The Return Of The Ra!

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) in all their prevalent splinter forms decided to don arms over the past couple of months. The killings of two British Army soldiers at the Massarreene Barracks in Co.Antrim and then the murder of the Catholic PSNI man Stephen Carroll sent a clear and concise message tot he people of the world and Gerry Adams was right: They're not gone away you know!



For decades hardened journalists became accustomed to reporting sectarian murders and bombs and all sorts of other guerrilla warfare orientated attacks. But now it seems the new and inexperienced journalists don't have much of a grasp on things.



For example on Sky News as the barracks shootings were breaking, Sky News thought it on themselves to have the words "Sinn Fein attacks barracks" on its little yellow ticker. Their are 2 sides to this : maybe it was a seasoned journalist having a probing jab at the former political wing of the Provos or maybe it was an inexperienced journalists thinking both the RIRA and the CIRA fall under the orders of Sinn Fein. I fear it may be the latter.



People , especially journalists, must wise up the on going political situation in Northern Ireland. Naivety may cause lives. Silly slanderous regards about ' legitimate' political parties must not be tolerated. People must read again and this develop their own solid factual knowledge of the situation up North.



Most editorials in both Irish and British newspapers read along the lines of 'let's not delve back into those dark, dark days. But there has never really been a light at the end of that proverbial sectarian trouble. The least a journalist can do is get his facts right and not get lost within his or her own uneducated analysis of a turbulent semi-state!