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THE DEPUTY FIRST Minister of Northern Ireland Martin McGuinness has offered to hold talks with dissident republicans during a speech at the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis in Killarney today.
McGuinness, the party’s presidential candidate in last year’s election, said that “the war is over” and that his party was in the process of building a “new Republic” that dissidents can be part of.
Speaking to delegates in Kerry this morning, he addressed the dissidents directly.
“Today I want to send a message directly to them, I am offering them an opportunity to meet and talk, come and tell us what you hope to gain by deluding yourselves and the gullible that your actions will succeed in what is certainly a pathetic and futile attempt to turn back the clock,” he said.
McGuinness said that recent attacks by dissidents on “vulnerable young people” needed to stop and insisted that he did not want to return the North to the violence and troubles of the past.
“The war is over and we are in the process of building a new Republic and you can still be part of that,” he said to the dissident republicans. ”There is plenty of room within the political process for voices who oppose the Sinn Féin strategy.
I was part of the conflict, I was there during the difficult and tragic times we had in the past and let me tell you there was nothing romantic about the war, it was hard, it was painful and it was traumatic and I never ever want the children of Ireland who live today in peace to be subjected to the conflict, pain and hurt that we lived through.
“I never want to be attend another funeral of a Police Officer or any other member our society who lost their lives due to violence, so I appeal to you for dialogue but I also say to you that the process of building a new future will continue with or without you, it is your call.”
Elsewhere, speeches at the party’s Ard Fheis today have focused on the issue of the Irish economy today. Speeches later today will also focus on housing and healthcare.
The party’s foreign affairs spokesperson Pádraig Mac Lochlainn said that the country is now back in recession and criticised the austerity policies of the government.
He said: “It has been four years since Fianna Fail ran our economy into the ground. We have had five austerity budgets. A total of €24 billion has wrenched from the domestic economy in tax hikes and cuts to vital health, education and community services.
“And where has this policy of austerity got us? The economy is now officially back in recession. The domestic economy has never been out of recession.
“Unemployment continues to scar our communities. 440,000 people languish on the live register while 115,000 people are in serious mortgage distress and 1,500 people are emigrating every week. Austerity simply isn’t working.”
Senator Kathryn Reilly highlighted the issue of emigration in her speech, pointing out the effect that it was having on GAA clubs around the country.
She pointed out that the London GAA club had seen an increase in the number of Gaelic football, hurling and camogie teams it was fielding “because of the failure of successive Governments to retain our best and brightest.”
Later this evening, the party’s president and leader in the Dáil, Gerry Adams, will address delegates in a speech to be broadcast live on RTÉ television from 5.20pm.
He is expected to outline the party’s opposition to the Fiscal Compact treaty referendum next Thursday.
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And they had to have a big consultation to figure that out. ..Give me a break whatever happened to good old common sense.
Regrettably in this day and age, common sense isn’t very common.
yes censorship works
It also favours government propaganda and oppression.
exactly, suicide is unpopular so journalists should not report, this is the censorship line
I think the figures should be reported daily.
The truth is well masked and denies the serious straits many people are in and take desperate measures. It then is easier for them to say that improvements and help are not needed.
It may well be sensible not to report the method but where and how many would be most telling. I’m think most of us know the reasons.
THIS SHOULD BE REPORTED.
It should,not be hidden and it is to be recognised that the problems are much bigger and more widespread than the government report with their big smiles and all the carry on at the EEC.
Media agencies should provide journalists with the ethics of reporting on suicides.
There are already ethics about reporting suicide. There’s a great group called Headline that monitor media for such things who came in to give us a talk when I studied media.
These ethics aren’t exactly legally implemented, though. Most of the changes in the reporting of suicide are pretty subtle and you’d nearly need them to be pointed out to notice them.
For instance, you shouldn’t ever read an article these days claiming somebody had “committed suicide”, since it was decriminalised, there’s no crime to be committed.
Areas where suicide is a problem shouldn’t be refereed to as “hot spots” and the methods used shouldn’t be reported.
When two people kill themselves together, they ofter get referred to as “Romeo and Juliet”, which romaticises suicide.
As I said, though, these aren’t legal issues. Just common sense, really.
I don’t think that the reporting on suicide is the issue.A poorly resources mental health service is having a far bigger impact on the numbers than anything else.Now how about a big media discussion on this point.
Sadly, there is nothing in a media report that is not easily found by a Google search.
Just completed the ASIST refresher training (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training). I did the initial training 4 years ago.
For those that are interested you can find out when it may be in your area ~
There’d be little risk of any copycats if reporters used terms that made the legacy of suicide seem unappealing. e.g. instead of saying “a person has taken their own life” they should say “another idiot has taken the cowards way out”. Copycats are weak-minded & unoriginal so attaching a negative stigma is a much better deterrent that the “poor you” mentality.
And before people start thinking I’m trying to insult suicidal people, maybe read it again a few times. I’m specifically talking about copycats (as the article is about) NOT people with real mental health issues!
Anyone that thinks suicide is “the cowards way out” doesn’t understand. Not sure what you mean by “real mental health issues”. It is something that can happen to anyone, given certain circumstances. Drugs or alcohol can also influence a person’s state of mind. Including prescribed drugs eg anti-depressants. While some people can tolerate these drugs, for others they can increase the risk of suicide, especially in the younger age groups. Hence the FDA have a black box warning on these psychoactive drugs ~
http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/InformationbyDrugClass/UCM096273
Going on or coming off these drugs can also be a vulnerable time.
{ Do not stop or change without discussing with a good doctor, due to the dangers of withdrawal incorrectly }
Well why not to ban movies and their making too then?? Example: Wild tales…a pilot that takes his own life and others too. Movies, news, books are fonts of great ideas and surely do not apply only for suiciding’s thoughts, but to wanna be rapists, racists, killers, thieves…maybe should just banned people from all forms of information and entertainment
have your say