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Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Queen Elizabeth announces end to war between Irish and British ----historic visit brings end to 800-year conflict

Posted on Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 08:18 AM

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Dublin: The sheer shock of Queen Elizabeth speaking Gaelic during her remarks at a state dinner in her honor was bad enough.

Then there was the shot of her standing to attention for the Irish national anthem, and then of her laying a wreath on the remembrance plot for IRA heroes.

This is all too much to bear.

Do I wake or dream?

Has someone invented a Bizzaro world, you know that planet that Superman lived on before he came down to earth where everything was the direct opposite of what it was supposed to be?

What has happened here this week in Ireland has been little short of extraordinary.

Basically, the British have made the decision to bury the hatchet.

That was not a decision taken lightly, the British never do that.

But when they move they do it in style

After 800 years or so of intermittent warfare of the worst kind, the emissary in the shape of the queen has come to announce terms.

Those terms are splashed across every front page of the Irish media today.

'What were once hopes for the future have now come to pass' says The Irish Times headline, a direct quote from the queen.

The future has arrived in the new era for the Irish and British peoples.

There will be no more war.

Sure there will be crazies who want to keep shooting like those Japanese soldiers after World War 2 who never got the meessage until years later that hostilities had ceased.

They sail in puddles of the past as Patrick Kavanagh has written.

Another phrase from the queen jumps out 'being able to bow to the past, but not being bound by it'

That is what Ireland and Britain must do now.

The unionists in Northern Ireland must see the message from both the Irish leaders and the Queen on behalf of the British this week that they want no more war.

The Dissident IRA must see it too.

James Joyce once wrote that history is a nightmare from which the Irish are trying to awaken.

I think we all just woke up.

This queen's visit is so successful, so full of substance that it threatens to completely overshadow Obama's visit here on Monday.

Who would have thunk that?

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The Queen turns down a free pint of Guinness - VIDEO & PHOTOS

Security code red as Queen visits British Army massacre site

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93 comments

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seanomelbourne | May 27, 2011, 08:06 PM EDT

I've had enough of your boring pro British comments go assuage your guilt somewhere else

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DanOLoingsigh | May 27, 2011, 07:44 AM EDT

It’s the wall in that head of yours you need to worry about, cobber!!

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seanomelbourne | May 26, 2011, 06:54 PM EDT

Sit tight on that wall Dan.

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DanOLoingsigh | May 26, 2011, 03:44 PM EDT

Seano – you can have your version of history, and I’ll have mine… if you’re right with the ‘barrel of a gun’ solutions (your words), you can’t really complain when others took their guns out…after all you can’t make an omelette…

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DanOLoingsigh | May 26, 2011, 03:43 PM EDT

Realist – Thanks…I think our Seano has a little egg on his face, but is too ‘hard boiled’ to agree?

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Realist | May 26, 2011, 06:02 AM EDT

Dan: Lol....you're spot on with your critique of Sean here. The fellow can't even bring himself to admit a spelling mistake. The excuse for misusing the word "yolk" is nothing short of hilarious.

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seanomelbourne | May 25, 2011, 08:18 PM EDT

Adams showed up at the gates on a daily basis and was refused entry the SDLP were and are a bob each party who's demise is imminent and the Unionist mantra " we will not sit down with terrorists"still resonates.In regards to the "yolk" in a previous blog I made reference to you and and egg sitting on a wall.I apologise if it went over your head with the albumen.

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DanOLoingsigh | May 25, 2011, 02:31 AM EDT

seano – I suppose it would be nit-picking to point out that the ‘yolk’ you talk about comes in an egg….not the ‘yoke’ that connects two oxen to pull a plough!!

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DanOLoingsigh | May 25, 2011, 02:31 AM EDT

seano – When you left these shores all those years ago, you were obviously carrying a lot of baggage, and a very large chip on your shoulders!! It was democratic parties in both parts of the island, notably the SDLP, who had to wait at the peace table while Gerry Adams and Co. talked most of his followers round to abandoning old ways…whilst GA deserves credit for this, many others played their part…but not in a ‘Seansworld’ version of recent history.

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seanomelbourne | May 24, 2011, 08:10 PM EDT

You are nothing but a British apologist.

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seanomelbourne | May 24, 2011, 08:09 PM EDT

If were not for Sinn Fein or the IRA there would have been no GFA,no Nationalists in power,No nationalist ministers in the government of occupied Ireland I am proud of the democratic improvements which the British and unionists were forced to accept out of the barrel of a gun And I can assure you I walk tall in that knowledge.You should be ashamed to use the Gaelic form of your name.If you had your quisling way we would be living under a British yolk shame on you.

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DanOLoingsigh | May 24, 2011, 07:44 AM EDT

Seano – so R Nelson and P Finucane were murdered, while the FIVE victims of the Brighton bomber were merely collateral damage… sums up your anti-democratic ‘so-called’ republican take on the troubles. Whining about evil conspiracies, demanding enquiries and apologies when it suits, at the same time dismissing deaths on the other side as almost nothing. What a sad and bitter little man you have shown yourself to be.

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seanomelbourne | May 23, 2011, 07:51 PM EDT

No Dan in good old American parlance they were collateral damage,the prime target escaped death. Fine Gael my have had some republican hugging members, you know the old mantra keep your friends close and your enemy even closer.

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cillowen | May 23, 2011, 06:22 PM EDT

the sasanach crown's use of stolen/usurped symbols of erin are safe - and no gouging out of the harp from their UK's standards, buildings, emblems, medals ... and tapestry drapings across the commonwealth needs to be of any worry henceforth. UK is now fully whole.

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DanOLoingsigh | May 23, 2011, 09:27 AM EDT

Seano – Your description of Garret Fitzgerald as right-wing shows how out of touch you are…GF had impeccable republican credentials, though not your favoured version of later anti-democratic ‘so-called’ republican Neanderthals. He worked hard to bring all Irish men and women together, and it was somehow fitting that he saw the culmination of his work before making his bow. What about the words of the IRA on unionists “We call the shots. We don't really give a damn what they want”…this seems to sum up your own view?

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