Northern Ireland Elections
Nov 28th 2003, 1:36 am
#1
British/Irish(ish) Duncs
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2003
Location: Cambridge MA, via Mississippi and Belfast Northern Ireland.
Posts: 700
Northern Ireland Elections
i know most of you dont care but i feel the need to vent and my wifes getting pissed off with it.
Yesterday was the election to the Northern ireland assembly(i used to be a UUP member). The results are at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/h.../html/vote.stm
its been really bad for the Good Friday agreement and it would seem that Paisleys DUP will now be the biggest unionist party and sinn fein/IRA the biggest nationalist party. So thats probably the end of the whole agreement.
It is really shit. i risked everything to support the process and ended up destroying my legal practice, going broke(became legally insolvent) and being bucked out by my constituency party in favour of a hard liner. i feel like i totally wasted 6 years of my life. Now i am in the USA and i have no idea what the hell i can do here or what i even want to do anymore. i cant practice as a lawyer without going back to school for 3 years, to learn all about eggs and the sucking of, and my wife who has 2 masters degrees could only find a job in a ****ing bookstore for $6.24 an hour! i just got my masters in law as well by the way, results came out on tuesday, but its not worth shit over here. Its so totally depressing and right now i feel like my whole life has been a waste of time.
Well just whinging really but hey if anyone can tell me about their own experiences in getting going in the USA from a tough start it would be appreciated.
thanks for listening,
regards,
Duncan
Yesterday was the election to the Northern ireland assembly(i used to be a UUP member). The results are at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/h.../html/vote.stm
its been really bad for the Good Friday agreement and it would seem that Paisleys DUP will now be the biggest unionist party and sinn fein/IRA the biggest nationalist party. So thats probably the end of the whole agreement.
It is really shit. i risked everything to support the process and ended up destroying my legal practice, going broke(became legally insolvent) and being bucked out by my constituency party in favour of a hard liner. i feel like i totally wasted 6 years of my life. Now i am in the USA and i have no idea what the hell i can do here or what i even want to do anymore. i cant practice as a lawyer without going back to school for 3 years, to learn all about eggs and the sucking of, and my wife who has 2 masters degrees could only find a job in a ****ing bookstore for $6.24 an hour! i just got my masters in law as well by the way, results came out on tuesday, but its not worth shit over here. Its so totally depressing and right now i feel like my whole life has been a waste of time.
Well just whinging really but hey if anyone can tell me about their own experiences in getting going in the USA from a tough start it would be appreciated.
thanks for listening,
regards,
Duncan
Last edited by Duncs; Nov 28th 2003 at 1:39 am.
Nov 28th 2003, 2:05 am
#2
Professional Mover
Joined: Apr 2003
Location: Derry, NH Via Salem, NH via Ma, NC, ex Manchester, UK.
Posts: 670
I know exactly how you feel. I've gone from being a senior manager in the UK to a HR administrator in the US. The job market for the skills and experience I have seems completely different over here and I'm finding it difficult to even track down any job in the field I was in to apply for! I still check the UK jobsites and the market over there is really bouyant......
Guess you just have to keep searching.....
Guess you just have to keep searching.....
Nov 28th 2003, 2:41 am
#3
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Joined: Oct 2003
Location: Arizona
Posts: 961
Re: Northern Ireland Elections
Originally posted by Duncs
i know most of you dont care but i feel the need to vent and my wifes getting pissed off with it.
Yesterday was the election to the Northern ireland assembly(i used to be a UUP member). The results are at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/h.../html/vote.stm
its been really bad for the Good Friday agreement and it would seem that Paisleys DUP will now be the biggest unionist party and sinn fein/IRA the biggest nationalist party. So thats probably the end of the whole agreement.
It is really shit. i risked everything to support the process and ended up destroying my legal practice, going broke(became legally insolvent) and being bucked out by my constituency party in favour of a hard liner. i feel like i totally wasted 6 years of my life. Now i am in the USA and i have no idea what the hell i can do here or what i even want to do anymore. i cant practice as a lawyer without going back to school for 3 years, to learn all about eggs and the sucking of, and my wife who has 2 masters degrees could only find a job in a ****ing bookstore for $6.24 an hour! i just got my masters in law as well by the way, results came out on tuesday, but its not worth shit over here. Its so totally depressing and right now i feel like my whole life has been a waste of time.
Well just whinging really but hey if anyone can tell me about their own experiences in getting going in the USA from a tough start it would be appreciated.
thanks for listening,
regards,
Duncan
i know most of you dont care but i feel the need to vent and my wifes getting pissed off with it.
Yesterday was the election to the Northern ireland assembly(i used to be a UUP member). The results are at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/h.../html/vote.stm
its been really bad for the Good Friday agreement and it would seem that Paisleys DUP will now be the biggest unionist party and sinn fein/IRA the biggest nationalist party. So thats probably the end of the whole agreement.
It is really shit. i risked everything to support the process and ended up destroying my legal practice, going broke(became legally insolvent) and being bucked out by my constituency party in favour of a hard liner. i feel like i totally wasted 6 years of my life. Now i am in the USA and i have no idea what the hell i can do here or what i even want to do anymore. i cant practice as a lawyer without going back to school for 3 years, to learn all about eggs and the sucking of, and my wife who has 2 masters degrees could only find a job in a ****ing bookstore for $6.24 an hour! i just got my masters in law as well by the way, results came out on tuesday, but its not worth shit over here. Its so totally depressing and right now i feel like my whole life has been a waste of time.
Well just whinging really but hey if anyone can tell me about their own experiences in getting going in the USA from a tough start it would be appreciated.
thanks for listening,
regards,
Duncan
Nov 28th 2003, 4:26 am
#4
British/Irish(ish) Duncs
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2003
Location: Cambridge MA, via Mississippi and Belfast Northern Ireland.
Posts: 700
Re: Northern Ireland Elections
Originally posted by effi
Why didn't you find out about the qualifications needed before you came. You are now in a foreign country, you cannot expect to just come in and pick up where you left off in the UK. This country has its own laws and regulations. I am not an American by the way, just pissed off by people whining about getting a raw deal.
Why didn't you find out about the qualifications needed before you came. You are now in a foreign country, you cannot expect to just come in and pick up where you left off in the UK. This country has its own laws and regulations. I am not an American by the way, just pissed off by people whining about getting a raw deal.
i didnt leave because i particularly wanted to but due to choices i made my career was in ruins as were my finances so i figured if i had to start again i may as well do it in the usa as in the UK. i didnt expect it to be easy but the issue is actually less about that and more about a personal uncertainty over what i actually wish to do. i am an intelligent man and if i turn my mind to it i will suceed in the usa but the question is what i wish to succeed at and what the definition of success actually is, not whether i can.
regards,
Duncan
Nov 28th 2003, 6:57 am
#5
Guest
Posts: n/a
Well effi - if you want to talk about getting a raw deal ( and I know it was on a different subject but you prompted my memories) you should have been brought up in Belfast in the early part of the last century..
My father left as soon as he could - he was the product of a mixed marriage - no, not black/white but in N.Irish terms much more serious - Catholic/Protestant.
His father was a Protestant, been married before to a Protestant wife who died. They had three children. Grandad married again to my grandmother - a Catholic - and had 2 more children, one of which was my father.
The first wife's relatives were so incensed by this that they managed to have the children of the first marriage taken away and brought up by Protestant members of their family - my father did not see his half brothers ever again, and he did not see his half sister for 70 years - and then it was as a result of an accident.
My father was often pelted with stones as he rode his bike to school - he accepted this as part of life and was just happy he had a bike so could get past the Protestant boys throwing the stones more quickly than if he had been walking.
He realised that he would , as a Catholic, never get a good job in Belfast so he left and came here where he did well - and he marrried my Mother - a Protestant.
I was bought up Catholic - and married a Protestant - so you can realize we are not a bigoted family. Our religion these days is Golf.
Things have changed for the better now in Belfast - maybe not much but there is more equality as far as my remaining relatives there tell me - both the Catholic and Protestant ones - so I suppose it must be true.
Everything I have mentioned here would have been done just as bad by either side - I am not saying one side is good and the other is bad.There is unfairness on both sides, but I must say the violence more recently has been mainly Protestant but that can change overnight.
I am just glad that I don't have to live there. As I said - my Father left when he was 16 years old and never looked back. He left Belfast with £5 in his pocket and the shabby clothes he stood up in to start out on a new life. By that time his father was dead - he was a foreman boilermaker in the shipyard where he helped build the Titanic - if he had been Catholic he could not have been a foreman, just a basic worker.
I am glad to have got all that out.
Dunc - sorry to hear about your problems - at least you tried which is more than many of ever do.
My father left as soon as he could - he was the product of a mixed marriage - no, not black/white but in N.Irish terms much more serious - Catholic/Protestant.
His father was a Protestant, been married before to a Protestant wife who died. They had three children. Grandad married again to my grandmother - a Catholic - and had 2 more children, one of which was my father.
The first wife's relatives were so incensed by this that they managed to have the children of the first marriage taken away and brought up by Protestant members of their family - my father did not see his half brothers ever again, and he did not see his half sister for 70 years - and then it was as a result of an accident.
My father was often pelted with stones as he rode his bike to school - he accepted this as part of life and was just happy he had a bike so could get past the Protestant boys throwing the stones more quickly than if he had been walking.
He realised that he would , as a Catholic, never get a good job in Belfast so he left and came here where he did well - and he marrried my Mother - a Protestant.
I was bought up Catholic - and married a Protestant - so you can realize we are not a bigoted family. Our religion these days is Golf.
Things have changed for the better now in Belfast - maybe not much but there is more equality as far as my remaining relatives there tell me - both the Catholic and Protestant ones - so I suppose it must be true.
Everything I have mentioned here would have been done just as bad by either side - I am not saying one side is good and the other is bad.There is unfairness on both sides, but I must say the violence more recently has been mainly Protestant but that can change overnight.
I am just glad that I don't have to live there. As I said - my Father left when he was 16 years old and never looked back. He left Belfast with £5 in his pocket and the shabby clothes he stood up in to start out on a new life. By that time his father was dead - he was a foreman boilermaker in the shipyard where he helped build the Titanic - if he had been Catholic he could not have been a foreman, just a basic worker.
I am glad to have got all that out.
Dunc - sorry to hear about your problems - at least you tried which is more than many of ever do.
Last edited by JeanDupont; Nov 28th 2003 at 6:59 am.
Nov 28th 2003, 2:31 pm
#6
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Joined: Oct 2003
Location: Arizona
Posts: 961
Originally posted by JeanDupont
Well effi - if you want to talk about getting a raw deal ( and I know it was on a different subject but you prompted my memories) you should have been brought up in Belfast in the early part of the last century..
My father left as soon as he could - he was the product of a mixed marriage - no, not black/white but in N.Irish terms much more serious - Catholic/Protestant.
His father was a Protestant, been married before to a Protestant wife who died. They had three children. Grandad married again to my grandmother - a Catholic - and had 2 more children, one of which was my father.
The first wife's relatives were so incensed by this that they managed to have the children of the first marriage taken away and brought up by Protestant members of their family - my father did not see his half brothers ever again, and he did not see his half sister for 70 years - and then it was as a result of an accident.
My father was often pelted with stones as he rode his bike to school - he accepted this as part of life and was just happy he had a bike so could get past the Protestant boys throwing the stones more quickly than if he had been walking.
He realised that he would , as a Catholic, never get a good job in Belfast so he left and came here where he did well - and he marrried my Mother - a Protestant.
I was bought up Catholic - and married a Protestant - so you can realize we are not a bigoted family. Our religion these days is Golf.
Things have changed for the better now in Belfast - maybe not much but there is more equality as far as my remaining relatives there tell me - both the Catholic and Protestant ones - so I suppose it must be true.
Everything I have mentioned here would have been done just as bad by either side - I am not saying one side is good and the other is bad.There is unfairness on both sides, but I must say the violence more recently has been mainly Protestant but that can change overnight.
I am just glad that I don't have to live there. As I said - my Father left when he was 16 years old and never looked back. He left Belfast with £5 in his pocket and the shabby clothes he stood up in to start out on a new life. By that time his father was dead - he was a foreman boilermaker in the shipyard where he helped build the Titanic - if he had been Catholic he could not have been a foreman, just a basic worker.
I am glad to have got all that out.
Dunc - sorry to hear about your problems - at least you tried which is more than many of ever do.
Well effi - if you want to talk about getting a raw deal ( and I know it was on a different subject but you prompted my memories) you should have been brought up in Belfast in the early part of the last century..
My father left as soon as he could - he was the product of a mixed marriage - no, not black/white but in N.Irish terms much more serious - Catholic/Protestant.
His father was a Protestant, been married before to a Protestant wife who died. They had three children. Grandad married again to my grandmother - a Catholic - and had 2 more children, one of which was my father.
The first wife's relatives were so incensed by this that they managed to have the children of the first marriage taken away and brought up by Protestant members of their family - my father did not see his half brothers ever again, and he did not see his half sister for 70 years - and then it was as a result of an accident.
My father was often pelted with stones as he rode his bike to school - he accepted this as part of life and was just happy he had a bike so could get past the Protestant boys throwing the stones more quickly than if he had been walking.
He realised that he would , as a Catholic, never get a good job in Belfast so he left and came here where he did well - and he marrried my Mother - a Protestant.
I was bought up Catholic - and married a Protestant - so you can realize we are not a bigoted family. Our religion these days is Golf.
Things have changed for the better now in Belfast - maybe not much but there is more equality as far as my remaining relatives there tell me - both the Catholic and Protestant ones - so I suppose it must be true.
Everything I have mentioned here would have been done just as bad by either side - I am not saying one side is good and the other is bad.There is unfairness on both sides, but I must say the violence more recently has been mainly Protestant but that can change overnight.
I am just glad that I don't have to live there. As I said - my Father left when he was 16 years old and never looked back. He left Belfast with £5 in his pocket and the shabby clothes he stood up in to start out on a new life. By that time his father was dead - he was a foreman boilermaker in the shipyard where he helped build the Titanic - if he had been Catholic he could not have been a foreman, just a basic worker.
I am glad to have got all that out.
Dunc - sorry to hear about your problems - at least you tried which is more than many of ever do.
Just don't come over here knowing it may be tough, then whine about it when you get here.
Duncs, sorry to sound so harsh. You sound like an intelligent guy, I am sure you will make it, it is just going to take some time. In the meantime just suck it up and learn from it.
Jean, I am also sorry for the way your grandad was treated, but this kind of thing is still going on today. Instead of going on about the past which no-one can fix, concentrate on the future and try and help the peace process, remember, the country your grandad ran to is also the country that funds much of the terrorism in NI.
Nov 28th 2003, 4:02 pm
#7
Guest
Posts: n/a
Effi - my grandfather did not "run" as you put it - he died in Ireland.
My father also did not "run" - he emigrated.
Only cowards run.
If you will pardon me for saying so - no one who has not lived in Northern Ireland (or even the North of Ireland) knows f*** all about it.
I would be interested to hear from you about how you have learned what you know about the North of Ireland.
I have lived there for a while and understand something about it, and must admit I am happier not living there permanently - however I also did not "run". We were posted there for a tour of duty - and were then posted somewhere else.
I agree that some funding for terrorism has come in the past from misguided US citizens who believe they are helping - but are sadly mistaken.
My father also did not "run" - he emigrated.
Only cowards run.
If you will pardon me for saying so - no one who has not lived in Northern Ireland (or even the North of Ireland) knows f*** all about it.
I would be interested to hear from you about how you have learned what you know about the North of Ireland.
I have lived there for a while and understand something about it, and must admit I am happier not living there permanently - however I also did not "run". We were posted there for a tour of duty - and were then posted somewhere else.
I agree that some funding for terrorism has come in the past from misguided US citizens who believe they are helping - but are sadly mistaken.
Nov 28th 2003, 4:14 pm
#8
British/Irish(ish) Duncs
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2003
Location: Cambridge MA, via Mississippi and Belfast Northern Ireland.
Posts: 700
Originally posted by effi
Sorry, don't get the connection. I am well aware of the troubles in Ireland, then and now. What does that have to do with a lawyer from UK trying to make it in US? All most people see when they think about coming over here, is "I can make lots of money", "I know I don't have the qualifications I need, but hey I'm British, they will take me in". Not so, you have to qualify just like the average American, if that means starting out by working at KMart for minimum wage, then go to it.
Just don't come over here knowing it may be tough, then whine about it when you get here.
Duncs, sorry to sound so harsh. You sound like an intelligent guy, I am sure you will make it, it is just going to take some time. In the meantime just suck it up and learn from it.
Jean, I am also sorry for the way your grandad was treated, but this kind of thing is still going on today. Instead of going on about the past which no-one can fix, concentrate on the future and try and help the peace process, remember, the country your grandad ran to is also the country that funds much of the terrorism in NI.
Sorry, don't get the connection. I am well aware of the troubles in Ireland, then and now. What does that have to do with a lawyer from UK trying to make it in US? All most people see when they think about coming over here, is "I can make lots of money", "I know I don't have the qualifications I need, but hey I'm British, they will take me in". Not so, you have to qualify just like the average American, if that means starting out by working at KMart for minimum wage, then go to it.
Just don't come over here knowing it may be tough, then whine about it when you get here.
Duncs, sorry to sound so harsh. You sound like an intelligent guy, I am sure you will make it, it is just going to take some time. In the meantime just suck it up and learn from it.
Jean, I am also sorry for the way your grandad was treated, but this kind of thing is still going on today. Instead of going on about the past which no-one can fix, concentrate on the future and try and help the peace process, remember, the country your grandad ran to is also the country that funds much of the terrorism in NI.
I agree with Jeandupont this time, you dont know shit unless youve lived there and i would never criticise anyone who decided to leave, only honor those who have the guts to stay.
regards,
Duncan
Nov 28th 2003, 4:50 pm
#9
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2003
Location: Arizona
Posts: 961
Originally posted by JeanDupont
Effi - my grandfather did not "run" as you put it - he died in Ireland.
My father also did not "run" - he emigrated.
Only cowards run.
If you will pardon me for saying so - no one who has not lived in Northern Ireland (or even the North of Ireland) knows f*** all about it.
I would be interested to hear from you about how you have learned what you know about the North of Ireland.
I have lived there for a while and understand something about it, and must admit I am happier not living there permanently - however I also did not "run". We were posted there for a tour of duty - and were then posted somewhere else.
I agree that some funding for terrorism has come in the past from misguided US citizens who believe they are helping - but are sadly mistaken.
Effi - my grandfather did not "run" as you put it - he died in Ireland.
My father also did not "run" - he emigrated.
Only cowards run.
If you will pardon me for saying so - no one who has not lived in Northern Ireland (or even the North of Ireland) knows f*** all about it.
I would be interested to hear from you about how you have learned what you know about the North of Ireland.
I have lived there for a while and understand something about it, and must admit I am happier not living there permanently - however I also did not "run". We were posted there for a tour of duty - and were then posted somewhere else.
I agree that some funding for terrorism has come in the past from misguided US citizens who believe they are helping - but are sadly mistaken.
The term 'run' was not meant in a derogatory way. The funding was not only in the past, but is still going on. I can name a couple of Irish bars in Philly where the cause is still strong, and collections are made on a regular basis.
I am all for people coming over here and trying to make it. I am one of them.
Nov 28th 2003, 4:57 pm
#10
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Joined: Oct 2003
Location: Arizona
Posts: 961
Originally posted by Duncs
Dont you read well or something? I didnt come to the USA in search of easy riches. I am ****ing devastated by what has happened in Northern Ireland. I am no coward i served 4 years in uniform on the streets of Belfast then i got involved in politics and i risked everything to support the good friday agreement. I left because i was tired of the hate mail and the people spitting on me in the street when i went shopping, i was tired of the bullet resistant glass in my house windows and the gun i slept with. i feel bad aboutr leaving i feel like i have let down all the decent people of northern ireland i am very unhapppy to have left but it was killing me to stay.
I agree with Jeandupont this time, you dont know shit unless youve lived there and i would never criticise anyone who decided to leave, only honor those who have the guts to stay.
regards,
Duncan
Dont you read well or something? I didnt come to the USA in search of easy riches. I am ****ing devastated by what has happened in Northern Ireland. I am no coward i served 4 years in uniform on the streets of Belfast then i got involved in politics and i risked everything to support the good friday agreement. I left because i was tired of the hate mail and the people spitting on me in the street when i went shopping, i was tired of the bullet resistant glass in my house windows and the gun i slept with. i feel bad aboutr leaving i feel like i have let down all the decent people of northern ireland i am very unhapppy to have left but it was killing me to stay.
I agree with Jeandupont this time, you dont know shit unless youve lived there and i would never criticise anyone who decided to leave, only honor those who have the guts to stay.
regards,
Duncan
Sorry boy, but you are here now, time to get on with the next chapter in your life. You cannot change what happened, only learn from it and hopefully make another successful life for yourself and your family in the US.
I only wish you the best, been there, done that. Good luck.
Nov 28th 2003, 5:54 pm
#11
Here we go Pittsburgh!
Joined: Aug 2002
Location: Pittsburgh PA, USA
Posts: 581
Re: Northern Ireland Elections
Originally posted by Duncs
i know most of you dont care but i feel the need to vent and my wifes getting pissed off with it.
Yesterday was the election to the Northern ireland assembly(i used to be a UUP member). The results are at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/h.../html/vote.stm
its been really bad for the Good Friday agreement and it would seem that Paisleys DUP will now be the biggest unionist party and sinn fein/IRA the biggest nationalist party. So thats probably the end of the whole agreement.
It is really shit. i risked everything to support the process and ended up destroying my legal practice, going broke(became legally insolvent) and being bucked out by my constituency party in favour of a hard liner. i feel like i totally wasted 6 years of my life. Now i am in the USA and i have no idea what the hell i can do here or what i even want to do anymore. i cant practice as a lawyer without going back to school for 3 years, to learn all about eggs and the sucking of, and my wife who has 2 masters degrees could only find a job in a ****ing bookstore for $6.24 an hour! i just got my masters in law as well by the way, results came out on tuesday, but its not worth shit over here. Its so totally depressing and right now i feel like my whole life has been a waste of time.
Well just whinging really but hey if anyone can tell me about their own experiences in getting going in the USA from a tough start it would be appreciated.
thanks for listening,
regards,
Duncan
i know most of you dont care but i feel the need to vent and my wifes getting pissed off with it.
Yesterday was the election to the Northern ireland assembly(i used to be a UUP member). The results are at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/h.../html/vote.stm
its been really bad for the Good Friday agreement and it would seem that Paisleys DUP will now be the biggest unionist party and sinn fein/IRA the biggest nationalist party. So thats probably the end of the whole agreement.
It is really shit. i risked everything to support the process and ended up destroying my legal practice, going broke(became legally insolvent) and being bucked out by my constituency party in favour of a hard liner. i feel like i totally wasted 6 years of my life. Now i am in the USA and i have no idea what the hell i can do here or what i even want to do anymore. i cant practice as a lawyer without going back to school for 3 years, to learn all about eggs and the sucking of, and my wife who has 2 masters degrees could only find a job in a ****ing bookstore for $6.24 an hour! i just got my masters in law as well by the way, results came out on tuesday, but its not worth shit over here. Its so totally depressing and right now i feel like my whole life has been a waste of time.
Well just whinging really but hey if anyone can tell me about their own experiences in getting going in the USA from a tough start it would be appreciated.
thanks for listening,
regards,
Duncan
Sad to see Big Ian's on the comeback too, though given how much Robinson has been dominant in DUP politics, maybe Ian's just a figurehead now and won't actually run the Assembly if and when they reconvene it.
Personally it's all business as usual - the "politicians' rake in their Assembly/EU/MP wages, they do their dirty business deals, get going on their junkets to warm foreign lands, the paramilitaries go on beating up people, doing the drugs, porn, protection rackets (both sides btw - what a laugh Adair's wife didn't know she was carrying 70k in a shoe box: aye jump in missus), the regular hoods are still stealing peoples cars and running people over for fun, and the normal law-abiding people are getting on with their lives.
Since being over here, only one person asked me if I were Protestant or Catholic, and there was no ulterior motive for the question, just curiosity.
Out of curiosity, what do you mean when you say you risked everything to support the process? I supported the process, but didn't have to risk anything doing it. Sounds like you were a politician there...maybe you could get into local politics here?
Nov 29th 2003, 6:41 pm
#13
British/Irish(ish) Duncs
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2003
Location: Cambridge MA, via Mississippi and Belfast Northern Ireland.
Posts: 700
Re: Northern Ireland Elections
Originally posted by ukemigrant
The elections are quite a turn-up for the book. I left NI last December to live here (born and bred there). When the whole peace process got started it was great, but it seems to have gone to the dogs now with all the posturing and there's still a lot of violence - look at those protests that kept those kids out of school for the longest time - Holy Cross or something.
Sad to see Big Ian's on the comeback too, though given how much Robinson has been dominant in DUP politics, maybe Ian's just a figurehead now and won't actually run the Assembly if and when they reconvene it.
Personally it's all business as usual - the "politicians' rake in their Assembly/EU/MP wages, they do their dirty business deals, get going on their junkets to warm foreign lands, the paramilitaries go on beating up people, doing the drugs, porn, protection rackets (both sides btw - what a laugh Adair's wife didn't know she was carrying 70k in a shoe box: aye jump in missus), the regular hoods are still stealing peoples cars and running people over for fun, and the normal law-abiding people are getting on with their lives.
Since being over here, only one person asked me if I were Protestant or Catholic, and there was no ulterior motive for the question, just curiosity.
Out of curiosity, what do you mean when you say you risked everything to support the process? I supported the process, but didn't have to risk anything doing it. Sounds like you were a politician there...maybe you could get into local politics here?
The elections are quite a turn-up for the book. I left NI last December to live here (born and bred there). When the whole peace process got started it was great, but it seems to have gone to the dogs now with all the posturing and there's still a lot of violence - look at those protests that kept those kids out of school for the longest time - Holy Cross or something.
Sad to see Big Ian's on the comeback too, though given how much Robinson has been dominant in DUP politics, maybe Ian's just a figurehead now and won't actually run the Assembly if and when they reconvene it.
Personally it's all business as usual - the "politicians' rake in their Assembly/EU/MP wages, they do their dirty business deals, get going on their junkets to warm foreign lands, the paramilitaries go on beating up people, doing the drugs, porn, protection rackets (both sides btw - what a laugh Adair's wife didn't know she was carrying 70k in a shoe box: aye jump in missus), the regular hoods are still stealing peoples cars and running people over for fun, and the normal law-abiding people are getting on with their lives.
Since being over here, only one person asked me if I were Protestant or Catholic, and there was no ulterior motive for the question, just curiosity.
Out of curiosity, what do you mean when you say you risked everything to support the process? I supported the process, but didn't have to risk anything doing it. Sounds like you were a politician there...maybe you could get into local politics here?
enough to sate your curiosity?
Nov 29th 2003, 8:59 pm
#14
Here we go Pittsburgh!
Joined: Aug 2002
Location: Pittsburgh PA, USA
Posts: 581
Re: Northern Ireland Elections
Originally posted by Duncs
Yes. i was an MLA for South Antrim, enjoying salary junkets etc as you said! David Burnside came along we fought over the westminster nomination, my boss didnt back me up and i lost out. After he got to be MP on an anti agreement ticket he came after me i got ousted as a candidate and on thursday he got elected to what used to be my seat. I had tried to go back to my law practice but no one would give me any work because of my high profile. So my wife said balls to this lets move to the USA(her home) and so we did.
enough to sate your curiosity?
Yes. i was an MLA for South Antrim, enjoying salary junkets etc as you said! David Burnside came along we fought over the westminster nomination, my boss didnt back me up and i lost out. After he got to be MP on an anti agreement ticket he came after me i got ousted as a candidate and on thursday he got elected to what used to be my seat. I had tried to go back to my law practice but no one would give me any work because of my high profile. So my wife said balls to this lets move to the USA(her home) and so we did.
enough to sate your curiosity?
You know all about the junkets I see I got as good chuckle over that Ulster-Scots guy who was arrested in Chicago for trying to have underage sex with a 14 year old.... Ah how the might fall....
