Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
Updated 2.47
TAOISEACH ENDA KENNY says that the idea that the IRA has “gone away” is “simply not credible”.
Putting the initiative on Sinn Féin to address “trust that has been lost”, Kenny said that the IRA must not be in a position to pose a threat.
“21 years after the IRA ceasefire and 10 years after the decommissioning and the IRA announcement of cessation of paramilitary activity, it is past time that it should carry any capacity for threat,” An Taoiseach said addressing a British-Irish business forum in Cambridge.
“It is the responsibility of Sinn Féin, and in particular its leadership, to address these issues and to help restore the trust that has been lost,” he added, citing “incredible statements” from the party in the past.
Kenny went on to say that it’s not just the IRA that must go, but all paramilitaries, mentioning criminality among loyalist paramilitaries.
“The ‘shadow of the gunman’, the poison of paramilitarism is not just confined to so-called republicans. It is still deeply embedded in loyalist communities, often with nakedly criminal agendas,” Kenny said.
In a PSNI briefing on Thursday, BBC reported chief constable George Hamilton as saying that they believe the Provisional IRA still exists “but does not pose a threat to national security”.
Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has reacted strongly to Kenny’s accusations, saying that the Taoiseach is discrediting his own office for “electoral advantage”.
“This is a time for responsible and constructive leadership by all parties and both governments in relation to the peace process,” Adams said this afternoon.
“Statements which seek to fuel the political crisis for selfish electoral advantage merely serve to discredit the office of An Taoiseach. Sinn Féin will resist attempts to scapegoat our party for the actions of others or to disenfranchise those who have given us a mandate.
Fianna Fáil’s Niall Collins has also said this morning that he has written to Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald seeking a ‘briefing on IRA activity’.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Rothschild banker skum
@neilo: you are always the one on here throwing remarks around and categorizing people. If someone writes a comment around a particular issue. You attack the person not the issue. Saying they are this it that without arguing in a constructive inoffensive way.
@neilo: definitely missing something alright. You comment, a lot.
My point is, You attack people with different viewpoints than you. And try to debase them imo.
Good ideas will always out do bad ones. No need to pigeon hole and try to ridicule people. That is all.
@neilo: pure drivel out of you. Go and find some non-internet people to set straight
@neilo: haha, what a fruitcake… imagine getting this worked up over some guy who calls himself “Lambo Moonski” on the Internet… LMFAO
@andyearley: I admire your constraint Andy. Anyone talking about illuminati is deluded and don’t realise the real conspiracy is there is no illuminati and they’re being had ……
@neilo: I got way more thumbs up than you, I win
@neilo: where Marcon come from? How does a 30 something year old banker have enough connections to become President of France. He is a fraud
Varadkar will be following him soon. It’s the same for Trudeau in Canada. All posers
Rothschilds puppet. Macron is no Frenchman.
@Otranto:
C’mon Otranto he passed his test in the Goldman Sachs school of investment banking which qualifies him several leagues ahead of most EU Parliament technocrats…
@Ron: He never worked at Goldman Sachs
@Charles Alexander: He can’t hear you through the tinfoil hat I’m afraid!
@PaulineSmith:
if any of you two would care to do some research you would realise that during his time at Rothschild & Cie Banque he managed the portfolio related to exclusively Goldman Sachs and it’s US operations in France but by all means say as you wish. By the the way my Milliner has not used tin since the early 80′s
@Ron: Surely you know the difference between managing a portfolio and actually working for the company which owns it? Maybe you don’t though. Conspiracy theorists love making connections about ‘shady elites’ and this was predicted back in mid-2017 when he got elected. The Rothschilds and anyone associated with them are easy targets for anti-Semitism. https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/05/18/emmanuel-macron-is-about-to-face-five-years-of-crazy-conspiracy-theories/
@Ron: I think your own research should be conducted with a little more care.
@Charles Alexander:
Indeed I will. Thank you.
@PaulineSmith:
So far you have mentioned
Tin foil hat
Conspiracy Theory
Anti Semite
My main argument was I don’t think millionaire investment bankers in their early forties have the skills to be elected leader a great nation like France.
Time will tell as his main allies in his cabinet slowly resign one by one.
@neilo:
A tad paranoid much?
A successful economy, which should mean jobs, education & equitable opportunities for all, is about striking a balance between public, private & labour union power sharing. In France it’s completely out of whack and the unions control of policy is damaging the entire country for years.
He has an impossible task and so will any new president there. France is also another country suffering from colonial karma – the influx of immigrants, a large number of which are refusing to work and cooperate with any system.
@Cashel Woods: Oh yeah it’s the unions of course, who crashed our economies with their reckless lending and criminal activities. If only we had a banker in charge especially a Rothschild’s banker all this could have been avoided.
@Cashel Woods: same with America, the only things on the up the economy and prices. Wages stagnating, poverty increasing etc
@Dave O Keeffe: i suppose the unions are to blame there as well…
Pity. I had high hopes for this guy but his attitude towards some people has been very bad.
You had to add in the Trump bit. Were you feeling withdrawals?
Varadkar and Macron. Spot the difference?
Difficult..
He has his faults but thank god he crushed Marine Le Pen in the elections, 66% to 34%, the French people are much smarter than their American brethern.
@PaulineSmith:
His faults are major, he is just another elite devoid of family values, he married his teacher ffs. He is no Frenchman.
@Otranto: Family values? Lol! Have fun in the 19th century!
@PaulineSmith: People who scoff at family values usually come from good families and don’t know how hard it is for people who have no safety net of a secure and close family.
@Otranto: you make a compelling argument.
@PaulineSmith: he’s her greatest hope though
@PaulineSmith: She’s why he got elected. If it weren’t for Le Pen, someone a lot more moderate would’ve got in. He was they least bad option.
@PaulineSmith: They seem to be regretting voting for this Poser .
Marie Antoinette was not the last queen of France. She was the last queen before the Revolution.
@Steven C. Schulz: after that they had empresses
Stick a H on his forehead and we have a bit of Red Dwarf going on. He’s already got the dwarf bit to a T..
@The Viking:
that is very accurate to be fair
What did you expect ? He represents the European corporation and money. He was elected only because extreme right party was opposed to him on second tour. But had in fact a low rate on first tour ( but yes more than the other candidates.)
You can vote for any candidate in a démocratie or any party. But bear in mind that private sector still in charge and do what best for them. People are only important because they have one right : vote. The rest is business as usual.
And it will be always like that, no matter how cool or logical it looks, the one deciding are not elected!
After welcoming Trump’s first state visit with him with the national marching band performing Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’, I thought this lad could be sound … pity!
It’s a sad state of affairs when people can’t seem to put 2+2 together!
No mention of his marriage being a sham and being caught with his bodyguard and numerous others in previous occasions. Because that’s a big one for the straight laced French
Imagine talking down to a gardener telling him to become a waiter .maybe the gardener should have advised him to switch his job as well as he’s so out of touch with lives of working class .
@Bernadette Fitzpatrick: Its very reasonable advise. A job is a job. Not everyone can get the job they want. So what, if you can’t find your dream job, you just shouldn’t work at all and be supported by the taxpayer.
I know no French person who likes him. Most actively dislike him.
@David Stapleton: Same was true with Hollande and Sharkozy
@Damon16: true, but whereas Holland was basically seen as incompetent, and Sarkozy as a bit of a selfish little dictator, Macron is viewed with a more personal repugnance than either of them. At least from what I have seen.
surely not??? leo’s best friend??
Like Mark Twain, his demise is greatly exaggerated in this article. He needs time. Collomb wants to run for mayor of Lyon. Hulot is an ideologue who was never comfortable as a minister.
Hope he doesn’t go Full War Criminal like Tony Blair .
The Blair Clone had better watch out .
Civil war in Paris with fire and racism???
The world is lurching to the right. Brazil is just about to elect a hard-right nutter for president. Italy have voted in far-right populists. The British have lurched to the right since 2010. And far-right populists are gaining ground in many European nations. Of course, there is Trump who supports far-right organisations and media organisations. Trump calls any news outlet WITHOUT a right-wing agenda “FAKE” news. The new far-right Brazilian presidential candidate wants to pull Brazil out of the Paris Climate Accord, even though Cimate scientists say the world is heading for Climate catastrophe. No one seems to care about future generations, its all about jobs, security, and money.
have your say