A Tangled Web

According to today's Belfast Telegraph the Irish Government is to 'demand' clarification of health guidelines governing the operation of British Army masts in South Armagh. It goes on to say that 'residents in South Armagh see helicopter flights as unnecessary.'



Notwithstanding the fact that the Irish Government is yet again attempting to interfere in affairs governing a part of the United Kingdom that are beyond its remit (even under the failed Belfast Agreement), my initial reaction to the 'difficulties' experienced by the locals was one of utter contempt. Here we have a community that nurtured, harboured and supported the perpetrators of the Canary Wharf bomb whining incessantly about, inter alia, the health hazards and disruption associated with the Army's presence.



What about the general health of Inam Bashir and John Jeffries (the victims of Canary Wharf)? What about the disruption caused to daily lives by atrocities inflicted upon the innocents of Belfast, London, Deal, Aldershot, Warrington, Enniskillen and Osnabruk through thirty years of slaughter? Such hypocrisy is akin to keeping a great white shark in your swimming pool and then advising your offspring to avoid wading in the local river for fear of being attacked by a pike!!



My message to the people of South Armagh is: the so-called 'disruption' to your lives is caused by your own actions, beliefs, lifestyles and history. Perhaps when the locale stops being a breeding ground for some on the most heinous individuals anywhere in these islands, the Army will act accordingly.