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Home Page > Blogs > News blogs > Periscope > Dissident IRA making major new push for support in USA--- Hoping Orange week riots will help them in America

Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Dissident IRA making major new push for support in USA--- Hoping Orange week riots will help them in America

Posted on Wednesday, July 13, 2011 at 10:58 PM

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Dissident IRA groups are seeking a foothold once again in America and are making a major push according to reliable sources.

In recent months they have focused on Irish American civil rights activists, many of whom have attended at nationalists events aimed at stopping Orange marchers going through their neighborhoods.

For the first time there is real concern in Republican circles in the US that the dissidents are getting some traction.

They are also focusing on Northern nationalists who now live in America

"We have no doubt they are making major efforts at present. we are well aware of it," said a Republican source. 'They have had people on the ground."

"They want the rioting to continue, arrests to happen, to create sympathy in America for them," said another source referring to recent riots in the North.

As a result the dissidents have stepped up the pressure in nationalist areas in Northern Ireland, aimed at setting off confrontations and focusing on getting irish American sympathy for their cause.

Senior republicans are suddenly fearful that they may be succeeding as the images of Orange marches through nationalist neighborhoods were flashed worldwide this week.

Riots by young people in nationalist areas of the North were widespread over the Orange marching season.

It is believed that dissident groups were behind many of the standoffs.

In many cases they came in from outside.

"They are trying to portray Sinn Fein as being part of the establishment, part of the state that is arresting these young nationalists and putting them away." said the source. "They want to portray this in civil rights terms, young people being arrested and abused by the state."

Since the peace process began the dissidents have had very little luck in getting any support from America.

But two separate sources now confirm that they are making a renewed push for Irish American sympathy in America.

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Sparklet | Jul 16, 2011, 11:48 AM EDT

Walter, I will never have a Brit wife. Or a wife of any kind. I'm a girl. :) And for the record, that "rat" Mountbatten wanted to see a united Ireland, and I think I read that the IRA actually apologised for his murder based on that fact.

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WalterEllis | Jul 16, 2011, 11:32 AM EDT

themurphia: Fair point. Patriot: grow up and drop the terrorist talk. Ireland has seen more than enough death and destruction over the last 40 years without you baying for more. And even if Sparklet did have a "Brit" wife, in what way would that detract from the force of his argument? And I'll tell you this for nothing: if you ever need to find work in England, you'd better hope that nobody there finds out what you think of them. Not much danger of that, though, is there?

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Sparklet | Jul 16, 2011, 11:21 AM EDT

Sorry, not wanting to spam, and should have read all the posts before I submitted - but Patriot (I assume it's Pat Riot, as the word patriot is totally inappropriate) is making my blood boil. **Walter, and others here in Ireland, may be too cowardly to fight against those who murdered their ancestors, but many others are not. ** Does the word 'ancestors' give you a clue, you ridiculous man? Because the murderers are also dead! Should every black man take revenge on white people because of what the KKK have done in the past? Thank God the majority of people in Ireland - whether you like it or not - don't think the way you do. Suffice to say that the Irish hate that kind of attitude and the people who promote it.

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Sparklet | Jul 16, 2011, 11:15 AM EDT

Patriot, I dont have a Brit wife. (Needs a rolleyes smiley)

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themurphia | Jul 16, 2011, 08:43 AM EDT

ellis:Well tell him then...why tell me...!

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maloney | Jul 16, 2011, 08:10 AM EDT

I see no harm in sending a little pocket money to the lads for a few at the pub. What with the lack of jobs and all.

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joycean | Jul 16, 2011, 08:06 AM EDT

WalterEllis:Excellent post.Concerning Irish-Irish-American relations: When our parents and grandparents left Ireland, they didn't have the Internet to keep in touch, or to express ideas anonymously,very important advances.People weren't frequent corresponders; they had to watch what they were saying and were easily misunderstood.My children keep in touch with distant relatives, friends much more than I have. We may be in the process of closing some of those cultural gaps that have opened up over the past century.

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WalterEllis | Jul 16, 2011, 07:27 AM EDT

themurphia: I'm ignoring Patriot's "salute" to the Warrenpoint massacre and the murder of Earl Mountbatten. Best to leave those comments where they lie.

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themurphia | Jul 16, 2011, 07:10 AM EDT

Oh thats ok then..!

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WalterEllis | Jul 16, 2011, 04:47 AM EDT

Patriot: I may be wrong, but I doubt that you, if given the chance, would put a bullet through the head of a young PSNI officer, Protestant or Catholic, who happened to respond to a call for help in Belfast, Derry or Armagh. Your blood got up when you read about what happened on the streets this week. You may even have seen something nasty yourself. But, unless you are actually a member of the Real or Continuity IRAs (which seems unlikely), then you, too, have opted not to take up arms against the present political settlement. Is this because you are a coward? I don't think so. It is more likely because, come Monday morning, you will have a job to go to, or one to find, and a family to feed or support, and also because, when you turn on the tv, there will be Martin McGuinness, a long-serving senior IRA commander, telling you that the war is over and it is time to make peace with former enemies. The message of Michael Collins, in fact, though – let us hope – without the accompanying death warrant.

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Kilsally | Jul 16, 2011, 04:04 AM EDT

the murphia - sorry but you are wrong - Northern Ireland is a patchwork quilt of communities - it is nigh impossible in some areas, like ardoyne where the two communities like cheek by jowl. There were thousands of parades last week and the only one with rioting was ardoyne and that didnt start until long after the parade has passed and everyone gone home. The Ardoyne shops are on a main road - you only have to use google maps to see that - with no residential houses on it - instead you have nationalist houses behind the shops on one side and loyalist houses behind the shops on the other side of the road. It is neither anationalist or a loyalist area.

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Realist | Jul 16, 2011, 01:34 AM EDT

patriot: I truly hope you don't intend to act out your tired old school-boy fantasy of "Brits out". Though if you do, I hope nobody is hurt and that you go to prison, where you belong. Alternatively, you could simply grow up. People have moved on, I suggest you give it a try.

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hancock | Jul 16, 2011, 01:28 AM EDT

I don't know how you genius ultra successful Irish have been able to put up with us Americans all these years. I guess having your English friends having your backs all these long years has made it possible. God bless you all.

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patriot | Jul 15, 2011, 06:41 PM EDT

Walter, and others here in Ireland, may be too cowardly to fight against those who murdered their ancestors, but many others are not.

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patriot | Jul 15, 2011, 06:20 PM EDT

So sparklet gets his brit wife and we are supposed to roll over and let 800 years of brit oppression go by the boards. No. Brits out of Ireland now and forever. And I don't give a hoot what you think, the fight is right. I salute Warrenpoint and the killing of that rat Mountbatten!

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