Confess your unpopular Celtic-related opinions

If people think Ireland had some sort of duty to help the Brits fight the Germans,in either war,they should listen to De Valera's epic response to Churchill for criticising Irish neutrality.

I think the 10k donation Celtic makes to the British Legion is despicable and nothing more than a slap in the face to a large section of our support.

 

The poppy appeal has been hi jacked to include their illegal wars that have killed millions of innocent people, if it represented only the two great wars then fine but it doesn’t. And surely if the government can send trained killers all around the globe it can support them when they return or their families if not.

 

These are the type of people that are supported with poppy donations

http://www.patfinucanecentre.org/state-violence/john-patrick-cunningham

Who was John Pat Cunningham? He was aged 27 and would be described today as a vulnerable *. He had a mental age of between 6 and 10. Due to numerous previous incidents, he had a great fear of men in uniforms.

A year before the shooting, his GP came upon John Pat taking refuge in a ditch from British soldiers who were poised to arrest him. The GP made representations to the British Army and the RUC locally at the time about John Pat’s fear of men in uniforms.

On the morning of 15 June 1974, he was returning from helping out at Benburb Priory along a country lane. There are no independent witnesses to what happened next.

According to statements made by some of the British soldiers involved, they noticed John Pat standing in the roadway looking towards a hedge. The soldiers got out of their vehicles.

John Pat then ran across the road and into a field, pursued by soldiers A, B and E.

Soldiers A and E jumped over a gate and ran into the field, while soldier B took up a position at a second gateway into the same field. All three soldiers claim they shouted at John Pat to stop and then opened fire.

Soldier A fired 3 shots from 100 yards and soldier B fired 2 shots (there is no record in the RUC file as to the distance from which B fired at John Pat but it must have been less than 100 yards).

John Pat, who posed no threat and who was running away, was hit and killed.

No firearms were found with John Pat or in the area.

Three days after the shooting, and one must ask why it took three days to begin questioning them, Soldiers A and B were questioned under caution by two RUC men.

Soldier A said he had taken legal advice and was advised not to make a statement. He was asked six questions and declined to answer any of them except to say he was in charge of the patrol and that he had called on John Pat to stop.

Soldier B also said he had taken legal advice and did not wish to make a statement. He was asked a further four questions and declined to answer them. The interview lasted five minutes.

These two interviews are the only known accounts that soldiers A and B have ever given about John Pat’s death. In total they cannot have lasted more than 10 minutes.

Three months later (September 1974) the RUC submitted a report to the DPP who decided not to bring criminal charges against the soldiers involved.

As soldiers A and B have never given an account of their actions the HET traced them and wrote to them requesting that they assist their review.

Soldier B did not respond to the HET requests.

Soldier A sought legal advice and declined to be interviewed on a voluntary basis or to provide a voluntary statement. Solicitors acting for him also advised that if he was questioned under caution he would refuse to answer any questions or provide any form of written prepared statement.

The HET report into John Pat’s death said that it cannot establish whether the RUC investigation was independent, because of an absence of original case papers.

But, it adds, “by not obtaining the soldiers accounts of what happened more vigorously, the investigation was not as thorough or effective as it could have been.”

“John Pat’s death”, says the HET, “was an absolute tragedy that should not have happened. He was a vulnerable * who was unarmed and shot as he was running away from soldiers.”

“There is no evidence that he posed a threat to the soldiers or anyone else.”

 

Hugging; (unless it's someone very dear to you) otherwise it's annoying Yank culture, that's often fake and over the top and that can be just plane awkward.

 

Poppy debate again...

My thoughts on it are straightforward. I'm no lover of the British Army, but I am fiercely proud of my relatives who fought the Nazis in WWII (World War I on the other hand is * all to be proud of, the slaughter of millions of working class men as a result of a family squabble among the various branches of the European royal family should be a point of outrage not one to be commemorated) My Great Grandfather was torpedoed by the *'s on his whaling boat. He was rescued by another ship in his convoy and temporarily enlisted with the Norwegian Navy, then once in Canada, permanently enlisted with the Norwegian Brigade of the British Army. Had he sought asylum in the US or Canada he would never have been stationed in Scotland and I would not be typing this. I am proud of him beyond words, and if that is what a poppy represented, the war against Fascism, then I would wear one all year round.

As we know though, that is not what the poppy represents. The poppy raises funds for all Brit veterans, wherever they served. These are wars where Britain had no place (apart from Falklands, arguably) Borneo, Aden, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Oman, Cyprus, Brunei, Indonesia, Kenya, Korea and Ireland. By what right did the UK go to war in all of these countries? Imperialism, that is their justification. I would be disgusted to see a club formed as an indirect result of an act of genocide by the British Empire to commemorate the Imperial war dead. Shouldn't we instead remember the civilian dead of these conflicts. 70% of the dead in the Korean conflict were civilians, and mostly in the North. Villagers in Aden where tortured by the British Army as a matter of routine. Cypriot opponents of colonial rule, including a young boy and a blind man, where mercilessly killed by the Royal Ulster Rifles for throwing stones (where else do we see that today?). I'd rather my money went to help them than into the pocket of Aiden McAnespie's killer, or to help a soldier who shot an intellectually disabled young man in the back as he ran away in fear.

Also if the British government is prepared to send young men to die for their interests, should they not also be prepared to look after those who come back crippled, blind, insane etc? Why should that be left to a charity to care for these men when they were injured doing the job that their government sent them to do?

 

Would like to see the club take action on this and ban it within the stadium and surrounding areas

 

Sounds like you need a hug, mate.

 

Haha posted this on wrong thread, but rules apply don't hug me even if we score

 

Would be an excellent way of making them wear Celtic shirts

 

Geez, I probably have too many

I guess my main ones are:

I don't wear a poppy but I think some celtic fan have a fixation with the subject.

I think a portion of our fanbase has an embarrassing preoccupation with Rangers stuff that by now should be neither here nor there to us. on a related note, celtic does not "need a strong rangers"

Statements like "a club open to all" "more than a club" and being "the best fans in the world" are now just meaningless marketing slogans. These statements mean nothing.

It is possible to hold centre or even right of centre opinions on fiscal and economic matters and still be a celtic supporter

 

No shock all of them are supporter based you * disgusting weasel *..

 

But what do you really think?

 

You're worse than a Hun..

 

Poppy issue being forced apon the public from media sources and non wearers being villified almost akin to bullying ,this is wot makes us great ,diverse opinions .

 

Now the thread's getting interesting.

At the risk of blowing the roof off this place, what are your thoughts on the huddle? For many, it bears a striking resemblance to a double-sided hug.

 

I like the huddle. I see that as very different to a hug, in fact there should be more huddles in life.

 

Will groping still be allowed ?

 

Whoever sanctioned BLUE season tickets for public release needs chased out of CP

 

Don’t think that’s an unpopular opinion

 

I like the way Scott Brown uses the huddle as a genuine tool to get everyone pumped up rather than something just down through habit.