youngdan wrote:

I would imagine the army in Portugal is for the same reason as Ireland. It is for the protection of the state. The Irish Army is to protect the Irish State from internal forces that would try to overthrow it. What do you think it is for. Why would anybody want not to recognise this fact.

Youngdan, do you have a gun? Or know people who do? Who are those guns to be used against? People's families in case of domestic revolt?

Get this.

I received a hand written (address) letter (inkjet) form a person in Austria pleading with me to vote no in the referendum. Return address included. Went on about the Austrian Govt defying the wishes of 70% of the people to have a referendum. Mad. Never got a letter like that before. Sent from Vienna on May 5th.

EvotingMachine0197 wrote:

Get this.

I received a hand written (address) letter (inkjet) form a person in Austria pleading with me to vote no in the referendum. Return address included. Went on about the Austrian Govt defying the wishes of 70% of the people to have a referendum. Mad. Never got a letter like that before. Sent from Vienna on May 5th.

The Guardian ran a similar campaign during the 2004 US Presidential election.

They gave out the addresses of thousands of non-aligned registered voters in a polling distrct in Ohio. I wrote to one of them. I told him that the most emotional place I had ever been was Omaha Beach in Normandy, and that I hoped the US would once again become a becon for hope and freedom in a chaotic and dangerous world.

It didn't work.

I heard that there was an Austrian group asking us to vote no. Thought there were only about 80 of them, they must be hard workers if they are going to write to us all.

Ibis, have you lost the plot altogether. Accept the fact that the Irish army are there to prevent Irish militants from attacking the state. What do you think they are there for.

youngdan wrote:

Ibis, have you lost the plot altogether. Accept the fact that the Irish army are there to prevent Irish militants from attacking the state. What do you think they are there for.

Why do we have a naval service then?

Have the Provos decamped to some Waterworld-style fortress in the mid-Atlantic?

So the army is there to protect against the Provos and their ilk. Why could ye not admit the obvious at the start of the discussion.

youngdan wrote:

So the army is there to protect against the Provos and their ilk. Why could ye not admit the obvious at the start of the discussion.

This isn't a discussion as I understand the meaning of the word.

youngdan wrote:

So the army is there to protect against the Provos and their ilk. Why could ye not admit the obvious at the start of the discussion.

And isn't that important? We have democratic institutions to defend and we need armed forces as a last resort. I'm much more inclined to dealing with terrorists and enemies of the state through the courts, that way they don't turn into martyrs, but the steel of the armed forces should always be available to the Irish Government.

EvotingMachine0197 wrote:

Get this.

I received a hand written (address) letter (inkjet) form a person in Austria pleading with me to vote no in the referendum. Return address included. Went on about the Austrian Govt defying the wishes of 70% of the people to have a referendum. Mad. Never got a letter like that before. Sent from Vienna on May 5th.

Watch out - the next one will be looking for your bank details

youngdan wrote:

Ibis, have you lost the plot altogether. Accept the fact that the Irish army are there to prevent Irish militants from attacking the state. What do you think they are there for.

I'm with seinfeld on this one. Of course the Irish army is partly there to defend the (elected) government. Should it not be? Is that its only purpose?

As to the question about guns - I think the parallel is absolutely obvious. Do you buy a gun to use it, or do you buy a gun hoping never to use it?

Bambi's mother is listening intently for the answer to this one.

Helium Three wrote:

EvotingMachine0197 wrote:

Get this.

I received a hand written (address) letter (inkjet) form a person in Austria pleading with me to vote no in the referendum. Return address included. Went on about the Austrian Govt defying the wishes of 70% of the people to have a referendum. Mad. Never got a letter like that before. Sent from Vienna on May 5th.

Watch out - the next one will be looking for your bank details

Aye - it's pretty cheeky that they didn't offer you their deceased husband's life savings!

Here's the letter:

I altered my surname a tad .... for security reasons of course.



Hope ye can read it. Squinting is allowed.

Bigger.

Peculiar alright.

ibis wrote:

Peculiar alright.

ibis, sometimes you remind me of my father.

What you just said is almost exactly what he would say.

He would say ' That's peculiar' .

EvotingMachine0197 wrote:

ibis wrote:

Peculiar alright.

ibis, sometimes you remind me of my father.

What you just said is almost exactly what he would say.

He would say ' That's peculiar' .

For some reason I cannot for the life of me fathom, that's been a constant factor in my life since I was in my late teens.

Hmm.. I can only think of four possibilities here.

You are genuinely wise

You are perceived as wise

It's a big coincidence

EvotingMachine0197 wrote:

Hmm.. I can only think of four possibilities here.

You are genuinely wise

You are perceived as wise

It's a big coincidence

Have to go for the latter. No-one is wise when they're in their late teens. Well, except in a certain strawberries-on-the-cliff way.

The ugly truth is that the Irish Army is to protect the elected government and it's only realistic target are Irish rioters. The question about guns is easy. A law abiding citizen would buy a gun in the hope that he would never have to use it. A criminal buys a gun solely in the expectation that he will be using it in the commiting of a robbery or worse.

Kate P wrote:

Twice at Lisbon gigs I've heard Enda Kenny talk about what we'd be faced with if one million African men decided to come to Europe - how we'd cope from an immigration perspective, not how we'd defend ourselves against them.

really!

kate p you said you were a journalist who do you write for, still waiting to here about that new aprty and your inside track on libertas' thinking

youngdan wrote:

Ibis, have you lost the plot altogether. Accept the fact that the Irish army are there to prevent Irish militants from attacking the state. What do you think they are there for.

so why use em against protestors?

EvotingMachine0197 wrote:

Here's the letter:

I altered my surname a tad .... for security reasons of course.



Hope ye can read it. Squinting is allowed.

Why, the man can't capitalise! 'irish', the cheek. Damned Continentals can't write properly.

Anyway, no sources for the poll, which could have been taken in a pub for all we know. I urge you not to give in to emotional blackmail. Mad as badgers, the lot of 'em.

I do not have details of the Irish Army being used against the protestors but will try to look it up. They should not be used against protestors. 10000 of them could be decommissioned and 1000 would still be plenty.