Liberal democracy? I'll allow its getting better, but nothing remotely resembling a liberal democracy existed in Northern Ireland at the time. The only fully armed police in the UK, internment without trial, special criminal courts, the SAS deployed inside UK with kill no capture orders, all the hall marks of a liberal democracy

If Britain had run the north as a liberal democracy. We would not even be having this discussion. The troubles would not have happened, and a few thousand people, British and Irish would still be alive

Perhaps the Emerald Isle should have taken its cue from the rest of the British Isles and been good, loyal subjects?

The Irish like a good fight, that's the way it is. ;)

Yes, well, shopping centres, horses and statues don't fight back. Should have joined a proper army like the loyal Scots, instead of terrorising a population it claimed to defend.

Latest from the Brexit negotiations:

The EU is determined that it won't discuss a trade deal until they are satisfied with the UK position on how much we are going to give them to leave, what happens to EU citizens in the UK after we leave, and what happens to what they are calling the land border between the EU and the UK. In other words, the Ulster/Eire border.

The UK position on this is that it should be open and frictionless, in order to maintain free trade between the north and south. The EU wants border controls so that they can control migration in to the European Union. Which is fucking laughable considering the situation on its southern shores, with hundreds of thousands crossing and mass drownings a common occurrence. Never mind the fact that the EU seems to tolerate so called aid agencies that are working with human traffickers to help these crossings!

It would be easier all around if the Republic left the European Union, we could have a fairly happy gig.

That's odd. I thought the migration of refugees was going the other way, that is out of Europe and into the UK?

Which is what makes the EU position so puzzling. There isn't currently a huge flow of migration from the United Kingdom to Europe, except some increase of Europeans going home. I don't see how this is suddenly going to change if the EU imposes a land border. Migrants don't come here to get in to the Schengen area.

As for the other way, there has been concentrations of migrants in places like Calais on and off for nearly two decades. Basically what has happened is that EU laws on supposed refugees have been ignored (the Dublin accord). Refugees are supposed to be processed at the place of arrival in the EU. Instead they have been funnelled either towards Northern France where they are not wanted, or Germany where they have until now, been welcomed. The consequence of this is that the EU is now threatening to fine certain countries that are refusing to take an allocated amount of this influx.

Ireland and the United Kingdom could probably easily work out a border deal, but for the EU, which wants to impose its rules on the situation rather than take a common sense approach which would foster peace and security, and encourage trade.

Which to me would be to send most of the refugees back home. Fuck that sending them one a week by plane. Just cram ships with hundreds of them and drop them back home.

Read today a 75 year old former British soldier will be tried for the shooting of an unarmed man in 1974. The victim, who was developmentally disabled, panicked at the sight of an army patrol and ran, and refused to heed orders to stop. On one hand shooting an unarmed civilian in the back who was running in the opposite direction would seem to merit criminal charges, if you consider 1974 in the north, it was plausible that the man was running as the patrol was about to walk into an IRA ambush.

But beyond all that, the man is 75 years old, and his crime, if it was one,happened over forty years ago. even as a republican, I say let it go....

A former IRA car bomber and a former UVF man convicted of murdering two Catholic men are now sitting on Belfast City Council. They have recently given their approval for the redevelopment of the Crumlin Road Courthouse where they were both convicted for their crimes.

If these two can work together and put the past on the past, why can't Sinn Fein and the DUP?

The IRA chap is Sinn Feins leader on Belfast City Council, the article I read didn't give the other blokes political affiliation, I'd imagine it to be Loyalist though. I'd imagine that 20 years ago they would quite gladly have killed each other. Perhaps this lends a different perspective than that available to the likes of the current crop of professional politician trying to steer their way through Brexit and power sharing?

Not being able to post a link to the story, the individuals are Billy Hutchinson and Jim McVeigh.

Maybe a few years in prison gives one a new perspective. It's said that Gusty Spence, one of the most infamous loyalist paramilitaries actually learned to speak Irish while he was in.

Hutchison and McVeigh are legends within their respective communites. Hutchinson was Gusty Spences orotege. McVeigh ran all republican prisoners in the Maze until it closed.

It was interesting to watch them both visiting the court. Thankfully they stopped short of pretending to do some actual work.

There is a new movie about an escape from the Maze prison. Anyone here seen it yet?

Is it made by Americans?

I hope not, or history will be rewritten.