Brian John Spencer
@brianjohnspencr
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Irish artist, and writer. See my art on my IG:
Belfast
Joined October 2010
Seamus Heaney, 135 x 74 cm. And some other recent work. #SeamusHeaney #WillieAnderson #rugbyartist #guinness #guinnesstoucan
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From 1619th fastest man to 3rd fastest “woman”. This trans stuff is obscene, utterly offensive to logic and fact and anyone who supports this is sick in the head. Thank God for @sharrond62 and @Riley_Gaines_.
Sadie (Camden) Schreiner's time in the 200m makes him the 3rd fastest D3 collegiate runner in the nation in the women's category. For perspective, his time ranks him 1,619th in his rightful category of the men's division. 1619th->3rd. But no yeah men can totally become women!
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The Batley Grammar school teacher is still in hiding with PTSD because a Muslim mob threatened his life…. (A teacher in France was beheaded by a Muslim extremist). But @Nigel_Farage is the one demonised for pointing out the problem….
‘He was hounded out of his job. In our country, in our democracy, in 2024, it’s absolutely unacceptable’. Dame Sara Khan has released a report today, exposing the 'chilling' effects of extremism on the UK, and says the Batley school teacher is still in hiding with PTSD.
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Māori people colonised New Zealand in 1300. Scots arrived in Ireland prior to 1300, but formally and en masse in 1600. Why is one native and the other colonial?.
New Zealand belongs to maori people. That should be the law.
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Merry Christmas from the Spencers!. We eat potatoes, bacon and cabbage every day, have only one black friend and we holiday in Donegal (not abroad)! . Regards to the bigots at SPHE via @Education_Ire in Dublin who think our traditional family unit is backwards and bad!
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Inner city Dublin is now less than 50% white Irish…. Can only imagine the number in 30 years. Some things are more important than wealth.
Ireland in the 1980s was backward, poor and stagnant. Some politicians want to bring us back there - Michael McDowell in today's @IrishTimes
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As an Ulsterman I’m watching the final with interest and hoping #Armagh can take the win. Grown men spend large chunks of their salary to watch multi millionaires play Premier League football…. These lads grew up down the road from me and are unpaid. Massive respect.
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I got on v well with Christopher Stalford. I would see him in Belvoir when I lived there and often park outside his office. I really enjoyed chatting to him & painting him. I did of him and his son. I felt compelled to draw this because he was such an exceptionally good father.
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8000 lighted balloons tracing the path of the Berlin Wall on the 25th anniversary of its fall: http://t.co/jhx5Ng0Fe0”.
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Can’t get a tattoo or drink alcohol until you’re 18, makes sense…
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@JohnOBrennan2 The petty jealousy and burning resentment of the big state leftist is something to behold.
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@tomdoorley @desondy The word “creatures” is fascistic and dehumanising language. Do you deny that people have a right to question and oppose mass migration? Opposing mass migration does not make someone a xenophobe.
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Head of state, of a country where over 90% of schools are run by the Catholic Church, condemns segregated education.
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If Rhys can compete under the NI banner and The ROI tricolour, why not others?. Maybe the problem is with those who like the tricolour but not the NI banner….
Rhys McClenaghan has shown flexibility in body and in mind…. Comfortable with both flags…
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@LucyABaxter My house identifies as Irish and the Queen as ours, and we regard her as part of our Irish culture. Just feel you are pushing a narrow notion of “Irish”. Everyone born on this island should regard themselves as Irish, but it’s narrow Irishness you’re pushing that stops this.
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The West is killing itself with “kindness”. Muslim migrants threw Christians overboard, Italian police say - @CNN
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@DaveAtherton20 @RishiSunak I’ve said it countless times, it’s by design and willed by the people at the top. Any talk of stopping the boats is pure pretence.
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Painting of #belfast skyline I did a month back or so. #NorthernIreland #Ireland #IrishArt #BelfastArt
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Good question. The EU is lowering animal feed standards. Will that apply to Northern Ireland or will we remain with the higher standards that exist in the UK?.Quite astonishing those who have shrieked about US chicken and Australian beef have nothing to say on this news.
Mr Jim Allister .To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (i) whether the lifting on the ban by the EU on the feeding of animal remains to pigs and poultry be applicable in Northern Ireland; and (ii) for his assessement of the lifting of the ban.
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“Jeering at unionist fears is all very well for Irish Times columnists, but they will not have to pick up the pieces if the Shankill Road or East Belfast explodes…”
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This is what happens when the likes of @KNEECAPCEOL are lauded and mainstreamed. Meanwhile because I paint from a unionist perspective I get blacklisted by nats and the alliance types.
Pro-IRA slogans have been shouted at an Enniskillen remembrance event for 12 people murdered in a republican terror attack. MLA Diana Armstrong says a generation has been failed by "a lack of leadership from aspects of the nationalist community".
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Wow! Need an investigation in to this by QUB promptly. Happens far too frequently to ignore any longer. For young educated students to be chanting and cheering for a terrorist organisation is truly a nightmarish scenario….
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I voted remain in Brexit vote, and was adamant in the run up to the vote. But the years of sneering and gloating that came in the aftermath of Brexit from Dublin and EU elites was sickening. I’m enjoying gloating about the mess the EU now finds itself in.#AgriculteursEnColere.
🇳🇱 Listen to this brave Dutch farmer as he warns the political establishment:. “We are done talking. We’re done with these fake problems created by you politicans. You are trying to destroy farmers all over Europe, but just like the farmers in Brussels today, we will fight back!”
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In Northern Ireland we have lived with ultimatum, leverage and demand politics for well on a decade and more, with long periods of no Stormont government, but never have I seen the anywhere near level of outrage for the party simply doing what has long been done before….
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@kelvmackenzie Utterly deplorable comments from @TherealNihal. Would like see @bbcfivelive @BBCNews take Nihal for tolerance and diversity training. What is the breakdown of BBC staff and how does that equate to the total breakdown of UK population?.
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@naomi_long @antisyzygy Correction, NI is clearly in the British flag logo…. Clearly reads GB NI.
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Will we see the same outrage next time a ‘Londonderry’ or ‘Entering Northern Ireland’ sign is defaced?. I’ve seen these words defaced my entire life.
Really disappointing that the dual language street signage at Cranmore Gardens was defaced over the past couple of days, in an attempt to remove the Irish street name. I’ve got most of it cleaned off, and I’ve asked Council to attend to give it a good clean.
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University isn’t the only way to succeed in life. This meme is very real to me. Why do we as a society put such emphasis on academics and poo poo traditional trades and crafts?
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@DaveAtherton20 @RishiSunak They could do this in a second, if they wanted. But the elites want the boats, and all this talk of “stopping the boats” is pure theatrical play fighting for the gallery. It’s so DEMORALISING, and that’s THE POINT!!.
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Professor Liam Kennedy is a profound and notable scholar of Irish history at QUB. AS a colleague of @cjhumanrights, with an office nearby, it’s very strange that the “let’s have a conversation guy” doesn’t want to have a conversation with Liam… . Quite Orwellian. Via @mairiac31
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I voted remain, but the Zealotry and pettiness of Brussels is plain to see. What is worse, is the lack of comment and criticism of the zealotry. This move from the EU Commission is just ridiculous.
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I understand why people share Craig statement on NI being a protestant state. Can’t understand why same don’t share de Valera’s call that the 26 counties was a Catholic country and that unionists were an “alien garrison” with the same regularity/revulsion?.
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Algeria is 1,200 miles from France and was colonised by FR in the 1800s… . Ulster and Scotland are 11 miles apart and there has been community and trade between our two islands for a millennia and more. There is no analogy here. Propagating this in @irish_news is utter tripe.
I see a board member of Ireland's Future is promoting the idea that unionists are settlers who do not belong in Ireland
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Northern Ireland is Northern Ireland. It is not like, it is nothing like, Cyprus, India, Zimbabwe or Afghanistan. This is misty eyed green nonsense that perpetuates mistrust and hatred.
Unionists know Britain will eventually withdraw from North too. - Brian Feeney's Irish News column. #Think32
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@JohnOBrennan2 Who have you spoken to on the ground John? You follow NYT and CNN! You live in a bubble!. Trump gon’ win!.
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Paul O’Connell, a heroic Irishman and my childhood hero. Showing solemn grace, true kinship and leadership in wearing a #poppy. The venom spewed by people like @buff_egan and others is an Ireland that is very real, but one we should reject totally.
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You can literally see the chair bristle with rage and passive aggression. Not very dignified.
Timothy Gaston asked the Executive Office Committee to request notes made in a private meeting between the chair and First Minister. Here’s what happened #TUV #TimothyGaston
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@mooreholmes24 @richardtgarland Given Dublin has never sought to reach out or be seen to be concerned with the grave concerns of unionism, it is absolutely right that UK government has acted. There was plenty of time for Dublin to make a gesture to unionism. Unionism only got ignorance and mockery from Dublin.
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'Were you born in an RHI shed?'. The new saying for that person in your life who always leave the door open. #RHI.
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Eastwood says unionjsts need grow up, let’s live together and stop culture war. Yes! I’m on board. Then why has every modest effort to mark NI centenary been blocked any time his party had chance? . Even totally apolitical unionists proud to be NI I chat with are alarmed at this.
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Marxists open business. The marxists then don’t pay staff. 😂.So sad for those staff not paid, especially under these conditions. And I’m one of the people owed money for art sold.
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Painting #bonfire at Pitt Park in E Belfast. To my friends in south and the other community offended at painting the flag I can only say, I can only paint what I see.I guess also we should remember that loyalists would say that tricolour is more a symbol to them of IRA than ROI
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@OxfordDiplomat Every country has been invaded in the past. Also, I’m also Irish, but I don’t possess your obvious anglophobia and obsession with the past and putting every global event through an Anglo-Irish lens….
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Nice to be able to do a portrait of @CatharineHoey on behalf of the boxing club and then present it.
Pleased to visit Sandy Row Boxing Club and present awards. Thanks to all the volunteer coaches and helpers. A great atmosphere #boxing
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Everyone who goes to stormont has to sign in. The rape threat person can be identified. There is CCTV in every corner of Stormont. Find the person!
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Fascinating to see watch the lambeg drummers in Markethill, over 90 in action today. #armagh #northernIreland #ireland
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The young lad playing the pipes in his first big parade in Dromore today on #BlackSaturday .Utmost decorum and respect on display today and most family friendly, nothing sectarian or laudatory to report @chrisadonnelly @KevinPMeagher
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British expressly wished for all-Ireland settlement 100 years ago. Irish* Unionists however exercised self-determination to opt out of Dublin rule and remain in UK. This kind of misinformation - “UK border imposed on island of Ireland” - from academic is why we are so divided.
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Very very depressing. Incomprehensible.
Para flags going up in some areas of Derry for the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Just so depressing.
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Arrived in Pisa in Italy for a wedding, and the queue for British and non-EU passports was way shorter and quicker… . Don’t tell the usual crowd! Photos to follow.
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“Dublin knew that what it was pushing for would upset the peace settlement; & EU used its power over the UK to impose untenable conditions it would never accept for itself”.- @TomMcTague .One of few journalists giving fair account of where we are
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@McNeillYeah Haven’t heard the Irish left mention Azerbaijan colonising Armenian Christian lands… or Nigerian Muslims killing en masse the Christians in that country….
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As mentioned before, the boy has been learning the chanter/bagpipes for the past two years and recently moved on to the full bag… . Here is his first public performance at a recent Sunday Children’s Service. Very proud. #bagpipes #pipes #UlsterScots
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Someone needs to go back to school and learn some basic constitutional history. That first line is a howler, and any teacher would put a big red line through it.
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Another big milestone on the piping journey… . After two years of working on the practice chanter, the boy has made it to the full band. Today enjoying his first ever parade. Very chuffed and very proud. Doing things I could only dream of as a child and young person.
And so it came to pass… . Nearly there. Little by little. Patience and perseverance is key. #Bagpipes .#culture #NorthernIreland
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"Don't forget to leave the door open after yourself. ". My latest cartoon on the retirement of #MartinMcGuinness with an #RHI twist
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Why is nobody talking about the EU’s Holland and Sweden and their hard line anti-immigrant actions?. We’re still at the stage of just labelling everyone far-right who questions mass migration….
Holland: implementing strictest ever entry rules for asylum. Sweden: deporting asylum-seekers & immigrants for drug use, criminal gang affiliation or “statements threatening Swedish values.”. Biden: We *might* close the border but only after illegal crossings exceed 4,000 a day.
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“As someone who covered the ceasefires and the GFA extensively at the time I can assure you the EU played absolutely no role in any of those negotiations back then.”.- @henrymcdonald .
The Good Friday Agreement, which ended so many years of violence & suffering, was due to the efforts of many, especially 🇪🇺. Due to Brexit, NI has left the Union. The deceit of some about it's consequences can't be allowed to endanger the peace that must prevail.
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This can’t be said/emphasised enough. Official Ireland can not simply lament partition and blame British. “The very first Acts passed by Dail Eireann authorised the erection of Border customs posts, making them a Free State invention, not a unionist one”
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@CatharineHoey That quote doesn’t appear on any mural in NI and is extremely difficult even to find online. I’ve said few times that I’d love to work with some people to make a art installation or mural on this.
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No idea how NI artist Cupar Pilson isn’t more recognised and celebrated. Incredibly smart, conscientious and gifted artist, nearly as much as he’s under-rated.
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“They have used their position to undermine the constitutional position here. I can only put their [Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney] aggressive nationalism down to the growth of Sinn Fein in the Republic.”.- @ArleneFosterUK
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Why is it so commonplace for young nationalists to speak and endorse old sectarian slogans like “Brits out”, “Tiocfaidh ár lá“ and “up the RA”. Very disappointing to see yet another high profile example.
"It seems to me that resentment and hatred for my identity is still prevalent within the university" . - Calvin Reid.
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Working class lad in a tracksuit schools trendy avocado-eating-feminists on how insane the notion of “trans kids” is.
Young Irish dad completely schools these three women who can only parrot trans activist talking points. Their thoughts are not their own. They’re pre-programmed. One minute ago the woman in white was calling me ridiculous and a di*khead for saying that children are having
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Looking forward to painting #twelfth.I’ve done this ever since seeing Sir John Lavery’s painting of Portadown 12th 1928 . I see why this time of year can be offensive, but having travelled across the island & met many within community, I would urge examination of the complexities
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If you want to know why rents have sky rocketed in Belfast and across Ireland, it’s because of simple maths…. Increase the demand (via mass migration), but maintain the same supply of houses. Prices go up. The richer get richer and the poor get poorer.
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What a raucous celebration that was in Armagh. I can definitely see how republicans were so offended.
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If I was a proper Irish Republican I’d be seething. But anglophobia prohibits the slightest bad word to be spoken against the all-powerful & benevolent EU. Even as an Irish unionists I’m gobsmacked at how waters around this island of mine and ours is being plundered by foreigners.
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“As far as [the ROI] was concerned, a line was drawn across the page of historic Provisional IRA criminality in Northern Ireland.”.
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Jim Allister is a maverick . He’s done more in 6 months than his predecessor ever did.
Brexiteers including Farage back Bill which could finally unshackle UK from EU
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John Hume: spent his political life trying to convince everybody that territorial unity is not what matters but unity between people.
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Partition for thee but not for me….
The Catalans are not Spanish – They are Catalan by Declan Kearney.
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There’s the “Grace Period” NI Protocol we have lived with, and then there’s the full NIP, where no product made in Scotland, Wales or England can be sold in Northern Ireland because NI is regarded as the EU single market….
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When will @williamcrawley post about the #HunterBidenPardon?. Not like him to not keep his followers abreast of events in America….
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@timmckane @BelTel My son is in this. What on earth are guy talking about Tim? All he does is learn about history, go bowling and went to the last Ulster rugby game. I’m standing outside an orange hall right now at pipe practice. You are expressing flat out gammon bigotry. Sort yourself out.
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I am Irish… but I use the term Boxing Day…. Lots of “Irish people” call 26th December “Boxing Day”.
Next year can Irish people please refer to the 26th December as St Stephen's Day or Lá Fhéile Stiofáin 'as gaeilge' from now on. Go raibh maith agaibh 🙂.
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Northern Ireland is an utterly changed place. It’s not green or orange, but many colours, and home to all. Don’t let people demoralise or shame you for a homeplace you’re proud of. Embrace and share both traditions and build forward. #EmbraceAGiantSpirit #NIBeyond100 #NI2021.
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Partition for thee but not for me.
Best of luck to our Basque and Catalan comrades in today’s election. The future is independence.
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@tomdoorley @desondy Mass migration (in to ROIreland), you know what I mean! .You don’t live in a council house, so your sneering is just appalling. Here in Belfast rents have sky rocketed, so I know exactly how many must feel in Dublin!.
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@sinead_ryan I am Irish, and I’m also British, and I think your tweet sets a very negative tone. Saying any other person or group should get out would cause outrage.
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On Nolan @paulgivan talking about his “British, Ulster Scots and Irish identity”. I and others have spoken for years about our dual *Irish & British identity*, but DUP politicians etc were usually v firm on being British only…. Another big milestone in Northern Ireland politics.
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During the funeral of Douglas Hyde the entire @fiannafailparty sat outside the Protestant cathedral, because the Catholic hierarchy forbade their entry. Did the British divide them and make them fear and suspect their Protestant neighbours?.
"This wasn't something that was deeply ingrained in us.". @KNEECAPCEOL says the government stoked sectarianism to divide the working class.
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Fainting couch republicanism. You’d think the Republican movement was a scout group. IRA man turned British agent Sean O’Callaghan said he decided to quit after IRA terrorists cheered to the roof after news of killing a female RUC officer, and one said “hope she was pregnant!”
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@nealerichmond More negativity Neale. Polling shows he’s exactly right, why push a false narrative? What happened to a shared Island and differing views? You only seem to like views that aren’t unionist….
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@Sinclair1875 @BigPaulieDoyle Wrong. Read a history book. He voted against the Good Friday Agreement and is on the record of refusing to condemn IRA violence when it was happening.
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It’s just like events from 100 years ago. Unionists are ignored, and it always has to be presented as a Dublin-London stand-off…. Why does Dublin not want to listen to unionist concerns? Why always ignore and turn to London?.
Facing chaos and needing a scapegoat, the Tories seek an endless fight with Europe | Fintan O’Toole
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What madness that we on this island of Ireland don’t celebrate the Duke of Wellington,. The Irish man who ended expansionism of Bonaparte. Americans would love hearing about Wellington. Far more interesting than a mad Scottish Marxist called James Connolly….
After Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington attended a ball in Vienna. Upon his arrival, some French officers turned their backs on the conqueror of their emperor. When a woman apologized to the Duke for their rudeness, he replied:. ‘’Tis of no matter, Your Highness; I have seen
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There’s a nastiness here that is sad to read. Academics funded by the Dublin government to promote a #sharedisland should show a little more leadership and thought about being a role model that old tribal mud slinging. Where are the tweets about SF populism and duplicity?.
Woman who couldn’t resist the allure of the wingnuts in the ERG, trusted Boris Johnson, pushed and agitated for a hard Brexit against the wishes of the majority in NI, voted to make the UK a third country, *outraged* that UK is being treated like a third country!. Quantum Idiocy.
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Biden's paternal third great-grandfather, William Biden (1789–1849), was born in England and emigrated to the America,. According to historian Eddy Greenfield, he was born in Sussex, and was christened at St John the Baptist's Church… . 🙄😵💫🤔.
US President Joe Biden has sparked controversy for comparing the Israel-Palestine conflict with Britain’s violent past in Northern Ireland.
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Just found out someone who was about to buy a painting pulled out because they didn’t approve of my politics. 🤣. Discrimination is discrimination.
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