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FactCheck: Is Enda Kenny really obliged to work towards a United Ireland?

Gerry Adams says there is a “constitutional imperative on the Taoiseach to promote Irish unity.” TheJournal.ie’s FactCheck applies some scrutiny.

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SINN FÉIN WANTS a referendum on a United Ireland, after 56% of voters in the North opted to remain in the European Union yesterday, despite the eventual Leave victory.

Party leader Gerry Adams said this morning there was a “democratic imperative” to hold the referendum, but went further than that during a press conference in Belfast, claiming Taoiseach Enda Kenny had a “constitutional imperative to promote Irish unity”.

Does he?

(Remember, if you hear a big claim you’re not sure about, email factcheck@thejournal.ie)

Claim: There is a constitutional imperative on the Taoiseach to promote Irish unity – Gerry Adams
Verdict: FALSE

  • Nothing in the Constitution explicitly states this
  • Nothing in the Constitution could reasonably be interpreted as meaning this, according to constitutional experts we consulted
  • A 1990 Supreme Court decision which may have given the claim some measure of support no longer stands

What was said

At a press conference this morning, the Taoiseach told reporters:

There are much more serious issues [than a referendum on reunification] to deal with in the immediate term, and that’s where our focus is.

When this was put to Gerry Adams this afternoon, at a press conference in Stormont, he responded:

There’s a constitutional imperative on the Taoiseach to promote Irish unity. That’s part of his office.

You can watch his comments here – the relevant section starts at 8.11.

The Facts

There is nothing in the Irish Constitution that explicitly says the Taoiseach is required or obliged to promote the cause of a United Ireland, or that this is one of the functions or duties of the office of Taoiseach.

David Kenny, an expert in the Irish constitution and assistant professor of law at Trinity College Dublin, told us:

The idea that it’s part of the Taoiseach’s office…there’s no part of the Constitution referring to the Taoiseach that suggests that.

(You can read the Constitution in full, here).

But is there anything in there to imply or suggest, albeit not in the exact terms used by Gerry Adams, that our head of government has a “constitutional imperative” to work towards a United Ireland?

We asked Sinn Féin for evidence and a source to support the claim, and a spokesperson for Adams told us:

In keeping with Article 3.1 of Constitution, passed by referendum as part of the Good Friday Agreement, the State declares its aspiration to see a united Ireland, it being ‘the firm will of the Irish nation, in harmony and friendship, to unite all the people who share the territory of the island of Ireland…’.
The Taoiseach, as head of State, should act as a persuader for Irish unity, and work to see the express aspiration of unity achieved.

(A brief aside: Ireland’s head of state is the president. The Taoiseach is the head of government).

Articles 3.1 and 3.2 were added to the Constitution in 1998, replacing the old Article 3 after the 19th Amendment referendum which essentially ratified the Good Friday Agreement.

The original 1939 Constitution contained these two articles:

constitution Courtesy of Dr David Kenny Courtesy of Dr David Kenny

Kenny explained:

The original text of the Constitution contained what the courts described as a “claim of right” over the entire territory of the island of Ireland.
You could say that, on some level, because it was a claim of right, the Constitution supposed that the government should be actively endeavouring to pursue that.

However, Articles 2 and 3 were removed in 1998, and replaced with what Kenny called “an aspirational provision”.

Article 3.1, for example, declares the “firm will” of the Irish people to bring about a United Ireland.

What you could say, that would potentially be accurate, is that the Constitution affirms that it is an aspiration of the people of Ireland to do this [reunify].

However, he added:

The idea that that puts a duty on anyone to behave in any particular way, that would, let’s say, be contrary to their judgment …I would definitely reject that.

Dr Eoin Daly, a law lecturer at NUI Galway and constitutional expert, told TheJournal.ie:

At most [Article 3] expresses a vague, watered-down aspiration towards political unification with Northern Ireland, and it can’t really be interpreted as placing any specific legal or constitutional ‘duties’ on anybody to do anything in particular to bring Irish unification about.
It might be a political duty, but it is not a ‘constitutional’ one in any meaningful sense.

What do the courts say?

Kenny meets Adams PA Images PA Images

In 1990, two Unionist activists and brothers, Christopher and Michael McGimpsey, had a case heard in the Supreme Court, arguing that the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement violated sections of the Irish Constitution, including Articles 2 and 3.

In his decision, Chief Justice Thomas Finlay stated (among many other findings), that Articles 2 and 3 meant that:

The re-integration of the national territory is a constitutional imperative.

This finding would appear to offer some support for the idea that a constitutional imperative towards a United Ireland exists, even if it does not specifically apply to the Taoiseach.

However, it was an interpretation of Articles 2 and 3 as they stood at the time, eight years before they were replaced.

“It’s not a plausible claim after the Belfast Agreement,” David Kenny explained.

Whatever you might have said under McGimpsey is not applicable to the current text.

Conclusion

Firstly, there is nothing in the text of the Constitution that explicitly states what Gerry Adams claimed this afternoon – that the Taoiseach is obliged by the Constitution, and the duties of his office, to pursue a United Ireland.

Secondly, there is nothing in Articles 2 or 3 which could reasonably be interpreted as placing the head of government under that obligation, according to the constitutional experts consulted by TheJournal.ie.

Thirdly, a 1990 Supreme Court decision which found a “constitutional imperative” did exist no longer stands, because the articles it was interpreting have since changed.

Sinn Féin, and potentially many others, may argue the Taoiseach has a moral, political, or patriotic imperative to work towards a United Ireland.

But the claim that he is under a constitutional obligation to do this, or that it’s part of the duties of his office, is wrong.

We rate this claim FALSE.

Send your FactCheck requests to factcheck@thejournal.ie

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117 Comments
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    Mute Sinead
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    Aug 12th 2013, 10:21 AM

    Died in a nice comfortable bed at the age of 98…. I hope he had a miserable life with nightmares of what he did

    231
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    Mute John Quill
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    Aug 12th 2013, 10:57 AM

    Na, ever listen to ex nazis memoirs? No guilt whatsoever.

    109
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    Mute Goebong
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    Aug 12th 2013, 11:41 AM

    R.i.p

    23
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    Mute John O'Neill
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    Aug 12th 2013, 11:48 AM

    Hell got a fuel supplement on Saturday…

    43
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    Mute Jim Lenihan
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    Aug 12th 2013, 3:17 PM

    now he will meet his maker

    13
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    Mute Stephen Doyle
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    Aug 12th 2013, 10:23 AM

    Ah the Sun, print lies about the hillsborough tragedy then hunt nazis to make amends

    131
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    Mute Andrew Deegan
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    Aug 12th 2013, 11:14 AM

    Absolutely nothing to do with Hillsborough. As vile as it was it’s got nothing to do with what this sick freak did

    65
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    Mute Stephen Doyle
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    Aug 12th 2013, 11:30 AM

    Never said it was, just thought it was nice to see that The Sun “newspaper” tracked him down

    25
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    Mute Karol Doran
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    Aug 12th 2013, 1:33 PM

    Get over it. The sun didn’t cause the hilsbrough. And this has nothin to do with that.

    17
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    Mute Stephen Doyle
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    Aug 12th 2013, 2:14 PM

    Get over it?? The holocaust or hillsborough, neither one should be forgotten

    13
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    Mute Karol Doran
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    Aug 12th 2013, 2:45 PM

    Get over the suns non part in it. So they printed lies. Big deal. Papers print lies every day.

    19
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    Mute Stephen Doyle
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    Aug 12th 2013, 3:07 PM

    and now they are the paradigm of virtue, shining light of nazi hunters, “we tracked down fritz, read the full account on page 3 under a photo of some slapper with her tits out and a story about justin biebers latest bowel movement”

    15
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    Mute Karol Doran
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    Aug 12th 2013, 3:17 PM

    They are a joke. All tabloids are.

    14
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    Mute Taxi Bill
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    Aug 12th 2013, 10:16 AM

    What a pity he died in hospital pitu it wasnt dangling at the end of a rope (if guilty)

    103
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    Mute Gerry Ross
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    Aug 12th 2013, 10:24 AM

    He got off lightly

    81
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    Mute Tonybeegood
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    Aug 12th 2013, 10:32 AM

    This man was just a soldier doing his duty during a war. He can’t be held accountable for this once the war is over. He’s no more guilty than Americans who killed people in Iraq or Irish who killed the British during our own war.

    78
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    Mute John Johnson (KCCO)
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    Aug 12th 2013, 10:35 AM

    Agreed..

    Very evil man who enjoyed following his orders without remorse.

    Just like some of the modern day war criminals we have today.

    51
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    Mute John Flood
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    Aug 12th 2013, 10:37 AM

    Put down the crackpipeTony!!!

    41
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    Mute John Flood
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    Aug 12th 2013, 10:38 AM

    Put down the crackpipe Tony!!!

    28
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    Mute Sinead
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    Aug 12th 2013, 10:39 AM

    Just a soldier following orders…. Do he whipped and tortured people because he had no choice? Everyone has a choice and everyone is accountable for what they do

    78
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    Mute Aisling Twomey
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    Aug 12th 2013, 10:46 AM

    Yeah, soldiers who are complicit in significant war crimes should totally walk free shouldn’t they? On that basis, Hitler, Himmler and Goebbels could nearly be acquitted. At Nuremberg, it was decided that wrong is wrong; laws that go against the grain of humanity and allow for the killing of some six million innocent people in a genocide are wrong laws. In your world, My Lai would be fine and the Nazis would be forgettable, like the genocide in Eastern Europe just twenty years ago. Give me a break: every book, film and effort at international peace in the world says you’re wrong.

    57
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    Mute Foxtrot Hotel
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    Aug 12th 2013, 11:09 AM

    Awful examples. You seem to have a very skewed view of what a soldier does. The US military didn’t engage in the systematic extrermination of the Iraqi people in gas chambers. Although their behaviour in the Iraq was less than humane a lot of the time, the idea that they are no better than the Nazis is ludicrous.

    As for the Irish fighting the British, they were fighting a guerrilla war against an occupation that would be more suited to be compared to the Nazis, even that’s a far stretch.

    Of course war criminals can held accountable for their actions after a conflict. That’s what the ICC is for. Anyone who breaks the Geneva convention should stand trial. Although the Geneva convention was written after the second world war, it still applies to those who commited those brutal crimes against humanity againts Jews, gays, gypsies and the handicapped.

    To say they were just following orders is the exact kind of complacency that gave birth to The Third Reich.

    46
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    Mute Shanners
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    Aug 12th 2013, 11:15 AM

    Surely the bombers who dropped Atomic bombs on Japan should be prosecuted as war criminals?

    Similarly those that bombed Dresden, a city of refugees.

    48
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    Mute Foxtrot Hotel
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    Aug 12th 2013, 11:30 AM

    Absolutely they should. The bombing of Dresden was the worst act of collective punishment in the European theatre of WW2, as was the Nuking of Japan in the Pacific.

    Thhe time has passed to be able to bring those responsible for the Armenian Holocaust to justice. But the US allies in the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan should be held accountable for the deaths of up to 3000 prisoners in 2001. Which the US knew about.

    28
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    Mute Dexter Gordon
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    Aug 12th 2013, 12:10 PM

    Some difference I would have thought between murdering Nazis and brave men trying to free Ireland from what was a foreign invader.

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    Mute Dexter Gordon
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    Aug 12th 2013, 12:13 PM

    * murderous Nazis.

    5
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    Mute Colin C
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    Aug 12th 2013, 4:08 PM

    Anyone who knows anything about the slaughter at Okinawa will realise that the nuking of Japan saved millions of lives, as the next alternative was an invasion of the Japanese home islands. In Okinawa thousands of Japanese civilians resorted to killing their own children and themselves because they had been told by the Japanese military that the American would turn them all into slaves and comfort women (as the Japanese had done in Manchuria and other replaces in Asia). The Japanese military was clearly willing to countenance the complete annihilation of the Japanese people to fight off an invasion. The nuclear bombs denied them a chance of glorious defeat, and so saved the lives of millions.

    4
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    Mute Martin Bennett
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    Oct 18th 2013, 6:43 AM

    The irish must say you must be a brit lover putting us in the same sentence; lure fool you are .

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    Mute Slim Browne
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    Aug 12th 2013, 10:59 AM

    Aha the lad with the 3 pronged fork is waiting for him :)

    74
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    Mute Deirdre Mac Mahon
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    Aug 12th 2013, 11:04 AM

    If only

    40
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    Mute Tonybeegood
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    Aug 12th 2013, 10:53 AM

    We don’t see Bush, Obama or any of the rest of the warmongers on trial, but I suppose they kill people in a much nicer way so that’s ok? And if books and films say I’m wrong then I guess that proves it. However, most of these books and films are written by Americans and British so they might be slightly biased.

    68
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    Mute Sinead
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    Aug 12th 2013, 11:06 AM

    I’m confused Tony, are you justifying what this man did by comparing him to other people who do wrong. Do you think he deserved to get away with it ( which he did) because there are other evils in the world? What exactly is your point here?

    44
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    Mute Killjoy
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    Aug 12th 2013, 11:07 AM

    You can’t compare the Holocaust to modern day deaths. Not even in the same league

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    Mute Brian Mc Cabe
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    Aug 12th 2013, 11:47 AM

    f£ck the much use that is to the victims , they are still dead.

    13
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    Mute Jason Bourne
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    Aug 12th 2013, 1:45 PM

    Killjoy. He is charged with being responsible for deaths of 15,000 people.

    Bush Senior (WW2) is responsible for enabling Germany to fight a war that caused the deaths of 10s of millions.
    Bush the 2nd (Gulf War 1) responsible for killing at least 5 times what Csatari is charged with.
    Bush the 3rd is responsible for killing at least 10 times what Csatari is charged with.

    Comparing people. Not overall events.

    13
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    Mute Tristan Ua Ceithearnaigh
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    Aug 12th 2013, 12:05 PM

    The American butchers who designed , created and atom bombed two cities on totally innocent civilians ,non-combatants,old men ,women and children and babies killing 100 000s are still walking around free. The British butchers who firebombed cities with innocent Japanese women and babies killing 10 000s are also walking around free. Nobody is reporting this though.

    68
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    Mute Jason Bourne
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    Aug 12th 2013, 1:40 PM

    “History is written by the victors”

    48
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    Mute Colin C
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    Aug 12th 2013, 10:01 PM

    I suppose they should have ended the war with an invasion of the home islands and allowed millions of soldiers and Japanese civilians to be killed instead, eh? If you’re in any doubt, look at the stats for Okinawa and multiply by at least 10. Okinawa disproves the ” they were about to surrender anyway” theory that anti-American zealots usually use to point the finger at the one nation that stood between the Axis forces and world domination.

    7
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    Mute Rebecca De Stanleigh
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    Aug 12th 2013, 10:26 AM

    Should have been hung with his poisonous comrades. Filth.

    57
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    Mute big shmoke
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    Aug 12th 2013, 10:30 AM

    As an atheist I don’t believe in any deity or afterlife but if I’m wrong then I hope this man is in eternal torment. Hopefully this will help bring closure to the remaining holocaust survivors & their families.

    53
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    Mute Patrick
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    Aug 12th 2013, 10:58 AM

    That pic is Auschwitz 1 which actually just looks like a school outside ,I witnessed 2 asian girls burst into tears merely from the atmosphere of the place. It is really is haunting , Auschwitz 2 isn’t half as eerie.

    48
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    Mute Denise Houlihan
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    Aug 12th 2013, 11:05 AM

    Yes, some awful sorrow descends on you once you see that place and stays with you forever. It’s the saddest, most haunting and eerie place I have ever visited. Rightly so. You can almost tangibly feel the horrors that occurred.

    53
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    Mute Adam Power
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    Aug 12th 2013, 10:20 AM

    Hopefully it was extremely painful

    46
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    Mute big shmoke
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    Aug 12th 2013, 10:30 AM

    As an atheist I don’t believe in any deity or afterlife but if I’m wrong then I hope this man is in eternal torment. Hopefully this will help bring closure to the remaining holocaust survivors & their families.

    28
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    Mute ptriley
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    Aug 12th 2013, 11:42 AM

    The irony is he will be cremated

    20
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    Mute damien chaney
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    Aug 12th 2013, 11:36 AM

    I hope someone has tracked down every piece of art he dealt with while in Canada to make sure none of it was stolen off any families during the war who were rounded up by the nazi.

    17
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    Mute Nelly Bergman
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    Aug 12th 2013, 12:47 PM

    If he knew Vatican was smuggling war criminals from the continent into Ireland, he would have been running some legit business like Folen, printing school books or the like.

    14
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    Mute Mary Mc Carthy
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    Aug 12th 2013, 1:05 PM

    The world is a better place without him

    10
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    Mute Anthony Quinn
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    Aug 12th 2013, 1:12 PM

    Laffin…an meanwhile barrak and the shaved chimp before him
    Travel the world and do after dinner speeches…

    7
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    Mute Louise Maxwell
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    Aug 12th 2013, 1:54 PM

    Watch the film “Shoah”. This film is all the education anyone will ever need with regard to the holocaust.

    3
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    Mute Arthur Callaghan
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    Aug 12th 2013, 6:57 PM

    the nazis were well ahead when it came to wartime technology. when they lost the war America stoled all there technology and within a decade later there were a super power ? makes ya think

    2
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