Hello Chris. I was born a mere 17 miles from the border, but I've no idea what a Stickie or Blue-Shirt is. Would you enhance my reading pleasure 
and enlighten us uninitiated lot as to they are and where the terms come from.
John
The stickie comment relates to the current leadership of the Irish Labour party i.e Pat Rabbitte and Liz McManus.
In the late 90's Irish Labour merged with Democratic Left which was a brake away from the Workers Party and Sinn Fein-The workers party.
The stickie reference is in relation to their connection with the Officials and the fact that they choose to use stickie back plastic to attach their Easter lillies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat...ki/
Pat_Rabbitte
Blue-Shirts is a reference to Fine Gael who were formed by an amalgamation of right wing parties and interests which included the Irish Fascist "Army Comrades Association" lead by General O' Duffy (former President of Fine Gael).
The ACA attempted a political coup in the 30's against the Fianna Fail government however the IRA stopped them.
O'Duffy sought a fascist state similar to Italy, Germany and Spain.
Their dress codes were "blue shirts" thus the nickname for members or supporters of Fine Gael.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.c...o.uk/
SPblue.htm
http://www.politics.ie/wiki/
inde...itle=Blueshirts
Chris,
"Blue-Shirts is a reference to Fine Gael who were formed by an amalgamation of right wing parties and interests which included the Irish Fascist "Army Comrades Association" lead by General O' Duffy (former President of Fine Gael)."
It was mostly made up of Cumann na nGaedhael members of course and O'Duffy didn't last long.
"O'Duffy sought a fascist state similar to Italy, Germany and Spain."
Unlike the rest of Fine Gael.
Remind us what Sinn Féin and the IRA wanted around this point in our history? The Nazis to invade and occupy Ireland, right?
Maybe then you should refer to your own party as the "brownshirts".
not often I say this, but a good post UI 
Chris is being rather naughty here with his history - the IRA were at that time themselves right wing - hence the formation of the Republican Congress - de Valera had lifted the ban on the IRA and freed prisoners - and the IRA started attacking and disrupting C na G meetings - which the ACA opposed. Crafty old de Valera.
As for the "coup" - it's naughty to portray the IRA as saviours of democracy - the blueshirts were beaten by de Valera, not the IRA
The Nazis to invade and occupy Ireland, right?
I don't think so UI. I don't remember Operation Kathleen suggesting anything about "occuping" Ireland.
We were seeking their help to end occupation.
The IRA only sought help from the Germans in order to further our interest of a UI.
"England's difficulty is Ireland's opportunity"
No different to how Pearse and co operated under the first world war.
"Our galliant allies in Europe" ring any bells???
Unlike O'Duffy and the blue-shirts they were not fascists.
Plus in the 1930's it was the IRA that stopped O'Duffy in his planned Military Coup!
Your blue-shirt leanings cloud your judgement
Chris is entirely accurate with his history MR!
The Blue-shirts were stopped by the IRA, end of!
Incorrect Chris - the march on Dublin was banned by de Valera - as he thought it "might" be a coup similar to the ne by Mussolini - and O'Duffy obeyed. He then went and organised provincial marches - so de Valera made the organisation illegal.
But the IRA wasn't anti-blueshirt because of the ACA being rightwing - it was the usual continuation of civil war politics!
And the IRA newspaper of "the emergency" was disgracefully anti-semitic.
Incorrect Chris - the march on Dublin was banned by de Valera - as he thought it "might" be a coup similar to the ne by Mussolini - and O'Duffy obeyed.
Incorrect MR
O'Duffy still planned to flout the ban as he was until before Dev came to power the Garda Commissioner. He could rely on the support of the Gardaí and the 26 county army who were loyal to him.
He stopped when he learned that the IRA had mobilised against any threat from him.
That is the reality!
That's mere mythology
It's not MR
certainly is!
page 337 0f English's book
" they were banned and ultimately crished by de Valera's legitimate state".
Ladies, please! (Ask an innocent question ...).
Mad
Richard is not god, he is also talking bollocks!
I will did out some of my book references on this.
That's your problem MR, if you read it in a book you believe it's true!
I look forward to hearing them
Diarmaid Ferriter has the Blueshirts disappearing because of de Valera's ba in his "The Transformation Of Ireland 1900-2000 ".
Oddly enough Terence Brown's "Ireland A Social and Cultural History 1922-1985" also has a different version of history than yours
The problem with Irish history is that generations have been raised with this sort of nonsense !
"We were seeking their help to end occupation."
I must say Chris, looking at it from 2007, you have to gasp at the naivety of those who could possibly think the Germans would unite Ireland and NOT occupy it militarily. Surely you cannot believe this was a valid belief?
As for the travelling people, they would have been sent to concentration camps...
Ooops, that was me
Mad
Oh ye of little faith, it will not be the first time you will be forced to back peddle on 26 county history and it will not be the last
Jo
They may have been naive however we need to look at their motivation and judge them by the standards of their time and not with our vantage of historical spectaterism.
The IRA in the 30's were neither fascist or fascist supporters, the ACA was though.
It was the IRA that stopped the Fascists in this country
Wrong Chris
In fact it was the thuggery of the IRA that helped create them !
p,s - I'll not hold my breath for your history books - after all it will be a nightmare for you to scan the cartoons
The IRA of the 1930's was a very broad church with no central political identity and despite some of Twomeys initiatives you couldn't exactly call it left or right. It did however have individuals like O Donnel and Gilmore men light years ahead of their time. O Donnels contribution to the class struggle in Ireland was immense. However many of the Blue Shirts were from the pro treaty IRA and Sinn Feinn/ Cumann na nGaedhael lineage so its important to see the Blueshirt in the wider context of what was still a very fractured political landscape.
It was the Republican Congress and the ICP which did more than anyone else to stand up to Fascism in the form of the Connolly Column and it is a legacy that all Republican Socialists can be righly inspired by.
I think MR and Chris both have somewhat of a bias on this period!
My understanding was that Fine Gael was a quasi-fascist organisation after the CnaG and ACA "merger" and had a corporatist agenda.
The Blueshirts weren't formed "in response to IRA thuggery" but because they wrongly feared a purge by the new FF government and because, like all right-wing types, they just LOVED wearing those uniforms.
They certainly weren't defeated by the IRA though (although they probably got their heads kicked in by them a few times); they were defeated by de Valera not tolerating any anti-democratic organisations in the new State; be they a real threat (the Blueshirts), or a latent threat (the IRA).
Also, the fact that O'Duffy was an alcoholic buffoon didn't help their cause.
Anywho, I'll be voting to keep out the Stickie-Blueshirt Axis of Evil on Thursday. Foireann Bhertie is doing a grand job.
Reg - have you noticed Chris has failed to give any references to HIS history books ?
Dear dear mad
Just finished reading your fallout with one of Waco's followers over yonder. You know you just might be on the verge of convincing me that history was wrong, and that it was the nasty Catholics who done all the discriminating against the poor Prods. LOL
Here was me thinking it was only Jesus who could turn water into wine And I thought you had mellowed too!
Chris and anyone interested
The missus played a blinder on Saturday night. I've now got another mouth to feed, no more pregnancy jokes for me. A big healthy baby boy called Ruari, thank God all went well!
Congratulations Tony and the missus - I've always like the name Ruairi.
Comhghairdeas Tony
A great Irish name is Ruairí. From the gaelige Rua and Rí to translate "as bearla" as Red King or great king.
I hope mother and baby are well
Mol an páiste agus molann tú an mháthair.
Very kind, thank you Mad and Chris.
"Great King"
Well the way he is feasting off his Mammy, the name suits
Noticed you guys added an extra i, I reckon in the Scots Gaelic I could add an extra dh at the end. Ruari is just fine.
"Mol an páiste agus molann tú an mháthair."
The da's always miss oot
Noticed you guys added an extra i
*rolls eyes to the heavens*
Ruairí is Irish! as Gaelige! What you meant to say was you Scots dropped the i
Something similar to the way those idiotic yanks spell Seán "shaun"
BTW Don't forget that Scots Gaelic is nothing more than a dialect of Irish.
The da's always miss oot
Tis the way of the world
>>Something similar to the way those idiotic yanks spell Seán "shaun"
Away'n'bile yir heid!
In this 'dialect' that you speak of we have two different spellings, we don't have to spell it the same as you guys on the mainland.
*ducks and runs from the mad-man*
I expect he is too busy giving that Mahons what for over yonder anyway
Actually I was wondering how the name was spelled in Uladh - I know that Ulster Gaelic was closer to Scottish Gaelic in some ways than it was to some of the , ahem, less sophisticated dialects of the other provinces ( the muck savages of Munster, Connacht and Leinster - which is why it got such a raw deal in the new Standard Irish.
MR
I was brought up with Ulster Irish, It's spelt Ruairí.
I know myself and my father, who was brought up with Leinster Irish, row over a lot of Irish spelling including the family name.
There you go Chris - NI and Scotland are a natural unit! Cast off the shackles of the bogmen and move into the light
Ouch! great analysis
http://www.nuzhound.com/articles...sh-
Examiner.php
"There you go Chris - NI and Scotland are a natural unit!"
Hankering after mystical Dalriada!
You may be on to something MR - an Irish/Scottish Celtic Federation free from perfidious Albion.
And congrats Tony!!
LOL, you expect me to take any election speculation from Steven King seriously????????????
He advised the UUP ffs!!!
LOL, he's all fur coat no knickers!!
"NI and Scotland"
No such place as "NI", I said Ulster Irish aka nine counties of Uladh.
You propose leaving out the strongest Irish speaking area of Ulster i.e Donegal?????
Perhaps it's better if you keep these wet dreams to yourself?
BTW MR, I am a bogman and fucking proud of it! LOL
Chris - you know I regard the 3 lost counties as belonging to Northern Ireland!!!!
And you are surely only half bogman ? Your mum comes from NI/Ulster ?
p.s - does your Da want you to spell your surname differently from his spelling
You may be on to something MR - an Irish/Scottish Celtic Federation free from perfidious Albion.
Sorry Reg, it would be pretty exclusive - so no way would we allow
the yokels from Leinster, Connacht or Munster ..... They are as bad and wrse than the English and Welsh
MR
NI is a bastardisation, only concieved in a sectarian ceespool. It has no cultural or historical roots.
Ulster has nine counties and I am a proud Ulsterman.
As for me being only half a bog man, how the fuck is my Da a bogman, he's from Dundalk! LOL
In relation to the spelling, he was brought up to spell Gaskin as O'Gascúin.
The correct spelling is de Gascún
Oh come on Chris - Dundalk is the ROI's Larne
Unfair MR, even then lowest level of hell isn't as bad a Larne
de Gascún
Do you realise that you could be related to Paul Gascoine? I think I would rather be from Larne
Reg.
Thank-you! The more I hear of that proposed confederation the more I like it. Two more or less equals, you lot are uglier less intelligent and more susceptible to brewers droop Whereas we are sturdy, steadfast and considerably more prudent.
We could all die of boredom watching the Unionists tie themselves in noughts. This idea may appeal to them, who knows.
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