2009-04-15
post/96509634
quote 17:35:52
“ After decades of fear, death and destruction in Northern Ireland, neither side wants to return to those bad old days, but we’ll see — a new generation raised on hatred might not remember those days so well. ”
David Byrne, quoted by jim in austin.
I found the original piece to be full of simplifications (if I’m feeling generous; mistakes at worst). For example, it’s very bad on the history of the Reformation; the Ulster Protestants tend to be immigrants from Scotland, not England (and he’s poor on the chronology: a lot of that was in the 17th century), and the Troubles started with civil rights marches before the bombings really got going.
I’m uncomfortable with his conclusion, too. “In some ways the legality of the government here is hard to dispute” really does a disservice to a system designed to enforce consensus and ensure that, in a divided state, the executive has the support of well over two thirds of all voters.
