"Our little film was inspired by the people of Northern Ireland, Protestant and Catholic, who after 30 years of war, sat down, negotiated a peace and proved to the world that the Irish are great talkers. I want to dedicate this to them.This is about reconciliation in Northern Ireland, it is really close to my heart...." - the words of Terry George.Provisional Sinn Féin 'Cultural Minister' for what she calls "Northern Ireland" ,
Carál Ní Chuilín (seen here ,looking for direction....) ,said the award was "a fantastic achievement by the Northern Ireland film industry - It is wonderful that local talent and hard work is being recognised on the global stage...."
Two bad scripts - and two lost opportunities : Belfast-born Terry George would be well aware that , truth be told , "Northern Ireland" is not 'about' "Protestant and Catholic" - it is 'about' the on-going British political and military interference in Irish affairs. Nor has it been "30 years of war...." , as that interference has been going on here for the last 843 years and is , unfortunately, not over yet. The "peace" that was "negotiated" is a false dawn , which could have been had here at any time over the last 843 years - all that was required was that the majority of those opposed to British interference should settle for less ie that they would take salaried positions from the British to administer the Occupied Six Counties on behalf of Westminister and , in return , the British would promote them world-wide as 'Statesmen/women' and allow them to claim that such participation was 'a stepping-stone to Irish Freedom'. The "reconciliation" that Terry George spoke about will only materialise when the British withdraw , politically and militarily , from Ireland - North , South , East and West.
Provisional Sinn Féin member and 'Stormont Minister' , Carál Ní Chuilín , found herself on a "global stage" , as an indirect result of the film in question, but - as expected , due to the fact that the lady herself , and her Party, are now Westminister-salaried 'estate managers' - 'fluffed' her lines : this is a golden opportunity for her to highlight the on-going injustice of the on-going British political and military claim of jurisdiction over part of Ireland but , as Irish Republicans know , there is no profit in that , nor is there a career to be had, so she stuck to her Westminster-supplied and PSF-leadership approved script of "...fantastic achievement....wonderful....local talent...".
Shame on both of them , and on their respective 'camps' : lost opportunities in front of a world-wide audience.
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.
