On This Day PIRA

Thomas Niedermayer, general manager of Grundig in Northern Ireland and IRA murder victim. When it comes to looking at any period there are two things which will determine many of the conclusions you come to. One is what evidence you choose to look at. The other is what questions you ask when examining that evidence. Those familiar with Northern Ireland politics will remember the Haass talks back in 2013. While the talks didn’t result in an agreement the document which emerged has shaped much of the discussion about how Northern Ireland should deal with what politicians describe as the past. I felt then and I feel more strongly now that if the themes proposed in the Haass document (listed on page 33 here ) form the basis of how events in Northern Ireland are examined the IRA will get off the hook in relation to a plethora of important issues. Sometimes I read responses to my tweets saying that what the IRA did was pointless  or didn’t achieve anything. I don’t thin...

Why run a twitter feed detailing PIRA murders on a daily basis? Who would even think of such a thing? Allow me to explain the genesis of the project. The seed which became @OnThisDayPIRA I am aware that I have built up an audience outside of Northern Ireland so I will detail events at some length which will already be familiar to people with even a passing interest in current affairs in Northern Ireland. In a way it all started with a loaf of bread in Omagh one night. On Friday 5th January this year the Sinn Fein MP for West Tyrone went into a garage and filmed a video of himself with something on his head. That may strike you as strange but stay with me. Of all the things he could have picked to put on his head he picked a loaf of bread. And of all the brands of bread on the shelves he chose a brand called Kingsmill. He then asked the camera where the shop kept the bread. Odd? Certainly. But this was much more than an MP with a bizarre sense of humour. You...