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US President Barack Obama addresses the crowds at College Green in Dublin. Paul Faith/PA Wire

Obama speaks in Dublin: "Never has a nation so small inspired so much in another"

At College Green, Dublin, this evening, the US president spoke warmly of the enduring “friendship and shared values” that continue to support a close relationship between the US and Ireland.

IN HIS ONLY public address during this brief state visit to Ireland, US President Barack Obama has spoken of the important “friendship and shared values” that bind the two countries together.

Obama also commended the Irish people for choosing to “see past the scars of violence and mistrust to forge a lasting peace on this island”.

“America will stand by you always in your pursuit of peace,” he said, adding that the nation had already “so surpassed the world’s highest hopes” by making that unlikely dream real.

Opening his speech, Obama said “tá áthas orm bheith in Éireann” before expressing his condolences on the death of former Taoiseach Dr Garret FitzGerald, “someone who believed in the power of education, someone who believed in the potential of youth, most of all someone who believed in the potential of peace and who lived to see that peace realised”.

He said he and Michelle felt very much at home, adding that he feels “even more at home after that pint that I had”. “In return,” he said, “let me offer the hearty greetings of tens of millions of Irish Americans who proudly trace their heritage to this small island. They say ‘hello’.”

Obama spoke of the “proud, enduring, centuries-old relationship and we are bound by history, friendship and shared values”. “And that’s why I’ve come here today as an American president – to reaffirm those bonds of affection.”

Emigration and enduring relations

Obama said his ancestor Falmouth Kearney left Ireland during the Great Hunger, as so many Irish did, to seek a new life in the new world. Migration is integral to US national identity, Obama said. “It’s who we are; a nation of immigrants.”

People like Falmouth often boarded ships with no money or family support and had only faith in the idea of America as a place where you could speak and worship as you please, and could make if it you try.

He said they passed that faith on to their children and it was still carried by their great-great-great grandchildren: “We call it the American dream.”

“Never has a nation so small inspired so much in another,” Obama said of Ireland’s influence on the US. American public life has been influenced “by the humour and heart and dedication of servants with names like Kennedy and Reagan, O’Neill and Moynihan. So you could say there’s always been a little green behind the red, white and blue.”

He said it was America’s first Irish president who 50 years ago “made us dream again” with the idea of doing something as big, bold and ambitious as walking on the moon.

Calling on the Irish diaspora

Speaking before Obama’s address, Taoiseach Enda Kenny spoke of the millions of Irish people who are Irish by family, marriage or design and urged them to follow their president home. When Falmouth Kearney set out across the Atlantic, he hardly imagined that his great-great-great-grandson would return as a president of the United States:

Now if there’s anyone out there who still doubts that Irland is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our ancestors is alive in our time, who still questions our capacity to restore ourselves, to reinvent ourselves and to prosper, well today is your answer. Because today, on this day, the president of the United States Barack Obama and his first lady Michelle Obama come to visit.

Every one of the Irish people who emigrated “and all their people” are our people, Kenny said. “Their past is our past, their story is our story,” he added.

My call is directly to those 40 million Irish-Americans, and whether you’re listening and watching in New York or New Haven, or in San Diego or St Louis, whether you’re Irish by blood, or by marriage, or by desire, we – your Irish family – are right here.

LISTEN: To Obama’s speech in full (via Peter Donegan) >

LIVE: (Not) Cardinal Brady’s liveblog from Obama’s concert >

Read: Irish musicians, actors and sports stars join festivities at Obama concert >

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20 Comments
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    Mute pkunzip doom2.zip
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    Jun 8th 2018, 1:39 PM

    I’m sure they’ll be devastated

    374
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    Mute Martin Horan
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    Jun 8th 2018, 5:59 PM

    @pkunzip doom2.zip: “Don’t speak of your Protestant minister,
    Nor his church without meaning or faith,
    For the corner stone of his temple,
    Was the boll***s of Henry the eighth.”
    Brendan Behan

    66
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    Mute Seán J. Troy
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    Jun 8th 2018, 2:22 PM

    Keep it up lads, drive the Northern Irish youth who don’t care about historical identities into our hands.

    A modern, liberal and secular Republic is what it’s all about. That’s how you win the debate.

    234
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    Mute Sorcha Hendry instagram: @SorchaHendry86
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    Jun 8th 2018, 1:53 PM

    Isn’t religion ment to be about including people

    247
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    Mute Joey Navinski
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    Jun 8th 2018, 2:00 PM

    @Sorcha Hendry instagram: @SorchaHendry86: whatever gave you that idea?

    83
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    Mute Paul Fahey
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    Jun 8th 2018, 2:03 PM

    @Sorcha Hendry instagram: @SorchaHendry86: certainly not the biblical versions of Christianity, no.

    51
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    Mute Daniel Donovan
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    Jun 8th 2018, 2:03 PM

    @Sorcha Hendry instagram: @SorchaHendry86: I’m sorry Sorcha but you would have to be very uneducated to have that view of religion.

    19
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    Mute Richard Lippy Collins
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    Jun 8th 2018, 4:34 PM

    @Sorcha Hendry instagram: @SorchaHendry86: don’t be so silly.

    3
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    Mute Monty Donotno
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    Jun 8th 2018, 4:42 PM

    @Sorcha Hendry instagram: @SorchaHendry86: originally but then came all the club rules

    11
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    Mute Paul Jennings
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    Jun 8th 2018, 9:01 PM

    @Sorcha Hendry instagram: @SorchaHendry86: ostensibly yes. But in reality it’s about controling the masses. (No pun intended.) It has squeezed the life out of this country…

    5
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    Mute Anthony Byrne
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    Jun 9th 2018, 7:57 AM

    @Sorcha Hendry instagram: @SorchaHendry86: no … It’s about dividing people. How can you not see that ?

    1
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    Mute Darren Sheridan
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    Jun 8th 2018, 1:40 PM

    Oh no, my heart is broken.

    176
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    Mute Passing through this life
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    Jun 8th 2018, 1:58 PM

    These people believe in a bearded fairy in the sky …… and this surprises people ???

    110
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    Mute Permo Dermo
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    Jun 8th 2018, 8:28 PM

    @Passing through this life: and meanwhile those who have no belief system or moral code feel it’s their right to murder, steal and cheat at will. #BringBackTheSkyFairy I say

    24
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    Mute Owen Murphy
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    Jun 8th 2018, 10:18 PM

    @Permo Dermo: so no one that believes in those fairy tales murder steal or cheat is that what you are saying

    6
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    Mute Niamh Cardboard
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    Jun 8th 2018, 1:47 PM

    Jesus never said anything about homosexuality.

    151
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    Mute Michael Crowley
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    Jun 8th 2018, 1:58 PM

    @Niamh Cardboard: Didn’t see any women at the last supper

    103
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    Mute Daniel Donovan
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    Jun 8th 2018, 2:03 PM

    @Niamh Cardboard: No but “God” did and in doing so he condemned homosexuals to hell.

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    Mute Tommy Potter
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    Jun 8th 2018, 2:11 PM

    @Michael Crowley: maybe they were all gay.

    43
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    Mute Michael Collins
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    Jun 8th 2018, 2:12 PM

    @Michael Crowley: lads night out

    33
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    Mute RJ.Fallon
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    Jun 8th 2018, 2:22 PM

    @Michael Crowley: Yes you did. The person on his left is Mary Magdalene. There we as many females travelling with the first disciples as males. Just weren’t mentioned by later written stories.

    56
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    Mute Niamh Cardboard
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    Jun 8th 2018, 2:23 PM

    @Daniel Donovan: god said a lot of things. including condoning slavery and plenty of stoning for minor crimes! I’ll never understand why the church love using the homosexual rule and not the stoning, slavery or other ridiculous rules of the old testiment. It’s bizarre.

    75
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    Mute Conor Heffernan
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    Jun 8th 2018, 2:31 PM

    @Niamh Cardboard: Jesus was camp as fu(k. A 33 year old man hanging around with 12 other lads. No interest in women…join the dots lads.

    53
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    Mute John McQuaid
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    Jun 8th 2018, 2:33 PM

    @RJ.Fallon: My favourite story is the one where Jesus turned water into funk.

    24
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    Mute wrong side
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    Jun 8th 2018, 2:39 PM

    @John McQuaid: You’re so hilarious…

    10
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    Mute Daniel Donovan
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    Jun 8th 2018, 2:53 PM

    @Niamh Cardboard: It’s called cherry picking, most religious sheep cherry pick the convenient parts of the Bible/Qur’an and ignore the bile and obvious hatred.

    25
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    Mute Niamh Cardboard
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    Jun 8th 2018, 3:01 PM

    @Michael Crowley: that’s because the church were major patrons of arts.

    3
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    Mute paddy
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    Jun 8th 2018, 3:28 PM

    @RJ.Fallon: yeah allegedly

    2
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    Mute Shane McGettrick
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    Jun 8th 2018, 3:53 PM

    @RJ.Fallon: unless da Vinci was actually there, the last supper isn’t a historical record. Good reference mind you!

    28
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    Mute RJ.Fallon
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    Jun 8th 2018, 4:06 PM

    @John McQuaid: He didn’t,he watered down what was in the container,as was the custom back then. That was turned into a miracle by other people.

    5
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    Mute Joey Navinski
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    Jun 8th 2018, 5:03 PM

    @RJ.Fallon: you sound you were there dude.

    6
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    Mute RJ.Fallon
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    Jun 8th 2018, 5:40 PM

    @Joey Navinski: A bit before my time.but there are many references to this practice in research papers. Wine was never drunk neat.

    9
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    Mute Gerard Smith
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    Jun 8th 2018, 6:08 PM

    @Niamh Cardboard: jesus never said anything! It’s all a pack of fairytales!

    3
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    Mute David Grey
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    Jun 9th 2018, 12:00 AM

    Not correct he famously Get de behind me satin

    1
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    Mute Sean Ryan
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    Jun 8th 2018, 2:23 PM

    Good! Them’s the rules. Eventually there’ll be no one allowed in.

    49
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    Mute Ronan Bilbow
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    Jun 8th 2018, 2:47 PM

    The fact that this is still a discussion is the sad part.

    43
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    Mute Sean Leonard
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    Jun 8th 2018, 2:22 PM

    See half the comments have been removed…..so much for free speech

    40
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    Mute No One
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    Jun 8th 2018, 2:51 PM

    @Sean Leonard: You are talking about the Journal here. If it doesn’t fit in with their agenda,it doesn’t get printed!

    63
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    Mute Ían Ó Ceallaigh
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    Jun 9th 2018, 2:11 AM

    @Sean Leonard: you want free speech? Set up your own site.

    2
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    Mute Rob Cahill
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    Jun 8th 2018, 3:01 PM

    It’s as if people aren’t leaving organised religion at record speeds already.. Maybe they have a bet with the Catholics to see who goes under first.

    45
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    Mute Deborah Behan
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    Jun 8th 2018, 1:49 PM

    Go back to the Stone Age Neanderthals.

    105
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    Mute paul whelan
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    Jun 8th 2018, 5:00 PM

    We live in a free world,where people believe what they want to,and I’ll support their right,so snowflakes move on

    33
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    Mute TheoWolfe
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    Jun 8th 2018, 2:21 PM

    @Sean Leonard:

    What exactly is a bigot?

    It’s been my understanding that it is
    “a person who is intolerant towards those holding different opinions.”

    Would you say that might describe your attitude?

    49
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    Mute ted hagan
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    Jun 8th 2018, 4:31 PM

    I used to think the Presbyterian Church was slightly more enlightened.
    How wrong I was.

    35
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    Mute Player 1
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    Jun 8th 2018, 2:26 PM

    Fair enough on the gay couples if it is against there religion, but banning the kids seems a bit scaldy

    41
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    Mute Tommy Potter
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    Jun 8th 2018, 2:28 PM

    Let he has not sinned cast the first stone.?

    29
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    Mute Tom Purcell
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    Jun 8th 2018, 3:27 PM

    @Tommy Potter: Heha – that is part of the problem, those who vote for things like this usually consider themselves good Christians and don’t even know that that Mark’s story “Pericope adulterae” is not part of the original “approved” Bible, it was added sometime between the 5th -8th centuries.

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    Mute Tom Goss
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    Jun 9th 2018, 6:29 PM

    @Tom Purcell: And ’5th and 8th centuries’ equates to us altering a book written somewhere between 1300 and 1600…

    1
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    Mute Sean Beinead
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    Jun 8th 2018, 1:56 PM

    Somethings dont change !!

    28
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    Mute Gavin Lynch
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    Jun 8th 2018, 3:43 PM

    Jesus hung around for the most part with 12 men. Statistically 1.2 of these men were gay. Do not tell me he didn’t enjoy the occasional tug or two.

    18
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    Mute TheoWolfe
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    Jun 8th 2018, 3:56 PM

    @Gavin Lynch:

    Probably more like between 0.024 and 0.048 Don’t fall for the Voller propaganda or even Kinsey.

    20
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    Mute TheoWolfe
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    Jun 8th 2018, 4:04 PM

    @TheoWolfe:
    0.24 to 0.48

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    Mute Before its too late
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    Jun 8th 2018, 5:01 PM

    @Gavin Lynch: Statistically it’s about 1-30 .

    2
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    Mute Tony Gordon
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    Jun 8th 2018, 1:59 PM

    Would like them to judge themselves too based on their own fictional book:

    Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

    19
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    Mute Gargle29
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    Jun 8th 2018, 2:03 PM

    @Tony Gordon: we’re all doomed so

    39
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    Mute Dotty Dunleary
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    Jun 8th 2018, 2:24 PM

    Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, . Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. . And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

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    Mute Damien Mooney
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    Jun 8th 2018, 2:45 PM

    @Dotty Dunleary: ‘were’ is the key word here. Such were…past tense..

    3
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    Mute Patrick J. O'Rourke
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    Jun 8th 2018, 3:00 PM

    @Dotty Dunleary: That’s pretty inclusive then. Everyone is going to hell now.

    13
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    Mute DJ François
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    Jun 8th 2018, 3:07 PM

    @Dotty Dunleary: Kinda covers everyone

    9
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    Mute Garreth Byrne
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    Jun 8th 2018, 5:00 PM

    @Dotty Dunleary: It’s uncompromising chapter and verse – but which Book, which chapter & which verse? It could be St. Paul somewhere, I’ll guess.

    2
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    Mute Kevin Slater
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    Jun 8th 2018, 7:03 PM

    Even Protestants call those lads ‘black protestants’.

    16
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    Mute James Keogh
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    Jun 8th 2018, 5:52 PM

    Are Presbyterians Christian ? ? or just a group of self preserving non-sympathetic heathens without a Christian thought in their little heads.
    The ol’ Chimpanzees passed these guys out centuries ago.

    16
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    Mute John Rownano
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    Jun 8th 2018, 3:03 PM

    What to you expect from people irrational enough to believe in a God myth!

    13
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    Mute Dotty Dunleary
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    Jun 8th 2018, 2:23 PM

    Oh dear, these idiots are really taking the interpretation of the Corinthians to the letter of the bad Greek-English translation and creating there own little pocket of reality!

    I hope they loose thousands of Church members now!

    33
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    Mute Matt Beaumont
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    Jun 8th 2018, 5:13 PM

    And I have the right to call them out for what they are:
    A bunch of backwards bigots full of shite!
    Hope their church of bigotry and delusion falls apart eventually!
    Nobody needs Christian Talibans!

    29
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    Mute TheoWolfe
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    Jun 8th 2018, 5:27 PM

    @Matt Beaumont:

    So much tolerance, true libertarianism.

    15
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    Mute Austin Rock
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    Jun 8th 2018, 5:28 PM

    Predestination is alive and well – still.

    4
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    Mute Jaune Fujisawa
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    Jun 9th 2018, 12:09 AM

    Nobody cares.

    4
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    Mute Marian Redmond
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    Jun 8th 2018, 10:30 PM

    Disgraceful, unchristian discrimination

    7
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    Mute Alan Currie
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    Jun 8th 2018, 10:50 PM

    Religions are just man made fantasies designed to control gullible and often vulnerable humans. Even just a basic dig into human history shows this.

    4
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    Mute Dee Mc Carthy
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    Jun 9th 2018, 5:29 PM

    Speaks volumes

    1
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    Mute Mark Doran
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    Jun 9th 2018, 9:29 PM

    Irish version of the westboro baptist church. Who doesn’t love a good cult.

    1
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