A matter of identity

Well now. Her Majesty's Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Permatan Hain, has announced that the IRA the given up criminality. Incredibly, though, his statement goes on to say, "There probably is still some localised individual criminality by former and maybe existing Provisional IRA members for their own private gain". (Oh, that's all right then).

 

Quick question, Pete: if members of the IRA murder someone, did the IRA murder them or was it just a couple of smackworthy scamps? Whether it was "sanctioned from the centre" or not doesn't matter a jot. Any fool will tell you it was the IRA.

 

So when members of that same IRA use their terrorist expertise and resources to flout the law of the land (both North and South) for personal, selfish gain at other people's cost, that too is the IRA. Lordy, how intelligent do you have to be to see that?

 

If you spent less time exposing your brain to sunbed rays, Pete, you'd register that these men are hardened criminals, anti-democratic, anti-constitution and anti-everything that doesn't fill their homes with ill-gotten gains. And, yes, the same goes for their many counterparts in other organisations.

 

You see, that's the problem: the organisations are still at work. Yes, I'm glad they're not murdering any more, but they now have to stop stealing too.