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Post by earl on Oct 31, 2008 12:33:49 GMT
Some good times.
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Post by Wasp on Oct 31, 2008 13:41:05 GMT
Its a pity though that this forum is to close but at the sametime when even Harry packs it in it shows the intolerance of my community from republicans. Many times I have read posts stating Unionism needs you Harry etc when he was posting things that suited republicans. But when it comes to things that mean alot to Harry such as this parade on Sunday then it was very much a case of fuck you Harry and your aspirations. This parade has nothing to do with loylaists, it has everything to do with British and Irish men and women, Protestants and Catholics walking side by side and standing shoulder to shoulder watching the welcome home parade. But republicans couldn't even let that be and you have proved on here nevermind anywhere else that you don't want a Brit about the place, you have no tolerance of our aspirations, our feelings and our views. Yet all I hear is Unionists don't want to engage with nationalists/republicans but it is republicans that don't want to engage with Unionists, acknowledge their desires and culture. If its something that suits the republican agenda then you are all full of praise, but when it doesn't suit you have zero tolerance. Setanta you bleat on about what change am I going to make even though I am not a politiican, you have said to harry to join a Unionist party to make change etc, yet you are in the very political party that is causing this complete breakdown, why dont you practice what you preach and make changes and show the depth of feeling to do with this protest parade. You praised harry for what you called a forward thinker, why dont you be a forward thinker and put this to your party. OR IS forward thinking only classed as so when Unionists are towing the republican line?  ?? I regret having a go at harry over his comments against my community, but I firmly believe he simply fell for republican spin and double standards. Not once has any republican here shown harry the same courtest as he has showing yous. Disgusting. |
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Post by Wasp on Oct 31, 2008 15:31:06 GMT
Setanta its the truth, I am not going to pussy foot around here. Yes I have enjoyed the forum, yes I have enjoyed the debates, yes I have been totally frustrated but republicans here have caused this not Unionists with there total zero tolerance of anything British.
Are you going to post this reply from hanley?? Hope your not going to edit it. I posted my reply straight away and I am wandering why you still haven't done so and why you were only going to pm it or email it instead of posting as I done on the open forum.
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Post by Jim on Oct 31, 2008 15:43:10 GMT
I'll be on slugger. Good times lads.
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Post by Bilk on Oct 31, 2008 23:22:46 GMT
I received an email today informing me this site is closing, it is not something I am happy about, because despite what people may say on here, I made some good friends on LU and here. May I put you straight on something, this site was not born out of the demise of Love Ulster, that site was “The Way Forward” started not by republicans but by Carol. I was asked by her to be an admin. I was very surprised and delighted at the request and took on the job willingly. We were the first to ask republicans/nationalists to come along and engage with us, not the other way around. As the usual republican “revisionist” history of this site implies. I know for a fact that I invited you Setanta, to your great surprise, to come and join us. Deny that if you like but it’s the truth. We were the people wishing to engage, we were organising the setting up of “The Way Forward” before we even knew that Love Ulster was closing. The first rumour we heard was that there was to be a purge of all nationalists/republicans on Love Ulster, it was then that we, the stuck in the mud unionists, decided to start our own site and invite nationalists republicans to join us. I note in the email I received that you still blame the unionists for the failings of the site, does the above sound like we were the party unwilling to engage with republicans? It wasn’t republicans who started the site and invited us, it was we who invited them, like I said Setanta, to your great surprise. The Peoples Assembly was not a new site, it was the old TWF after we had been hacked, hence the name of the forum “The Way Forward”. Try to get your facts straight about something, stop trying to revise all things to suit the republican agenda.
It took me a while of being on there to realise that (I was a good deal slower than most) I was telling the truth about what I thought of the people on my side of the fence who were murdering innocents. I was being congratulated for doing so by republicans. But it was a while before I realised “they” would rather defend their murderers with stories. Wild stories of the famine and the penal laws, and how much worse off Catholic/nationalist working class people were than the protestant/unionist working classes. You would rather do that than accept that what your murderers did was murder. The day we accept that we have all fallen short protestants/unionists/loyalists, Catholics/nationalists/republicans, all of us. That’s when we can perhaps move forward. Nationalists republicans are still living in a long dead past
What your party, Setanta, is doing at Stormont is not moving forward it is standing still, just as republicans have stood still since the original agreement from which Northern Ireland was born. In fact since the first Brits set foot on this island. We have accepted that there are two communities in this part of the UK. It’s about time SF did the same. Then perhaps we can move forward. Their hatred for the British is a racism that was born before and has outlived all racism across the world. Your party’s hatred for all things British on this island knows no bounds. And no I don’t want to hear the reasons why again, you were the most oppressed people ever, we know we’ve heard it all before, again, again and again …………………… The Irish republican/nationalist has taken racism to a whole new level this weekend in particular. I have to watch the murderers of my community sitting in government over me day and daily, with no great protest coming from the unionist community, like I say, we have accepted that there are two communities in this country. But a bunch of lads and girls who have made it home from one of the most war torn parts of the world today, cannot be welcomed home by their friends and relatives, without that SF lets us know how offended they are.
I’m really sad that the site is closing, because when we started it we had great hopes for it. Like I said, I’m a little slow on the uptake sometimes. The rot started with Aileen and slowly the rest of us unionists fell away. Not because we didn’t want to engage as you accuse us of, the proof of that is in who actually started the site. But because engagement was as futile on here as it is at Stormont..
I will try very hard to remember the good times, but I have to say, these days, they are way overshadowed by the bad.
I am grateful to LU and TWF for the friendships I forged there. Carol of course being the main one, we came through a lot together and came out the other side as friends. That's a sign of real friendship. Others are my old mate WASP, who stuck the hammering you guys gave him the longest, well done mate, you have more balls than me. Then there is Sandy, Belfast Betty, LL (Louisiana Lady) , Bearhunter, Marcus, Earl and yes despite all I have said, even you Setanta.
Like I said, I will try to remember the good times, and the sad times, when we leaned on one another for support.
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Post by Wasp on Oct 31, 2008 23:35:26 GMT
Setanta why on earht have you tried to claim different??? Here you have it, it was actually Unionists who sought to engage with nationalists/republicans and not the other way around. FFS all I have heard is Unionists not wanting to engage with republicans etc yet Carol and Bilk have proved different.
Well I suppose thats another republican revisions of hsitory put to bed. Unbelievable.
Thanks bilk for that post.
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Post by Bilk on Nov 1, 2008 0:17:04 GMT
Setanta why on earht have you tried to claim different??? Here you have it, it was actually Unionists who sought to engage with nationalists/republicans and not the other way around. FFS all I have heard is Unionists not wanting to engage with republicans etc yet Carol and Bilk have proved different. Well I suppose thats another republican revisions of hsitory put to bed. Unbelievable. Thanks bilk for that post. You are welcome mate, just wanted to put nother myth to bed. |
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Post by bearhunter on Nov 1, 2008 1:33:28 GMT
Well, I haven't been around much lately and part of the reason for that is the increasingly entrenched standpoints taken on both sides. Let's be honest, when it came down to it there were too areas where the two sides were never going to meet in the middle and so it degenerated into sniping, from myself as much as anyone.
While the end might be still steeped in rancour, I will remember the good times on here and the crack that we had on here and (probably more so) on the original way Forward, which was a place I felt that something could have come out of the last 450 years of bloody mayhem.
If I was to be granted one wish, it would be to take everyone on the island of Ireland out of the place for a week and let them see what each other is like without the tyranny of history bearing down on us all. We'd make fantastic neighbours, friends and partners if we weren't so fucking obsessed with re-fighting battles of the past.
For my own part, I'll miss you all and I hope that some day we might meet up somewhere in a pub, have a few pints, a bit of a singsong and a good laugh and realise that labels like Republican or Loyalist are merely protective coats thrown over ourselves to "belong" and that if we took each other for simple human beings we'd all be not necessarily friends, but at least able to pass each other civilly and get on with each other without reaching for historical sticks to beat each other senseless with.
There's a lot I wish I could say and do, but fuck it, no point in crying over unopened milk.
Anyway, slan, adieu, auf wiedersehen, ciao or whatever. If anyone wants to stay in touch, my email address is kavanaghnz_at_yahoo.com (remove the underscores and the AT and use @) and I'd love to hear from you all and keep in touch occasionally, just so we don't lose contact completely.
The very best of everything to all of you
Donnacha "Bearhunter" Kavanagh
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Post by Bilk on Nov 1, 2008 10:39:09 GMT
Well, I haven't been around much lately and part of the reason for that is the increasingly entrenched standpoints taken on both sides. Let's be honest, when it came down to it there were too areas where the two sides were never going to meet in the middle and so it degenerated into sniping, from myself as much as anyone. While the end might be still steeped in rancour, I will remember the good times on here and the crack that we had on here and (probably more so) on the original way Forward, which was a place I felt that something could have come out of the last 450 years of bloody mayhem. If I was to be granted one wish, it would be to take everyone on the island of Ireland out of the place for a week and let them see what each other is like without the tyranny of history bearing down on us all. We'd make fantastic neighbours, friends and partners if we weren't so fucking obsessed with re-fighting battles of the past. For my own part, I'll miss you all and I hope that some day we might meet up somewhere in a pub, have a few pints, a bit of a singsong and a good laugh and realise that labels like Republican or Loyalist are merely protective coats thrown over ourselves to "belong" and that if we took each other for simple human beings we'd all be not necessarily friends, but at least able to pass each other civilly and get on with each other without reaching for historical sticks to beat each other senseless with. There's a lot I wish I could say and do, but fuck it, no point in crying over unopened milk. Anyway, slan, adieu, auf wiedersehen, ciao or whatever. If anyone wants to stay in touch, my email address is kavanaghnz_at_yahoo.com (remove the underscores and the AT and use @) and I'd love to hear from you all and keep in touch occasionally, just so we don't lose contact completely. The very best of everything to all of you Donnacha "Bearhunter" Kavanagh BH you are definately one of those I will and "have" missed greatly on here, we had some great Craic on TWF and here as well. I've taken a note of your email, and I will definately be in touch. I agree with everything you say in the above post, there are far more things that unite us than what devides us, I think it's just that some people can't see the woods for the trees. When we moved over here the site was opened up, to allow a lot more personal abuse, I think that was a big mistake. If you let a lion out of it's cage, don't be surprised when it bites you. Anyway that is all water under the bridge, some of us will remain friends, and for that I am thankful. Take care mate, as I said I'll be in touch  Loyalty to my Country Always, to my goverment, only when it has earned it. I await some sign of that  |
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Post by Jim on Nov 1, 2008 16:24:13 GMT
Bearhunter , just noted your address, will be in touch. On a side note, what would any new members make of a forum were one of the admin names a post as follows.... by Jim in ticket touting cunts such a lovely way for any admin to conduct himself  Swear if you must , but do it in your staff section like other forums. Setanta, Harry isn't here so can you please delete me ASAP.Pointless hanging about. I'm sure swearing is the least of peoples worries. |
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Post by Wasp on Nov 1, 2008 16:57:25 GMT
Bearhunter my old enemy ;D ;D So good to hear from you. Out of everyone from the otherside so to speak you are the one that sticks out the most for me. I will never ever forget on the original way forward where some of us poured our hearts out and we all were nearly in tears.
That was a time I will never forget mate and I will keep in touch with you. Take care and I wish you the best of luck wherever you go and whatever you do.
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Post by bearhunter on Nov 2, 2008 5:05:15 GMT
Ah lads (and lassies, of course) can we not say goodbye with a sense of decorum and possibly even goodwill? I know things get/got heated, but f*** it (in honour of the lovely Carol ;D) can we not even say fare thee well (or should that not be "fare youse all well, like"?) without fighting? Anyway, as I said, hopefully i'll be in touch with a few of yez all. After all, I owe Bilk a couple of pints (and a far from wee Black Bush) and a rendition of one of his songs, I owe Carol a humoungous vod and I'm pretty sure I even owe WASP a pint and a carry out/fish supper. All the best lads, it's been...well f***in weird actually...
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Post by Blue Angel on Nov 2, 2008 7:01:57 GMT
While I'm sad to see the site going I'm not actually suprised. Like Bearhunter my own contributions had fallen of markedly over time as entrenched positions had indeed become a problem. Also, I at times got tired of hysterical posts about the Kafflick Church which just tried my patience. There were some pleasant people from both sides here but unfortunately the site had too few members to stay vibrant or alive. It was an interesting experiment nevertheless and occassionally we would hit on a point of commonality. Essentially though it's reinforced my belief that in Ireland there is often a refusal to acknowledge the legitimacy of the opposing traditions and that BOTH sides play that game. A few here tried to move beyond that occassionally and understand the importance of key historical events or issues in shaping the minds and hearts of each group but often that felt like bashing your head on a brick wall.
If anyone wants to keep in touch with me I will give them my email as we have all known each other for the best part of several years now and it would seem strange not to see familar faces about the place every so often.
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Post by bearhunter on Nov 2, 2008 19:17:21 GMT
Because I can't wrap a pint around his head when he annoys me...
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Post by Jim on Nov 2, 2008 20:14:18 GMT
I'm sure swearing is the least of peoples worries. Well don't you think it would put people of from joining Nope, and if it would then they're a bit too sensitive for this place |
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