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EACH NOVEMBER WE are distinguishable by the spot of red absent from or attached to our coats and scarves. It’s a contentious issue, this wearing of a remembrance poppy, which comes no closer to resolution every year, despite impassioned pleas from both sides in the press.
These sides are: pro-poppy or appalled by poppy. There’s no middle ground it seems. Google it and there’s no shortage of websites dedicated to personally destroying anyone who chooses to wear the red flower. On the other side of the field are the poppy fanatics, who believe not wearing one is tantamount to treason. It’s this kind of people that starts wars and I will not wear a poppy in their name.
Already you may be moving your mouse towards the x in the top corner, but for balance, it’s good to give weight to both sides of an argument commonly disregarded due to familial association or historical misinformation.
Firstly. The view that anyone wearing a poppy this November is in any way glorifying warfare is wrong. Completely wrong. A poppy does not equal British nationalism in the same way a hijab does not equal Islamic extremism. These are both reductive arguments that have no place in the overall debate.
‘History, Stephen said, is a nightmare from which I’m trying to awake’ (Ulysses, James Joyce), Aren’t we all. Unfortunately though, the First World War will always unite Europe in a shared history, in fact WWI could be said to define modern Europe, the Europe we’re are part of and is part of us.
You can’t choose your family, particularly when that family depends on you ecologically, politically, economically and socially. We’re joined by more than a communal currency (for the majority) but also a communal and colossal loss of lives, all of which deserve to be remembered. We must not forget our history, lest we are doomed to repeat it, as philosopher George Santayana once said.
The problem with history is that its perspective can get skewed and cause arguments, over things such as little paper poppies.
There are strongly-held reasons for not wearing the poppy that are hard to argue with. For some, the poppies represent the oppression by the British Army after World War One, the Black and Tans, the occupation of Northern Ireland. Should we, as Irish people, wear a symbol that is synonymous with Britain?
Thirty thousand young Irish men died during WWI, it’s the second biggest killer next to the Famine. It wasn’t just a British war. Some seem to believe that the wearing of a poppy approves or condones the great and the powerful sending the weak and lowly, including Irish, to their deaths: But it doesn’t. If anything, it makes us remember why we should not go gentle into that good night, we should stand against our rulers if needs be, like many Irish did during the rebellion in fact. Men that opted to fight for allied forces during the Great War did it for their families and their families’ futures.
We shouldn’t allow a simple flower, which shows we’ll never forget the worst bits of our background, to be ambushed and used as a symbol of nationalism.
British Soldiers were as misled as everyone, yet many see Irishmen fighting for the British Army as deserters of the cause back at home, citing the Easter Uprising as their key reason for not wearing the poppy. What makes one man a hero and another a traitor? It’s interesting to see how almost entirely erased is the treatment of the soldiers who did fight with the allies during WWI, when they came home. They were rejected from society; their jobs filled by others, benefits removed, ousted from their own community, forgotten by their own country.
Unfortunately Britain, as well as many other nations is still engaged in active warfare, and people are still dying both during and because of war which is why we must remember the atrocities that have marked our past and we must continue to try to prevent them happening again.
If you go to Flanders, the Somme, Ypres or any of the other key battlegrounds of World War One you can see the poppies growing there. They are of that place, where men of all nationalities fell. To see the names written on towering marble plinths you would want to remember them in some way, you have to.
Perhaps we should choose our own symbol of remembrance, not the red poppy or the white alternative that stands for remembrance but also a downing of arms. Perhaps we need a uniquely Irish equivalent? Or an international image to remember all those who have fought and died and all those who continue to fight and die for what they believe is right.
Ultimately people should be allowed to mark important occasions in the way they wish, as long as they don’t cause harm or offence to others, and if you do find someone wearing a paper poppy for a few days harmful or offensive, perhaps you need to prioritise your problems.
Kate Bellamy is a TV and features writer online and in print in Ireland and the UK writing on contemporary women’s issues and television – where possible combining the two. Kate was shortlisted for the Vogue Young Writers Talent Contest this year. She can found tweeting @_KateMate.
Read more of Kate’s articles for TheJournal.ie here.
Who are the government trying to impress with this? Clearly not the Irish people they are supposed to serve.
@Seanfhear míshásta: I don’t know a single person who doesn’t support helping a fellow democracy that has attacked
@Roj Blake: Why didn’t the government help prevent this conflict? Lots of civilians and children were killed in Eastern Ukraine before all hell broke lose. We should be looking for a peaceful end to this crisis not supporting the propagation of violence to pander to Biden’s death wish of egging Putin on. We need peace not war.
@The Irish love this shy….: but your pushing your pro putin stance again.. every normal Irish person fells bad for the atrocities that putin has done to Ukraine , the rest are not NORMAL human beings
@Roj Blake: ‘Democracy’ are you having a laugh?
@Seanfhear míshásta: The state ( matters not what party) is beholden to the EU/WEF/US.
@Joe Mc Dermott: different point of view equals not normal human beings, that sounds very nazish in fairness…did you think this comment through before you posted?
@Roj Blake: Not sure about a democratic elected government. If I recall the current lot replaced the previously democratically elected government by force in 2014.
@Martin Caulfield: nope, the current lot were elected in 2019 in an election which was deemed free and fair by the OSCE.
@Joe Mc Dermott: Did you say the same to George Mitchel or Mo Molam when they were pushing for peace on this island? Aren’t we normal human beings as well? Weren’t we worth it? What type of man are you to be supporting death? Is that your legacy as a “NORMAL human being”?
@Joe Mc Dermott: How smooth does your brain have to be to equate the desire for a peaceful solution to being pro-Putin? Seriously?
@Ross O’: in case ye guys didn’t see the headlines, putin and his orcs invaded Ukraine, raped and murdered men women and children and all ye want to do is castigate Ukraine and blame them for what’s happening. So yes it’s not normal.. ye all call for peace with a Russian stance bur never once called for putin to get the fu#k out of Ukraine, and guess what.. then you’ll have peace that you crave for..
@The Irish love this shy….: “supporting” death is all he will ever do, because he’s far too cowardly to actually boot up himself and put his own neck at risk for what he pretends to believe. I find a good rule of thumb is that anyone who supports war and bloodshed, but isn’t fighting and shedding or spilling blood themselves, should be mocked and then ignored. Never give cowards the impression that they matter, because they never will.
@Martin Caulfield: You recollect wrong this ‘current lot’ won an overwhelming majority in an internationally observed and validated election. This ‘current lot’ is a result of a popular revolt on foot of russian meddling, a president who was elected on a mandate of closer ties with the EU turned course under external pressure from Moscow and tried to get away with returning Ukraine to Moscow vassal state status. You know all this but for some weird reason you engage in purposeful misinformation in favour of a Russian despot.
@Joe Mc Dermott: Therein lies your problem, you’re only looking at the headlines when theres more to the story.
Point to me where I castigated Ukraine?
Point to me where I blamed them for being invaded?
Point to me where I displayed a pro Russian stance?
You shouldn’t be generalising people like that. You have zero idea what’s going through my head. Bit of advice – try thinking before you say something baseless so as not to appear as ignorant as you have done in these comments.
@Alan B: The Ukrainian people elect a president, and a parliament.
They elected parliament passed legislation recognising that the Ukrainian people wanted to move into the European world.
The Ukrainian people then elected a president who promised to bring that about.
That president – a Victor Yanukovych – then reneged on that promise, scrapped those plans and began a process of re-integration with russia.
The Ukrainian people – having been subject to russian oppression – were having none of that and protested.
Yaokuvych set his goons on the protesters, killing over 100.
The Ukrainian parliament removed Yanokuvych from office, and he fled to Moscow.
(Yankuvych was one of the those selected by Putin as a puppet to replace Zalensky, but the russian invasion failed to topple the Ukrainian government.)
Yanukovych has international warrants out for hos arrest for mass murder and fraud.
It was Yanukovych – a russian puppet – that tried to undermine and overthorw Ukrainian democracy, not the Ukrainian people who stood firm to protect their democracy.
@Ignatius J Reilly: Thank you. It’s awful to see human beings think that the only way to stop death is more death. It’s not the way of the Irish and it certainly is not the way of any normal human being. Unfortunately this conflict has been going on for a long time and Americans got involved because they had skin in the game. Boris followed Biden in the same way Blair followed Bush because of “the special relationship”. Ireland should be trying to save skin not to see it burnt to support weapons manufacturers.
@Noel Kelly: your definition of nazis is mindblowing
@Joe Mc Dermott: Would you ever cop onto yourself you MSM brainwashed Russophobe, you’re making a fool of yourself here.
@Joe Mc Dermott: and your definition of what’s normal is very Nazish, what’s your problem?
@Brendan Cahill: there’s nothing free or fair in Ukraine, it beggers belief that some can’t see that Uncle Sam is keeping this stupid war going , Putin is not interested in western Ukraine or anywhere else in Europe, the EU will fall apart by itself, the gates are wide open, we ain’t seen nothing yet.
@Roj Blake:
Try not to be so naive!
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: That response was supposed to be to Martin Caulfield.
I’ll try again.
@Martin Caulfield: The Ukrainian people elect a president, and a parliament.
They elected parliament passed legislation recognising that the Ukrainian people wanted to move into the European world.
The Ukrainian people then elected a president who promised to bring that about.
That president – a Victor Yanukovych – then reneged on that promise, scrapped those plans and began a process of re-integration with russia.
The Ukrainian people – having been subject to russian oppression – were having none of that and protested.
Yaokuvych set his goons on the protesters, killing over 100.
The Ukrainian parliament removed Yanokuvych from office, and he fled to Moscow.
(Yankuvych was one of the those selected by Putin as a puppet to replace Zalensky, but the russian invasion failed to topple the Ukrainian government.)
Yanukovych has international warrants out for hos arrest for mass murder and fraud.
It was Yanukovych – a russian puppet – that tried to undermine and overthrow Ukrainian democracy, not the Ukrainian people who stood firm to protect their democracy.
So no, the current lot did not replace the previously elected lot on 2014.
Although that is part of the russian propaganda lies about those times.
@Roj Blake: To the last Ukrainian so it is! . More and more shall be rounded up for a tour of the frontlines later on in year. Anyone who is not demanding peace deserves to go
Give coke head nothing
@Jon John: Stop making a fool of yourself. Some people had actually started to take you seriously
@Joe Mc Dermott: but who wrote those headlines????
@Alan B: Nobody contested the result of the last election and the second placed candidate accepted the result. i.e. it is a democratically elected government. Meanwhile in Russia yesterday the head of the last independent election monitoring organisation was imprisoned. Russia has no opposition (last guy sent in jail for what? previous guy murdered outside the Kremlin) is not democratic.
@The Irish love this shy….: As you well know the little green men stirred up the trouble. That is what Russia do – cause trouble. and FYI the number of deaths in the couple of years before the 2022 were very low. Protect the people was just another Russian lie to justify a war with no justification.
@Roj Blake: You need to get out more.
@Roj Blake: bull as usual . Org excuse of a government should be promoting peace and peace talks . I’m sure you will find a huge majority of Irish people do not agree with you or your fake warmongering
@Martin Caulfield: Untrue! They were elected.
@Seanfhear míshásta: You need an army, to defend your country and soldiers must be trained in military tactics. Even neutral Countries, have an army and to defend their Democracy. These Neutralists hippies, need to be re-educated and in a Chinese or NK labour camp.
@Roj Blake: You don’t know too many people do you
@The Irish love this shy..
It’s the right thing to do, who knows some day Ireland may need help,
What goes around comes around I say.
@Edward O’T.: In your opinion!!!
@Edward O’T.: It’d be the RAF and/or Europe, while we sit aloof on the fence.
@John Jon: yep.
@Dissasociated Follower: In my opinion Boss.
@Edward O’T.: The right thing to do is to look for peace and promote peace. Isn’t there enough death in the world without us adding to it? Jack Lynch said that “we could not stand idly by” if you know your history but even he knew that common sense must prevail and we never got militarily involved against British or IRA thugs on our island.
@The Irish love this shy….: There is a time when military assistance is needed which for Ukraine is now due to the brutal invasion of Ukraine by Putin’s military, that does not take away from promoting peace for Ukraine at the same time.
But as anyone can see Putin does not want peace he wants Ukraine.
@Edward O’T.: Very very risky for such an exposed, militarily weak nation.
@Dissasociated Follower: In his opinion, which he’s entitled to.
@The Irish love this shy….: Set out your peace plan and tell us who would deliver it and to whom. Tell us who would pay any attention to what we have to say.
@Thesaltyurchin: who do you think would be permitted to take aggressive action against us? No one would be permitted to do so.
@Alan Casey: Suppose the fishermen did a good job of shooing away the Russians last time and actions like this will slip us neatly into the pocket of Nato at some point but as all wars in the history of humankind have demonstrated, you don’t need ‘permission’
Our government has been deeply dishonest with us and abandoned the clear will of the Irish people to be a neutral country; a country that stands for peace, not war!
@Nestor: no it hasn’t as a) Ireland has never been politically neutral and b) the vast majority of people support assisting a fellow democracy
@Roj Blake: If your comment was true, why did we implore international people to sue for peace on our island which is a democracy? We Irish haven’t forgotten the success of the Good Friday Peace Agreement supported by other democracies. Ireland has always been politically neutral and Dev even signed the book of condolences on behalf of us Irish for the German people when the war was over and Hitler was dead.
@The Irish love this shy….: of course we should celebrate the day the Provos admitted defeat.
@Roj Blake: It seems to me that “the Provos” got the British to agree to leave when and if the people of NI decide that.
That’s a first for the Brits.
They usually have to be kicked out.
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: that was John Hume
@Roj Blake: It was John Hume that got the various parties around the table, so to speak.
It was the Provos that got the Brits to agree to leave.
@The Irish love this shy….: He should not have signed that book. It was a stain on the Irish. Looks like we condoned mass murder by HItler
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: breaking news, ‘brits’ never left Northern Ireland
I agree with the activists. The Irish like to say we are a neutral country. We cant pick and choose which foreign war we want to support.
@Irish Harp: Ireland isn’t, nor has ever been, politically neutral
@Irish Harp: Some Irish like to say that. Some.
@Irish Harp: Activists?
These are not active; they are merely prepared to watch on as evil is done to people.
@Roj Blake: military operations are not politics though?
@Irish Harp: We are not a neutral country. We never were a neutral country. We are non-aligned with a policy of military neutrality.
@NotMyIreland: what,, all wars are political
@Joe Mc Dermott: Yeah fair point. Although once you are backing one side using your military you have stayed from both forms of neutrality, was my poorly constructed point.
@Roj Blake: There will be a debate in Ireland on military neutrality – Taoiseach
While Ireland is militarily neutral, Micheal Martin emphasised the state is ‘not politically neutral or morally neutral’ on the Ukraine invasion. Seems MM disagreed with you. But once again he uturns on Irish people without mandate.
@Roj Blake: and training an army in weapon use is military intervention.
@Joe Mc Dermott: but thankfully not all politics is military.
@M Bowe: what MM is precisely what I said, Ireland isn’t politically neutral
@Roj Blake: We have always been at war with easy Asia…
Good!
We should also transfer any and all weapons and munitions and anything else that might be of use in the defeat of the russian evil.
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: Anyone that thinks Ukraine can defeat Russia with the weapons scraps from various countries is deluded. They need heavy and significantly more investment in weaponry to sustain fighting. The Iraq war was costing the U.S over $1 billion per week with less hostilities.
@: Ireland uses NATO standard weapons, not weapon scraps.
These (generally) use the same calibre ammunition.
So we could send over every round of mortar ammunition we have, every round of artillery ammunition we have, every round of small arms ammunition we have.
And we could also send over every mortar, every artillery piece, every machine gun.
And every anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapon we have.
And anything else we have the Ukrainians believe might be useful.
We should do anything we can do to help defeat evil.
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: Don’t make me laugh we have enough ammo to sustain Ukraine’s military for around 12 hours literally.
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: Your fake responses here are getting duller by the day. We Irish support peace and do not support violence. Get out of these comments section you troll.
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: This comment here is a CIPSO propaganda operative who also uses the name of Honey Badger. They never contributed to any Irish debate, Irish scandal, event…. They are here to try sway public opinion. I don’t support the invasion but these fake accounts are trying to fool us Irish. Notice the same pattern here with the comments from the same accounts, always badgering for more war and more war. This is not the Irish way. Please use your head and not your emotion. Support peace and pray for peace.
@The Irish love this shy….: Spot on check out Roj Blakes comments screaming for war.
@: that’s how the trolls work. They use different accounts and answer each other so as to sow confusion here. Always the same style, war war war. One liners only or else they provide technical stuff which Irish aren’t really interested in and which is part of the script. See if you can find this account commenting with knowledge and context on other Irish topics of The Journal…. you will find nothing. I checked at the weekend and saw the same pattern from the same accounts which is the same individual.
@: Which would be 12 hours more than they have now.
We’ll then we should give them that 12 hours
I seem to remember back in 1970 weapons from this republic being sent to assit in another war how did that work out I wonder?
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: You know they did a survey on the Irish armies munition inventory a few years ago, it found that we had enough rounds to last 15 minutes in a real war. So unfortunately I doubt much has changed, we could give them sheep, curragh is not in short supply.
@Jon Jon: Have you ever served in the defense forces Jon Jon?
Have you ever fired mortars?
Artillery?
Machine guns?
We have these things.
And we have ammunition for them.
Let’s get that all over to Ukraine, which it can be put to good use defending against the murderous russian invasion.
How ever much or little we have, let’s get the murderers out of Ukraine.
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: yeah I have actually, more than most, I didn’t say you don’t have them, I said we barely have enough ammo & resources for ourselves never mind training other countries . Im all for military & defense investment in Ireland, I think the Irish attitude towards defense is a disgrace. Have some pride in our nation, be able to stand up when needed. As it stands it’s a joke and it is. There’s no point saying its not, but it’s our politicians fault, globalist sell outs
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: you serious?
This purely symbolic and will mean nothing in the bigger picture, Irishmen, just like NATO forces have no experience in fighting a war of attrition, this more about sticking a flag to a certain mast while pretending we are neutral,
We are being sleepwalked into being the eastern flank of NATO, protecting the UK and other parts of Europe..
This is insane
@Noel Kelly: common defence is common sense
@Roj Blake: yeah, let us be the first line of defence on the Eastern flank of NATO with no means of protecting ourselves except to become a military colony and outpost as a war is fought between NATO backed Ukraine and Russia some 2,500km away…
That’s not in our common good whatsoever, geographically we are a link from America to Europe, that’s both military and economically, and are a strategic rock for what happens across all of Europe,
THAT’S our worth to the US, EU and UK… anyone else who thinks different is deluding themselves, it’s World chess and we’re definitely a pawn
@Roj Blake: There’s nothing common about common since with these people.
@Noel Kelly: What’s your point? We are where we are. We can’t just up and leave geographically. Are we Part of Europe or not?
@David S: I don’t think I could be more clearer to you than if I had written in braille mate
@Noel Kelly: Are you saying we should get tooled up?
@Noel Kelly: Noel. We’re part of the EU. When we joined the EEC back in 73. Neutrality went out the window. If we get attacked in the morning. What will Brussels do?
Translation: Bunch of unelected do-gooders stick heads in sand and ignore the brutality of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine
@Roj Blake: Good!
Could the neutrality activists head over to Moscow and try their hand with Putin perhaps?
@Roj Blake: The fan boy attitude u have to this Irish government is brutal and sad to watch. Id say if they supplied putin with weapons and bombed ukraine, ud probably spin it as a good thing……
If the Freemason martin and the other globalist ilk got their way, they would have us in NATO, mandatory conscription and straight into the Ukraine on the front lines.
@James murphy: congratulations for the best conspiracy diarrhoea post today
@James murphy: You know that the term globalists is a disguised term used by fascists to describe Jews?
Just part of the continuing attempts to undermine and destroy Irish neutrality . On a practical level it is ridiculous . The Ukrainians know a lot more about fighting a war than the Irish . Also Ireland uses Western military doctrine which the Ukrainians have recently dumped as it doesn’t work . They have gone back to old Soviet doctrine .
@Des Hanrahan: Correct but this was not our decision in my opinion. Our foreign policy at the moment is directed by Washington. That is why the trolls on this story here are always trying to support Biden and down with Trump, to keep the war going because there is A LOT of money in weapons selling.
@Des Hanrahan: Just because a country is traditionally neutral does not mean it should ignore brutality, war crimes and genocide.
There is an obligation on us to respond to such things.
And surely you must feel a personal obligation to stand against such things?
Surely you are not the sort that would walk on by thugs attacking a woman, a child (or a man) in the street?
S hame on Ireland….
@Maksym Kliavinsh: shame on Putin
@Maksym Kliavinsh: New russian troll account, not welcome.
We gave up our neutrality a long time ago when we allowed our American friends to transit through Shannon.
@Adrian: What about when we let allied planes fly in and out over Donegal in WWII?
@Adrian: They even shopped in full uniform in Shannon Supervalu. A disgrace while the same soldiers were supporting turning little Afghanistan children into red smoothies. Our government should be ashamed for not looking for peace.
@The Irish love this shy….: They had to go in to Afghanistan. They were harbouring the Taliban and refused to shut them down. The Taliban had just attacked America. The first Iraq war and Afghanistan were legit IMHO. and FYI if Churchill did not stop Hitler he had invasion plan for Ireland – Operation Green!!
Let’s be honest here. Ireland have no say as this is USA war with Russia. If you want an example just look the new housing provided at very short notice. Also the use of hotels etc. ask yourself who is funding it?
Ireland is not neutral. Just defenceless.
There is nothing that the Irish Defence Forces that have never been in combat apart from a few scraps with the UN can teach the Ukrainians who have a history of combat dating back to WW2 about weapons. This is a con to further erode our neutrality, have we learnt nothing from our past. Who’s pulling our governments strings, no prizes for guessing right.
@Kieron King: Completely false. The Irish defence forces are highly regarded across the world, and regularly train other military personnel in areas such as dealing with mines.
@Roj Blake: Dealing with mines is not weapons training. How are we highly regarded across the world, is there a league table?
@Kieron King: Biden came to Ireland to remind the Irish that our our economy our jobs is on his watch. He wants our support to keep the war going and for Ukraine to join the EU (God forbid). He knows Micheal Martin is a Cork school teacher with the mentality of a young teen thinking he’s playing Minecraft. As minister for defence, Martin is only preparing himself for his next dream job but at our expense.
Please be aware of fake accounts supporting war in this comments section. It’s riddled with foreign ops trying to sway Irish opinion to supporting war but they are not Irish, I outed them some days ago. Roj Blake, Honey Badger, ItWasLikeThis…. all the same account and same style despite their efforts to conceal their war mongering. They are paid trolls like the Chinese do in many publications around the world. (I don’t know if the Russians are at it but I’d say they are but they are not on this section because any normal person is looking for peace not war now).
@The Irish love this shy….: Good points, Ireland has been very successful on many UN peacekeeping missions because a lot of the adversaries by and large considered us neutral and respected that. This is slowly being eroded by those subservient government Ministers who pander to the wishes of the western elite because it will come with rewards. We have withdrawn from a UN mission in the Golan Heights to enable us to serve in a European Battlegroup led by Germany ironically. The Irish are sleepwalking into serious problems in future UN missions because people’s perception of us as being neutral is diminishing.
Military speaking anything past safety measures for example mine detection should be avoided .
We are not helping the people of the Ukraine as people believe, we are just prolonging a lost conflict and making the militarily industrial complex richer.
Well done to our defence forces. This is the minimum we should be doing to support Ukraine repel a murderous invasion by maniac Putins Orc army.
@Free Nig er: If people don’t want to be called orcs, then maybe they shouldn’t behave as orcs?
@honey badger:
It is time for peace!
@Nestor: Agreed!
It is time for peace.
And a lasting peace.
So russia must be utterly defeated.
And russian war criminals held to account.
And russia held to account for its genocide.
And reparations paid to Ukraine.
And reparations paid to the rest of us for the harm russia has done.
That would be a start.
Then maybe russia will never again be able to wreak havoc on its neighbours.
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere:
Well no!
The people of Crimea want to live in peace with their neighbours, both Russians and Ukrainians.
The people of west Ukraine want to live in peace with their neighbours.
The people of south Ukraine want to live in peace with their neighbours.
Russian people and Ukrainian people love peace!
Time to end the conflict!
@honey badger: Good for you. You have got the russian trolls angry.
@Nestor: The people of Crimea are Ukrainians. Antone who says otherwise is just spreading russian propaganda lies.
russia can end this conflict right now, by leaving Ukraine.
russia could have simply not invaded Ukraine, either in 2014 or last year, murdering and destroying.
But just as russia murderously invaded Chechnya and Georgia, russia invaded Ukraine.
There is simply no evidence to back your assertion that russians love peace.
russia has been brutalising the peoples of its neighbouring countries for as long as we know about.
russia need to be taught a lesson.
And so it will be taught a lesson.
And the world will hopefully be a better, cleaner, safer place after the utter defeat of russia.
Then maybe russia will learn to leave others alone.
Then we will have peace.
@The Irish love this shy….: The Irish Support Ukraine in their defence. You support Russia. You don’t speak for me or the majority. Peace is a pipe dream at this juncture. No possibility at the moment as Putin Knows he would be dead within weeks. The war continues because Putin wants to cling on to power (which is staying alive in Russia). Steroids from the cancer treatment make him very paranoid and very dangerous. Perhaps if the Chinese and Russian economies continue to tank there may be an opportunity too and this war is beginning to hurt them. And lets face fact the Chinese now own Russia
Regardless of whether you think this is right or wrong we must all be concerned that our government and Micheál Martin in particular has lied to us. We were told in plain terms that any training provided would be non-lethal, that’s clearly not the case.
@Rochelle Hart: Martin has more than lied, he betrayed his own because his pride and ambition are only for himself. Have a look back on his visit to Kyiv and see his face shaking hands with Zelensky, he looks like he was wetting his pants with glee. That is not the type of leader Ireland needs nor deserves. He started out as a school teacher but then thought this meant his real job was as an international arms supporter as well as try to run a country which he hasn’t. Supporting death is never the answer.
@The Irish love this shy….: An Irish person would know Martin is no longer in charge. Leo is the Taoiseach now.
Honey badger and all the paid trolls are quiet again tonight. Different time zone
@The ghost of Ireland’s past: Quiet a few have arrived just now, your comment likely be pushed down, while theirs given prominence.
@The ghost of Ireland’s past: ItWasLikeTHis….. is the same fake. Notice the same style, substance and perpetuation of violent posts here from them. They are not asleep I assure you. They just don’t want to make it obvious, even though I have outed them.
@The Irish love this shy….: Please provide evidence to support that they are the same account. you accused me of being HB. It is a lie and you are a liar
Neutral? US? We? Our grandparents??? WW2 and all? No, we’ve Never been. History shows otherwise.
Ukraine is resisting a vicious illegal invasion, an invasion in which systemic targeting of civilian infrastructure is an actual tactic of the invading army. Despite this we have these perpetual malcontents suggesting giving minimum training support is somehow wrong when in actual fact the decent thing to do would be to transfer whatever defence systems we have in the hope they might save the lives of civilians. When are these isolationist purists going to understand what they argue for is moral cowardice..
Try reading ‘Behind the Green Curtain: Ireland’s Phoney Neutrality during World War II’ by T. Ryle Dwyer.
Peope get so worked up over stuff that realistically has little or no consequence. Our barracks are full of soldiers that have Little or no purpose, through no fault of their own. We have politicians who are petrified of using incorrect pronoun, while streets of many large cities and towns are dominated by teen tugs on SW , drug addicts on SW and some people that have traveled here to exploit the countries good will to benefit from overly generous SW. Like to sleep on 7 days a week, and get €180 per week to do so………apply here. Unfortunately we are living in a puddle of mud. The state of our once Emerald Isle is very close to beyond repair. Rights come with responsibilities, not here.
I’m not going to enter into any kind of debate. But how do the naysayers suggest we pull our weight ?
We are in the EU after all ..
Comments allowed for once no to NATO
No to nato 100 per cent
Always some protest group spring up, no matter what the issue.
Iam going to the pub for a lovely Guinness..
@Wayne Shoes: Finally some sense.
It is a right move to train people willing to fight for democracy and EU safety. But government definitely don’t have the right picture of what is going on in Ukraine. Today found an apartment to let in Kiev for 20000usd per month! People down there parting at big concerts, living in much better houses and driving much more expensive cars than average Irish person!
@Sergej Simonov: And how much does the average apartment in Kviv cost, Sergej?
Do they still celebrate Stepan Bandera in Ukraine?
@Ollie McGlinchey: yes they do.
I think we are being paid for this level of support as our paymasters think our diaspora’s opinion matters in this war for their economic goals
YOU CAN NOT BE NEUTRAL WHEN FACED WITH EVIL.
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill:
Well,
Not everyone would agree that US hegemony. is evil!
@Nestor: But we do all agree that russian war crimes and genocide are evil, right Nestor?
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: Nestor never criticizes Russia
For the pro Muslim and pro peace supporting illuminati posting here. You cannot defeat terror and those who attack your country by appeasement. It is in certain cabals interests to support Russian aggression. It is equally important that we are now taking iin more Russians avoiding war and conscription posing as Ukrainian, but we haven’t the wherewithal to distinguish who is whom. We have Ukrainian Males of 18 to 40 being allowed enter this country. These cowards should be fighting for their country’s freedom. Irish MEN are putting their lives on the line to teach these people to help themselves against aggressors. Not everyone is a Paul Murphy who traps women in cars and terrifies them for hours on end, apparently quite legally.
@Thomas O’Donnell: on you go over Thomas and die like a dog in a ditch for nothing, cause that’s the reality of it
Democracy needs to use a gun every now and then.
This is a shameful and illegal betrayal of the Irish people . We do not support wars , we want the muppets in government to advocate peace and stop nodding their heads in agreement with this. Why are our government not calling for peace talks
@BL Music: You don’t speak for me and I am Irish.
These ‘activists’ could do with a history lesson or two.
Appeasement never works.
It’s a good thing that their opinions are irrelevant.
@lWOk0fWf: It’s a good thing we have some intelligent people in the comments who know the difference between seeking solutions and appeasement. Don’t get a job as a car salesman.
@The Irish love this shy….: and you clearly don’t have a clue about anything judging by your inane comments. You’re quite dull really.
@The Irish love this shy….: Putin is not interested in Peace. he would be dead or in a gulag in weeks. hundreds of thousands dead and nothing to show for it. how would he explain that. He has to continue
Thankfully the Murphy/Daly/Wallace supporters in this country represent a very small proportion of us!!!
Good news! Send some russians lovers aka the welfare trash aboard as well.
@Lock up feral Irish youth: But don’t the far left welfare trash support Ukraine?
The trolls have taken over the comments.
Demining training and flak jackets are not a breach of neutrality.
@A D: so you have woken up? You are another fake account here Honey B. You can thank another for outing you as you slipped through my net but I’m onto you now. Another war mongering troll. Find a real job for yourself instead of annoying our Irish people with your paid trolling.
@The Irish love this shy….: Am I also on your list now? Thanks to the comedian William S?
(Am I also a CIPSO agent? What IP address are we using?)
@A D: he accused me as well. I am also awaiting evidence. Welcome to the club. Who do you think he is “russian troll or tin foil hat brigade?” Wish the site would deal with it as quite tiresome.
Yes to NATO
Neutrality is hypocritical and cowardly
@John Byrne:
@John Byrne: get on yer bike so and boot up if you feel that way and don’t be a hypocrite being a keyboard warrior. Would you send your own son to fight? Have a look at some of the videos of men getting slaughtered and for what? So you can say neutrality is hypocritical and cowardly? I think you need a good mirror Mr Byrne.
@The Irish love this shy….: My sons will make their own decisions. Hiding behind NATO geographically and militarily is hypocritical and cowardly. Yes, I would fight to defend this country.sometimws you have to. Putin just loves useful fools
I note all of those on here about advocating Peace. The world wants peace. Everyone wants this war over. Including Biden as it would be a major boast on the world stage before the election next year. It is costing the US Billions. Unfortunately Putin is not interested in Peace. He can not go back and say to his people “no denazification (the Ukraine Govt remain and are stronger), didn’t halt Nato expansion (two new countries joined doubling the border with Nato countries), hundreds of thousands dead, donbass etc not secure (lost half the land we initially won), economy in the toilet, and Russia military humiliated by a much smaller country. He can’t sell this as any kind of victory and stay alive. So the war will continue. It is depressing but am I wrong in my analysis? Putin does not care about his own people dying. He care about him dying. If the rumours about his cancer are correct maybe this might create an opportunity. Also the Russian/Chinese economy are showing real signs of strain. That might force a change. It should be remembered the USSR broke up because the economic model failed and they couldn’t fund the Afgan war.
“The only thing necessary for evil to triumph in the world is that good men do nothing”. Putin is evil. Russia does not respect neutrality. We need to get real. Russia represents a threat to the entire West. That includes Ireland
@Johncjc: totally correct. It’s a pity that the apologists on here can’t see that.
They won’t be so neutral when the Ruskies come knocking!
When this is all over will it be Russia who pays to rebuild Ukraine or EU,seems like the latter,Russia should be made pay severely when Putin’s brown bread but they’ll probably get away lightly, very wrong
@Paddy C: Sanctions can remain in place until russia pays up. And new ones adde, as and when necessary.
russia will pay, one way or the other.
Neutrality activists is a funny way to spell R-U-S-S…
I hope they remember to teach them to fit hearing protection otherwise Ukraine could be bankrupt when it’s all over .
Crazy (as usual !) Comments .duh! Thé adverts block nearly the entire screen. Ok c’est stop
Irish army military tactics lol. You’re having a laugh right ?
https://t.co/y2YEGZG5r8
Irish troops will provide weapons training for the Ukrainians with non-lethal weapons.
#NoToNato
RTE news : Irish troops to provide weapons training to Ukraine.
have your say