British Army receive amazing reception in Belfast

[brumbino]

I really don't want to comment on The Troubles in Northern Irelance and the Republic of Ireland over the years and really believe in looking forward not backwards and think that each 'side' were operationally bad as each other at times, but watch the below link of BBC footage of British Army parading through Belfast having returned from two theatres of wars.

The crowds are 20 deep, there are flags waving and the noise!!!!!!!! It's a pity that the fucking namby pamby PC brigade on the mainland have been known to discourage parades like this....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7704895.stm

[rmj2663]

Respect for the Paddys on this one.
Thats proper support for their boys.

[B B Leo]

Respect for the Paddys on this one.
Thats proper support for their boys.

its comments like that cause the trouble

[Hangman]

I think all our service men & women deserve huge praise. We should be having parades etc every year while they are serving in afganistan and Iraq,

[mcdee]

Respect for the Paddys on this one.
Thats proper support for their boys.

could open a can of worms with that comment mate.

[beansontoast]

Let's not let this thread slide, so back on topic I think that reception was superb & no matter what you think of the reasons for the forces being put into sevice overseas they definately deserve a big welcome home like that.

[rmj2663]

its comments like that cause the trouble

Meant as a friendly term mate, the missus is Irish, great bunch of people.
Loads of Irish settled in Brum with one of the biggest 'Paddys Parade' ( their turn of phrase) in the UK.
No offence meant or intended.
Just a pity the mainland dont support their boys the same.

[B B Leo]

Meant as a friendly term mate, the missus is Irish, great bunch of people.
Loads of Irish settled in Brum with one of the biggest 'Paddys Parade' ( their turn of phrase) in the UK.
No offence meant or intended.
Just a pity the mainland dont support their boys the same.

just because im from northern ireland, im a paddy.


BRITISH

[Nibb]

Parade casts long dark shadow



Mark Simpson
BBC Ireland correspondent


Memories of the troubles are still strong in republican minds

The past still casts a long, dark, inescapable shadow over the peace process in Northern Ireland.
Scratch the surface of the new era in Belfast, and the old divisions are laid bare.
Those differences were on full display at the homecoming parade for the armed services in Belfast city centre.
At the flashpoint area, where loyalist and republicans came within shouting distance of each other, the tensions ran deep.
The military parade through Belfast provided a political - and security - test for the new Northern Ireland. Overall, it passed.
But the tensions on view served as a stark reminder of the underlying problems.
In crude terms, unionists see the British Army as heroes, republicans see them as villains. Peace process or no peace process, those views do not change.

How they would react if the Belfast Brigade of the IRA announced they intended to march their volunteers through the centre of Belfast?


Jim Gibney, Sinn Fein



Thousands attend parade

And even though Sinn Fein are now helping to govern Northern Ireland, they still decided to stage a protest against part of the fabric of the state.
But could they not have just ignored the military parade? Turn a blind eye, rather than feed the controversy?
It's a question asked not just by unionists, but some nationalists too.
Sinn Fein's answer was found in detail in the pages of the Irish News newspaper, in an article by senior republican Jim Gibney.
'British and proud'
He wrote: "To expect Sinn Fein to somehow pretend Sunday's march is not happening in a city which has experienced the worst excesses of the British army's occupation is to expect Sinn Fein to reject its raison d'etre.
"If those cheerleaders for the British crown forces want to appreciate how nationalists and republicans feel about Sunday's coat-trailing exercise then they should ask themselves how they would react if the Belfast Brigade of the IRA announced they intended to march their volunteers through the centre of Belfast in tribute to all its members who lost their lives during the war."

Some loyalists say they still feel threatened by republicans

Memories are long in Northern Ireland, and many people find it difficult to forgive or forget. Some don't want to.
"I'm British and I'm proud of it but I still feel under threat from republicans," said one prominent loyalist, as he waved his union flag at the troops marching through Belfast city centre.
Apart from a few scuffles, the event passed off peacefully. There was some sectarian chanting from a small element of the loyalist crowd, and some bottle throwing, but compared to some of the dark days on the streets of Northern Ireland, it was miniscule.
The deaths during the Troubles are catalogued in the book 'Lost Lives'.
It not only lists the names of the victims, but pinpoints those responsible for the killings.
In total, 3636 deaths are chronicled. According to the book:
• 1771 deaths were caused by the IRA
• 955 by UDA/UVF
• 309 by the Army
• 52 by the police
The rest of the deaths were attributed to smaller paramilitary groups or individuals.
'Horrific background'
There are no official figures for the number of people injured, but it runs into the tens of thousands.
Northern Ireland's population is less than two million people so the proportion of those directly affected by violence is high.
There are two ways of looking at those grim statistics. One is to wonder if the wounds in Northern Ireland will ever fully heal?
The other is to marvel at how far the peace process has progressed against such a horrific background.
There are also two ways of looking at Sunday's parade - positively, given the lack of violence; negatively, given the display of tensions.
Ask around the pubs and clubs of Belfast and you'll get opposing views.
Mind you, what do you expect in a divided society?



Not everyone is happy it seems!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7705008.stm

[MsDG]

British Army receive amazing reception in Belfast

Isn't this more to do with the Big Transmitter on top of Mount Killowen?

[bobo06]

well i thought it was wrong to march in the city centre