Terrorist in the Government
 

Did anyone see Question Time Last Night? :eeek:

It was in Northern Ireland and one of the politicians is a self proclaimed ex-IRA member who has publicly addmited that his secrecy oaths to the IRA will come before his duty to the Goverment.

Surley a convicted terrorist who has stated that he will (under oath) in a court of law still not devulge any information about the IRA, should not be allowed to server in the goverment. This cannot be helping the peace process.

Re: Terrorist in the Government
 

It's disgusting:mis:

Re: Terrorist in the Government
 

It might come as a shock to you but did you expect a "peace process" to fly without the input of the very people you want peace from? On top of which Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams are both democratically elected MP's. It's narrow minded people that helped to prolong the troubles for so long, I for one will be voting for another "ex-IRA member" very soon, why? Because I believe he's the only candidate that will actually get off of his arse and do something for my community.

Re: Terrorist in the Government
 

not much point having a government if people behave like that in it

Re: Terrorist in the Government
 

As i understand it (i may e wrong, but this is the impression the program gave) we are talking about someone (and he wasn't the only one) who stood in a court of law and stated that he would not answer the questions put in front ofhim, as it would force him to break an oath he took when he joined the IRA.

To me that cant make hime an effective politician.

And anyway surley having a convicted terrorist in the goverment must be infringing on some laws?

Re: Terrorist in the Government
 

Ah Politics.....dont ya love it!!

Of course he had to say this......you cant expect him to grass on his mates for all the illegal activity they have done.
Time will tell if he is committed though.....at this interim stage consessions are made on both sides.

I see it as being positive!

Re: Terrorist in the Government
 

the fact is, if he did divulge any info he'd be at least kicked out by his supporters and would probably be signing his own death warrant.

it does actually help the peace process - cos at least he's being honest about what he can and can not do.

think of the ira as being like 'family' - you wouldnt put your duty to your country before your 'family' would you?

Re: Terrorist in the Government
 

Northern Ireland is a disgraceful mess for a whole number of complex reasons. But two sides who absolutely hate each other are going to have to work together if there is to be a lasting peace. It is sadly true that there are people on both sides, whose co-operation is now essential, who have done some pretty horrible things in the past. But if they have moved on from that and are now committed to peaceful progress, they must be allowed to play their part. It's far from ideal, but we don't live in an ideal world.

Re: Terrorist in the Government
 

Anyway .. since when did any Politician answer a direct question (truthfully) ... You could do a lot worse than having Martin McGuinness as education minister and besides, we voted him in :) and if we choose to, we'll vote him out, you brits have no say in the matter :p

Re: Terrorist in the Government
 

Lol ... I'm not blinkered enough to think that he can't be a good government minister just because he used to kill Brits to make a point. I don't like it, but it's the only way forward. There has been enough mistrust and death, it has to stop somewhere. He says it's stopped, so we have to go with him on that.

And perhaps one day, you lot will be able to vote for politicians based on a full manifesto of policies aimed at the good of the whole community, and not on the narrow issue of whether they want to fly the British or Irish flag. ;)

Re: Terrorist in the Government
 

good, I dont want any say in it!

it's about time the occupants of northern ireland had control rather than outsiders running things.

Re: Terrorist in the Government
 

speaking of terrorists in goverment

I think a few characters in the Israeli goverment used to be involved with
shooting british troops during the time of the palestine protectorate
as they reckoned the british were not letting them in fast enough

Begin was one I believe, but will stand corrected if I am wrong

Re: Terrorist in the Government
 

your not wrong one particularly high member of the Knesset was supposedly involved in the bombing of the King David hotel

Re: Terrorist in the Government
 

why? is ok then to get elected an send covert death squad to murder people, is it ok to order the torture and illegal interment of prisoners? is it ok to convict people without trial, who should define the background of the people who are ok to elect, how many of our mp's and ruling classes(sic) have an even worse shadowy past

Re: Terrorist in the Government
 

I think that goes to highlight how completely ignorant of most of Sinn Fein's policies you are, in case you missed it earlier most of "us lot" who will vote for Sinn Fein will do so based on slightly more than the desire to be reunited with the South, as I said, I'll be voting for them as I believe they'll do far more for my community than any other candidate, we're not all narrow minded, pig carrying bog trotters you know ....