If by British you mean by ancestry non-Irish, most were, a fair number where not. Then again this goes to for how long does ones family have to live somewhere before you are part of the place?
It is a matter of judicial fact that they did. Look up Brian Nelson. The Stevens Inquiry also found that between 5 and 15% of British Army soldiers in N. Ireland were also loyalist paramilitary men, that the membership of the Army and the paramilitaries in fact overlapped.
To this day, the vast majority of Protestant Scots who have lived in Ulster for centuries still consider themselves as subjects of the British Crown. Arthur Wellesley was born in Ireland but it is my understanding he never considered himself Irish.
Can we agree that these paramilitaries and their supporters (i.e. enablers) were not "innocent civilians"?
I never knew that being a British Subject was antithetical with being Irish. Are you next going to tell us that Irish Clan Chiefs who are members of the Church of Ireland are not really Irish?
Indeed that is true, however he was born less than a century after his family moved to Ireland.
I believe you will find that figure relates to the Ulster Regiment, not to the British Army as a whole or even to other Irish Regiments.
The Protestant Scots who have lived in Ulster for centuries consider themselves to be British and not Irish. Just ask them and they will say so themselves. The "United Kingdom" includes Northern Ireland which is a land stolen from its rightful Irish heirs.
Well thank God most of the Irish population both South and North have moved on from this viewpoint.
Yes, I was referring to the Ulster Regiment, which is, to put it in your style, an infantry regiment of the British Army.
So true. Sometimes we just have to put a bit (ok, a lot) of water in our wine and move on. Can't dwell on historical injustices forever. Maybe this is a good stopping point. I only got involved because I thought the Irish in America and Ireland were being unfairly defamed.
Please don't start. Anyway, I'll just let it slide. Peace.Whereas they were being fairly defamed as terrorists and financial supporters of terrorists
I suppose everybody has their own list. My list would include Ulster Defense Association and the Special Air Service (at times).
I was referring to the British Army Parachute Regiment who shot 27 unarmed civilian protestors on January 30, 1972 in what is known as the Bogside Massacre (aka Bloody Sunday). Shooting unarmed civilians in cold blood.
Certainly it seems to me that those responsible for shooting fleeing protestors in the back should be held criminally accountable for their actions. Whether it meets the definition of terrorism or not, it was both reprehensible and criminal in my view.
