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File photo of Martin and Cowen /Photocall Ireland

'People who restrict the freedom of movement of others are fascists'

Micheál Martin has some strong words for protesters.

Updated: 3.39pm

FIANNA FÁIL LEADER Micheál Martin has criticised people who restrict others’ freedom of movement.

Martin made the comments when asked about a recent incident where his predecessor Brian Cowen was targetted by protesters who called him a “scumbag” and a “traitor”.

He refused to say if garda drivers for former taoisigh should be reinstated but told reporters:

“People who blatantly restrict the freedom of movement are essentially fascist in their approach to politics and society – and I make no apology for saying that.

“I would put the onus on those who are doing these kind of attacks. Society has to stand up to them quiet frankly …and I think the power of moral argument is the strongest force, ultimately.”

He compared the Cowen incident to when protesters trapped Tánaiste Joan Burton in her car for almost three hours last November.

Martin was speaking at his party’s Ard Fheis at the RDS.

Fianna Fáil did ‘what had to be done’

Delegates at the Ard Fheis have been told the party did “what had to be done” when the recession hit.

Finance spokesperson Michael McGrath said: “As a party, we can justifiably say that, in the worst of times, we did make the hard choices and did what had to be done.

Delegates, the National Recovery Plan published by the late Brian Lenihan in 2010 put Ireland on a long and difficult road but a road led to recovery – and we shouldn’t be afraid to say it.

In his speech, McGrath said that, if returned to power, Fianna Fáil would do more to help those in mortgage arrears.

He also pledged to:

  • Abolish the universal social charge “as soon as the resources allow”
  • Introduce an earned income tax credit equal in value to the PAYE credit of €1,650 per year for self-employed people (over a three-year period)
  • Exempt the first €200 of interest income earned from DIRT
  • Cut capital gains tax from 33% to 15%

Housing

Meanwhile, environment spokesperson Barry Cowen said the party’s “four-step roadmap” for housing will build 150,000 new homes, support 80,000 first time buyers, create 80,000 jobs, empower 20,000 new local authority homeowners, and secure homes for our elderly.

Cowen said they will do this by will directing the €7 billion Strategic Investment Fund to start providing finance to private developers who cannot access credit, and by establishing a new €4.5 billion Direct Home Building Program for urban and rural Ireland.

He added that he didn’t think the scheme for first-time buyers, which would see couples receive up to €10,000 or individuals get a maximum of €5,000 over four years, would create another property bubble.

The scheme, which would not be means-tested, would cost €105 million a year and be available to those who are under the age of 40.

Waiting lists

Health spokesperson Billy Kelleher was sharply critical of the government’s health policies, in particular universal health insureance.

He said waiting lists are a key area Fianna Fáil want to improve by reactivating the National Treatment Purchase Fund.

“To have 70,000 people waiting more than a year for an outpatient appointment is outrageous. We are also going to set an ultimate target of all patients requiring hospital treatment getting it with the internationally accepted benchmark of six months.”

Fine Gael TD and Chair of the health committee, Jerry Buttimer, said Fianna Fail’s health policy “shows that they don’t like change – of any sort”.

They want the system to stay exactly the same. And they want to pay for it through taxes – more and more taxes – without trying to make things work better.

In a nutshell, Fianna Fail has dusted down its health policy from the Bertie Ahern era and put on a new cover. They want to maintain the two-tier health system without trying to improve it.

“Let’s not forget that Mícheál Martin created the HSE. Deputy Martin is clearly so wedded to the HSE that he wants to pour more State funds into it, throwing good money after bad without any reform.”

No coalition with Fine Gael

Delegates at the Ard Fheis have voted to rule out going into coalition with Fine Gael, or as a junior partner.

The motions are not binding, however – which might be for the best given the fact only 20 or so people were present to vote.

During a debate on the issue Chair of Wexford County Council Malcolm Byrne said: “We’re not going to be dragged over to the right by Fine Gael,” adding that the party wasn’t going to adopt the “irresponsible” policies of far left either.

One delegate said entering a coalition with Fine Gael would be “the final nail in Fianna Fáil’s coffin”.

While another said debating such issues was “arrogance beyond belief” as no vote has been cast in a general election so the party shouldn’t predict the outcome.

1916 Commemorations Ceremonies There'll be less of this going on. Sasko Lazarov / Photocall Ireland Sasko Lazarov / Photocall Ireland / Photocall Ireland

Speaking after the vote was passed, party leader Micheál Martin said: “We haven’t had a general election, we have to fight the election.”

Martin said Fianna Fáil wants to “maximise” its seats so the party can influence policy implementation.

Discipline 

Delegates passed a motion to put in place “strict and clear” disciplinary regulations to deal with members who “bring the party’s name into disrepute”.

They also backed a call to require election candidates to pay a fee to the party, set by the Ard Chomhairle, which will be refunded in full within two weeks of polling day “provided the candidate has not broken the party pledge prior to this date” – i.e. defect and run as an independent.

To keep up to date with everything happening at the Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis, follow @TJ_Politics, @orlaryan and @oconnellhugh.

Can Fianna Fáil stop the in-fighting and bounce back?

Micheál Martin has a pop at Leo, who is having none of it

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    Mute Francie Coffey
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:01 AM

    ” Ireland does not.”….??
    Nobody asked me, – and I DO formally recognise the killings as genocide.
    Just because the government is too chicken to stand up and be counted, doesn’t mean the people feel the same way.

    384
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    Mute Plantation Watch
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:24 AM

    Shur the Irish govt dont even recognise the 1847 catastrophe as anything other than a natural disaster, despite there being plenty of food in the country. They sure arent going to recognise this then are they?

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    Mute Conor O'Neill
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:58 AM

    Call a spade a spade. It was genocide. No such thing as a friendly massacre. Do like David Cameron did about Bloody Sunday and apologise !

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    Mute Saul Goodman
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    Apr 13th 2015, 9:24 AM

    I for once prefer to leave comments to professionals, googling stuff and following the trend doesn’t mean you’re right, this is something that happened 100 years ago, we were not there, our fathers and grandparents weren’t there. Only reputable historians can make that claim.

    This is one of these opinions where someone is asked about the consequences of a heart transplant, only a heart surgeon can answer that question.

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    Mute Tallaght two
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    Apr 13th 2015, 11:09 AM

    @Francie.
    Governmental and national issues are not decided by asking everyone. Sorry to offend your sensibilities but you alone just ain’t that important.

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    Mute Chris Kirk
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    Apr 13th 2015, 11:37 AM

    The Irish government wasn’t even in existence when these things happened so how can they have a fixed opinion…..

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    Mute deerhounddog
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    Apr 13th 2015, 12:25 PM

    Saul, well said. This statement serves no good. It was 100 years ago and does nothing now but stir up old bad feelings. The Catholic Church should stick to the bible and do nothing but question the history of that old old fallible book that is riddled with silly stories that are always accepted as truth.

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    Mute Christine Downey
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    Apr 13th 2015, 1:55 PM

    The Irish government call tge the 2nd world war “the emergency”!

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    Mute Francie Coffey
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    Apr 13th 2015, 2:47 PM

    @ Tallaght two
    - No offence taken whatsoever. If you place so little value on yourself as an individual, that’s your own problem.
    My own opinion is, that each one of us has a valuable contribution to make, and if the government don’t do as they are told by the majority of the people, then we get rid of them.

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    R M
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    Mute R M
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:08 AM

    It’s probably the Vatican shoeing it’s disgust at Turkey for arming, training and allowing foreign Islamic jihadists to stream into Syria freely where they destroyed Christian churches, graveyards, displaced tens of thousands of Christians and slaughtered thousands of Christians where they stood.

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    Mute William Grogan
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:12 AM

    Afaik your statement us untrue. Turkey are not arming or training jihadists.

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    Mute Jason Culligan
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:19 AM

    No, that accolade goes to Saudi Arabia. Turkey is known to have very lax controls on its border with Syria. Foreigners looking to become jihadists and those looking to fight against ISIS are using Turkey as a waypoint to get into Syria.

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    Mute Paul O'Neill
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:19 AM

    Just like the Christians did on the Crusades really I suppose.

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    R M
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    Mute R M
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:27 AM

    William, Turkey has been training foreign Islamic jihadists in Turkey for years now with CIA /MI5 etc help.

    Jason, Turkey has very strict border controls when it comes to the Kurds. They don’t seem willing to let the Kurds cross. Foreign Islamic jihadists intent on commuting mass atrocities in Syria are no problem as this series Turkeys geopolitical aims but Kurds crossing, no way.

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    Mute Plantation Watch
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:27 AM

    Paul, The crusade was a reaction to Islam conquering 1/3 of the Christian world.

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    Mute Fergus Fring
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:29 AM

    Let them flow east through Turkeys borders all they like. Europe is no home for extremism.

    45
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    Mute William Grogan
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:39 AM

    R M, post evidence. Good evidence not some BS internet site.

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    Mute Pat O'Dwyer
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:41 AM

    @ William Grogan : Many lorries daily cross the Turkish border near a US. army base, supplying ISIS with arms and fighters. Two German TV teams have recorded this abnormality. Also Known ISIS leaders crossing the border in both directions devoid of hindrance or control. What they forgot to show were the many lorries daily crossing in the opposite direction loaded with stolen oil from Iraq and Syria from which ISIS earn an estimated 2 to 3 million Dollars daily. Which banks are washing this money ? HSBC again ?
    A German news report – with English subtitles captions – shows that Turkey is sending terrorists into Syria:
    http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2014/09/turkey-israel-directly-supporting-isis-al-qaeda-syria.html
    Another good German documentary:
    Deutsche Welle (English)
    ISIS Supply Lines Originate in NATO’s Turkey : Report
    http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40347.htm

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    Mute William Grogan
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    Apr 13th 2015, 9:03 AM

    Pat, that’s just someone’s blog. It also claims Israel is treating ISIS injured. You hardly believe that do you?

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    Mute Pat O'Dwyer
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    Apr 13th 2015, 9:57 AM

    @ William Grogan : The first report is from “ Monitor” on German State TV. Equivalent to BBC. The second report is from Deutsche Welle, equivalent to BBC international.

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    Mute William Grogan
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    Apr 13th 2015, 10:10 AM

    Pat, it’s an unsubstantiated claim by a journalist. Did you actually watch the footage? There is no ACTUAL evidence that the people concerned are ISIS. They could be the Anti-Al-Asad fighters who are supported by the west. The web is very quiet on whether there is evidence that Turkey is helping ISIS. It wouldn’t make sense anyway. Why would Turkey want a lunatic version of their religion on their borders? Turkey recently arrested wannabe jihadists trying to cross the border. The Unionists used to claim that the Irish government helped the IRA. It’s that sort of thing we’re dealing with here.

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    Mute Eamonn coughlan
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    Apr 13th 2015, 10:15 AM

    They do treat isis injured look up vice news on YouTube was watching it over the weekend!

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    Mute Pat O'Dwyer
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    Apr 13th 2015, 10:27 AM

    Wall Street Journal: Israel Caught Red-handed Aiding al-Qaeda in Syria
    http://21stcenturywire.com/2015/04/04/wall-street-journal-israel-caught-red-handed-aiding-al-qaeda-in-syria/

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    Mute William Grogan
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    Apr 13th 2015, 10:35 AM

    Pat, your reference is to one of those web sites that claims the “mainstream media don’t tell you teh truth”, it’s all a conspiracy theory. This comment from their About section would hardly inspire confidence in their opinion pieces, “Our site was officially launched in December 2009 at the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen, initially as a vehicle to expose the collectivist mythology behind global warming and climate change.”

    How about this nonsense?

    While authorities have been quick to implicate Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, we must consider the following…

    The Boeing 777 along with other Boeing models, can in fact be flown remotely through the use of independent embedded software and satellite communication. Once this advanced system is engaged, it can disallow any pilot or potential hijacker from controlling a plane, as the rooted setup uses digital signals that communicate with air traffic control, satellite links, as well as other government entities for the remainder of a flight’s journey.

    This technology is known as the Boeing Honeywell ‘Uninterruptible’ Autopilot System.

    The mere existence of this technology would most certainly provide the final piece to a number of seemingly unsolved airline disaster puzzles in recent years…

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    Mute William Grogan
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    Apr 13th 2015, 10:37 AM

    PS This is the man that article called an ISIS member. Do you people even read your links or just the misleading headlines?

    “A Free Syrian Army commander, arrested last month by the Islamist militia Al-Nusra Front, told his captors he collaborated with Israel in return for medical and military support, in a video released this week.”

    Free Syrian Army commanders hate ISIS as much as anyone else.

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    Mute Mark Fahey
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    Apr 13th 2015, 10:58 AM

    Turkey is arming and supporting jihadis in Syria especially around Idlib.When kassab in Latakia was over ran last year by rebels they flowed THROUGH the border post from their bases in Turkey and when Idlib city was taken last month the offensive was facilitated by Turkey.They mostly support Al Nusra who Qatar are trying to get to disassociate from Al Qaeda so they can portray them as ‘good’ rebels and pump more visible funds and weapons to, despite the fact nusra still are around beheading Lebaneese and Syrian soldiers and civilians. Turkey currently has 32 of their own soldiers arrested awaiting trial for the fact that they stopped an arms convoy heading for Syria which was being escorted there by MiT( Turkish military intelligence)

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    Mute William Grogan
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    Apr 13th 2015, 11:18 AM

    Mark, Turkey openly support the Free Syrian Army (SFA) and totally opposes ISIS, I suppose you could argue that it suites them Al Nusra is helping overthrow the Syrian dictatorship. This has to be one of the most complicated wars ever. I still see no evidence that Turkey is training jihadists.

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    Mute Chris Kirk
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    Apr 13th 2015, 11:31 AM

    History repeating itself where the Vatican gets the Crusaders to do their dirty work against the Byzantine Muslims.

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    Mute Niall
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    Apr 13th 2015, 11:54 AM

    I thought the Byzantines were Christian.

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    Mute Chris Kirk
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    Apr 13th 2015, 12:33 PM

    Byzantine was a part of the eastern holy Roman Empire until the fall of Constantinople (now Istanbul) it is time that the Pope moved on and gave way to other cultures in the region that have been reinventing themselves since long before Christianity came into existence.

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    Mute Bill Madden
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    Apr 13th 2015, 4:22 PM

    @ E, Israel make no bones about treating people from Syria, the question which is almost impossible to answer is? are the treated people IS, other anti Aasad or or even ordinary no combatants (if there is such a thing in Syria! )

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    Mute Bill Madden
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    Apr 13th 2015, 4:26 PM

    @ William, if I was captured by that bunch of headbangers, I would admit to being from Mars if that’s what they wanted to hear, just being tied up on top a five story building tends to focus the mind a bit!!

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    Mute Proinsias Ó Foghlú
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:25 AM

    I am no historian but there does appear to be case for calling this slaughter a genocide.

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    Mute William Grogan
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:41 AM

    P, the bulk of historians DO call it genocide. In fact the word genocide was invented to describe this particular genocide.

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    Mute Francie Coffey
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:04 AM

    I wonder if the Turks will send over another Mehmet Ali Ağca- type assassin to shoot the Pope.

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    Mute Conor O'Neill
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    Apr 13th 2015, 11:45 AM

    The Turks didn’t send that Turkey . However the Russians?

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    Mute Evan McNamara
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:33 AM

    I don’t no what do you call the intentional killing of a group of people other than a genocide

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    Mute Jason Culligan
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:41 AM

    Ethnic cleansing, mass murder, race extermination, holocaust etc.

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    Mute Jurgen Remak
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:29 AM

    My home state of Pennsylvannia has recognized the Armenian genocide since the 90′s. Most other US states too.
    But it’sperfectly understandable the US offically does not as it needs to be careful not to antagonize its ally Turkey. Despite its more Islamist tone it’s still a NATO ally and partner in a volatile area.

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    Mute stephen
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:57 AM

    Does your state recognise the on going genocide of Palestinians.

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    Mute Scipio
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    Apr 13th 2015, 9:08 AM

    What genocide? The Palestininan population has increased exponentially in the last 40 years.

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    Mute stephen
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    Apr 13th 2015, 9:24 AM

    I could paste some link , to support both arguments. But just look at the death ratio since 2000.

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    Mute Jurgen Remak
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    Apr 13th 2015, 10:32 AM

    Yeah, what Scipio said Stephen…

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    Mute Patrick J O'CONNOR
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:43 PM

    @Stephen et al. For info on genocide in Palestine see BIO of Arafat’s uncle Al-Husseini.

    Amin Al-Husseini swears allegiance to the Ottoman Empire during the Armenian genocide [i] . He is an officer stationed in Smyrna and participates first-hand in the Armenian genocide. One and a half million Christians are slaughtered under the sword of Islamic Jihad by the Ottoman Army.
    In Nazi German;
    Al-Husseini also sought to “solve the problems of the Jewish element in Palestine and other Arab countries” by employing “the same method” being used “in the Axis countries.” He would not be satisfied with the Jewish residents of Palestine — many of whom were descendants of Sephardic Jews who had lived there for hundreds, even thousands, of years — remaining as a minority in a Muslim state. Like Hitler, he wanted to be rid of “every last Jew.” As al-Husseini wrote in his memoirs:

    “Our fundamental condition for cooperating with Germany was a free hand to eradicate every last Jew from Palestine and the Arab world. I asked Hitler for an explicit undertaking to allow us to solve the Jewish problem in a manner befitting our national and racial aspirations and according to the scientific methods innovated by Germany in the handling of its Jews. The answer I got was: ‘The Jews are yours.’”
    The Mufti was apparently planning to return to Palestine in the event of a German victory. He planned to construct a death camp, modeled after Auschwitz, near Nablus. He incited his pro-Nazi followers with the words “Arise, o sons of Arabia. Fight for your sacred rights. Slaughter Jews wherever you find them. Their spilled blood pleases Allah, our history and religion. That will save our honor.” Hitler promised al-Husseini that as soon as German troops were able to drive the British out of Palestine and exterminate the more than 350,000 Jews who were living there, he (the Mufti) would be installed as the leader of the region.

    ‘In late June, both the Romanian and Hungarian Foreign Ministers would be recipients of similar appeals from the mufti. The Romanian government had been planning to allow some 75,000 to 80,000 Jews to immigrate to the Middle East, and Hungary — which had become a refuge for Jews escaping persecution elsewhere in Europe — was reportedly preparing to allow some 900 Jewish children and their parents to immigrate as well. The mufti repeated his counsel that the Jews should be sent rather to Poland, where they could be kept under “active surveillance.” “It is especially monstrous,” Gensicke concludes, “that el-Husseini objected to even those few cases in which the National Socialists were prepared, for whatever reasons, to permit Jews to emigrate. . . . For him, only deportation to Poland was acceptable, since he knew fully well that there would be no escape for the Jews from there.”http://www.hoover.org/research/mufti-and-holocaust

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    Mute Felix Quigley
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    Apr 13th 2015, 9:29 AM

    Aurora Mardiganian, a survivor of the Armenian genocide of 1915–1923, recalled sixteen young Armenian girls being “crucified” by their Ottoman tormentors. The film Auction of Souls (1919), which was based on her book Ravished Armenia, showed the victims nailed to crosses. However, almost 70 years later Mardiganian revealed to film historian Anthony Slide that the scene was inaccurate. She described what was actually an impalement. She stated that “The Turks didn’t make their crosses like that. The Turks made little pointed crosses. They took the clothes off the girls. They made them bend down, and after raping them, they made them sit on the pointed wood, through the vagina. That’s the way they killed – the Turks. Americans have made it a more civilized way. They can’t show such terrible things.”[2]
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravished_Armenia

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    Mute Felix Quigley
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    Apr 13th 2015, 9:53 AM

    “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?” Adolf Hitler, 1939.
    https://www.facebook.com/IrelandForRecognitionofArmenianGenocide

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    Mute Felix Quigley
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    Apr 13th 2015, 9:58 AM

    Caravans to Oblivion: Armenian Genocide, 1915
    (review)
    “A chilling history of the first genocide in the twentieth century Though the Turkish government continues to deny it ever took place, over one million Armenian men and women were brutally slaughtered in an attempt to eliminate the Armenian population from Turkey early in World War I. Based on newly available sources, including authenticated telegrams, author G. S. Graber proves that the Armenian slaughter was centrally organized and directed by a Turkish government seeking to systematically exterminate the Armenians. Caravans to Oblivion also reveals how Western allies, principally the British and the French, failed to honor their pledge to bring Turkish officials to trial. * Includes compelling evidence that the Turkish government organized the massacres * Recounts the roles played by many of the political giants of the period, including Winston Churchill, David Lloyd George, and Henry Morganthau G. S. GRABER (Los Angeles, California) is a historian and a writer whose books include The History of the SS and The Life and Times of Reinhard Heydrich.”

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    Mute Felix Quigley
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    Apr 13th 2015, 10:10 AM

    HE OFFERED AN APOLOGY. I EXPECT FRANCIS TOO.

    In his lecture, the Pope, speaking in German, quoted an unfavorable remark about Islam made at the end of the 14th century by Manuel II Palaiologos, the Byzantine emperor. As the English translation of the Pope’s lecture was disseminated across the world, the quotation was taken out of context and many Islamic politicians and religious leaders protested against what they saw as an insulting mischaracterization of Islam.[1][2]
    Mass street protests were mounted in many Islamic countries, the Majlis-e-Shoora (Pakistani parliament) unanimously called on the Pope to retract “this objectionable statement”.[3] The Pope maintained that the comment he had quoted did not reflect his own views, and he offered an apology to Muslims.
    The controversial comment originally appeared in the 7th of the 26 Dialogues Held With A Certain Persian, the Worthy Mouterizes, in Anakara of Galatia,[4] written in 1391 as an expression of the views of the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaiologos, one of the last Christian rulers before the Fall of Constantinople to the Muslim Ottoman Empire, on such issues as forced conversion, holy war, and the relationship between faith and reason. The passage, in the English translation published by the Vatican, was:
    Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.[5]

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regensburg_lecture

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    Mute Felix Quigley
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    Apr 13th 2015, 11:09 AM

    HOW FLEETING THE SECULARISM OF ATTATURK (SECULARIST WHO JOINED THE ARMENIAN MASSACRE)

    The Hagia Sophia was turned into a museum accessible to all by the secular founders of modern Turkey in the 1930s and secular Turks are wary of any moves to re-Islamise the building.

    A passage from the Koran, the holy scripture of Islam, was recited late Friday at a ceremony in the Hagia Sophia to mark the opening of a new exhibition “Love of the Prophet.”

    It was read by Ali Tel, imam at the Ahmet Hamdi Akseki Mosque in Ankara, the official Anatolia news agency said.

    The ceremony was attended by top Turkish officials including the head of the country`s religious affairs agency Diyanet, Mehmet Gormez.

    Anatolia said it was the first recitation of the holy Koran in the Hagia Sophia for 85 years.

    The exhibition inside the Hagia Sophia is a show of calligraphic work in devotion to the Muslim Prophet Mohammed and runs until May 8.

    The magnificent edifice was constructed in the sixth century as a church in the Christian Byzantine Empire and was the seat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the former name of Istanbul.

    When Ottoman forces under Mehmet II conquered the city in 1453 he ordered the immediate conversion of the Hagia Sophia into a mosque. Islamic minarets were built around its Byzantine dome.

    It served as a mosque until after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire when in the mid-1930s the authorities of the new Turkish state under secular leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk ordered it to become a museum for all.

    But under the rule of the Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP), co-founded by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan which came to power in 2002, there have been noises about reconverting the Hagia Sophia into a mosque.

    Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc caused a furore in November 2013 when he indicated that he hoped to change the status of the Hagia Sophia, saying it looked “sad” but hopefully would be “smiling again soon”.

    Greece reacted furiously at the time, saying such statements “are offending the religious feeling of millions of Christians.”

    http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/istanbuls-hagia-sophia-sees-first-koran-reading-in-85-years_1577098.html

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    Mute Felix Quigley
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    Apr 13th 2015, 11:18 AM

    ARMENIAN MASSACRE…MEANWHILE IN PALESTINE AT THE SAME TIME…
    We’ve seen above that before the al-Nebi Musa terrorist riots of 1920, the British authorities made it clear to the leaders of the riots that they could kill Jews with impunity. This means they were communicating principally with Hajj Amin al Husseini, because Hajj Amin was “the prime instigator of the 1920 riots.” After these riots, the British did not prosecute the chief offender Hajj Amin (their ally); on the contrary, they accused the Jews of defending themselves and then made Hajj Amin, the terrorist leader, the Mufti of Jerusalem.
    The British policy can hardly be clearer.
    This Hajj Amin al Husseini was a total cynic, and his incitement of the Arabs against the Jews — which relied on mobilizing the widespread contempt and hatred that the Arabs already felt, traditionally, for the Jews (see Part 1) — was not part of a policy to defend the Arabs from the British, much less from the Zionist Jews. Rather, his anti-Jewish racist incitement — launched in collusion with the British — was meant to create a climate of intimidation such that fellow Arab smallholders would not dare improve their economic well being by selling their modest plots of land to the Jews, lest they be identified as ‘traitors’ and selected for execution by Hajj Amin’s terrorists. In this way, Hajj Amin’s family — one of the largest landowners in the area — could buy these small plots at bargain prices and then resell them to the same Zionist Jews at absurdly high prices (see Part 3).

    http://www.hirhome.com/israel/pal_mov4.htm

    PROVIDES LINK BETWEEN ARMENIAN MASSACRE AND HAMAS “PALESTINIANS”

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    Mute Old Gordon
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    Apr 13th 2015, 10:24 AM

    Educated and professional Turks are deeply ashamed by the Armenian genocide; however Erdogan’s base is in the God fearing ignorant folk that make up a majority of the Turkish population. The kind of people who prefer their rights to be curtailed than enjoy the secular Turkish traditions of old.

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    Mute Karl O Neill
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:31 AM

    What a load of s$#t. Why take a stand on it now? Its out of living memory. If the Vatican had no moral fortitude over the last 100 years why open old wounds now? Using Armenia as a political token to get at Turkey for today’s problem is cheap and unnecessary.

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    Mute Resel
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:32 AM

    The Vatican’s hands are drenched in blood from the 1st and 2nd world wars and are in no position to cast the 1st stone.

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    Mute Jason Culligan
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:43 AM

    Religion had absolutely no part to play in the World Wars beyond some scaremongering by the Fascist movements in central Europe regarding Communism.

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    Mute Resel
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:51 AM

    The Catholic Church blessed troops on both sides of the conflict rather than denounce what was happening…..& that’s only the start.

    http://www.catholicarrogance.org/Catholic/RC_scandal-1.html

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    Mute Jason Culligan
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:56 AM

    I honestly stopped reading your link after the first three paragraphs. It looks like nothing more than one angry man’s rantings and ravings and strawman arguments rather than a properly researched investigative report.

    I’ve got better things to do than read something so obviously loaded with opinionated ramblings rather than unbiased factual evidence.

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    Mute Resel
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    Apr 13th 2015, 9:11 AM

    Let me make it easy for you:
    http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e372/tlthe5th/nazi-vatican/5naziclergy.jpg

    It’s people like you who ignore the facts because they are not prepared to read a few paragraphs that has allowed the church to continue despite its serious atrocities.

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    Mute James Onedin
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    Apr 13th 2015, 10:04 AM

    Ummm, Jason I’d say that religion had a pretty big part to play in WW2 if you were a Nazi hunting/exterminating Jews.

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    Mute Spoddgy
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    Apr 13th 2015, 10:14 AM

    Weren’t the nazis into the occult and didn’t have time for Catholics! Weren’t priests sent to the concentration camps! Didn’t people in the church save Jews!

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    Mute James Onedin
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    Apr 13th 2015, 10:20 AM

    Correct on all counts!

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    Mute John Errity
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:59 AM

    durka durka mohammed jihad”

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    Mute James Onedin
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    Apr 13th 2015, 10:02 AM

    Put down that weapon of mass destruction!!!!!

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    Mute just readin
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    Apr 13th 2015, 9:56 AM

    Ireland does not? I guess we must do a lot of ‘business’ with Turkey

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    Mute Michael O'Reilly
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    Apr 13th 2015, 8:34 AM

    Francis may decide that the French ambassador is preferable – dealing with a gay Frenchman may be easier than dealing with an irate Turk!

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    Mute Mary Kavanagh
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    Apr 13th 2015, 11:13 AM

    They did, and though the Pope at the time (I lose count of all the Popes named Pius) didn’t officially condemn the Nazi regime apparently there was a Vatican organisation which helped in smuggling Jews out of various countries.

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    Mute Felix Quigley
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    Apr 13th 2015, 11:31 AM

    BEWARE OF HATRED AGAINST RELIGIOUS GROUPS

    Irish artists are engaged in campaign of hatred against Jews

    ““In response to the call from Palestinian civil society for a cultural boycott of Israel, we pledge not to avail of any invitation to perform or exhibit in Israel, nor to accept any funding from any institution linked to the government of Israel, until such time as Israel complies with international law and universal principles of human rights.” – See the full list of signatories here.”

    http://www.ipsc.ie/cultural-boycott/ipsc-irish-artists-pledge-to-boycott-israel

    WE HAVE TO AT LAST FACE UP TO THE HATRED BEING PROMOTED IN IRELAND AGAINST JEWS

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    Mute John Ward
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    Apr 13th 2015, 11:06 AM

    The Pope was just being frank by talking turkey!

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    Mute Buy Say It on iTunes
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    Apr 13th 2015, 9:36 AM

    What this article forgets to mention is that in the last few years the Turkish president made contact with the Armenian president so they could gather historical notes to finally get a number and account of what happened back then but the Armenian president didn’t want that which makes me wonder if 1.5 million really did die, and let’s not forget when the Protestants killed Catholics here, was that also genocide? Because it’s still going on

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    Mute Chris Kirk
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    Apr 13th 2015, 11:54 AM

    The Pope is playing into Putin’s hands with his attack on the Turks. The French government need to rein him in before he causes a storm against moderate Muslims.

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    Mute Desmodromic
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    Apr 13th 2015, 12:28 PM

    It was a brave move by the Pope in this PC world to be so outspoken on this controversial (in Turkey) issue. Whether it was technically genocide or not it is clear that Armenian citizens in that region died in their thousands more by deliberate neglect during forced mass movements than direct organised and outright murder. I think Turks feel so sensitive about thus because it is a very dark period on their history that they can’t be proud of. Mind you since the fall of the Ottoman Empire the modern Turkish state has managed to balance on a knife edge between East and West pretty well.

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    Mute Atticus the Accuser
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    Apr 13th 2015, 2:38 PM

    Since the Pope is on the topic of genocide will he condemn his own organisation for it’s role in the Rwanda genocide?

    http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/08/catholic-church-apologise-failure-rwanda-genocide-vatican

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