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FORMER IRA LEADERS are considering issuing an unequivocal apology to all of the IRA victims through the years, including members of the British Army, according to a report in today’s Sunday Business Post.
The report says that discussions are underway among republicans and senior figures are pushing for the apology to be made.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Saturday Night with Miriam, Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said he did not know where the SBP story was originating from “because the IRA are gone; I don’t know who’s going to [apologise]“.
However, he indicated that he believes a ‘collective’ apology should be issued by all parties involved, including the British government:
It is absolutely heartbreaking that we have been through almost 100 years of partition in the North, decade after decade of conflict – and a very bitter conflict that lasted 25 years in which an awful lot of people lost their lives. How could you not be sorry that all that happened?But if people are going to say sorry, then everybody should say it collectively, in my mind. And that includes the British government. The British government cannot exclude themselves from the debate that we’re seeking to have which I think will be good for all of us. We have come a long way, but there is still an awful long way to go.
McGuinness accused British Prime Minister David Cameron of being ‘disengaged’ from the peace process, pointing out that McGuinness and First Minister Peter Robinson had met with the US president more often than the prime minister.
Victims
McGuinness also said that he told the Queen and Prince Philip last week that he recognised that they too had lost a loved one during the Troubles. He said that he would not repeated the queen’s words in response “because that would not be proper” but that she was understanding of the need for everybody to work together to move forward; “She was very gracious about it.”
“The peace process has come an awful long way” and is the most successful in the world today, the Deputy First Minister said. However, he added that the one flaw in the peace process so far was that no way had been found for dealing with the past and for dealing with victims.
McGuinness has previously called for the establishment of a peace and reconciliation commission in Northern Ireland along the lines of that of South Africa.
In last night’s interview, he confirmed earlier comments that “very important meetings” are being held by Sinn Féin leaders and senior Protestant clergymen and Unionist figures in order to build on the reconciliation phase of the peace process.
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A bit of competition is good once it’s honest and there’s no jolleys, stroking, brown envelopes or trips to the red light district
Don’t care who builds it, once the ultimate cost is what was agreed at the start and it represents best value for money and can actually do everything that we need in an MRV.
@Peter: absolutely correct. The bigger ptoblen is managing to crew these ships given the pathetic funding of the navy and the army
. dont care who builds it but no the UK, when your out, your out.
@Spud Geshletter: let’s hope they don’t have the same stupid attitude as you, we will be broke overnight.
@Tipper Irie: How do you like a freezing cold and dark winter? 75% of our gas comes from Scotland!
@Tipper Irie: please explain??
@Spud Geshletter: …but they’re Scots not English.
This is gona be an interesting one. The Brits will probably bend over backwards for these kind of contracts now to prove Brexit works. Might mean a better price, but there will be a lot of pressure on the government from EU partners to not go with the Brits for this. Especially a defence contract. I’m sure there are plenty of other shipyards around Europe that could also build the ship. I wonder will the EU intervene to make sure that EU defense spending stays as much as possible within the EU. Which will be tough seen as the Brits have such a massive arms industry.
@bazhealy: We should source the ships with the EU Single Market and as Northern Ireland is still in the EU Single Market we should source the ships in Harland and Wolf in Belfast.
@Roger Bond: You’d be lucky to get a barge out of H&W.
@Roger Bond: hm no…
@Billybutcher: hm maybe, although it has been used recently mainly for service I read on 25/11 that H&W has been appointed as the prefered bidder to deliver three crucial support ships to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
Who will staff it?? The Naval service is on it’s knees.
@Richard Griffin: We can recruit naval personnel from other countries like the Philippines or China.
@Roger Bond: Do people actually think we can do that?
And its also past time Ireland grew up and provided its own proper air defences and stop running to the RAF everytime an incident accurs because we dont have the capability,without a comprehensive radar tracking system anyone can invade our airspace at will and we have to depend on the Brits for information whats happening in our own country,the excuse usually given is because we are neutral sounds demeaning and ridiculous because we can even defend our own neutrality.
@Richard Mccarthy: I’m sure that there is a bit of back scratching going on with that arrangement.
Didn’t know the UK had any shipyards left.
@Ken Miles: they,’ve got s few ,who do you think built the new aircraft carriers?
@Ken Miles: You obvously are misinformed who do you think built the latest Ships for the Irish navy,yep the Brits did only problem now we can’t get the personel to crew them.
@Ken Miles: there is a famous ship yard only up the road in Belfast
@Kevin Carroll: Excellent point. At least we would keep the money on the island.
@Kevin Carroll: Yes there is. Tyneside shipyards closed to keep Belfast in work.
@Ken Miles: There is one just up the road in Belfast and it would be a kind gesture to get the ships built there like before.
As a member of the EU all contracts should be given to eu countries not a country outside eu
They’ve probably wat he’d the childrens hospital and locked their lips at the clown show.
Candy off a baby..
That’s easy then, Trieste in Italy it is, the only EU one of the top 10 largest shipbuilding companies, coming in @ #9.
We should be looking further afield for contracts like this..The best value for money can be found in China or South Korea..
@Roger Bond: Correctamundo, Asia all the way, I’d include Japan on that list.
have your say