On Saturday, March 29, 2003, Harmon Seaver came up with this... HS> Yeah, too bad they don't feel the same way about Ireland. The HS> Irish have been trying to kick the Brits out for what, 400 years? HS> At least.
Apparently you know nothing of the history of Britain and Ireland. The story of Britain and Ireland is not simply one occupying another. The Irish are not one mass of people, they are two: Protestant and Catholic. Before they became a part of the Kingdom they were Catholic. After, many Irish converted to Protestantism. There was terrible persecution of the Catholics by the British. This died down by the time of the Union in 1800. The Catholics wanted out of the Union, the Protestants didn't. Violence, bloodshed, rinse & repeat. Eventually the south became the Repulic of Ireland while the North remained a part of the Union. Catholic majority in the south, Protestant in the north. Those Catholics left in the north weren't treated as equals, and wanted a united Ireland. The Protestant majority in the north was SCARED TO DEATH of seceding from the Union and becoming a part of the Republic of Ireland because they knew they will be shit on by the Catholics. Remember, the north is 6 counties to the south's 26. The Protestants are far outnumbered. Hence they are separate, and remain a part of the Union instead of being one with the south. This is the root of the conflict. It's not the British occupying Ireland. Ireland is free, Northern Ireland is a part of the Union. Ireland wants the north, the north doesn't want Ireland. If the British just left Northern Ireland, there would probably be some serious ethnic cleansing due to centuries of animosity. The Protestant majority in the north DO NOT WANT TO SECEDE FROM THE UNION. The British aren't in Northern Ireland holding on to a last scrap of empire, they are there because Northern Ireland is a part of Britain, and the majority of those in Northern Ireland want it to stay that way. Now Scotland, on the other hand, THEY want out of the Union. -- stuart We wave the flag of freedom as we conquer and invade. -Operation Ivy-
