# UK government to pay compensation to Bloody Sunday families **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 22, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-government-to-pay-compensation-to-bloody-sunday-families/597223 "2011-09-22T18:10:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-government-to-pay-compensation-to-bloody-sunday-families/597223/41 "2011-09-24T23:32:15Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > And yet they are considered a party in negotiations just like a political party Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-government-to-pay-compensation-to-bloody-sunday-families/597223/42 "2011-09-24T23:44:44Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > I don’t support vengence-I support justice. Are you implying we should avoid prosecuting criminals for political reasons? There is no possibility of keeping political considerations out of this. Terrorism on the scale of the troubles _is_ a political act. The NI peace process is a delicate balance between the desire for justice and the practicalities of dealing with groups who straddle the terrorist/political line. We would not be where we are without concessions being made to terrorists designated as “political prisoners”. Would my instinct be to do things differently? definitely! and it probably would’ve sparked off untold death and misery. I’d make an atrocious politician myself so I choose to swallow my objections and let wiser heads try their best to extract the best outcome from the shittiest of all options. Seems to be working. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-government-to-pay-compensation-to-bloody-sunday-families/597223/44 "2011-09-24T23:47:27Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > What has the British government been doing, if not trying to find the people committing terrorist acts for the IRA and “forcing” them to apologize?'] The IRA groups are still around (albeit mostly disarmed)-the US didn’t just ask Al-Qaeda to turn in their weapons. > [@](#): > > Another angle: do you think the British government should not have apologized or attempted to make amends for bloody Sunday? They certainly should apologize and recompensate the families-much as say the US did with the interment camps. > [@bucketybuck](#): > > Cite? I misspoke when I said the IRA was treated as apolitical organization. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-government-to-pay-compensation-to-bloody-sunday-families/597223/45 "2011-09-25T00:13:09Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > They certainly should apologize and recompensate the families-much as say the US did with the interment camps. So you’re in agreement with the general opinion of the thread, then? Why bring the IRA into it? Are you unsatisfied with how the British government handled the IRA? ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-government-to-pay-compensation-to-bloody-sunday-families/597223/46 "2011-09-25T00:15:23Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > So you’re in agreement with the general opinion of the thread, then? Why bring the IRA into it? Are you unsatisfied with how the British government handled the IRA? Yes, they have been let off too easily. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-government-to-pay-compensation-to-bloody-sunday-families/597223/47 "2011-09-25T01:15:44Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > I’m not hateful towards anyone-I’m just pointing out the double standard where the British government is forced to apologize and pay for all of its stupid or immoral actions while the IRA is not. Wrong attempt to imagine a “double standard.” Neither the IRA nor the numerous TLA groups beginning with “U” are being told to apologize and pay. The only entity being “told,” (by its own agency), to make reparations is the specific government that sent troops in to secure peace that then turned a blind eye and engaged in decades of lies to avoid addressing the fact that its own “peacekeepers” were guilty of murder. Had anyone ordered the Ulster Defense Association or the numerous similar groups to make reparations while giving the IRA a pass, you would have a point, but in this case you are simply posting silly statements indicative of ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-government-to-pay-compensation-to-bloody-sunday-families/597223/48 "2011-09-25T03:48:28Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > I don’t support vengence-I support justice. Are you implying we should avoid prosecuting criminals for political reasons? Yes, absolutely. One of the costs of peace in Northern Ireland is that some murderers have “gotten away” with their crimes. The price is worth paying. It is worth forgoing justice in a few cases in order to prevent innocents from being blown up in continuing terror bombings. “All rights and all wrongs have long since blown away for causes are ashes where children lie slain.” -[Stan Rogers](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pwld86XndSY) ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-government-to-pay-compensation-to-bloody-sunday-families/597223/49 "2011-09-25T05:36:43Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > There is no possibility of keeping political considerations out of this. Terrorism on the scale of the troubles _is_ a political act. > > The NI peace process is a delicate balance between the desire for justice and the practicalities of dealing with groups who straddle the terrorist/political line. > We would not be where we are without concessions being made to terrorists designated as “political prisoners”. > > Seems to be working. While I agree as regards to the Northern Irish situtaion, I do not agree generally. Terrorists are criminals; common criminals and should be treated. Why should they be treated any differently then your average drug dealer or wife killer\* \*Though I believe the PIRA took a narrow view of such people in areas they controlled. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-government-to-pay-compensation-to-bloody-sunday-families/597223/50 "2011-09-25T07:50:06Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > While I agree as regards to the Northern Irish situtaion, I do not agree generally. Terrorists are criminals; common criminals and should be treated. Why should they be treated any differently then your average drug dealer or wife killer\* > > \*Though I believe the PIRA took a narrow view of such people in areas they controlled. Where it is possible to do so we should, where such an approach makes political progress impossible then, grudgingly, I accept some degree of compromise is necessary. I’m conflicted and ambiguous and hypocritical on this myself. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-government-to-pay-compensation-to-bloody-sunday-families/597223/51 "2011-09-25T11:01:36Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Yes, they have been let off too easily. I look forward to hearing the Curtis plan for peace in Northern Ireland. The real world is complex. Sometimes it’s better to let bygones be bygones than keep a bloody status quo. I already recommended a book to you to allay your ignorance of the situation in NI but since you didn’t read it then I doubt you’d read it now. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-government-to-pay-compensation-to-bloody-sunday-families/597223/52 "2011-09-25T11:02:57Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > I don’t support vengence-I support justice. Are you implying we should avoid prosecuting criminals for political reasons? Then I ask you, should the soldiers who murdered those civilians that day pay in jail time for their actions? ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-government-to-pay-compensation-to-bloody-sunday-families/597223/53 "2011-09-25T16:43:09Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > I look forward to hearing the Curtis plan for peace in Northern Ireland. The real world is complex. Sometimes it’s better to let bygones be bygones than keep a bloody status quo. I already recommended a book to you to allay your ignorance of the situation in NI but since you didn’t read it then I doubt you’d read it now. I think this is the kind of situation where, without having lived it or having lived with the continuing results of it, it’s very easy to just sit back on a principle. Curtis does rather seem to be in that camp in general, not just in terms of this particular subject. As you say, there comes a point where you become willing to spend your principles in order to buy respite. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-government-to-pay-compensation-to-bloody-sunday-families/597223/54 "2011-09-25T22:30:13Z")
In this matter as well as so many others, Curtis doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Perhaps his parents met at Bob Jones University, which has long had ties to Ian Paisley & family. The compensation? Well, it can’t really undo what was done. But it might help in the continuing efforts to move forward. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-government-to-pay-compensation-to-bloody-sunday-families/597223/55 "2011-09-25T22:50:23Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > I look forward to hearing the Curtis plan for peace in Northern Ireland. The real world is complex. Sometimes it’s better to let bygones be bygones than keep a bloody status quo. I already recommended a book to you to allay your ignorance of the situation in NI but since you didn’t read it then I doubt you’d read it now. Sorry didn’t have the time. ☹ Well thinking about it I see that we cannot establish justice here in the interests of peace. > [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Then I ask you, should the soldiers who murdered those civilians that day pay in jail time for their actions? Yes, just like the cops in the Rodney King beating/ ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-government-to-pay-compensation-to-bloody-sunday-families/597223/56 "2011-09-25T23:26:18Z")
How those two acts are comparable is completely beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-government-to-pay-compensation-to-bloody-sunday-families/597223/57 "2011-09-25T23:43:46Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > How those two acts are comparable is completely beyond me. Both were abuse of powers by the police/military. Kent State may be more apt ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-government-to-pay-compensation-to-bloody-sunday-families/597223/58 "2011-09-26T00:59:45Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > I’m not hateful towards anyone-I’m just pointing out the double standard where the British government is forced to apologize and pay for all of its stupid or immoral actions while the IRA is not. Oddly enough, as a British citizen with family links to the Unionist community, I expect slightly higher levels of behavior from my government and its agents than I do from a murderous terrorist crime syndicate. And, as has been made clear, the beneficiaries of Bloody Sunday were the Provos. The deaths of innocent protestors (not IRA members) led to the deaths of British soldiers, Ulster policemen, and other civilians. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-government-to-pay-compensation-to-bloody-sunday-families/597223/59 "2011-09-26T02:57:08Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Sorry didn’t have the time. ☹ > > Well thinking about it I see that we cannot establish justice here in the interests of peace. > > / That’s pretty much what happens every single time. Look at post-apartheid South Africa, former Latin American dictatorships, former Warsaw Pact countries, etc… The guilty ones are pretty much never punished and the victims have to suck it up in order to “buy” peace, civil order and for the changes to occur. Even in the worst cases, only the higher ups are punished (Nazi era, Rwanda, former Yugoslavia…). You just can’t prosecute and jail 10% of the population. It’s true that it’s disheartening, though. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-government-to-pay-compensation-to-bloody-sunday-families/597223/60 "2011-09-26T03:10:27Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > And yet they are considered a party in negotiations just like a political party (I mean the IRA groups not Sinn Fein or the political parties) rather than simply a terrorist group that deserves to be persecuted and wiped off from the face of the Earth. Since WHEN? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-government-to-pay-compensation-to-bloody-sunday-families/597223/61 "2011-09-26T03:40:32Z")
In other Troubles-related news, [Gusty Spence](http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/sep/25/gusty-spence?newsfeed=true), the loyalist terrorist who committed the first murders of the Troubles, but later became a peacemaker, has died. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-government-to-pay-compensation-to-bloody-sunday-families/597223.md?page=2)