{"id":1469,"date":"2013-03-13T11:50:43","date_gmt":"2013-03-13T11:50:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/?p=1469"},"modified":"2013-03-13T11:50:43","modified_gmt":"2013-03-13T11:50:43","slug":"history-repeating-itself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/?p=1469","title":{"rendered":"History Repeating Itself?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong>The following letter appeared in todays edition of the Belfast Telegraph and indicates the level of concern shown from the loyalist working class public at the antics of the Historical Enquiries Team in the hounding of Protestants, whilst seemingly showing a disregard for republicans.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Over the past few weeks I have seen history repeat itself before my very eyes, a journey which many have taken before and if we don&#8217;t suitably address the issues of the past in a constructive inclusive manner, many may walk their footsteps again.\u00a0 Many ex-prisoners from the troubles era now play proactive roles in the management of the peace process; many others have successful businesses whilst some have vanished into almost obscurity leading quiet family lives. We have ex prisoners at the seat of power in government organising the policies of the country. \u00a0 No one is condoning their actions of the past, but what must be recognised is that almost to a man they endorsed the Good Friday Agreement and the beginning of a new era in our troubled history for our young.\u00a0 Of course my point surrounds the actions of the Historical Enquiries Team (H.E.T), never mentioned in a referendum voted by the people of this country and brought onto the scene in 2005 after the St Andrews agreement between the four largest political parties.\u00a0 The majority of those arrested have already served long prison sentences for other offences, which leads me to the question &#8211; What are we achieving by locking these old men away for a token gesture of two years? Hardly closure for loved ones. \u00a0 If this is allowed to continue, where will it end.\u00a0 A futile, destabilising and costly process for all communities who voted unanimously to move forward in the name of peace and prosperity after so many troubled years.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>David Whiteside<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" ><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - http:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img src=\"http:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" border=\"0\" style=\"padding-top:5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\"); var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_counters_lang=\"en_US\";var hupso_title_t=\"History Repeating Itself?\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The following letter appeared in todays edition of the Belfast Telegraph and indicates the level of concern shown from the loyalist working class public at the antics of the Historical Enquiries Team in the hounding of Protestants, whilst seemingly showing &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/?p=1469\">Read more <span class=\"meta-nav\">&raquo;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" ><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - http:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img src=\"http:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" border=\"0\" style=\"padding-top:5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\"); var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_counters_lang=\"en_US\";var hupso_title_t=\"History Repeating Itself?\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1469"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1469"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1470,"href":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1469\/revisions\/1470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}