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A TD IS calling on the government to strictly regulate the sale of nitrous oxide, often referred to as “laughing gas”.
Sinn Féin TD Mark Ward is introducing legislation to the Dáil today that, if passed, would limit the sale of nitrous oxide to commercial uses only.
The Sale of Nitrous Oxide and Related Products Bill 2025 would prohibit the sale of nitrous oxide and related products to anyone under the age of 18.
It would also give powers to gardaí to seize nitrous oxide products from anyone without the necessary licences.
“You only have to walk through any park or housing estate in Dublin and beyond and you will see discarded nitrous canisters,” said Ward in a statement released today.
“When I first noticed them in my area, they were small singular one-use canisters, known locally as ‘silver bullets’. Over time this has changed to large industrial sized canisters, known as fast gas. These large canisters are sold on the street.”
Ward said that “unscrupulous dealers” and manufacturers are “making vast profits from the sale of nitrous oxide” and that the gas is being “marketed towards children”.
“Young people are playing Russian roulette when they use this gas. Inhaling Nitrous Oxide cuts off oxygen to the brain resulting in lightheaded and giddy affects. This is where the name laughing gas comes from, but let me tell you, laughing gas is no laughing matter,” he said.
In 2023, a report by the HSE’s Adolescent Addiction Service in west Dublin said that 22% of the teenagers using its service said they had taken nitrous oxide on occasion, which was a 175% increase compared to the year before. It was the third highest substance used after cannabis and alcohol.
The effects of using nitrous oxide can include sensory issues like a numbness in the hands and feet, issues with balance, heart rate problems, and poor mental health..
Ward said there has also been an increase in young people presenting for help after getting frostbite from using nitrous oxide.
“Scarring is a really significant thing. Some of the patients presented with burns around the lips and fingertips and can take some months to resolve,” he said.
“There is also an environmental impact after several incinerators and waste management facilities around Europe suffered major damage when canisters exploded in their furnaces and compactors.”
The bill is due to be introduced to the Dáil this afternoon.
A 2024 version of the bill had been introduced previously but it lapsed when the Dáil was dissolved before the election.
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The blood of 9 Protestant Civilians is on the hands of the British state. Their man planned the bomb, they warned the UDA to abandon their meeting, they rigged the bomb to explode prematurely before the IRA volunteer could clear the shop. This was done to suit the British agenda and weaken the IRA.
The silence from the Southern establishment media on these claims are deafening.
It doesn’t absolve the IRA of anything, it just makes the security forces equally as culpable.
When two people murder somebody, they are not charged with half a killing each.
The IRA didn’t bomb that chip shop on the Shankill, the British did.
I’ll write it again – a British agent planned the operation, the British security forces warned loyalists not to meet there, a British agent rigged the bomb to explode early killing everyone inside.
The Brits are culpable not just for the 10 deaths that day, but of the 14 Catholics killed in retaliation in the weeks following.
Funny that pira claimed responsibility for a bomb you say the brits were responsible for Eamonn
Yeah Joe.. Tis f#cking hilarious isn’t it…..
not really, just highlighting the stupidity of commentators here, like Eamonn among others.
The apologists and excuse makers (like yourself Rasputin) for murderers in the IRA or their loyalist counterparts in the UDA etc etc etc are equally as sickening and share in the responsibility as they create the space for this s(um to operate.
Wrong is wrong no matter which side of the community you grew up on
One British agent was involved in the organisation of the bomb, two guys brought the bomb in, others were involved in getting explosives, making the bomb and planning the operation.
Are you going to tell me the IRA was a secret British organistaion or something.
I’ll say it again, based on this evidence the security forces would appear to be complicit in the murder of people by the IRA, and therefore both are equally as busy.
Matty what evidence is there that “One British agent was involved in the organisation of the bomb”
I’ve heard speculation but I missed the evidence.
Well if you are to go by the article printed above it says:
“The newspaper states that it has seen classified documents that were stolen by the IRA during a break-in at the Castlereagh police complex in Northern Ireland on St Patrick’s Day 2002.”
@joesmith Of course the IRA claimed responsibility. And claimed it in the mistaken belief that the man who planned the attack was an IRA man when he was actually a british agent. Try to keep up.
SF/PIRA supporters claiming the PIRA bomb in a busy civilian shop in a Protestant area of Belfast had nothing to do with the Provos!
I thought they were proud of their “heroic struggle” waged against innocent civilians.
And Joe how exactly do you feel about our own government covering up/dragging their feet about the Dublin Monaghan bombings ?? Sitting in government with former OIRA members who recently dropped the former leader of RNU into the Seanad while howling blue murder at the “crimes” of SF?? You said you don’t like apologists for what happened during the troubles…. Well here’s your chance to sack up and criticise them too…
So basically the RUC got their Loyalist buddies out and then got one of their agents to rig the bomb to go off immediately in a crowded chipper full of civilians. Instead of arresting the bomber on the way or at the scene and saving lives the RUC allowed more innocent people to get killed on the day and in the aftermath. The PIRA shouldn’t have planted the bomb in a civilian are but the RUC shouldn’t have allowed them to do it either.
Brian if the IRA had not planted the bomb then there would be no need for the RUC to prevent it. The blame lies firat and foremost with the IRA s(um.
Jesus wept but that is the stupidest argument to try and absolve the RUC that I have ever heard and I thought that I have heard them all.
The RUC’s agent tells them of the bombing so they clear out their UDA buddies and get their man to jark the bomb so that it will go off and kill a load of innocent civilians instead of intercepting both bombers on route. But it is still totally all the PIRA’s fault!!! I suppose that the civilians actually threw themselves in front of the bullits on bloody sunday and children deliberatly headbutted plastic bullets that were being fired harmlessly into the air as well! Even Willie Frazer would blush if reads that line of crap.
“The PIRA shouldn’t have planted the bomb in a civilian area”.
That was PIRA/SF’s principal strategy!
A strategy you relentlessly defend with your vile cheerleading Ward.
Warrington, Enniskillen, Manchester, Birmingham, Guilford, Sligo….
@marylou The IRA planted the bomb under the command of someone who, it turned out, was a british agent. So in other words, we had a British agent commanding an IRA unit, who informed his RUC handlers of a plan to attack the johnny adair and other UDA members during their weekly meeting upstairs, and seemingly, the UDA then tipped off to stay clear of the area and the RUC allowing the bomb to go ahead killing nine people. And yet you still repratedly take exception to criticism of the RUC?
Diarmuid, maybe if you read this http://tiny.cc/gjql8x you will see where 3 different international experts on terrorisim explain how the bombing strategy of the PIRA shifted after the Bloody Friday bombings to targeted attacks on the security forces. This can also be found in many books written on PIRA strategy at the time. All of them are in direct contradiction to your “principal strategy ” assertion that the provos deliberately targeted civilians as a bombing strategy but then again what’s new?
Brian, your attempts to trivialise/condone PIRA’s targeting of civilians is pitiful.
The Belfast Brigades were infected with touts.. That’s why the South Armagh brigade were giving the job of Canary Wharf, which was expertly planned and carried out..
Yes expertly killing a couple of innocent people.
Reg, the 2 people who were killed were told by a policeman to get out of the area but they chose to stay behind and close up their shop instead. No one would have been killed if they hadn’t chosen to stupidly ignore the advice given to them and stayed behind while everyone else legged it.
Of course, it was their own fault. Silly me.
Sounds like you are proud of that
Reg I remember being caught up in 2 bomb alerts within the space of 3 hours in Belfast one day and I got the hell out of there as fast as I could. I didn’t decide to dawdle around and put my life in danger. There were very specific warnings given in canary Wharf and everyone else headed them but there is no account for human stupidity. They had their chance to run and live but chose not to. Unlike allegedly the people in the Shankill Road who were given no chance by the RUC or it’s agents.
The IRA could have chosen to turn Canary Wharf into Ground Zero had they wanted to.. They simply wanted to remind a British Establishment who were taking their foot off the gas what really was at stake..
Who knows.. Another few bombs in Britain like Canary Wharf and we would of had the Six Counties back by now..
Or been invaded… The campaign was designed to keep the pressure on while not starting “ww3″. That’s why aircraft or ferry’s were never targeted for example and at the time they would have been very easy to either bomb or hijack. While the campaign was brutal it was relatively reserved considering what the likes of the PLO got up to.
it was reserved to bombs in bins that killed kids, bombs in busy streets etc etc, (that police were responsible for not the bombers)
reserved as in only beat some young lads to death with iron bars and only beat some special needs kids with iron bars
Except, Joe, that “bombs in bins that killed kids” etc etc was not typical of the IRA campaign, as you well know. According to the book ‘Lost Lives’ which details every death in the conflict, over 75% of IRA victims were active participants in the conflict. A percentage significantly higher than for just about any armed group in any conflict that you care to mention, including the Old IRA. A significantly higer percentage again of IRA operations of all types were attacks on security force personnel and installations. So your attempts to characterise the entire campaign as “killing children” is pathetic, deceitful and downright disgusting.
Ah yeah “Sorry for murdering your children as they walked down a shopping street, but you will take comfort in the fact they are in the 25% of people we murder”.
Your moral equivocation is vile TEG.
Tir, from whats coming out lately it wouldn’t surprise me if that percentage rate would have been significantly higher without deliberate interference to make sure innocents were killed. Oh a Dermot, nice you to pop your head into a conversation at a time you know your usual dumb arguments won’t be pulled to bits…
Shinnertrolls a little sensitive?
Clearly don’t like being challenged for defending the murder of innocent men, women and children.
Clearly don’t like having their hypocrisy and moral repugnancy exposed for all to see.
@Rasputin
Ignore diarmuid. It’s the best way to deal with attention seekers. He will keep responding to your comments even more often than before, like a little dog clawing at your ankle desperately whining for just a little attention, but don’t even bother reading them.
Pathetic.
There are even worse claims going around about this incident at the moment. Nothing would surprise me in the dirty war that took place up north.
Worth noting that very few reports of those claims have been printed or reported on in Irish media… They’re going with the narrative that it was simply an informer… and not a British double agent protecting his UVF comrades at the expense of civilian lives…
Noble Irish media hold Irish catholic men forced to join a civilian army due to oppression murder and mental torture internment.against their communities to account. British minded noble orange men who spit on the Irish flag and burn effigys of Irish politicians who formed civilian paramilitary groups who killed Irish civilians for fun hatred who came down and bombed the Republic with the blessing of the mi5 and British war cabinet. are never held to account . Irish media like Irish politicians too afraid to question there betters just keep harking on about those they deem lower them . Look look under class Poddy is a bold serf for defending themselves. Noble Irish Media. I say old boy Noble.
No doubt you and your Blueshirts were delighted Johnny Adair and his friends were warned and survived to kill another day… But sure isn’t that all The Troubles are to you lot?? Something to make political jibes with across the Dail and to make jokes about to get the peanut gallery at FGHQ giggling…
Who knows Joe? Could also be a conspiracy theory or a ploy to discredit him, raise doubt, weaken support or trust for him and SF which would be to the advantage of a lot of people.
Gerry Adams carried the coffin of the PIRA terrorist who died planting the bomb.
@the journal
Don’t think I didn’t notice that you took down TIr Eoghain’s comment which a valid point and was completely within the rules What’s going on ?
This forum is a joke. Infested with IRA trolls and apologists who will literally twist any story about them in their favour. They should set up a unionist equivalent of TheJournal.ie up north for all the UVF and UDA apologists to come online and defend their heroes too.
What would have been nice during the troubles would have been to get a sealed courtyard with plenty of knives and guns, and tossed all the national and loyalist paramilitaries into it, and all their fanboys and apologists too while they were at it. They could have all killed each other off and made everyone else’s lives a lot easier and safer
So you believe in Hell. My definition of hell is having to read your ravings on a daily basis.
You are joking. Just because people have decided to take a stand against blatant lies being peddled for political point scoring ??? Any UDA/UDF member is perfectly entitled to set up an account and challenge anything what’s being said here.. FG/Lab supporters were told that their constant banging on about the the IRA in an effort to blacken their political rival.. SF would eventually come back to haunt them.. Here it is.. Personally I haven’t told one lie about The Troubles. I started correcting people on their deliberate obfuscation of which group was which and who was involved in what such as people saying that the IRA were involved in the McGuinness or the O’Grady kidnapping… They were using others grief for political scoring.. Sorry darling but the days of the Blueshirt lies are over and I guess you just can’t argue a way around that so now we’re “trolls or apologists”. Well too bad.
My reply to ML(ny)McD
Welcome to hell so.
and ?
Instead of tipping off the uda the so-called police should have arrested the uda members as well as the shop for owner’s for facilitating terrorist meetings.
The IRA were freedom fighters
Vast Majority were anyway
Good ‘non tax paying’ republican freedom fighters? Or good ‘tax paying’ freedom fighters?
Unelected, unappointed, unmandated, self-serving, sectarian gangsters who should be consigned to the dustbin of history.
Dermot.. Sounds like the unionists who controlled NI before being forced to play fair…
…or the vast majority of Irish people who rejected SF/PIRA terrorism for decades…
Sectarian? Poor old Diarmuid, still can’t accept that your “sectarian” jibes at the PIRA are groundless and pathetic. Like I asked you before but I know that you will need an adult to explain it to you again and again before it sinks in….
If the PIRA were sectarian why did it have 3 commanders in Belfast who were collectively nicknamed “the Prod Squad”?
If the PIRA were sectarian why did it have as it’s Chief of Staff, Ivor Bell who was a Protestant?
How many catholics were head of the UDA, of any Loyalist paramilitary group or were even a member of any Loyalist paramilitary group?
A few delusional “Prods” don’t hide the fact that PIRA/SF targeted Protestant communities and Protestant individuals in their degenerate sectarian campaign.
I’m sure you’ve got boilerplate whataboutery prepared for incidents like the Kingsmills Massacre.
“PIRA – not as bad as the UDA” should be your profile name. Pathetic.
The IRA were terrorists
Eh, just saying and correct me if I’m wrong here but isn’t there similar suspicions about security force awareness; on both sides of the border concerning the horrific Omagh bombing in 1998? 30 innocent people murdered and hundreds injured just to protect the interests of the ‘spooks’??
Yes, there is speculation alright.
Police knew it was happening but did nothing about it. The aftermath of the bombing brought about an end to the RIRA bombing campaign. Guess the “security” services “mistake” worked out for them.
?
IRA and Sinn Fein are knee deep in british informers.. Certainly in the 90′s anyway. There are claims in the public domain that senior Sinn Fein figures were double agents.
Pretty obvious at this stage that some members of the IRA were colluding with British Intelligence and RUC special branch so maybe it’s time for the British Government to man up and spill the beans on all of their skullduggery.
Every claim is in the public domain so long as somebody hears what you say and I doubt you talk to a brick wall when making up conspiracy theories about sinn fein. This is good news for republicans & there ain’t nothing you can do to spin it.
Always something suspicious about the fact that the loyalists had left their meeting early.. Many things over the period 1986-1994 didnt make sense including subsequently the GFA.
The timing of the Shankill bomb was unsurprising as at the time loyalist death squads were murdering innocent catholics unabashed. The bomb to wipe out the loyalists was unsurprising what was surprising was doing it on a busy shopping day with hundreds of people about just like Omagh. From a ‘securocrat’ point of view it was ideal a double edged sword 1. It hurt the IRA 2. It ensured demilitarisation would not happen for ten years..3. it would also strengthen the ‘doves’ in the provos… Bringing forward the ceasefire.
How can murdering 8 innocent civilians be good for republicans, if the ruc could have stopped this and didn’t then they need to be brought to justice, they are the very same as the perpetrators
The target wasn’t civilian and if British agent hadn’t deliberately set the timer incorrectly and informed the intended targets the only ones who’d have been killed would have been the UVF leadership…
It’s funny how the defenders of multiple murders are quick to blame it on the timer being interfered with, of which there is no evidence that I am aware of while totally ignoring the evil deed itself!
I read somewhere that whatever type of bomb in was would have been designed to blow upwards aiming at the uvf guys upstairs who had a meeting there every week but on this occasion they were not there which in itself is suspicious. It would have given them time to give a warning and clear the civilians out of the chip shop before it went off. Apparently, one of them was a double agent for the Brits and the bomb was tampered with to detonate early leaving no time to clear the bottom floor of the civilians and one of them was also killed.
Reg, interesting that you’d defend the UVF and their British overlords…
Maybe they screwed up when arming the device?
I’m not idolising anyone but I love hoe the shinner types jump in with all kinds of theories to try and delflect from a terrible incident. They probably didn’t intend to murder all those people but they did and we’ll probably never know what exactly happened.
@reg. I agree that the bomb was an atrocity and that those who planned and carried it out were primarily to blame. However, the UK independent article linked in a comment above states that the timer had been interfered with.
It’s hardly just a theory when relatives of those killed are questioning British involvement. Are those questioning the official narrative just to sit back while the likes of yourself, who’ve proven time and again that their understanding of The Troubles is questionable at best, continue to attack for political gain and nothing else ??
It was a horrific act by those who carried it out and by those who allowed it to happen! Even tho they say the intended targets were not there, they were always gonna kill civilians aswell!
There can be no denying that British were up to their necks in collusion. This recent story would not surprise many.
Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland by Anne Cadwallader gives an excellent and shocking account of this.
http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2013/oct/25/northernireland-pat-finucane
REg,when you say “It’s funny how the defenders of multiple murders are quick to blame it on the timer being interfered with, of which there is no evidence that I am aware of while totally ignoring the evil deed itself!”
Are you suggesting that PIRA member was a suicide bomber? The provo’s had the best bombmakers in the world who had developed their skills over the years. The Timer Power Unit used in the Brighton bombing was regarded as a huge leap in sophistication by the security forces. The Shankill bomb itself was a shaped charged designed specifically to blow upwards. The fact is that these people didn’t make mistakes and that is why at the time there was a lot of rumours going around even then about the bomb being interfered with. Now with this new information it makes a lot more sense.
Proctor the bomb was designed to blow upwards and kill the UDA members upstairs while allowing the IRA man 45 seconds on the timer to let the bomber clear the civilians out but not enough time for the UDA men to get clear. The object was a targeted bombing with no civilians killed but that allegedly didn’t suit the RUC’s purpose.
Ira/sf knee deep in informers? Sure why d’you think they called off the war? Bacause their left hand couldn’t trust their right hand I’e they’d become like a body that was riddled with cancer I’e rotten. They were riddled with informers, the Brits are masters at devide and conquer if your their friend they’ll sell you and if you’re their enemy they’ll try to buy you
Brian…shaped charges send MOST of the blast in a certain direction but not ALL of the blast. Anyone in the shop when the bomb went off (shaped charge or not) would have been seriously injured and killed. Also munitions assembled in munitions factories with the latest and best technology also go off unexpectedly.
Don’t be trying to exhonerate the ‘honorable’ expert bomb makers. They were harbingers of death to many innocent civilians and children. They were murdering s(um, as were many others on all sides.
Mary Lou if you ever actually to read up the many well written accounts of what happened on that day you will find that the plan was for the 2 IRA men to walk in, order the customers out at gunpoint and set the charge. If you look at the images of the aftermath you will see that the force of the explosion did indeed carry upwards, demolishing the upper floor while leaving the 2 buildings either side relatively intact. Andy R. Oppenheimer’s book the IRA: The Bombs and the Bullets, carries the description ” the author focuses on the bombs and explosives and shows how the IRA became the most adept and experienced insurgency group the world has ever seen through their bombing expertise”
This report http://tiny.cc/gjql8x from the Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies and the Swedish National Defence College had one of their experts saying ” The Irish Republican Army (IRA) had an
entire section devoted to Research and Development (R&D) of IEDs, the engineering
department, which was an elite division. It had an unprecedented level of adapted
technical expertise compared to any terrorist group that has ever existed before or
since”
I’m not exonerating anybody, I am merely stating that the bombmakers were the best in the world at what they did. They had fail safes built into their devices to counter exactly what happened. That is why there was so much speculation as to what went wrong. This wasn’t a timer made out of a 9v battery, an egg timer and a few bits of wire and metal. The moment Thomas Beagley activated the failsafe the bomb went off. The PIRA technicians test that before they assemble the arming mechanism itself and retest it again before the detonator is attached. Whatever about civilians they sure as hell didn’t want their own people getting blown up and that is why there has always been speculation that the bomb was jarked.
I know that all you do is blame republicans for every single violent act regarding NI and ignore any British or Loyalist wrongdoing so it doesn’t surprise me that you won’t even think for a minute that the RUC left this atrocity go ahead. I mean it’s not like the British ever murdered innocent civilians before now did they?
Paddy, exactly, you just need to read the comments on the Journal to see horse Irishman turns on Irishman, revolting characteristic but widespread.
Don’t know how “horse” got in there ?
If you make a bomb and set it to go explode somewhere, sometime you cannot absolve yourself of responsiblity if it doesn’t explode where, when or how it was planned. Its your explosive device and you own the consequences. Huge precautions are normally taken when working with explosives in industry for this reason.
While the IRA might have planned the operation and designed the explosive to only kill UDA members, you must remember a bomb, once detonated is a very blunt instrument and kills indiscriminately.
Slightly different though if an outside operator deliberately tampered with your explosives. And all huge precautions in industry don’t mean a hell of a lot if a rival company has infiltrated yours with the express intent of making sure your project fails..
Brian …blah blah blah murdering terrorist ..blah blah…. At least the murdering s(um were killed and never got the chance to maim and kill again.
Sez the man who was only a few hours ago was expressing disgust that the bombers were provided immunity from prosecurion – blissfully unaware that one was killed in the explosion and the other was sentenced to life. Featherbrained.
Shinnertrolls thinking this was some sort of Mission Impossible black-op.
Not that difficult to murder innocent people.
At least one of the terrorists got a taste of his own medicine.
Mary Lou “Brian …blah blah blah murdering terrorist ..blah blah…. ”
I’m well used to that response seeing as it usually comes from people who when faced with a logical, researched and thought out comment, they themselves have no other response other than to resort to childish retorts like “blah, blah, blah”. Look, dry your eyes and take some advice. If you can’t handle being handed your ass on a plate, then don’t try to mix with the adults on the internet. Maybe a website like this http://www.teenchat.com/chat/ireland-chat/ would suit someone of your intellectual abilities.
Brian..there is no argument..they were planting bombs in civilian areas. No better than ISIL. They were terrorists. Simples.
This whole thing is a mess. My attitude. Just ignore Sinn fein/IRA. Don’t vote for them and they will go away
Vote for Sinn Féin and they will do a better job than neoliberal fine gael or economy crashers fianna fail.
No to.. You’re obviously in your early twenties/late teens. That’s ok but u need to read more than SF propaganda.
I watch rte, listen to irish times podcast, watch documentaries & read books on irish history. I don’t need a lecture from some assumptive troll as to what I am/should be reading.
Disgraceful IRA thug supporters trying to blame others for their barbaric acts of unadulterated savagery.
I suppose Johnnie Adair and his fellow UDA peace activists were meeting upstairs to organize their next collection for their favourite “Save the Whale” charity?
@Leo This is not “claims”. It is uncovered, hard, evidence. That evidence shows that the RUC allowed this bombing to go ahead. It is evidence that the victims families appear to accept as genuine too. So I suppose those victims’ families who today expressed their shock and horror at the revelations, are all “disgraceful IRA thug supporters” too then, yeah?
I’m sure the victims also blame the Provos and its senior command, who murdered these innocent people, including two children.
You can’t weasel out of responsibility shinnerbots.
No Dermot.. Quite the opposite.. You don’t get to pop into an article at a time you know you won’t be challenged to try an spin this into political gain for your fascist buddys who have never given a rats a#s about NI or it’s people until it might cost them in their pockets..
‘Ra ‘Ra Rasputin.
Ah, I get it now.
I care about NI. So much so I agree with the vast majority of people north and south that the bombing of innocent civilians was disgusting.
You care so much that you lead your comment with a cheap “joke” ? That really all it is to your lot. If you cared so much you’d want the whole truth. Your nothing but Blueshirt filth…
“This is not “claims”. It is uncovered, hard, evidence.”
Really? Could’ve sworn I just read something else entirely:
“According the the report, the IRA commander who had planned the bombing was a police informant at the time and he had allegedly given his handlers in the RUC prior warning that the event was going to take place.”
‘Allegedly’ being the key word.
No hard evidence? Perhaps you ought to read the article from the Irish News who’s journalist saw the encrypted RUC documents for herself and who first broke the story on Monday (three days before thejournal or most of the 26 county media bothered to report it). This document is the hard evidence.
Typical that there would be toerags here trying to make excuses and deny security force involvement is sadly not a surprise. Any sane person would be outraged at the very suggestion of “security” force involvement in the slaughter of “their own” citizens, but nope, not good folk like yourself. Unless it’s the sole responsibility of the IRA, you just don’t care, isn’t that about it?
How people thought blowing up people would have made the British withdraw is beyond me. Imagine if they did….their would have been civil war of epic proportions with the loyalist revolt. There is such a hardline of f$&!ed up people up their the British would love to have rid of the place and the southern government don’t really want them either.
Because maybe they knew that deep down the British didn’t give a flying fig about protestant lives either and if they caused enough hassle both in NI and in the UK the majority of their public would eventually get sick of “the Irish” and demand they hand the whole “mess” over to Dublin…Despite what loyalists would like to think most of the UK don’t see them as being anything but Irish… And it’s kind of borne out by the allegations here.
@John The free state didn’t get it’s slice of independence by writing polite letters to London.
Horrendous bombing. A British soldier opened fire on a crowd at Begleys wake and got ten years for attempted murder. Adams carried Begleys coffin.
Johnny adair must have been a informer as well it was the only morning he missed a uvf /lvf meeting above the chipshop so he must have known about it.
He actually was in the shop but didn’t sit down to the meeting as he was told by an RUC sympathizer that the place was bugged.
Brian..you seem to know all about this event..were you the rat?
have your say