I know full well how hard it was going to training and matches in Tyrone in the 80's and 90's. Indeed i spent a good few hours in PP locals village police station having been arrested on route to several games and training sessions.

it is great to see that station now raised to the ground. Three men died attempting this during the troubles. One of them, Dan, was a relative of the late Cormac Mc Anallen, who died with a fifteen year old volunteer from Dungannon. PP's area was a seriously sectarian loyalist hot spot during these times. Billy Wright was actually inducted into the UVF in Pomeroy and these facts sicken me when I read PP posts. It was only after Druncree in the late nineties when Pomeroy people found their voice and it is now a fine safe village for the vastly majority nationalist people.

Lads. I sometimes get very angry when I read PP's posts and we all know this is what he wants.

Ulsterman and the rest. The best way to deal with this is to totally ignore his posts. He is a total WUM regarding our recent history and hurling etc.

DO NOT RESPOND TO PP LOCAL

26plus6equals1 (Tyrone) - Posts: 430 - 19/10/2011 10:23:23    1054515

Great point about the ignorant, partitionist attitude of the South. And it makes me cringe because if I was honest that's how I was.

18 months ago I had only crossed the border twice in my life. My attitude was very much "out of sight out of mind, get over it" as regards Gaels living in the 6. I'm ashamed to say I may have shouted similar abuse at Joe during league games in Newbridge to what he heard in Portlaois. We didn't travel north to league games or even qualifiers. The people I know would shop in Newry maybe but never stay North of the border but never head up for the weekend.

Then I met a girl from a family of Derry Gaels and ended moving up to east Belfast of all places. Moving 100 miles up the road shouldn't be a culture shock but it was. It took a while for what nationalists/ Catholics/ members of the GAA went through up here to sink in. We are still completely insulated and ignorant about it.

Daith (Kildare) - Posts: 1172 - 19/10/2011 11:15:56    1054559

To suggest that the GAA and its members were not intimidated is rediculous. I am from a border town and played Ulster colleges football, and had many nice experiences of passing though checkpoints and having all us hard nosed 13 year old terrorists asked to leave the bus for a search and stading on the side of the road. Even now my gfs mother when hearing of her daughters first time going to NI suggested we shouldnt go there cause its too dangerous... that was 3 years ago!!

People who dont live or experience something have no idea of what they are talking about. Just as being a student in Dublin i heard manys a hard man sing IRA songs etc. Not so clever as a student in Queens when masked men entered the house and told the two protestant members of the house that the others were to be gone the next time they called around.

All about experience,,,, if u werent there or didnt experience it... u have no idea of what it was like

argael (Donegal) - Posts: 133 - 19/10/2011 12:37:38    1054623

i am sure that joe could tell the difference between someone merely trying to over-take and someone up to something more sinister. i can remember vividly the time when the miami showband were stopped and taken out of their van and shot.. (yes i am that old). i also recall members of horslips telling of a near miss one night coming back from a gig. these were seriously scary times.

however on a lighter note. i have often called armagh "orange ********" nothing political though..just the colour of the jerseys.
also
Ulsterman
County: Antrim
Posts: 4354
Ireland lost it's soul a long time ago and is now a cold, unfriendly, partitionist, selfish, greedy, gombeen, corrupt 26 county state.

I think this is a bit harsh.

s goldrick (Cavan) - Posts: 5520 - 19/10/2011 13:08:09    1054651

"Revisionism".....Why always blame the media??!!

Blame uneducated, stuipid people for not having their own views formed on matters and sticking to it!!

When I weigh up the facts of something as I understand it, I then form an opinion on it!!.....years later, my opinion is still the same!!
"Revisionism" is for weak, uneducated, stuipid people with no proper view of their own who simply accept as truth whatever is written in todays paper and then tomorrow believe whatever is written in that days paper!!............dont worry about it!!

Thats the unfortunate thing about opinions!.......some tool allowed everyone to be entitled to one!!....like human rights!!

I seen a documentry on 1916 some time back and the last line of it said: "The easter rising is now nearly a century ago. 30 years of troubles in the north have changed the way we view it!......"
Ehh, 30 years of troubles in the north or no trouble in the north or whatever will never "change the way I view" the easter rising!!....never has and never will, it was what it was and what was needed at the time!!

My point is: The above was an attempt at this "revisionism" but it will never work on me because my opinion is formed from years and years ago!! Sure, move on and change for the good of humanity but and to stop trouble, but have your opinion on the past and stick to it!!

Like him or not, Conor Cruise O'Brien once said: "Being Irish, isnt just a question of merely understanding the Irish situation but of being mauled by it!"......reading this thread Im beginning to understand what he means!!

Myself, I firmly believe that in this country there is no such thing as 'history' wherein something is in the 'past' but rather every single day is a continuation of some incident that happened long ago that shaped our individual and collective thinking, community, culture, tribe, etc and I can only best describe it as being like a fued between families in that no matter what the incident: religion, famine, living conditions, land, etc the legacy of our forefathers is continued on through us and so there is no actual 'history' but just one big never ending story!!

Regards,

Snufalufagus....Laochra Gael

Snufalufagus (Dublin) - Posts: 8100 - 19/10/2011 13:22:16    1054668

What makes it worse is that certain people down south have the same silly attitude toward the Gaa,most of whom have never even watched a game.Too busy declaring their undying love for English businesses like Man utd and Liverpool.

TheRoad (Galway) - Posts: 1339 - 19/10/2011 13:32:54    1054678

'Out of sight out of mind' was a typical attitude down south Daith. My family had old republican (then FF) tendancies, so they were always interested in what happened up north. They eduated me as I grew up. Then I went out with a girl from Derry for a while - she opened my eyes even more. I'm always irritated by the 'get over it' brigade as well. None of us would get over it so fast if we'd endured what our northern brethern endured.

I recently heard a Cork DJ ask his listeners to ring in if they knew why a 'foreigner' like Martin McGuinness was allowed to run for the presidency! With that kind of self absorbed ignorance - is it any wonder that some northern gaels call us 'Staters.' Rest assured lads, there's plenty of us down south who never though like that - and never will.

Culchie (Cork) - Posts: 799 - 19/10/2011 13:59:31    1054699

26plus6equals1 (I take it Maths isn't your forte) that is Ulsterman-esque in terms of absolute tripe. Full of lies, glaring omissions and overall paints a very different picture than the actual reality. You make it out that the 90%+ Nationalist community in Pomeroy were ran underfoot by the tiny Unionist minority when that didn't and couldn't happen. Both communities in Pomeroy by and large lived and got on with each other and thankfully didn't descend into the chaos that other areas did. I have never heard about Billy Wright being inducted in Pomeroy, I think you are referring to Gusty Spence who turned out to be the closest Loyalism got to a political thinker. In a thread where Ulsterman has posted several times you have managed to post the most rubbish which is no mean feat. Congratulations

pplocal (Tyrone) - Posts: 5878 - 19/10/2011 14:02:55    1054703

Well said Culchie.

lilywhite1 (Kildare) - Posts: 3024 - 19/10/2011 15:27:17    1054760

few interesting and caring posts on here , the thing is many will not know or understand for that matter the danger and the depths of the level of fear and intimadation that taken place against gaels of the north their families and the grounds that we used and also travelling to games , it was constant harrasment from security forces especially the scots regiments and the U.D.R .. they took pleasure in making life hell for our members players buses stopped and bags searched then the trouble of going through loyalist towns and getting the buses stoned , WHILE THE R.U.C .. looked on and done nothing ... they were testing times for a lot in our organisation in the bad old days

ta32 (Tyrone) - Posts: 4907 - 19/10/2011 15:49:56    1054771

Ulsterman
County: Antrim
Posts: 4354
Ireland lost it's soul a long time ago and is now a cold, unfriendly, partitionist, selfish, greedy, gombeen, corrupt 26 county state.

I too find this a bit harsh. Corrupt yes but the rest is a bit much.
Personally I have many relatives in the 6 counties and visited them frequently as a kid in the 70s and 80s so I know if anything, Joes example understates what it was like. Even so I always found it a bit strange hanging out with my cousins back then, we didn't seem to have a whole lot in common (bar GAA)and truthfully they were completely ignorant of goings on in the south so i guess it works both ways - that's not having a pop it's just the way it was.

Floops (Dublin) - Posts: 1623 - 19/10/2011 16:20:22    1054803

God bless the Northern Gaels, we didn't all forget about you. You will always have my respect for standing tall in the face of severe repression from orange bigots. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger and that's certainly true in your case.

Padraig_Dub (Dublin) - Posts: 100 - 19/10/2011 17:03:46    1054835

I remember when I was 7 me and my brother were playing gaelic and british soldiers came upto us in the field pointing guns at us.

Armaghgeddon (Armagh) - Posts: 539 - 19/10/2011 17:20:08    1054846

'I remember when I was 7 me and my brother were playing gaelic and british soldiers came upto us in the field pointing guns at us.'

Perhaps they were simply staunch GAA men who really took Armagh's blanket defence badly

pplocal (Tyrone) - Posts: 5878 - 19/10/2011 17:36:54    1054868

I would certainly admire & sympathise with our Northern Gaels. I still remember being stopped by British soldiers at a border checkpoint when I was a gasun on the way to a match in Casement Park. However, I was in favour of the Queen's visit here & I hope it helps to heal old wounds but I understand if many of our brethern in the North have misgivings about that.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 19/10/2011 18:32:01    1054926

pplocal
County: Tyrone
Posts: 4105

1054868 'I remember when I was 7 me and my brother were playing gaelic and british soldiers came upto us in the field pointing guns at us.'

Perhaps they were simply staunch GAA men who really took Armagh's blanket defence badly
_________________________
I know you are on the wind up PP but that did make me laugh!

brendtheredhand (Tyrone) - Posts: 10897 - 19/10/2011 19:00:19    1054940

interesting article here which might give you some idea of what was going on at the time.
link

s goldrick (Cavan) - Posts: 5520 - 20/10/2011 13:58:16    1055337

Plenty of people killed going and coming from matches. Two lads were killed from derry on their way home from dublin. Very sad.

Sambo mc naughton's biography covers it quite well. Hurleys being taken from his boot and broken for no reason at checkpoints etc.

The Antrim team of 1989 must be one of the most remarkable achievements in gaelic games. To get there despite what they had to put up with. The spontaneous guard of honour for them from Offaly must have put the hairs on the back of the neck on end. Hope to see them there again.

Glad those days are over.

hurlinspuds (Cork) - Posts: 1494 - 20/10/2011 15:07:07    1055400

Collusion is not an illusion

http://www.talfanzine.com/coll.htm

Many GAA members suffered.

And ringo from Wexford, it was OUR civil war too.

Tom1916 (Armagh) - Posts: 2001 - 20/10/2011 15:10:28    1055404

There is no North/South divide in my thinking. Please don't tar us all with the one brush. People who don't care what goes on in the 6 counties, are usually people who don't care what goes on anywhere...selfish, ignorant people, nobody is anymore or less Irish then anybody else, no matter which of the 32 counties you were born in...I spent allot of time in the North during the troubles. I have some idea what it was like...though nobody truly knows unless they lived with it everyday...fair play to people who can stand up for what they believe in, especially during the toughest of times...I do think some comments made about the south are a little unfair though..

delordub (Kildare) - Posts: 108 - 20/10/2011 15:11:06    1055405