Pauline Mellon takes a look at the latest comedy act to arrive in the city of Derry. 
Pauline Mellon is a rights activist and justice campaigner in the North West. She Blogs at
The Diary of A Derry Mother.


My husband recently surprised me with two tickets to see 'Give My Head Peace' in Derry's Millenium Forum. However today I feel he could saved money by getting us a place at the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis which is said to be second to none in terms of comedic value.

Easter 2016
The highlight of yesterdays event is believed to have stemmed from a motion to ban members of the British Government and Royal family from attending centenary events in 2016 to mark the 1916 Easter rising. I would have thought that this makes perfect sense as to do otherwise would be akin to inviting former Auschwitz guards to holocaust commemorations.

The motion at yesterday's gathering of the faithful flock was put forward by the Keating-Sands Waterford Cumann. In immediate defence of the Crown and cohorts, Derry Sinn Fein delegate Gerry McCartney, brother of MLA Raymond, said he believed that the motion should be “rejected” which isn't surprising as the motion makes the Deputy First Minister look like a lone ranger. Significantly this motion demonstrates how the actions of the Sinn Fein leadership are at odds with the views of their grass roots members and supporters.

In addition to his concerns yesterday over the upcoming centenary Mr McCartney added “it wasn’t just Irish republicans who died, it was British soldiers who died” further explaining that it would be impossible to commemorate the event without including all sides. The concern for me is where is Gerry going with this? It would be very unlike the Shinners to throw something out to test the water if they didn't have an end target in sight.

Instead of calling for members of the British Royal family not to be banned from attending events commemorating the centenary of the Easter rising maybe Gerry would've been better calling at the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis for his party to support Derry woman Kate Nash. Kate is currently endeavouring to have those who oversaw the murder of 14 innocent civil rights protesters on Bloody Sunday stripped of the honours they received shortly after.
When reading about the motion I began to think of Derry man Vincent Coyle. Vincent exposed how plans by the predominantly Sinn Fein Bloody Sunday Trust were to include a memorial garden/plaza as part of the Bloody Sunday Museum. This garden/plaza was set to include all victims of the troubles including British State Forces. This was denied by the Bloody Sunday Trust yet later shown to be a matter of fact via documents accessed under Freedom of Information Legislation.


When you add the actions of the Bloody Sunday Trust to the bizarre stance from someone who claims to be an Irish republican you can't help but wonder if the reconciliation card was being played when planning the memorial Garden/ Plaza for the Bogside.

Maybe by way of reciprocation the British Government and Royals have secret reconciliation plans in place which include commemorating those who died fighting against the empire in the Easter Rising and the war of independence, followed by the unveiling of a memorial to the Hunger Strikers in London. But then it's highly unlikely.

 "If there is to be reconciliation, first there must be truth.”

When in Doubt Remove Foot From Mouth

Pauline Mellon takes a look at the latest comedy act to arrive in the city of Derry. 
Pauline Mellon is a rights activist and justice campaigner in the North West. She Blogs at
The Diary of A Derry Mother.


My husband recently surprised me with two tickets to see 'Give My Head Peace' in Derry's Millenium Forum. However today I feel he could saved money by getting us a place at the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis which is said to be second to none in terms of comedic value.

Easter 2016
The highlight of yesterdays event is believed to have stemmed from a motion to ban members of the British Government and Royal family from attending centenary events in 2016 to mark the 1916 Easter rising. I would have thought that this makes perfect sense as to do otherwise would be akin to inviting former Auschwitz guards to holocaust commemorations.

The motion at yesterday's gathering of the faithful flock was put forward by the Keating-Sands Waterford Cumann. In immediate defence of the Crown and cohorts, Derry Sinn Fein delegate Gerry McCartney, brother of MLA Raymond, said he believed that the motion should be “rejected” which isn't surprising as the motion makes the Deputy First Minister look like a lone ranger. Significantly this motion demonstrates how the actions of the Sinn Fein leadership are at odds with the views of their grass roots members and supporters.

In addition to his concerns yesterday over the upcoming centenary Mr McCartney added “it wasn’t just Irish republicans who died, it was British soldiers who died” further explaining that it would be impossible to commemorate the event without including all sides. The concern for me is where is Gerry going with this? It would be very unlike the Shinners to throw something out to test the water if they didn't have an end target in sight.

Instead of calling for members of the British Royal family not to be banned from attending events commemorating the centenary of the Easter rising maybe Gerry would've been better calling at the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis for his party to support Derry woman Kate Nash. Kate is currently endeavouring to have those who oversaw the murder of 14 innocent civil rights protesters on Bloody Sunday stripped of the honours they received shortly after.
When reading about the motion I began to think of Derry man Vincent Coyle. Vincent exposed how plans by the predominantly Sinn Fein Bloody Sunday Trust were to include a memorial garden/plaza as part of the Bloody Sunday Museum. This garden/plaza was set to include all victims of the troubles including British State Forces. This was denied by the Bloody Sunday Trust yet later shown to be a matter of fact via documents accessed under Freedom of Information Legislation.


When you add the actions of the Bloody Sunday Trust to the bizarre stance from someone who claims to be an Irish republican you can't help but wonder if the reconciliation card was being played when planning the memorial Garden/ Plaza for the Bogside.

Maybe by way of reciprocation the British Government and Royals have secret reconciliation plans in place which include commemorating those who died fighting against the empire in the Easter Rising and the war of independence, followed by the unveiling of a memorial to the Hunger Strikers in London. But then it's highly unlikely.

 "If there is to be reconciliation, first there must be truth.”

5 comments:

  1. It was only a few weeks ago that the queen of England’s most loyal and obedient servant was proclaiming the sdlp were anti peace process dissidents for their unwillingness to accept the austerity cuts which he and sinn fein happily signed up to.

    Something tells me the austerity bill which they signed up to didn't go down too well with those attending the recent shinner fest in Derry and now they're back tracking to prevent a possible split in the party.

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  2. Sean,

    but when did they ever show the slightest inclination to question anything from leadership no matter how absurd? They would walk down the Falls Road chanting "bomb Gaza" and "Bobby Sands was a criminal" if asked to and call you an enemy of the peace process for not joining in. There is some leadership strategic reason for the about turn but I doubt it is related to anything the sheeple think.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anthony, I hope your feeling is right but personally I don't agree. I believe this bunch have their heads that far up their own arses they haven't a clue what the ordinary man on the street thinks,or better still they don't give a fuck. How good men and women can be so obviously hoodwinked by a few is quite unbelievable. To even consider honouring British soldiers for their role in Irish history takes the royal biscuit.

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  4. Pat,

    part of me thinks they discovered the art of apathy. They take the view that many people are not interested in politics beyond the brand name. Seriously, do you think if Liam Adams was to win his case on appeal SF could not run him in West Belfast and he would not be elected? The thinking electorate is nit very large in my view. They are capable of thinking but think about so many other things.

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  5. "but when did they ever show the slightest inclination to question anything from leadership no matter how absurd?"

    I can't dispute that after witnessing the jubilant scenes on the Falls Rd immediately after the ceasefire.

    "They would walk down the Falls Road chanting "bomb Gaza" and "Bobby Sands was a criminal" if asked to and call you an enemy of the peace process for not joining in."

    Totally agree, the sinn fein peace process is a dirty road to go down.

    ReplyDelete