A State Visit

[natural20]

In the words of the song, "The Queen she came to call on us..." and, considering what has happened in Dublin over the last few days, both in immediate disruption and social & political importance, the visit certainly did fall on us all

Comments

[giftederic]

Do you watch the news?

The unfortunate reality is that there are elements among us who would have done what they could to embarass us or worse. Charles nearly got egged in 1995 and I can only imagine what was in the cruel imaginations of some for the queens visit. As long as as a people that we tolerate persons with a violent perspective on our relationship with the UK, then we get what we deserve. Remember just how many people voted for Sinn Fein in the last election. A nontrivial number of people do not bat an eyelid at anti-UK sentiment. Until we grow out of that as a culture there are consequences.

[natural20]

Yes, of course I watch the news. I also feel absolutely certain that those elements could have been contained without locking down Dublin city centre and assuming that every citizen was a criminal.

I'm not sure what exactly you think we "deserve" or how we, as a people, can show more how we do not tolerate violence in our name, but I do not accept that the security requirements are our fault, or anything of the like.

[word_maker]

I'll admit I was glad Jen had been signed off work by the hospital this week. But my thoughts on the security measures taken basically come down to two things

[natural20]

1: People would. This kind of operation has never even come close to happening. Closing a street for an evening is very, very different to what happened.

2: Necessary? There will always be violent people unfortunately, in every country in the world.

2006 was a huge mistake from a security point of view, they didn't seem to foresee anything, so now we've swung all the way over to the other point of the scale, rather than looking for a middle ground. Yes, there were protests and some of those involved violence, but I still do not think that allows the state to lockdown in the way they did, very far away from where our visitor was. Bag checking near Heuston when she was in Dublin Castle or the top of Parnell Street?

And how much do we accept in cases like this? Exactly how far should citizens be expected to bend in the name of security and a visitor we are deemed too dangerous to see?

[word_maker]

I didn't mean to suggest that we are "too dangerous to see" the Queen. Just that past behaviour clearly shows a need for heightened security

[yea_mon]

Good analysis.

[ramurphy]

You're spot on, natural20. The abrogation of civil rights in the name of security is extreme. Surely security measures needed to be taken, but to have the entire population of the city menaced by Gardai, soldiers, and barricades everywhere, to have people's lives disrupted to the point where they could not get home and their children could not attend school is overdoing it. The Queen has visited Northern Ireland several times, and according to my relatives there the security is nowhere near as extreme as it has been in the Republic. Certainly there are any number of anti-monarchists in the North.

I'm astonished at the above comment regarding the number of people who voted Sinn Fein. Is the writer suggesting that anyone who supports a Republican point of view is a danger to the Queen of England and to the security of the nation?

[ramurphy]

That is utter and complete bullshit, gothwalk.

[ulaire_daidoji]

that was me (and there was some sort of time delay issues.... sorry for repost spam)

[anonymous]

The vast majority of so called protesters on Dorset street were just looking for a fight and the queen's visit was just the excuse they needed. They were essentially the same as football hooligans. And as for the so called republicans, Des O'Malley put it best yesterday when paying tribute to Garrett F : republicanism isn't about how much you hate the Brits. It's all liberty, fraternity and equality. Sadly some douchebag will use his liberty to kill a garda if he can.

Exhibit A: the man utd jersies. Half of those idiots couldn't pick james Connolly out in a lineout if you put him beside king George v ....

[ulaire_daidoji]

d'oh....