Anthony McIntyre ✒ As a rule I am not given to responding joyously to the death of other people.

I used to back in the day when the IRA took out its enemies, in particular torturers, but not any more. Maybe it is just age but too much energy goes into sustaining a life and so little into ending it, that the balance sheet never quite works out no matter how it is flipped.

Sun Tzu' s observation that “if you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by” might be satisfying to some but ultimately a waste of time. You might know what you are sitting by the river for, but the corpse most assuredly will not. Besides, downstream, somebody will have stayed longer than you and they will eventually see you drift by. 

That said, Salman Rushdie's belief that ''when a tyrant falls, the world’s shadows lighten and only hypocrites grieve'' strikes a particular chord. Nor can I claim to be repelled by the H.H. Munro perspective on a certain type of character that “he is one of those people who would be enormously improved by death.” I even derive solace from the witticism that if a cunt is held under water long enough they stop being a cunt. 

These ruminations all bring me to the death of Davy Tweed, 'a serial paeodophile who was prepared to use extreme violence to get his way.' The least unkind thing I can say is that during his baptism his exposure to water was of such short duration as to have contributed absolutely nothing to humankind.

When this vile, violent thug died in a motorcycle crash en route to who knows what sordid session or predators' convention, it seemed that news had barely got out before the Deification of Davy had begun. Here, we learned, was a rugby legend who had kept his hands firmly on the ball rather than on children. Having listened to Nicola Tarrant's interview with three of his daughters, Amanda, Catherine and Victoria, about 'the monster behind the legend' the thought occurred that had he been castrated by the handlebars of his bike, his family to whom politicians were offering sympathy might have seen in it a form of poetic justice.

Ian Paisley when told of his death commented:

The one time leading Ulster and Ireland rugby star, political activist, elected official and leading Orangeman David was a well-known Ulsterman ... To his family I send my condolences and heartfelt prayers at what must be an unimaginably heartbreaking time for them. I pray God will comfort them and give them peace at their point of need.

TUV leader Jim Alister was:

deeply saddened to learn of the death of former Ireland rugby star and Ballymena councillor, Davy Tweed, in a road traffic accident in north Antrim yesterday. Davy, a larger than life character, was widely known across North Antrim and further afield. His family is deeply rooted and respected in the Ballymoney/Dunloy community. This is a devastating blow to his family and wide circle of friends. I wish to express my deepest sympathy to his grieving family at this very difficult time.

DUP Assembly member Mervyn Storey was no less gushing in his eulogizing of the monster:

I have known Davy and his family most of my life and cannot begin to imagine the sorrow his family have been plunged into. Just on Sunday past he sat in front of me in church. He was a larger-than-life character, not just only in his physical presence. A former elected councillor on Ballymena Borough Council, Davy was also to the fore in Dunloy Orange Lodge and Apprentice Boys. A formidable rugby player, having made more than 30 appearances for Ulster and capped four times for Ireland after making his international debut against France in the 1995 Five Nations championship. He was also part of Ireland’s squad at the Rugby World Cup in South Africa. We extend to his family our sympathy and assure them of our prayers at this time of great loss and sadness.

The daughters of the monster seemed not to appreciate the condolences. Instead they:

wanted to set the record straight. This man was much more than a sporting hero and a loyal DUP and TUV politician. He was a predatory paedophile and a violent thug who smashed our mother’s face to a pulp.

Commenting on this type of lionisation, Tweed was the beneficiary of, Hugh Jordan opined:

there were people who are public figures who said nice things about Davy Tweed. And they must have known that the reality of Davy Tweed wasn't as a unionist politician. It was as a paedophile, a serial paedophile who put these young women through a horrendous life experience in their own home.

The Ireland rugby team in its match against Japan did not observe his passing. That silence about the bastard rather than for him quite loudly drowns out the sickly sound of sycophantic eulogising. 

⏩ Follow on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre.

Dirty Davy

Anthony McIntyre ✒ As a rule I am not given to responding joyously to the death of other people.

I used to back in the day when the IRA took out its enemies, in particular torturers, but not any more. Maybe it is just age but too much energy goes into sustaining a life and so little into ending it, that the balance sheet never quite works out no matter how it is flipped.

Sun Tzu' s observation that “if you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by” might be satisfying to some but ultimately a waste of time. You might know what you are sitting by the river for, but the corpse most assuredly will not. Besides, downstream, somebody will have stayed longer than you and they will eventually see you drift by. 

That said, Salman Rushdie's belief that ''when a tyrant falls, the world’s shadows lighten and only hypocrites grieve'' strikes a particular chord. Nor can I claim to be repelled by the H.H. Munro perspective on a certain type of character that “he is one of those people who would be enormously improved by death.” I even derive solace from the witticism that if a cunt is held under water long enough they stop being a cunt. 

These ruminations all bring me to the death of Davy Tweed, 'a serial paeodophile who was prepared to use extreme violence to get his way.' The least unkind thing I can say is that during his baptism his exposure to water was of such short duration as to have contributed absolutely nothing to humankind.

When this vile, violent thug died in a motorcycle crash en route to who knows what sordid session or predators' convention, it seemed that news had barely got out before the Deification of Davy had begun. Here, we learned, was a rugby legend who had kept his hands firmly on the ball rather than on children. Having listened to Nicola Tarrant's interview with three of his daughters, Amanda, Catherine and Victoria, about 'the monster behind the legend' the thought occurred that had he been castrated by the handlebars of his bike, his family to whom politicians were offering sympathy might have seen in it a form of poetic justice.

Ian Paisley when told of his death commented:

The one time leading Ulster and Ireland rugby star, political activist, elected official and leading Orangeman David was a well-known Ulsterman ... To his family I send my condolences and heartfelt prayers at what must be an unimaginably heartbreaking time for them. I pray God will comfort them and give them peace at their point of need.

TUV leader Jim Alister was:

deeply saddened to learn of the death of former Ireland rugby star and Ballymena councillor, Davy Tweed, in a road traffic accident in north Antrim yesterday. Davy, a larger than life character, was widely known across North Antrim and further afield. His family is deeply rooted and respected in the Ballymoney/Dunloy community. This is a devastating blow to his family and wide circle of friends. I wish to express my deepest sympathy to his grieving family at this very difficult time.

DUP Assembly member Mervyn Storey was no less gushing in his eulogizing of the monster:

I have known Davy and his family most of my life and cannot begin to imagine the sorrow his family have been plunged into. Just on Sunday past he sat in front of me in church. He was a larger-than-life character, not just only in his physical presence. A former elected councillor on Ballymena Borough Council, Davy was also to the fore in Dunloy Orange Lodge and Apprentice Boys. A formidable rugby player, having made more than 30 appearances for Ulster and capped four times for Ireland after making his international debut against France in the 1995 Five Nations championship. He was also part of Ireland’s squad at the Rugby World Cup in South Africa. We extend to his family our sympathy and assure them of our prayers at this time of great loss and sadness.

The daughters of the monster seemed not to appreciate the condolences. Instead they:

wanted to set the record straight. This man was much more than a sporting hero and a loyal DUP and TUV politician. He was a predatory paedophile and a violent thug who smashed our mother’s face to a pulp.

Commenting on this type of lionisation, Tweed was the beneficiary of, Hugh Jordan opined:

there were people who are public figures who said nice things about Davy Tweed. And they must have known that the reality of Davy Tweed wasn't as a unionist politician. It was as a paedophile, a serial paedophile who put these young women through a horrendous life experience in their own home.

The Ireland rugby team in its match against Japan did not observe his passing. That silence about the bastard rather than for him quite loudly drowns out the sickly sound of sycophantic eulogising. 

⏩ Follow on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre.

9 comments:

  1. Endorse every word of that screed, Anthony. The gushing tributes to Cyril Smith from erstwhile Liberal colleagues and to Jimmy Saville from BBC bigwigs who knew everything about their monstrous criminality was equally repulsive.

    Is it possible for the IRFU to retrospectively strip him of all his caps and any other accreditations? I hope he is reburied in an unmarked grave.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't know if they can strip him, even if they should. It seems a bit like erasing history but I get the point. Even if he retains the caps, they are no longer a badge of honour on his horrid head.

      Delete
  2. Or as Clarence Darrow put it in 1932, "I have never killed any one, but I have read some obituary notices with great satisfaction."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. it is one of the more memorable quotes.

      Delete
  3. I seem to recall Paedo Supremo, Gerry Adams Sen, being buried with full military honours despite his revolting crimes being an open secret to those in the know.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. it must have been a horrendous experience for his victims having to watch that spectacle.

      Delete
  4. What a bad piece of work he really was Paisley Jr and McAllister probably didn’t know of his dreadful behaviour but they are not doing themselves any favours with their immoral stance by not retracting their statements, I agree with AM stripping him or others of their public achievements might lead people to forget about them and their dastardly deeds, great decision by IRFU not to observe a minute’s silence


    ReplyDelete
  5. Shameful comments by those politicians. Paisley and Storey have attempted to apologise, but Allister has allowed his intellectual self-confidence to blind his common sense. How could getting off on a technicality be given more weight than the testimony of Tweed's daughters???

    ReplyDelete
  6. One of the killers of the Quinn brothers "died suddenly" today.

    I think that's all three loyalists
    involved in that atrocity dead now.

    ReplyDelete