Are we all just victims of Domestic Abuse?
Listening recently to the various discussions about the IRA and the ‘will they, won’t they say sorry’ debate reminded me about the plight of victims of domestic abuse.
Ever since Declan Kearney penned a piece for the IRA’s, (sorry they don’t exist anymore), for Sinn Fein’s news sheet An Phoblacht this debate has been taken up by journalists and some politicians. The Sinn Fein PR machine is in overdrive and is working towards some sort of response once they feel the time is right and enough people will be seduced by their words.
But have you stopped to think about what they are actually saying?
In An Phoblacht, Kearney challenged republicans to say “sorry” – not for the IRA war, but for the human hurt caused by all its armed actions.
So they aren’t sorry for ‘the IRA war’ just the ‘human hurt’ caused. So, not sorry for planting and exploding a bomb, but sorry that when that bomb went off it killed and maimed.
As part of the well-rehearsed Sinn Fein choreography, this was then followed up by Eibhlin (Evelyn) Glenholmes now of the Victims and Survivors Forum. Evelyn was once labelled Britain’s “most wanted”. At one stage there were nine warrants, which an Irish court deemed defective, out for her. Nine warrants covering a range of offences, including murder, linked to the IRA campaign in Britain in 1981-82.
When asked about saying sorry Ms Glenholmes stated, “I have no qualms about apologising for any hurt”. Then, when asked if she felt the “IRA war was wrong” she stated, “Absolutely not”. “We didn’t go to war – war came to us.”
So, again, the Republican movement’s spokes people state they are not sorry for their actions but claim they are sorry that their actions caused hurt.
Domestic Abuse
Domestic Abusers always blame their victims. They never take responsibility and though they may claim they regret the harm their actions cause they claim it was the actions of their victims which forced them to respond violently.
Sound familiar?
The abuser doesn’t apologise but tries to justify. ‘Look what you made me do’ etc.
Brian Rowan writing about this subject for his friends in Sinn Fein recently stated,
“In its endgame statement of July 2005, the IRA leadership spoke the following words: “We reiterate our view that the armed struggle was entirely legitimate.”
On the basis of that statement, we can understand that any use of the word sorry will not be a retreat from that sentence or that belief.
Kearney is talking about sorry in a humanising context to acknowledge hurt, not to de-legitimise the IRA campaign”.
Is this similar to how Sean Brady says sorry about the child sexual abuse which was ripe in the Roman Catholic Church while protecting the abusers?
What the hell are they on about? Either you are sorry or you are not sorry! You cannot apologise while at the same time legitimizing your actions.
This is not, ‘abject and true remorse’.
Below in bold are some questions followed by answers from the Woman’s Aid web site regarding domestic abuse.
What is the cause of domestic violence? ‘Abusers choose to behave violently to get what they want and gain control. Their behaviour may originate from a sense of entitlement which is often supported by sexist, racist, homophobic and other discriminatory attitudes’.
Sinn Fein continuously blame the ‘Brits’ for their dirty sectarian war. Just as Evelyn Glenholmes’ tries in her statement, “We didn’t go to war – war came to us”.
Who is responsible for the violence? ‘The abuser is responsible, and there is no excuse…The abuser has a choice to use violence, or instead they can choose to behave non-violently, fostering a relationship built on trust, honesty, fairness and respect. Blaming the victim’ is something that abusers often do to make excuses for their behaviour. This is part of the pattern and is in itself abusive. Sometimes abusers convince their victims that they are to blame for the abuser’s behaviour.
I fear that many of our political representatives today have bought into this fallacy and have been convinced by their abusers that we were to blame, absolving the abusers masquerading as the peace makers of today.
Finally, why does this abuse happen? It comes ‘…from the abuser’s desire for power and control’.
Maybe this explains why the IRA violence has stopped today.
Sinn Fein have been courted and the government and Unionist politicians have given in to their desire for ‘power and control’.
The government and Sinn Fein’s buddies in the DUP are happy to ignore the catalogue of lies told by the Republican movement, fronted by Sinn Fein. They are happy to let the stories fade from the headlines.
Do you really think if a Unionist politician had been found guilty of blatant sectarianism in appointing the head of NI Water as Connor Murphy was that it would be gone from the headlines so quickly?
They are happy not to rock the boat as long as they get to divvy up the power.
Where are the leaders within Loyalism at this time in our history who can challenge this acquiescence to Republicanism?
Or are we destined to remain victims of this domestic abuse?
Robert Allen
![“No more than 300 [of the dead] were terrorists, a ratio of three to one. That is why we are still there”.](http://www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/kelly-150x150.png)
