Nobel poet Seamus Heaney says there will never be a united Ireland

@seamus60 - I would never seek to lecture anyone on any subject. Like you I also have view which is informed by my own view and my understanding of life in the land of my birth, and where I have lived all my life, and where I STILL live to this very day. Yes I do regard your views as selfish, and indeed you compound them in your last post by your will to expose the treason of which you speak. By definition, you call me a traitor, because I voted in support of the ratification of the GFA, and in doing so are labelling all those who so voted as traitors. I your viewpoint is in my opinon as egotistical, as it is ill-informed. You useadjectives almost as a surrogate machine gun which gives you leave to hope that your views or opinions count for more than mine, or for that matter for the many hundreds of thousands who had the courage to disagree with you in 1998, and still have the courage to do so today. Do not forget that those who hold a similar view to your own have offered themselves as candidates on an anti-agreement platform many times since the GFA was signed, and without success. And that is 15 years ago. And one final question. When was the last time you visited Free Derry Corner? I was there after christmas. As I have to pass the area in connection with work, I sometimes stop and visit the memorial to the bloody sunday victims in Glenfada park. I reflect on how far we have come since that awful time, but realise the journey is not over by any means; for like I have said before "peace comes dropping slow"

Barneyjo. Don`t lecture me on people who have died for the flag. I have carried a few of their coffins as both friens and comrades. They volunteered as per the Proclamation and continued to believe in the same until it either achieved its objectives or its objectives were changed by the people of the 32. Once those objectives were traded away in some back room in whitehall or where ever, the Volunteer was no longer that as they hadn`t a clue of the new dirty agenda. The selfishness you attribute to me is driven by the will to expose the treason mentioned above and the fact that so many lives were wasted for nothing more than Sunningdale. Bernadette spoke well on Sunday. She only had to say how she spoke on the same platform at Free Derry Corner in 72 about Internment and didn`t have to change any of her speech for the same today. Apart from the fact that collaborators now assist in the regime.

barney gas a oneeyed view of Irish history and forgets that the majority voted for a republic and were denied by a British act of parliament and a treaty which they reneged on.Irish history did not begin with 1998,sir!!

@seamus60 - No Sir, you most definitely the dissenter in this. And the ultimate manifestation of this is that you are content to wrap yourself in the Tri-colour for the presrvation of nothing more than your dignity??? I would remind you that many have died for that flag; you obviously have not. That to me, is selfishness of the grossest kind. And it does NOTHING to further the cause, you purportedly serve. You see, our day HAS come, and you cannot see it. The value of dignity, be it yours or mine, pails into insignificance when taken against this land and its people. Ignore my words by all means, but at the same time, watch the value of your dignity vanish with the years !!

barneyjo. Thank you for the very long winded acknowledgement that SF are the dissenters who have tried to rewrite our Proclamation in an effort to make it fit their new agenda. You appear to believe your kind words might convince me to followsuit. Sorry not for sale, not even an average industrial wage could ply meself and many others away from our dignity. When its gone ,its gone.

@seamus60 - as with all of us, "your day has come" and in the same way for us all "your day will be gone" it falls to each of us to decide how best to fill the time in between. I refer to all the people of Ireland who voted for the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. They made the choice to no longer seek to "Reach the Future" through the past. And more especially, the Irish Nation has rejected the notion that you can actually "Carve Tomorrow form a Tombstone" You cant. It hasnt worked in the past; it wont work in the future. Oh indeed I have read the Proclamation, and I for one would not wish to put any limitations on how Ireland can "Cherish all the children of the Nation equally" As of now, the "fourth green field" is lost to the Nation, for the simple reason that a majority of those who live there wish it so. And, it will remain that way until that status quo changes!!

Barneyjo. So you have not read the Proclamation. The one SF have dissented from to suit their new agenda.. Anyway they can call me whatever they like as some who now dawn the SF label with so much pride at one time called me a Provie Bast..d. which didn`t bother me either.

@warrenpoint00 - of course they are dissidents and can rightly be labelled as such. They oppose the stated will of the people of Ireland, ratified by plebicite. Some are even prepared to oppose the will of the people by force of arms. In some circles that would be termed as fascism, but not in Ireland where the physical force tradition is a cherished notion and deeply rooted in the psyche. Happily of course, that is on the wane, and with each new generation it will continue to be so. To paraphrase Pearse "Ireland, at peace, will finally be free"!!

Warrenpoint00. Doesn`t matter what me or you want to call them. If they question or redicule the SF party or its leadership, they are automatically labelled dissidents out to destroy the peace process.

Audrey is a serving member of the Iris army and audrey will obey the Government regardless what party is in power and she has sworn to do so. Hoew could pea brain obtain a commission?? maybe it's because daddy is a retired Colonel.

I agree with Seamus that there is a rapidly growing number of republican and nationalist,s in Ireland opposed to Gerry and the way he is promoting and presenting our traditional republican values and beliefs.I would not call them dissident,s ,just because they do not agree with Gerry and Sinn Feins government assisted program, does not categorize those people as dissidents.I think it should also be understood that just because those same people do not agree with the GFA, that they should not be categorized as dissident republicans against peace .

Only last week Adams admitted during an interview, the people he had the pleasure to serve as a politician for decades in West Belfast would have no problem if faced with the hard biting austerity measures in the South, ( wait for it) because they have never known any thing else. Would he use the same argument if asked what he and the likes of Morrison had actually achieved in their decades of representation. LOL

Only last week Adams admitted during an interview, the people he had the pleasure to serve as a politician for decades in West Belfast would have no problem if faced with the hard biting asterity measures in the South, ( wait for it) because they have never known any thing else. Would he use the same argument if asked what he and the likes of Morrison had actually achieved in their decades of representation. LOL

Pilib04. Dissidents are growing in strength by the day. The Bloody Sunday march last week a very good example, doubled in size from last yaer. SF appear to be taking dissidents very seriously when they have been trying their hardest to have such marchs resigned to the history books. Danny Bangers on the other hand has surely become an embarrassment, getting caught out telling porkies at every corner is a real accomplishment at being nothing less than a bad liar at that. Worse again when the biggest lies were on what actually happened to the last six brave Hunger strikers you believe he served so well. You really should put your brain in gear before writing such dribble. How do you expect people to take you seriously.

pilibox04, So Sinn Fein will eventually govern the Irish Republic will they? Do let the rest of know when this miracle will happen and how it will come about? The majority in the State (including the Irish security forces) be interested.