The end of the troubles.

[InsaneApache]

For most of my 47 years the army has been deployed in the six counties. Now they have come home. Tony Blair (my hero ) carried on with the John Major initiative and then some, with the Good Friday agreement. A triumph over terrorism.

It is an irony of history that one of the reasons troops were sent to Northern Ireland was to defend Catholic communities from attacks by Protestants. Their early welcome soon soured, however, thanks to continuing loyalist unrest, an increasingly repressive approach by the military and the revival of the IRA.

It culminated in an event that perhaps more than any other throughout the 40 years wounded the army's authority in Northern Ireland. Fourteen unarmed Catholics were shot dead by members of the Parachute Regiment during a civil rights march in Derry on Bloody Sunday - January 30 1972.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Northern_I...138980,00.html

Just shows what is possible, if the will is there. Well done all involved.

[Gregoshi]

Congratulations to all who made it work. Good news indeed.

[KukriKhan]

Congratulations to all who made it work. Good news indeed.

I'll second that. And realize, with dread, that it always seems to take that long for combatants to tire of fighting, and finally sit down and work out a way to get along together.

We humans have got to find a better, quicker, less murderous, less expensive, way to wage peace.

[Husar]

We humans have got to find a better, quicker, less murderous, less expensive, way to wage peace.

A thought just came to my mind, could it be that most of the people currently at war with each other are those who didn't suffer a lot in the two big world wars? It seems that however brutal those world wars were, they lead to a rather long-lasting peace in central europe(if we don't count the cold war as a war).
Just a guess and I'd say that starting some world war 3 in Africa and the Middle East is probably not a good option.
Then again, they already have a lot of wars, but they might not be frightening enough for those who profit from them.


And congratulations to the Irish and the British/English.

[ShadesPanther]

I don't see this as the end of the troubles.

The troubles ended when Power Sharing came back to N.I.


They could start up again but as long as noone does anything too idiotic they shouldn't start back up again. Every day that passes make it more unlikely.

[InsaneApache]

I understand that. It was more of a symbolic gesture that I was commenting about.

I also understand your second comment. May peace be with our Northern Irish compatriots.

[Papewaio]

A thought just came to my mind, could it be that most of the people currently at war with each other are those who didn't suffer a lot in the two big world wars? It seems that however brutal those world wars were, they lead to a rather long-lasting peace in central europe(if we don't count the cold war as a war).

I think that argument doesn't hold water.

a) Europe hasn't been at war because of the Cold War and the consequences of it escalating. This is highlighted by Yugoslavia and what happened after the iron curtain came down... threat of Cold War diminished and wham you have conflict in European countries.

b) UK was in WWII and did suffer so I can't agree with the idea that the Troubles was because of the lack of UK's participation in WWII.

c) European countries while not warring with each other on the whole have certainly been involved in conflict outside of Europe. The last vestiges of colonialism in South East Asia and Africa... Vietnam with the French for instance. Indicates quite well that the European countries did not turn pacifist in Europe because of WWII... again they are not fighting on the whole because of the threat of Cold War.

d) While the stick of the cold war hanged over europe and colonialism faded from being vogue to last years fashion accessary... modern economics has shown that it is cheaper and more profitable to invest in a country rather then take it over. So the carrot that has appeared is that European countries can make a better profit by exploiting er outsourcing to sweatshops er investing in 3rd world countries rather then invading them.

[Husar]

Good points Pape.
Though the current inner-european conflicts aren't wars and I think and hope they won't escalate to wars.

[Rodion Romanovich]

Sounds like good news! I hope things will remain calm!

[Papewaio]

Good points Pape.
Though the current inner-european conflicts aren't wars and I think and hope they won't escalate to wars.

I do think however that with the likes of the EU, they are aiming for a lasting peace. Nothing like prosperity to give power to moderates...and nothing like hard times to let in extremists. A healthy economy should keep things nice and peaceful.