{"id":2910,"date":"2014-12-04T09:34:03","date_gmt":"2014-12-04T09:34:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/?p=2910"},"modified":"2014-12-04T09:34:03","modified_gmt":"2014-12-04T09:34:03","slug":"fifty-questions-for-irish-republicans-william-ennis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/?p=2910","title":{"rendered":"Fifty Questions For Irish Republicans: William Ennis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fifty questions for Irish Republicans<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Do you disagree with the media practice of referring to Republicans who oppose the peace process as dissidents, <\/em>a reference which cleanly divorces them from pro-peace Republicans, given that this courtesy is not extended to pro-peace Loyalists?<\/li>\n
  2. Is Sinn Fein\u2019s desire to slash corporation tax, arguably to the cost of public services, a betrayal of James Connolly?<\/li>\n
  3. With the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) acknowledging the British identity of those within our communities who cherish it is Brits out<\/em> still an appropriate slogan?<\/li>\n
  4. Many Irish Republicans supported the Scottish Yes<\/em> campaign.\u00a0 Is this an acknowledgement that two states can be a peaceful solution upon One Island?<\/li>\n
  5. Can you think of a campaign you\u2019d like Loyalists and Republicans to undertake together?<\/li>\n
  6. Do the differing attitudes toward Loyalist culture in the Republic of Ireland (where opposition to orange parades is almost unheard of) and Northern Ireland (were many Loyalists understand it to be cultural within Republicanism) deepen partition<\/em>?<\/li>\n
  7. Is ringing the bell to start trading at the New York Stock Exchange consistent with a Socialist Republic<\/em>?<\/li>\n
  8. To what degree do the reasons cited by dissident Republicans for splitting from main stream Republicanism differ from the reasons cited by the Provisional IRA (PIRA) for doing so in the 1970\u2019s?<\/li>\n
  9. Re-read question 5…\u00a0 Can you name another?<\/li>\n
  10. Should trustees of a building\/organisation to which rent is being paid from the public purse be aware of such transactions?<\/li>\n
  11. \u00a0If Irish Republicans oppose hierarchy of victimhood<\/em> why don\u2019t they campaign on behalf of PIRA<\/em> victims too?<\/li>\n
  12. Why did the PIRA<\/em> not accept power-sharing in the 1970\u2019s given that its format was very similar to our power-sharing arrangement today?<\/li>\n
  13. How much consideration was given within the Catholic\/Nationalist\/Republican community to the effect the Belfast City Hall flag removal would have upon w\/c Protestant areas before that action was undertaken?<\/li>\n
  14. Does the Republican understanding of a shared future refer to a future shared between Catholics, Protestants and other faiths, or<\/em> between Nationalist, Unionist and other ideologies?<\/li>\n
  15. Any theories as to why so few Ulster Protestants have been recruited to the Irish Republican cause in Northern Ireland?<\/li>\n
  16. During the conflict as Irish Republicanism battled what it considered British oppression of the Irish people<\/em>, what steps did it take to combat the now clear oppression which was perpetrated upon the Irish people by the Church <\/em>(via laundry prisons for young women and clerical child abuse)?<\/li>\n
  17. With almost unanimous agreement that the Irish language should not be politicised, does it belong in the manifesto of any political party?<\/li>\n
  18. Does Irish Republicanism advocate separation of church and state?\u00a0 If so, given the special position De Valera gave to one religious faith above all others, when did that policy change?<\/li>\n
  19. What things would you, as a Republican, like to see happen in Protestant\/Unionist\/Loyalist areas which aren\u2019t happening at the moment?<\/li>\n
  20. Why have SF agreed to implement the austerity plan of the Conservative party?<\/li>\n
  21. Do you believe Loyalism has a right to exist?<\/li>\n
  22. Do you believe Loyalism has a right to practice its parading tradition?<\/li>\n
  23. Do you believe Loyalism has a right to practice its parading tradition in areas which are not Protestant<\/em>?<\/li>\n
  24. Do you support segregated living as two separate communities?<\/li>\n
  25. Why are some Republicans still engaged in armed struggle<\/em>?<\/li>\n
  26. To what extent do currently violent Republicans (known in the media as dissidents<\/em>) influence the policies of Sinn Fein?<\/li>\n
  27. With Scotland coming within six per-cent of leaving the UK without a bullet fired, a bomb planted or a prisoner self-starved, has any reconsideration been cast upon Irish Republicanism\u2019s past tactics?<\/li>\n
  28. Why is partition a blight <\/em>of Ireland but a goal in Spain?<\/li>\n
  29. Are the Irish people who fought in the two world wars less Irish than those who didn\u2019t?<\/li>\n
  30. Was De Valera correct to refuse Churchill\u2019s offer of Irish re-unification<\/em> in exchange for Ireland\u2019s official recruitment against Nazism?<\/li>\n
  31. Is it credible for a party to be anti-austerity in the Republic of Ireland (ROI) whilst implementing austerity in Northern Ireland?<\/li>\n
  32. Did the Enniskillen bomb benefit Ireland?\u00a0 If so, how?<\/li>\n
  33. Any theories as to why the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) focused their enquiries overwhelmingly on ex-Loyalist paramilitaries and anti-SF Republicans but very rarely on PIRA<\/em> paramilitaries?<\/li>\n
  34. With the EU bringing together states through trade and dialogue doesn\u2019t this render the 32 county state<\/em> arguments obsolete?<\/li>\n
  35. Would a SF government in the ROI withdraw Ireland from the EU, or set in motion the referendum to do so?<\/li>\n
  36. Was the conflict here a legitimate war<\/em>, or a terrorist campaign<\/em>?\u00a0 If the former, why complain when your enemy fired back?\u00a0 If the latter, why support terrorism?<\/li>\n
  37. Why didn\u2019t the PIRA apologise to all innocent victims at the calling of its ceasefire, as Loyalists did?<\/li>\n
  38. Loyalist protesters were recently fired upon by police using rubber bullets.\u00a0 Is it fair to say that Republican protest at their use is not as vociferous as was the case in past generations when the same tactics were deployed against protesting members of the Catholic\/Nationalist\/Republican section of the community?<\/li>\n
  39. If South Africa and India (to name two) can rejoin the commonwealth why not Ireland?\u00a0 Would it not be the ultimate olive branch to the British section of the community in Ulster?<\/li>\n
  40. If you could change one thing (just the one mind) about Loyalism, what would it be?<\/li>\n
  41. Would the Parades Commission<\/em> be legal in the Republic of Ireland?\u00a0 (see article 40.6.1.ii of the Irish constitution)<\/li>\n
  42. If you could change anything about Irish Republicanism, what would it be?<\/li>\n
  43. Is mocking the pronunciation of certain words by another working class section of the community consistent with the Socialist Republic<\/em>?<\/li>\n
  44. Is it wrong to say that Sinn Fein\u2019s opposition to super-grass trials is much weaker today that the targets of the tactic are usually Loyalists, than it was in the 1980\u2019s, when the targets were often Republicans?<\/li>\n
  45. If Northern Ireland is an occupation <\/em>then presumably as a Unionist I must be a collaborator<\/em> of some sort.\u00a0 In the event of the Republican Ideal of a thirty-two county sovereign Island state, how would my charge sheet read?<\/li>\n
  46. Considering the petition of concern<\/em> facility at Stormont, what are the chances of legislating for a united Ireland<\/em> referendum?<\/li>\n
  47. Is the creation of companies for the purpose of acquiring invoices to draw expense claims from the public purse in keeping with a Socialist Republic<\/em>?<\/li>\n
  48. Will the re-emerging tactics of bombing banks, shooting policemen etc benefit Ireland?\u00a0 If so, how?<\/li>\n
  49. Why did Sinn Fein capitulate to the DUP on the recent budget?<\/li>\n
  50. I don\u2019t mean to embarrass the guy, but on the several occasions I have met and conversed with Connor Maskey I found him to be genuinely engaging and progressive.\u00a0 Have you ever engaged with a Loyalist were the exchange became hopeful rather than adversarial?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Some Unionists may find this list tame or lacking in venom, as some Republicans may find some of the questions cheap and predictable, yet picking a row is not their purpose.\u00a0 Some of the questions came from frustrations I sense within the Protestant\/Unionist\/Loyalist section of our community and others were born solely of my own curiosity.<\/p>\n

    Dialogue is never a bad thing.<\/p>\n

    William Ennis is a Progressive Unionist activist\/East Belfast<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"Share\"\/<\/a>