didn’t realise it was irish republicans, thanks for clearing that up for me.
The newly redesigned news website has the story in the Europe section and not the UK section.
Belfast no longer part of the United Kingdom?
I thought you were going to set the record straight on how the violence had nothing to do with the “contentious” Orange Order Parades?
What day was it on Monday?
Orange order people throwing molotov cocktails and assaulting police, were they? You’re taking the Sinn Fein line of blaming the violent protest on the parade itself. Ban the Orange parade and no more violence, right?
oh dear – i am going to make myself very unpopular again
its hard to have a go at the BBC for its bias (which it has in bucket fulls) if this web site is also going to be biased too.
The Biased BBC web site has a clear anti-republican, anti IRA, anti peace treaty approach to any item on Northern Irish politics. It trots out a more or less Loyalist line on most issues.
now everyone is entitled to their opinion – but if a supporter of this site like me can see the bias over Northern Ireland you can be sure this sites enemies on the left will seize on it to say ‘there you go – nothing to do with BBC bias – just a buch of right wingers having a go’.
if you feel strongly about loyalist politics – there are dozens of other political blogging sites out there to vent your feelings on. but if you keep this blatant pro loyalist bias up on this site – then you do two things;
1. you become a hostage to fortune and all the other brilliant work you are doing will be undermined as the left accuse you of the same bias you accuse the BBC of
2. you actually let the BBC get away with its Northern Ireland bias – which is pro republican.
my strong suggestion is that you tone down your pro-loyalist aggenda and try and stick as much to the facts as possible.
i know my name is going to be mud for saying this. and i suspect i will get accused or having republican sympathies – (i dont) but if you carry on like this you are just giving ammunition to those who like the BBC with its left wing bias and want it to stay just the way it is
‘Orange order people throwing molotov cocktails and assaulting police, were they? You’re taking the Sinn Fein line of blaming the violent protest on the parade itself. Ban the Orange parade and no more violence, right?’
No, I didn’t suggest that. Nor did I blame the violence on the parade. But it is simply ludicrous to suggest that they are in no way linked.
Having been born and educated in Northern Ireland, having studied the politics here, having stood in the middle of a riot and having spent the last week in Belfast, I can tell you that the ignorance of those posting here is not untypical of those who have little understanding of the politics here.
But for someone from this province, who was educated at Queens University to say that the violence is in no way linked to the parades is simply a total denial of reality.
Mr Vance says it is odd how the BBC chooses not to investigate his line of thought. I haven’t quite penetrated his line of thought but it seems to be that the IRA is behind the violence. Can he provide an iota of evidence to support that? Is there another news source which follows that line of thought?
And if you’re complaining that this strand of opinion isn’t given airtime, maybe you’ll remind us the next time you’re invited on to Hearts and Minds to discuss for 10 minutes ‘anything you want about Northern Ireland politics’.? How many votes did you get again? If there is a complaint about bias here, its that your discredited views are given so mucn airtime.