If Answerbank Had Been Around In The Seventies .....

[Canary42]

If Answerbank had been around in the Seventies, when the IRA were repeatedly bombing our cities, and preaching anti-English Hate, would we have seen a plethora of posts demanding the stamping out of all catholics - or even the stamping out of all Americans (who were providing the funds and explosives).

I wonder.

[hc4361]

Yes. Heard enough of that sort of talk in my locality.

[retrocop]

Well I certainly recall a suggested boycott of MacDonalds in the UK who were alleged to donate to NorAid.

[stuey]

I don't know, really; however, I bet we'd get some posters saying "I happen to know quite a few Irish-American Catholics, and they are really nice people: they work hard and pay taxes like the rest of us.".

[retrocop]

Stuey
Yes like half the Chicago P.D. :-)

[Islay]

No, because they are one of our own!!!!

[hc4361]

I feel not affinity to IRA bombers - they have nothing in common with me!

[viv41]

No, I would have just hated the IRA !

[Mamyalynne]

I presume that AB like anywhere else would reflect the views of various stances to whatever challenges faced us at the time.

[stuey]

I wonder if they have anything planned for the 100th. anniversary of the "Easter Uprising".

[Sqad]

\\\\and preaching anti-English Hate, would we have seen a plethora of posts demanding the stamping out of all catholics \\\

Irish Catholics?............oh! yes, without doubt.

[mikey4444]

Yes, we probably would.

I had a hard time in school because we were a Catholic family and my Dad was Irish. If you were Catholic AND Irish, you were deemed to be supporting everything that the IRA did.

For Catholic and Irish then, substitute Muslim and "foreign" now.....Same bigotry and same ignorance.

[Prudie]

Interestingly I have always been amazed at the apparent forgiveness that we have mainly shown for what were referred to as IRA atrocities. It's rarely referred to on here, almost a taboo subject. I remember as a young girl being absolutely terrified by the bombings on the mainland.

[Peter Pedant]

Birmingham after the bombs there indulged in some well forgotten/unreported attacks against the Irish

One uni interviewee was repeatedly spat and sworn at as she got orf the train that she eventually went into a police station ( !! ) and asked why do people hate me. It was the Day After

Another was put down a sewer drain for the sin of having an irish accent with a lorry parked over the man hole cover - he spent the week end there - shut in Friday night and let out monday. I think you have to hang onto the metal ladder in the dark for 48 h

retros and db's pals in the west mids force assumed I must be in league with the devil as an English RC - even tho Robert Nairac at the time had been killed in revolting circumstances -

Oh those were the days

interesting essay on american involvement here
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ira/reports/america.html

[hc4361]

The IRA did their fair share of blowing people up and knee capping.

[agchristie]

Maybe, but there were numerous atrocities and injustices that the Catholics suffered with housing,unemployment,politics etc.

Plenty of unsafe convictions, The Shankill Butchers and the Gibraltar killings of Farrell, Savage and McCann who should never have been killed by the SAS in that mad March of '88. Oh and Michael Stone.

[ToraToraTora]

well the anti British would be loving it.