A poem from Francis Quinn.
Soul
From six foot deep came tall soldiers
Under a shadow of marble long bodies
Cast their feet in line forward into light
Where moon illuminates scars on Shoulders
Like bold welts on fossils of stone
Soul of the revolution in ground has
Become a new ray for freedom reach
Deep into earth give a hand to those who
Dare raise it for their own country's right to
Be the living reflection of those who died un-free
Pull them from sallow resting place
Lift their heads point them toward the sun
expose the misty unforgiving freaks who
Hide behind various crosses spuriously
Mocking those who didn't choose a last kiss.
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That's a thought-provoking piece and then some, excellent. 'While Ireland holds these graves...' Fitting too that it should appear here on Good Friday, the day of the crucifixion, because like Christ our Lord the resurrection of republicanism is as certain as the rising of the moon. We may be down but we're far from out. The martyrs who gave their lives for this country, in particular those who died in the last phase of the struggle, will prove to be a guiding light for those with that subtle determination alluded to in this poem that hope to pick up the mantle left by the Volunteers of Oglaigh na hEireann and fit together the scattered pieces left to us by treachery. Our day will still come, you can be sure of that. The job still needs doing, the struggle goes on... Let's build on the legacy bequeathed us by the brave men and women of the Provisional IRA and see this through, this time till the end
ReplyDeletethanks whoever u are for poem. and bres u always giv me hope.
ReplyDeleteGrouch, hope for what? You are not a republican remember!
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful piece of writing and as Sean says very poignant and relevant around this time.
ReplyDeleteThe night of the Tom William's play in the Crum I became very preoccupied with dead Republicans and how they might judge us.
I imagined those men who occupied those cells look on in horror as those who sold everything they held dear trooped up and down wringing every last drop from someone else's sacrifice.
Ode to the Quillers
ReplyDeleteThere once was a pensive quill,
where emotions would occasionally over spill.
They should all smoke some weed,
and take Hodgies lead.
Stop hating, stop yapping, just chill.
Frankie didn't have a clue,
About what he wanted Gerry to do.
Don't do time for mcconville??????
But do admit you're responsible?????
Because you'll only do a year or two??????
Then a girl named Fionnuala Perry,
clearly had it in for big Gerry.
She would think about him all day
in the most unusual way.
And now she's after Marty from Derry.
A smiling assassin named tain bo soon came.
He was friendly, then he tried to take aim.
But theres a new sheriff in town.
All bullshitters are going down.
He's a quick draw and mac tire's his name.
Perhaps not as eloquent as Francis' effort but I was inspired.
Mac Tire,
ReplyDeleteI have to be honest. It made me laugh.
Very good Mac. That's funny.
ReplyDeleteThere once was a shinner called Mactire.
ReplyDeleteWho thought his new found Republicanism set the world on fire.
For a while he was in clover
Then he released the Big Man screwed him over.
There once was a shinner called Mac Tire.
bob marley shot the sherriff, be careful mac tire, some smoker might smoke ya.
ReplyDeletemac tire, bres gives me hope full stop cuz he is a genuine mofo with balls of steel and speaks from the heart and not through a think tank.
ReplyDelete'Mocking those who didn't choose a last kiss' - very poignant finishing line. Don't know much about poetry but I can feel the heart that went into writing this and indeed the pain, the pain of someone who knows what it is to lose someone to the vicious campaign Britain waged against our people. It was terrorism and they had no right to it. Those who responded, those fine young men and women who stood in defence of our people, often did not return home. Their families, like them, never got to say goodbye. These men and women could have been anything, they were the pride of their communities and many had children who never got to know their daddy. They could have went on to achieve God only knows what in life but that was robbed from them by the British scumbags who came here and done what they done, those heinous killings like Loughall, Gibraltar, young Peter Cleary in South Armagh murdered in cold blood in front of his fiancée a week before their wedding, Dunloy, Drumnakilly, Pearse Jordan, the Head of the Town in Strabane, Gransha, Tony McBride, McElwaine and all those other fearless men and women we remember this Easter and every Easter. It's no wonder so many republicans are embittered by what has become of the republican struggle when you think of the huge sacrifice that was made. In particular I think of the young lads from my own county who were being butchered without mercy by the British war machine, out fighting for their lives and ours to achieve a military victory when those running the army had already abandoned the struggle without telling them. I often wonder how many of them were sacrificed to get them out of the road to pave a pathway towards ceasefire. Nothing any more would surprise me, there's simply nothing I wouldn't put past that immoral Belfast leadership. It's no wonder people are angry when you look at what the leadership are doing. Some of us accepted their strategy against our better judgement but we never signed up for this. Those like Anthony who left in 1998 called it right. What matters now though is that we put the last 15 years of betrayal and hurt behind us, accept where we are and rebuild. We need to reorganise and re-take republicanism and that struggle starts today - the future starts today
ReplyDeletesee what i mean mac tire
ReplyDeleteSean,
ReplyDeleteI must admit Mac Tire put together a good and very amusing piece. By his own admission not a patch on the poem by Francis but quite good.
I never was very good at understanding poetry. I never quite get it and usually find them heavy going.
That one was truly lovely though and I got the gist a bit better after you explained it.
Not much of a poetry buff myself. Agree with Sean Bres in general and with Fionnuala regarding mac tire's little ditty, very amusing. More easy for me to understand, if they don't rhyme I'm lost!
ReplyDeleteThe 'soul of the revolution' are the martyrs of Oglaigh na hEireann and their legacy is the 'new ray of freedom'. Their tremendous sacrifice is something that will always be there for us to build on. It's a very poignant piece but like yourself I find poetry difficult to get to grips with. Ultimately it's a call to a new generation to renew the struggle - at least that's my understanding of it. It speaks about the treachery of 'misty unforgiving freaks who hide behind crosses' which I read as the Adams leadership and their loyalists attempting to usurp our martyred dead for their own narrow ends now at Easter - and them fresh from their sojourn to Windsor House. This is especially important to us here in Tyrone though no doubt it applies across the board. The 'scars on shoulders' I interpret as the pain of Volunteers who gave their utmost to drive Britain out of this country, those who watched their family and friends gunned down by cowards hiding in ditches or by proxies of the state operating with all its resources, many of whom backed the leadership and believed their lies only to see how it's all turned out. The man who wrote it has clearly experienced all of this firsthand, the more I read that the more haunting it becomes. Thankfully the idea that we will rise again pervades throughout so that's what I will choose to take from this brilliant piece. Rise and rise again because as Bobby said it's then we will see the rising of the moon. Tiocfaidh ar la and a very happy Easter Nuala, hope to maybe see you at our Spring Conference
ReplyDeleteThe same to yourself Groucho I meant to add
ReplyDeleteFionnuala I'm glad you said that, I've never understood poetry either.
ReplyDeleteFrankie,
ReplyDeleteGot a few slaps in school over the old poetry which made me dislike it all the more.
We never covered stuff like Heaney, who I thought was one of the easier to understand. It was Wilfred Owen and Tennyson and I never had a clue.
Thr only memory i have of English Litt. classes Fionnuala was when the my class had to read Danny the Champion of the world by Roald Dahl. I loved that book. If I had to make a desert island ten book list. That'd be in the top three.
ReplyDeleteMac Tire, you sometimes sound more like Texas Red than a man with tin badge. And remember one day you could meet a ranger with a big iron on his hip...
Frankie,
ReplyDeleteI loved the classics and I must admit to loving Shakespeare, well some of it!
But was a class dunce at poetry I think that's why I never really liked it because I always seemed to get it wrong.
I remember when my son was doing his A levels he produced a book which broke down the meaning of hundreds of poems.
Why could they not of had them thirty years earlier lol?
I'm glad some of you enjoyed my wee poem and I'm delighted that you all took it in the light hearted spirit that it was intended.
ReplyDeleteFionnuala - That wasn't a bad effort at all! You'd need to be careful though with that poetry or the "limerick faction" of the Continuity IRA might try to recruit you!
Frankie - that was an enjoyable wee tune. Marty Robbins is some operator. Can't beat "el paso." By the way I can't believe I'm the black hat of the story!
Grouch - no
Happy easter folks!
mac tire
ReplyDeletequestion: how many psfers does it take to change a lightbulb?
answer: you'll have to ask their think tank on ligtbulbs first.
i think Fionnuala people either 'get' poetry or they don't. We don't. To me poets are like Monet, Van Gough etc. I've never understood art work either. That goes over my head too. But for what ever reason Danny the champion of the world is the only fiction book I've read that I can remember anything about. I only read it once in in my life at school.
ReplyDeleteMac tire,
ReplyDeleteA very happy Easter to you also.
Frankie,
We got by this far. We can always wait to hear what someone else comments and join in lol.
Mac Tire,
ReplyDeletemay I suggest a reading list of poems that may help you with your musing?
The Devine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
Beowulf author unknown
Metamorphoses by Ovid
The Odyssey by Homer
The Iliad by Homer
Don Juan by Lord Byron
The Aeneid by Virgil
Paradise Lost by John Milton
Thanks for the mention.
His name is Mac Tire and he’s here to say
God Save the Queen on this Banquet day
Polishing his star to the Tuxedo Red White and Blues
Another example of a piss poor Bard
Who follows his leaders as he tries so hard?
To convince himself of his poor wit
Like all Sinn Feiners full of shite
Toast your queen it’s your Sinn Fein right
It’s Easter Sunday, now Eraser Day
As Sinn Fein chant “God Save the Queen”
And Feck the IRA
Sheriff Mac has nothing to say
Talking tough about those auld days
When Sinn Fein yelled “Up the IRA”
Confusing times where traitors feed
From the table where they concede
Victory to the Banquet Men,
God Save the Queen and number 10
Victory to the Banquet men
Erase the memory of the other 10
Let’s have peace, watch the party grow
The new seeds of plantation Sinn Fein sew
The pockets of their great coats full of cash
And this is why they burnt the Kesh?
As young Mac thinks poems need rhyme
Not a word about Banquet time
Nothing wrong to toast their Queen
Raise the Orange kill off the Green
Nothing wrong living in their UK
The commonwealth is on its way
Victory to the Banquet Men
On this Eraser day
Feck the people
Feck our dead
Fecked the nation once again
All glory and grace with the Queens own Sinn Fein
Praise be to the party
Praise be Mac Tire
Praise to the Banquet Men
Feck the Men Behind the Wire.
Cáisc shona duit.
Tain Bo,
ReplyDeleteBrilliant. I knew someone would step up to the plate with something quite good but didn't expect something that good.
Frankie,
ReplyDeleteMaybe we are not cultured enough?
As I said I learnt more about poetry through my son and the same with art.
The whole style of teaching them to learn about such things was very different from how I was taught.
In my day you were handed a sheet with the poem and were then asked your opinion.
At that stage I always knew I was in trouble.
Later on kids were taught about tone and style, mood and setting, genre and even the history of the poet, painter and author.
I'm not saying it left them experts, but it stops someone wanting to take flight every time a poem is mentioned.
Now that's what I call a retort... Pure magic Tain, maith thu
ReplyDeleteSean,
ReplyDeletetá fáilte romhat!
Nuala,
ReplyDeleteI thought why not respond in kind considering young Mac decided to reveal his more sensitive side and grace the Quill with his wee poem.
Ta, very much, it was off the cuff with not much thought.
My apology to the late Seamus Heaney for mutilating his very poignant line:
“The pockets of our greatcoats full of barley...”
I had reservation about posting it here as it took away from the original poem.
nice one tain dain, and heaney was overrated in my humble opinion.
ReplyDeleteMac , so don't think you are a Texas Red. Then maybe you should the advice Billy Joes mother gave him and don't take your guns to town when you come riding into the TPQ saloon with your tin badge. There is no need to behave like a long tall texan. You wont find any outlaws here.
ReplyDeleteTain bo I don't think your poem took any thing away from Francis poem. If I read Francis poem in a collection of poems, it could be about any war, I find it hard to picture in my mind the images the poet is talking about. If I listen to a song like foggy dew. I can picture marching men, the dew lifting...
As down the glen one Easter morn
To a city fair rode I
There Armed lines of marching men
In squadrons passed me by
No fife did hum nor battle drum
Did sound it's dread tattoo
But the Angelus bell o'er the Liffey swell
Rang out through the foggy dew
Happy easter folks...
Tain bo,
ReplyDeleteWhat you lack in natural talent, you certainly make up for in time and effort!
My poem was written in jest by the way, I hope I didn't offended you.
And thanks for the poem :-)
One week on this place and I have had poetry written about me. I must be doing something right! Hahahaha. I shant be responding with another poem for fear of turning this site into some sort of republican 8 mile rap battle!
Frankie, well f**k you anyway...I've been listening to Marty Robbins all day here! I'm not clicking on any more of your links!
Oh and just for the record tain bo, Mac Tíre is pronounced "Mac cheera" and not "Mac tyre." If you are going to be telling your friends and family about this new authority on TPQ who you have been writing poetry for, I'd appreciate it if you pronunced my name correctly! Lol. I joke! ;-)
If you are going to be telling your friends and family about this new authority on TPQ...
ReplyDeleteMac who do you think you are? A big boss man (he was just long and tall)..Remember the running gun wasn't that quick of the draw..
I knew someday I'd meet him, for his hand like lightning flashed
My own gun stood in leather as his bullet tore its path
As my strength was slowly fading, I could see him walk away
And I knew that where I lie today, he too must lie some day
Mac last songs....
ReplyDeleteBy the looks of things Gerry is a wanted man and he could end up being a lonesome fugitive.
If he is arrested and charged and found guilty he'll be singing I got stripes and not always look on the brightside. There wont be any POW status awarded.. He'll be labeled a criminal in the same way as PSF are labeling republicans today.
Frankie,
ReplyDeleteI think you answered your own question as you have mentioned before how much you love music it is a mainstay or constant in your life.
Music brings the words to life animating whatever meaning they bring to the listener.
Poetry is more introspectively silent a sheet of paper with some words that don’t make much sense like a mental jigsaw you have to put together before your own translation begins to make some resemblance of an understanding.
The last verse of Soul:
Restore them to their rightful place of honour
Point them towards the sun (the light, the truth)
Uncover the truth unmask those who hide behind crosses (“double crosses” not the traditional cross although that is included.)
Laughing at the fools who did not compromise
Dying for freedom selflessly (or, selfishly in the light of things, duped, used as pawns believing they were fighting the good fight to free themselves, their families and their people.)
Others may see different but then it all comes down to self interpretation in a cold dry format whereas music is alive.
It is funny how you are making simple understandable points through music that the Young Turk admits he can’t follow.
ReplyDeleteGrouch,
all poets are overrated myself I prefer the classical poets.
Mac Tire,
ReplyDeleteta, although your ditty was funny, another higher Sheriff commented elsewhere foaming at the mouth was clearly annoyed by the Quill.
Amusingly enough he described here as something along the line of Mackers and his merry men all twelve of them.
I don’t think he seen the religious irony on Eraser day and the number 12.
I assume that would make Anthony Jesus after all Christ only needed 12 apostles which in turn would make the high priests of SF the law in their not so great Sanhedrin answerable only to the Romans who in this case would be the Brits.
Anyway if you are reading thanks for the Eraser day laugh as indeed we are merry.
We don’t need a Royal Banquet for our merriment.
No matter, I can’t remember it verbatim as the other craic was more interesting.
You always seem a tad on the side of paranoid I said thanks for the mention in your wee poem. A few minutes of not thinking and now you are a legend on the Quill.
Funny as I am not up to date with the lingo though since you dropped out of the no contest “rap” battle I suppose you got schooled by an auld fart.
Mac it would be grand if my life was so mundane that all I had to live for is talking about you beyond the Quill.
The novelty wore of the cages are all calmed down now you are a dedicated part of the Quill furniture.
Thanks for filling me in as for the now it is Mac Cheerio young chap, toodle pip old bean and god save your Queen.
Mac Tire,
ReplyDeleteIf the original poem is beyond your comprehension just say.
Your little 'ditty' as Larry called it used us all and we all acknowledged that fact.
Tain Bo responded with one a step up in stature and we applauded that also.
Still think it was your way of kopping out and no dealing with the original.
Nuala,
ReplyDeletethe last line of "Soul" is exactly what Mac was doing he enjoys the attention he gets here but should keep in mind the novelty wore off and the boredom sets in the repetitive SF rhetoric is nothing new.
What I fail to grasp is why these people are so loyal to SF and can’t accept others don’t smell the roses in their English garden.
The original poem is beyond my comprehension...just saying!
ReplyDeleteTain bo there are only so many different ways to express your hatred for Gerry Adams and Sinn Féin!
ReplyDeleteYou might want to keep in mind how the boredom sets in because the repetitive anti-SF rhetoric is nothing new either!
Without this boring, unoriginal, uninspired and predictable topic you lot would have nothing to talk about. There are people on this site, politically and ideologically opposed, who share nothing more than a hatred and anger towards the Republican Movement, in particular it's leadership.
Slán tain bo you auld fart! :-)
Mac Tire,
ReplyDeleteYou should of said you found it difficult just as Frankie and I both said.
Sean Bres explained it quite eloquently for us all .
Failing that my son could explain it to you just as he had to explain the whole Sinn Fein water charge debacle to ( nice but very dim ) Maskey,
Correction Young Turk you assume I “hate” the party I am merely indifferent and predisposed to the unexplainable ideology of “throwaway republicanism.”
ReplyDeleteIn order for your view to work I would have at first a need to form a personal attachment to the party.
I said before I have never been a supporter of SF or any other political party.
I dislike stepping in dog shite but am fond of dogs should I assume the dog left it there deliberately knowing I would walk on it?
Should I hate dogs for crapping in the street dogs being the descendants of the “Wolfe” should I hate you for crapping on the Quill?
This site seems to agitate the very sensitive peace loving never backed the violence party.
No one forces you to trudge through the Quill if you are offended that is your own emotional dilemma.
I shall break the bad news to you when I close the page on the Quill that other pesky thing kicks in and politicking is over. The monotonous routine one falls into generally referred to as living.
I think about the party leaders about as much as I think about Charles Harding Smith or Gusty Spence.
But, then, that is not the issue is it? I have a sneaking suspicion “you got schooled by an auld fart” in your imaginary rap contest translated into modern lingo was taken as me being disrespectful.
Keep flying the flag and believe I hate the party I prefer to make believe it is critical deconstruction of a party gone rogue.
Whilst you and the party are entitled to write, say, think what you please, please extend the same right to others. (Fascism always dictates that people are not clever enough to form their own opinions.)
You display little confidence in the party when you reduce a debate to one word “hate” you should be more lenient towards us children of a lesser god.
The party will have to do without me pining for them and by the way obsessions ‘can be very unhealthy.
Until the next time Young Turk as for the now a greater authority is calling and I have to go and see what she has added to my list of faults today I thank SF and their supporters for my counter measure I stand there blank faced and nod my head saves a lot of headaches admittedly she is intellectually superior.
Enjoy Mac
mac tire, who do u think u are coming on here and saying people on this site are motivated by hatred. go fu*k urself. also u are well deluded if you think u are part of some 'republican movement'. a bowel movement maybe. ur leadership are cynical control freaks who never had a republican bone in their bodies. your beloved leader-for-life thinks rockefeller wannabe slob murphy is a good republican and brendan hughes is a liar. martin mcguinness is a dodgy joke. the rest of them are bullshitters. i hate no-one except the guy who scratched my saab convertible. go back and look at the backlog of articles on this site and you will see the people here hate doublespeak and lies and treachery. the legitimate and genuine republican leadership were shafted at the 'gerry' mandered ard fheis of 86 by the same goons who shafted eire nua because it was a sop to unionism. u cudnt make it up. thats before your time by the sound of you. go to youtube and watch o bradaighs speech at that ard fheis and then watch macguinness speech. then watch o bradaighs funeral and then watch martin suckinng eggs in windsor.
ReplyDeletei would actually love to see some cumann in your beloved party proposing a vote of no confidence in ur leadership. republicans who died while this current leadership were at their scheming might stop spinning in their graves then.
Tain bo, I guess music has been a constant in my life since I was 7 or 8 yrs old. I discovered my daddy's record collection around that age. Could be like you say that sometimes you have to ponder on the words and interpet them. To me it's like Picasso & cubism they look like they were painted by someone smoking weed singing little boxes
ReplyDeleteDon't concern yourself grouch. Let us republicans debate it out amongst ourselves! When Fionnuala, Gerard Hodgins or AM post at least they have the courage of their convictions and back it up with a history of republicanism. When the likes of you and Larry take umbrage with the direction the majority of republicans have taken I can't help but switch off.
ReplyDeleteYears ago, in the run up to the ceasefire, there was a public meeting organised, by the republican movement, to try to empower the people of the community to tackle the anti social problems that existed at the time. One overzealous fella stood up and, in front of a packed hall, challenged the members of the movement who were chairing the meeting about what they were or were not doing. When they asked him what he wanted he said he wanted offenders shot. When the guy chairing the meeting asked him his name and told him the movement would call to his house later that night to provide him with a weapon he promptly sat down. True story.
Grouch you are that guy!
Grouch,
ReplyDeleteI went on the Sinn Fein site a few weeks ago to read what the party faithful were saying about the Royal visit.
I went on and put forward a few comments and for a while there was a reasonable exchange.
Reasonable until I asked some pertinent questions and the whole post 'Unbowed and unbroken' was taken down,
The entire post all comments, shinners an all !!!
That's how they treat dissenting voices and he's on here spouting about 'hatred'
At least he got his say, even if it bordered between the ludicrous to the tedious.
Mac Tire,
ReplyDeleteWhere was the meeting? All sounds a bit fanciful!
Better still who was the chair.
A few I attended were chaired by Dennis Donaldson.
Need we proceed?
Anyway, we are still waiting to hear you thoughts on the initial poem?
Mac Tire , do you think that everyone in the movement should be a soldier, or do you agree with Bobby Sands that each has their part to play? If your anecdote is true, its still absurd (and unrepublican) to think that someone who hadn't been green booked should be asked, after giving their name in a public meeting, to shoot someone. It was eminently sensible to reject that offer.
ReplyDelete."Years ago, in the run up to the ceasefire, there was a public meeting ".
ReplyDeleteWhich ceasefire Mac, the 1994 or the 1997 one?
"By my maths I can also work out that I was a child when the peace process came into being. "
The peace process came into being sometime around 1987/88.By my maths you were either close to 6yrs or age or 9-10years old when you seen a republican 'conspiring' to shoot someone. Have you informed to the PSNI yet? If not why not?
Whats this all about?
"When Fionnuala, Gerard Hodgins or AM post at least they have the courage of their convictions and back it up with a history of republicanism. When the likes of you and Larry take umbrage"
I don't come from a republican back ground and I could list lots of TPQ-ers who don't have a republican back ground either but are prepared to stand over their convictions..
As for you taking umbrage at peoples opinions...That's almost as funny as holding people to account. Any more of your lip and I'll dedicate this song to you. You are starting to sound like one.
Fionnuala,
ReplyDeleteThe meeting was in Conway Mill.
I won't be naming the chair, but it wasn't Donaldson.
I still haven't formulated an opinion on the original poem.
DaithiD,
I agree with Bobby that everyone has their part to play and it is true that a guerilla army cannot survive without the popular support of the people. Of those who never had a volunteers role, the people I respect the most are the likes of the kind old lady/cantankerous old man/young professional in every area who keep themselves to themselves,never went near a republican parade and who don't shout and ball about their beliefs. The only time we hear of their endeavours is whenever they are given the honour of a tricolour draped coffin. Unsung heroes, who never sought out the limelight,and who never cast aspersions on those who put their lives on the line. They worked within their own limits by providing safe houses and holding gear amongst other things.
My anecdote is a true story. I don't believe the offer was genuine but was rather a way of illustrating the man's hypocrisy. He wanted people shot but was unwilling to get his own hands dirty. There are many like him. Anyway this captured my young imagination and it is why I have such strong beliefs on such matters now.
I seem to be the only one here who takes umbrage with such hypocrisy so let me offer the following example to explain my grievances.
Imagine you live in Australia and you have spent years handling the world's deadliest rattle snakes. One bite results in instant death. Every time a neighbour finds one of these serpents out their back or in their house they phone you, and you go and remove it for them. They phone you because they don't want to die and yet they don't want their lives and the lives of their children disrupted by the occupation of these snakes. Now years pass and constantly risking your life for your neighbours begins to take its toll because no matter how many snakes you remove,more turn up. At the same time a new revolutionary and safe solution to remove the snakes and keep them away permanently is found. So the next time your neighbour phones you,you explain the situation. Your neighbour goes into a rage,because he has to wait for this new system to begin to work. He calls you a coward and tries to goad you into going out to remove the snakes which would put your life in danger once again. If you were that snake handler, would you go out and remove the snake, or wait for the new solution to work, or would you tell your neighbour to go out and remove them himself?
Frankie,
ReplyDeleteI don't recall which ceasefire or my exact age,but I was very young.
No I haven't informed the PSNI,and had they marched an offender into the room and shot the fucker there and then in front of us all, I wouldn't have informed either.
I wonder would the guy calling for the action have informed if enough pressure was applied. I imagine the sight of blood,sinew and pieces of kneecap can shake a persons beliefs, especially if their conviction is not strong enough for them to carry out the deed themselves in the first place.
Anyway Frankie,maybe this is where my republican background and your lack of one separates our thinking.
Mac Tire,
ReplyDeleteI attended those meetings in Conway Mill I could tell you now who the panel was and there wasn't a chair as such.
Mc Guinness was the main speaker that day just as he was in the PD.
That incident never happened while I was there!
I remember a meeting in the Felons prior to that which was dealing with Anti Social stuff but again I don't remember anyone offering to arm anyone, even in a flippant context.
The poem is the essence of the thread so you should offer at least a slight comment.
Mcguinness wasn't at the meeting I attended. It was a local meeting organised to try to give local people the confidence to take back ownership of their local community in the face of ongoing anti-social behaviour. With the greatest of respect to mcguinness, what business would a Derry man have being there! The incident happened whether you wish to believe it or not.
ReplyDeleteIt was the same meeting where bizarrely the local people called for the removal of all press from the hall against the advise of the organisers. When the press were removed there was an applause of jubiliation by the people there. I didn't understand it, but was initially caught up in the cheering before it was quickly explained to me that the removal of the press was counter productive to the attempts to show the hoods that the people were rallying against them. Both these incidents at that meeting have been etched in my mind.
Perhaps that second incident will jog your memory.
The poem is beyond my comprehension!...how then could I possibly comment?
This 'Mac Tire' is a complete fantasist, can't believe the amount of attention and effort you's are wasting on this dickhead. He's here for the purpose of distracting people while getting a kick out of winding you's up - like his predecessor McIvor. His stories don't match up so why bother with the clown, you're more than likely dealing with an arsehole like that scumbag disinformation merchant McLarnon than this supposed teenage kid searching for debate on republicanism. You're dealing with a professional disinformer who probably works out of a desk up at Stormont or worse still Palace Barracks
ReplyDeleteMac Tire
ReplyDeleteIf you attended those meetings then your not that young.
They started twenty years ago and continued for quite a while.
Why was Mc Guinness at community meetings? Why indeed but he was and he was in attendance at quite a few.
Blood, sinew and kneecaps was the height of some of their Republican careers. No danger involved there unless you miss of course.
Fionnuala,
ReplyDeleteI never claimed I was young, at one stage I simply accepted that I was probably younger than most here. Indeed in my late 20s, I am an old horse by republican standards and feel very much so when I look at the latest generation that we have coming through. Frankie knows the maths, talk to him.
Sean bres,
It would seem I've touched a nerve! Most here would like to think that I was a "professional disinformer" however I don't reckon they believe it for one second.
Mac Tire,
ReplyDeleteThose meetings which were PAC meeting started in 1992 two years pre ceasefire! That was 22 years ago.
It's very appropriate that you brought this time up and it has a link with the poem.
It was around that time that the betrayal seeped out from the confines of the movement into the public domain.
In a way it spelt the death knell of Republicanism as we knew it.
Frankie,
ReplyDeleteI haven’t heard Little Boxes in years as for Picasso smoking weed I don’t know.
Analytic and the later synthetic cubist paintings are interesting as they avoid traditional reality using geometrical shapes and lines along with neutral colours as they evolved so did the technique even adding text. The paintings look more like a collage.
Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending the Stairs looks like motion.
Odd enough Georges Braque the cofounder of Cubism started out as a house painter.
In that sense smoking weed fits the bill as they altered the state of reality.
I would think the Dadaists wouldn’t have said no to a toke along with the surrealists perhaps something a little stronger than weed.
The Dadaists art movement was technically anti art or at least anti the intellectual rigidity of art but more importantly they railed against the bourgeois nationalist and imperialists interests. I think the last of Neo Dadaists fell off the earth in 2002.
If you read some of the arguments in the art world your head starts to melt.
The same applies to music and its own complicated history. As with anything art it like us evolves and changes.
hey mac tired of u now,
ReplyDeletedoubtful it was me, i am based in the shoneen town of galway, wasnt ever a great man for meetings and still amnt.
"When the guy chairing the meeting asked him his name and told him the movement would call to his house later that night to provide him with a weapon he promptly sat down. True story."
heres another true story for you mac tire, that fuc*ing smart arse chairing the meeting then proceeded to hand over all those weapons to be destroyed. the only army in the world to hand over their weapons and then betray everything people fought for. i guess he looks more dumb now than the guy he put down. personally, the only armed struggle i believe in now is the arms on the end of my shoulders and i wud luv to slap a few people i used to know around the lugs. i was never too hard on hoods either. seeing as its easter - i mean the first person to follow Jesus into paradise was a hood and he was the only one who showed him any respect that day. as for this comment - "When the likes of you and Larry take umbrage with the direction the majority of republicans have taken I can't help but switch off."
the last person i heard use the phrase 'take umbrage' was someone on upstairs downstairs. and im glad youve lumped me in with larry, hes the soundest non-republican on this site.
okay, you can switch off now.
Can I shoot the sheriff?
ReplyDeleteGroucho,
ReplyDeleteUpstairs Downstairs that was a cracker I forgot about that stuck up Brit show!
Mac Tire,
ReplyDeleteRattle Snakes are a poor example of deadly snakes I think the Aussies might be more concerned with the common death Adder or the Australian Brown Snake which will stand its ground chances are if one bites a person then if they don’t receive medical treatment right away its lights out.
Is it the venomous snakes that people fear or the lethal heavily modified saliva which has a more practical use and wasn’t designed for biting humans?
It just happens to be their bread and butter considering they swallow their prey whole that might prove tricky if they didn’t paralyze or kill prey outright and with some toxins it actually is part of the digestion process.
I can’t remember but I think the deadliest snake is aquatic if I remember I will look it up.
Rattle Snakes prefer to avoid confrontation hence the rattle being a warning.
I have tried to understand your ST, Patrickesque analogy but haven’t a clue.
Who exactly are the snakes what is the solution it rings of other historical solutions.
Mac,
ReplyDeleteThis meeting you are talking about. Where the press removed before or after the 'gun' event?..
I never claimed I was young, at one stage I simply accepted that I was probably younger than most here. Indeed in my late 20s, Frankie knows the maths, talk to him.
That makes you what 28/29 yrs old today..means my maths aren't far of the mark.
Tain thanks for that wee lesson, you're like a slightly less capable steve irwin. You get my analogy though despite your denials! You get it all too well! The snakes don't simply represent the brits. They do, but they are much more. They also represent every bomb a volunteer ever drove to its destnation not knowing if it would go off prematurely,every brit checkpoint they drove through with a trunk full of gear and basically every tight or nerve wrecking situation they ever felt themselves in not knowing if they were going to die or go to jail. The animal in my story is irrelevant and merely symbolic. Ok lets keep things simple for you my zoological chum, lets say its the australian brown snake in question.
ReplyDeleteWould you step into the breach or wait for someone else to do it? I think we both know the answer to that.
DaithiD,
take your best shot a chara!
Mac Tire,
ReplyDeleteI am more puzzled than before the snakes are the Brits and the bombs?
Wild stab in the dark does that make the volunteers the snake handlers as heroic as you make it sound you have a very callous contempt for the innocent civilians who had no interest in stepping into the breach.
What description or reptile would you give to those innocent Catholics and Protestants caught up in a bomb?
Are you using the transitive properties of math to enhance your own bravery?
Do you know a few bombers therefore granting yourself the same status by the transitive properties of math or are you just saying you admire the dedication of the honest volunteers?
You see Mac when you speak like Confucius riddles are not so clear.
I had a good friend who found himself as you say in a tight spot I suppose the nervous energy stored gushed out even before he was behind a desk.
Sang like a canary which was of little consequence as a higher vulture had already compromised those involved.
Somehow I doubt the families of those killed and maimed would agree with your riddle.
Evidently you admit the campaign was wrong as a new solution works better again using the transitive values of math that would mean all the volunteers were wrong which in turn would make the leadership wrong and accountable for misleading and misguiding those under their command.
So as SF intellectually struggled with the idea of engaging in constitutional politics and couldn’t make up their mind in the meantime they needed a hobby or distraction to avoid the pragmatic solution that was there all along yet decided that the bombings and murders would suffice until they could establish the party.
By your own new solution theory it wasn’t new all they had to do in the 70s was do what they done decades later.
All you are basically saying is the volunteers were cannon fodder for the new solution.
I take it that makes Sinn Fein the more lethal snake injecting its venom into the RM paralyzing the RM shedding their skin and slithering about as neo republicans.
Nah, Young Turk I just don’t see the logic in SF the solution was always there though SF was not confident would they have the support so the conflict raged on. They found a footing during the Hunger Strike and with a little back door advice they were on their way regardless of the lives it would take for them to achieve the party’s goal.
I take it then if your party decided back to war tomorrow lads you would be at the fore?
Tain bo,
ReplyDeleteWHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT??? hahahahaha
Mac Tire,
ReplyDeleteYoung Turk I will answer your question with your own words.
“I think we both know the answer to that.”
I forgot I was talking to a neo republican and as Bangers would say it is too confusing. I would have better chance clairvoyantly communicating with Rin Tin Tin.
Study math Young Turk but then SF don’t like when things add up.
You had me fooled I thought you were a wise man I think I will rename you Zebedee as you pop up from your SF box now don’t get confused that would be Zebedee from the Magic Roundabout and not Zebedee the father of two of the disciples.
Pardon me for having interests that exclude promoting rhetoric.
If you read some of the arguments in the art world your head starts to melt.
ReplyDeleteThe same applies to music and its own complicated history. As with anything art it like us evolves and changes.
The art world is lost on me Tain. Marcel Duchamp, Georges Braque...never heard of them. The enemy loves art. She'd spent hours in Louvre. To me a painting is a painting..
Now music I understand, I can remember some of the heads I went to school with and they'd go an listen to some chart show on a Tuesday (think it was Tuesday, could have been Monday) at 1pm to hear who was n°1 at the time. I'd be counting down the minutes to go home so I could listen to Jimmy Rodgers
Here is an uncomplicated history of rock'n'roll ...
Frankie,
ReplyDeleteta, I had never heard of Jimmy Rodgers but definitely got into it the history is fascinating a lot of artists I had never heard of.
It is odd to think they made music for the love of it and how big business corrupted that and by today’s standards whatever they call the noise they rake in millions.
A more honest sound with the likes of Jimmy Rodgers now that I could follow I suppose rock n roll was uncomplicated until big business took it over.
“I’d rather drink muddy water and sleep in a hollow log.” I will spend more time listening to the earlier artists.
I would have been one of those who watched Top of The Pops and all that number one caper I think that was on Thursday night but the best part was Led Zep’s whole lotta love as the intro and Pans People the dancers.
Odd enough my interest in art began as a nipper I would take my Father’s bible out of the wardrobe and lug this big book up to my room and flick through the pages with the art works and was just fascinated by them.
Like your enemy, I admit spending a few hours in museums and have a collection of art related books.
A painting is just a painting but worse just like music is corrupted with its numerical value so is art.
Funny enough when you made the Picasso smoking weed singing little boxes I was rereading Jacques Derrida’s The Truth In Painting and wondered what it would be like having a toke and reading this philosophical essay. Ah, maybe one day but if I have a question about rock n roll I know who to ask.
In my book you are a sound man Frankie keep firing up the music links to make a point as it is a good distraction from the politics.
And they say I am "a complete pompous pretentious bore."
ReplyDeleteWhile we have tain bo giving it the amateur art critic routine on a blog called "the pensive quill."
And yeah Frankie keep putting up the music...it's like "hearts and minds" meets "top of the pops!"
ReplyDeleteTain,
ReplyDeleteI Wasn't much into TOTP's..but I will admit Pans People had great legs... Jimmy Rodgers is a legend. Here is Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash singing the same song for fun. A classic by Jimmy was TB Blues . Jimmy sang about himself when he was dying of TB.. Some of lines go like this...
My good gal's trying to make a fool out of me
Lord my gal's trying to make a fool out of me
Trying to make me believe I ain't got that old T.B.
How many people do 'you' know today for example dying of a terminal illness and 'you've' done exactly the same (trying to take their family member or friends mind away from their illness by making jokes etc?)
A few years ago Nirvana had a hit with 'baby where did you sleep last night' and a lot of people where saying 'Wow, a great song Kurt has recorded etc.." I was pointing out it's a cover by Huddie leadbetter from way back yonder. And they were going "Who Frankie?"
The Creedence Clear Waters hit (like The Midnightnight Special ) Cotton Fields. Cotton Fileds was a originally recorded by Leadbelly. One of the songs I dedicated to the 'young turk' (I put up the man in blacks version) I got stripes was an old leadbelly standard..
Take Elvis..in 1954 he hammers out Big Boy Crudups Thats alright and then on his Vegas stage show's in 1970's he opens with CC Rider an old Leadbelly song .. Although from what I've read Elvis based his version more on the Chuck Willis record
Tain I know you, like Anthony enjoy a bit of led Zepplin.. Here's Robert and boys covering Elvis songs...
I'll never hang up my rock'n'roll shoes , 'cause I like old time rock'n'roll too much.
I guess a lot of the music I listen to is simply poetry put music that has soul....
Right tain bo, now it's your turn. Act like you give a shit what frankie is talking about and then tell us all about the paintings again! And if you wouldn't mind could you link in some images to back up your arguments. I think it would make them all the more convincing!
ReplyDeleteTain Bo,
ReplyDeletePlease don't answer the shinner bot as people are calling them as in robot !!
Couldn't offer one iota of a comment on the poem.
He's a wind up merchant who has such great credentials he hides them lol.
Young Turk? I think turd is more apt. Soft, sloppy and spreads it's own putrid ness and of course sticks to rear ends.
Frankie,
ReplyDeletecan’t fault you on the TOTPs it was mostly rubbish but passed a half hour. After grunge rock faded out I lost interest in popular music.
I got the familiar ones even Leadbelly (or, at least I had heard of him) as for the rest had no idea they existed.
The TB Blues powerful facing his own end through a song talk about honest heartfelt music. I didn’t get the same vibe from the Cash, Dylan version.
I think most of us do that as we all know there is nothing else you can do but banter on about this and that hoping to distract minds away from the end for a few minutes.
I assume most of us like Johnny Cash I didn’t know that was a Leadbelly original and odd enough for me I liked it better.
Never did like the Elvis sound nor his showman get ups and always wanted to punch him with that snarling lip bit.
Couldn’t hack the Led Zep covers of Elvis had to give that a miss as it made no audible sense to me.
I will find one of those internet radio stations that play the earlier sounds.
I think you are making a convert out of me I liked rock n roll but never got into the origins and history of it.
It looks a lot different but is slowly making more sense. It certainly is poetry with a lot of depth and soul.
Thanks again mate now I have some newer to me old sounds to play away in the background.
Nuala,
ReplyDeleteI got a laugh at the young turd have no intentions of entertaining him I took his own advice and it is the soundest advice a Shin has ever spoken “ignore me” anyways, I was caught up in Frankie’s links thinking I knew something about rock n roll but got schooled.
Apparently having non SF interests is frowned upon and worse having a bit of friendly non political banter seems to have made him more irate and demanding he can rattle away I already have had my existential meltdown this decade.
Funny though one of Frankie’s links TB Blues my Mother as a child had TB came close to death but fortunately streptomycin was available.
Maybe the computer generations relate differently but I still find myself sitting with a book listening to my wee transistor radio.
There is a world of education on the web that would have been handy back then. High Definition TV, streaming TV, and far too many channels, I was arguing with a mate about the old black and white telly trying to remember what time it started and ended at now he’s a telly eejit and blames his missus for his viewing habits.
Then again he did a hard stretch so I slag him about making up for lost telly time.
Anyways Nuala ta very much I appreciate your sound advice.
My regards to you and your family
well said non-comrade perry, hey mac tire, uve a bee in ur bonnet, what happened to the sharp shootin sheriff, hav u decommissioned too.
ReplyDeleteTain Bo,
ReplyDeleteIt's not like me to give good advice! I just don't think he's worth the effort more a drain than a pain.
Best wishes to your family as well .
Grouch
Non comrade status the only way to go.
yes, the non-membership has been expanding rapidly in recent months, but because they are non-members i dont have any figures or know exactly just how big of a mass non-movement we are. we could also be an international thing too for all i know. its great not knowing - we could be huge in some small country in asia or africa. exciting times indeed f perry. and remember, because we are non-members we can never split. why didnt someone else think of that. victory to the marxist-lennonists.
ReplyDeleteFionnuala and Grouch up a tree,
ReplyDeleteTalking S...H...I...T...E!
Do I sense a wee quill romance on the cards here? Should Anthony run out and buy a hat?
mac tire, ur new on the block, me and f perry are long term comrades in the real IMF(thats the Irish Marxist Front to you). as Groucho Marx once said (or something like it)- never join an organisation that would have you as a member. you will never be asked to become a non-member. u should buy a hat for urself too. pull it down over your eyes and ears so maybe you will avoid the exposure of canaries that seems to be coming out of ur beloved party. whats it going to take for u sf grassroots (i know enuf of yous are sound) to grow some balls and fuck out the entire leadership of ur wanky party. i mean are u guys/gals in some trance or something. ur like those poor north koreans beholden to a weirdo party top brass who as it turns out work for the other side. and if i talk shite id rather be talking shite than talking to the enemy. victory to the real IMF. defeat to the PSF.
ReplyDeleteFionnuala and Grouch up a tree,
ReplyDeleteTalking S...H...I...T...E!
Considering you abbreviated S.H.I.T.E. , I take it you mean they are both guilty of being Simply Honest In Telling Everything....ie Mac, the truth. And not some PSF mantra
This morning I was reading some of Gerry Adams twitter feeds and I seen a reference to the Elvis Presley hit 'The Wonder of you'
ReplyDeleteThen tonight I had a look at Gerry Adams FB page and I found another reference to the song. One of Gerry's FB friends told the world that the original was recorded by 'The Platters'..
Linda Coleman For you, Gerry, the original from The Platters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVeHN0iYFH
Ms Coleman get your fact's right.. it was originally recorded by Ray Peterson who's big hit was Tell laura I love her. Peterson recorded the Baker Knight song in 1959...
Now TPQ-ers you can believe PSF about rock'n'roll of a Belfast Rockabilly...
Here is a light hearted bit of something called 'bot or not'..
ReplyDeleteBot or not
This website is a Turing test for poetry. You, the judge, have to guess whether the poem you’re reading is written by a human or by a computer.
If you think a poem was written by a computer, choose 'bot'. If you think it was written by a human, choose 'not'.