NYC: The Empire State Building at Sunrise

groovehouse: 16th Aug 2006 - 13:55 GMT

hmmm... my previous comment did not post correctly.

I heart NY. I love visiting and if I could afford to, I'd live there!

Irish13: 15th Mar 2007 - 02:53 GMT

I was just in belfast, and there is no sign of those cocksucker prods to leave,

East London: 3rd Jul 2007 - 21:55 GMT

Feel sorry for the Decent People of Northern Ireland, that just want a peaceful life and to bring up their children without the fear of this stupid Hatred. How anyone could hurt children just because of what side of a wall they we're born on is beyond me!

John: 4th May 2008 - 11:57 GMT

Article?

All I've read here is vitriol venomous spew from people who claim to know God. I'll bet good money that He's sick of the fighting between protestants and catholics. Satan must be laughing with delite over this garbage. Regardless of being catholic or protestant - we worship the same God, so get over your bigotry why don't you!

Nick: 8th May 2008 - 18:57 GMT

I wish these "Protestants" and "Catholics" in Northern Ireland would rename themselves Oil and Water instead, as there is nothing remotely Christian about their ways.

As for Unionists, I don't know what your obsession about Britain is, because I live here and the British identity is slowly disappearing anyway. :)

whatever: 5th Jun 2008 - 13:07 GMT

it's time to leave history behind and look into the fututre. this isn't about religion, politics, class or whatever you wanna call it. this is just IGNORANCE

Lillibette Irish expat: 30th Jun 2008 - 17:17 GMT

What most of the people that have responded to this fail to realize is that "The Troubles" in Ireland have LONG ago stopped being about religion. It was/is rather like the black-white thing in the U.S., with the Catholics being treated as the blacks were treated.

If you really want to know what The Troubles are all about in the moderen ear read the book: "The Troubles: Ireland's Ordeal 1966-1996 and the Search for Peace " by Tim Pat Coogan.

You also might try learning about what happened in Ireland's history (like the Plantation of Ulster) to fully understand why things became what they did. And if you really ambitious you might read about Ireland's fight for independence and by read I don't mean internet articles.... I mean books that do not distort the history of Ireland and her people.

Liz in Canada: 20th Jul 2008 - 20:35 GMT

I am Canadian and my ancestry is Irish/Scottish. Some of my ancestors were Catholic and some were Protestant, but I am non-religious by choice. My Irish ancestors were forced out of Ireland and became coal miners in Scotland. My parents were born in Scotland and moved to Canada before I was born. All of this means very little to me, as I live in the present.

I look around the world and see too many people caught up in conflicts and wars that started long ago...too many people seeking revenge for wrongdoings that happened to their forefathers. I quite honestly don't understand it at all.

It is part of the human condition for people to migrate and mingle, for populations to change over time. When anyone over identifies with the group that they are born into they not only limit their own possibilities, they also potentiate hatred.

It seems to me that this is what has happened in Northern Ireland. It seems to me that a great deal of hatred and harm has been perpetuated for a long time because of people identifying too much with the groups that they were born into.

I recognize that initially the troubles were born out of discrimination and human rights issues, at a time when human rights issues were being raised in many countries around the globe. In Canada our Francophone and First Nations Peoples also began to fight against legitimate discrimination and things began to change in their favour.

Unfortunately, whenever there is a human rights movement, some people get so caught up in their rage and hatred that they fail to notice when things have improved for them. Perhaps that is because they become overwhelmed and because opportunities are few. Perhaps it is because, for generations, they have been socialized to hate people who are not from their group more than they have learned to love themselves and to love other people both within and from outside of their group of origin.

The vast majority of people on this planet are just trying to live their lives and raise their children. We are all so much more alike than we are different. It makes no sense whatsoever for any of us to waste our precious human energy on senseless violence. In the end, violence never really achieves anything. It is utterly senseless that some Irish people have allowed themselves to become to embroiled in hatred for other Irish people.

I am Canadian. My parents immigrated to my country in 1952, but I identify with no other country on earth. It therefore makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to me when I hear people stating that Irish people whose ancestors have lived in your country for hundreds of years are somehow less Irish than Irish people whose ancestors have lived there for a thousand years. In reality it makes no difference. Life is dynamic and always changing. The boundaries of countries change and the characteristics of any population change. It is really sad to hear of violence being done in the name of trying to turn back the hands of time.

Hooligans and bullies are hooligans and bullies regardless of what side of any issue they stand on. When any of us resorts to violence, except in immediate self defense or immediate defense of someone else who is vulnerable, then we become part of the problem.

I hope that that conditions in Northern Ireland continue to improve for everyone. I hope that the people of Belfast continue to strive to walk forward with genuine regard for one another. Whether the troubles are categorized as having been caused by ethnic or religious differences is really unimportant. What matters is today and the future. Hopefully Belfast will continue to heal...hopefully the murals will eventually fade..hopefully the peace line will someday come down. It has happened in other places; there is no reason why it cannot happen in Northern Ireland.