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Written by Gavin O’Reilly
As the COVID-19 mainstream media narrative steadily disappears from news headlines around the world, following the highly coincidental timing of last week’s Davos Agenda virtual event held by the World Economic Forum, the corporate media has now, in lockstep, moved onto what many commentators predicted they would – an escalation in the current Ukraine crisis, in which Russia has been accused of planning an ‘imminent’ invasion of its smaller Western neighbour, with Kiev having come under the control the US-EU aligned governments of Petro Poroshenko and Volodymyr Zelensky since the 2014 CIA and MI6-orchestrated Euromaidan colour revolution was launched in response to then-President Viktor Yanukoych’s November 2013 decision to suspend a trade deal with Brussels in order to pursue closer ties with Moscow.
Despite the narrative of an ‘imminent Russian invasion’ first appearing in the mainstream media at the end of November 2021 and being promoted by the same corporate outlets ever since then, in a manner not dissimilar to previous regime change lies such as ‘Saddam has WMDs’ or ‘Iran is building a nuclear bomb’, the sudden abandonment of COVID-19 by the corporate media in the past week has now seen a hypothetical Russian invasion of Ukraine taking centre stage and subsequently, Moscow becoming the target of a coordinated campaign of condemnation by the Western establishment – including from my own country, Ireland.
On Monday, Foreign Minister of the 26-County State, Simon Coveney, speaking in Brussels, condemned standard Russian Navy training exercises due to take place in early February, 240km off the southern Irish coast – a condemnation that, amidst the current context of the Ukraine crisis, has garnered worldwide attention, including from the Russian media, but one that also stands in stark contrast to the facilitation of both British and US imperialism by the Irish Free State since its inception.
Established following the 1921 Anglo-Irish agreement, which saw Ireland partitioned into a north-eastern six county state remaining directly under British rule, and the 26 County pro-British ‘Irish Free State’, the southern Irish government has not only consistently turned a blind eye to the British military occupation of the north-east of the country over the past century and the ensuing atrocities and injustices that it has entailed – but has also colluded in protecting British interests in order to uphold that occupation.
From June 1922 until May 1923, the fledgling Free State army used British-supplied weapons to fight a bloody counter-revolution against Irish Republicans seeking to defend the Irish Republic declared in arms in Dublin on Easter Monday 1916 – 77 Irish Republican prisoners were executed by Free State forces during this 11 month period, a figure that doesn’t include direct combat fatalities or extra-judicial killings such as the notorious Ballyseedy massacre.
Following the end of the Treaty War, the use of Free State forces to facilitate British Imperialism in Ireland continued through the use of military internment camps for Irish Republicans such as the Curragh – a practice that continues today through the use of the non-jury ‘Special Criminal Court’, where the word of a senior Garda alone can see Republicans jailed for ‘membership of an illegal organisation’ in Portlaoise Gaol, the highest security prison in Europe, in which heavily-armed 26 County troops keep Republican political prisoners under lock and key.
Following the turn of the century and the 9/11 attacks however, this facilitation of British imperialism by the Irish Free State was also widened to accommodate US imperialism, with Shannon Airport, located in County Clare on Ireland’s west coast, becoming a de facto US airbase in the run-up to the US-led war on Afghanistan, an arrangement that remains in place more than 20 years and see’s that the southern Irish State, a supposedly neutral entity, remains the first European stopover for US Forces en route to unleash devastation in the Middle East – and unlike February’s planned Russian training exercises in international waters, has come in for little to no condemnation by the Free State’s political and media establishment.
I like the Irish much but we don’t need another state in Europe. States like Spain, Serbia or Ukraine (maybe not Ukraine) should stay intact.
Ok this way but not anymore break up states.
Simon Coveney represents Fine Gael, or the Blueshirts as they were once known as. They were anti independence before the War of Independence, and pro Treaty after the war. What they done after the war, was to keep the same British system of laws, the same bankers, lawyers and doctors who ran this country as a British colony. They lost power in an election at the start of the 1930’s, to their civil war opponents who had formed Fianna Fáil, or Soldiers of Destiny. They quickly took to having power, and started jailing and hanging their former comrades who continued the fight against British occupation in Ireland. Sinn Fein carried on the struggle against British rule through Irish political parties, until the 1994 ceasefire and later Good Friday Agreement. Now they seek to jail their former comrades, people who continue to fight against imperial Britain and its continued occupation of Irish territory. In short, until the British Crown is destroyed, Ireland will continue to be run by yes men and bought and paid for careerists.
The difference today, is that FG and FF owe their allegiance to British spheres of influence, SF are acting more for the US State Dept. Hence the recent claims by Irelands Fianna Fáil PM, that SF never say anything about Russia! I’ve never heard SF mention Russia, for bad or good. Now we have FG sounding off their anti Russian hysteria, it seems the State Dept and Whitehall are having a game of oneupmanship with their Irish poodles.
Imperialism is not always bad.
In a far off galaxy where human beings don’t exist.
If the Irish had more power they would do imperialism also.
No, not all people are greedy animals like you are.
You don’t even know what you are talking about.
They had their chances to “do Imperialism” but NEVER relented. YOU don’t know what you are talking about.
My Grand was a leader in Dublin fighting against the British. He also fought the British in South Africa to obtain guns for us
What does this mean?
Do you ever listen to the shite that comes out of your mouth? You obviously have no idea what you are talking about when it comes to Ireland. If you haven’t noticed, Ireland has been under the tyranny of imperialism for almost a millennium and even today we still suffer for it.
Education, jobs, housing and language, we still suffer from these basic human rights in our own country by Brit imperialism. Every year we have to put up with sectarian hate parades (Orange Order 12th) going through Nationalist areas where they are not welcome. This event, we have to put up with sectarian chants, attacks on Nationalist homes and the burning of the Irish flag, images of children (the 3 Quinn brothers) and other Catholics on their bonfires and we are being forced to accept it as cultures!
Fuck off you absolute moron!
I know this. But this happens because England is stronger. If Ireland was stronger then it would be a different case.
England didn’t invade Ireland you muppet, it was the Normans. They came here 50 years or so after they had wiped out the ruling English classes. The English have since been ruled by French, Scottish and lately German royal families. The City of London Corporation has nothing to do with England or Britain, outside of using their citizens to wage wars of resources worldwide and a postal address.