geysir
17/09/2005, 10:33 AM
I am not interested to open a debate on who is more sectarian or who did what. I was reading these remarks made by a judge in NI after he imposed a long jail sentence on a would be sectarian killer. I found his comments spot on and deserved to be the leading article on the front page of the.
Indo (http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1470100&issue_id=13010)
Mr Justice Coghlin also hit out at those politicians and paramilitaries who over time have "cynically exploited" sectarianism.
"Sectarianism," declared Mr Justice Coghlin, "is the corrosive toxin that remorselessly eats away at the social fabric surrounding the main communities in Northern Ireland.
"Its manifestations include the crude daubing of slogans upon houses, schools and churches, the grotesque activities of those who orchestrate recreational rioting by children, social exclusion, harassment, physical eviction and community division."
He added that, "over time, sectarianism has been cynically exploited by politicians and paramilitaries. It has both nurtured, and in turn, been reinvigorated by more than 30 years of terrorism".
"Like the 'dreary steeples' in Churchill's famous speech, as the tide of terrorism abates sectarianism re-emerges oozing forth again to corrupt another generation," said the judge.
Indo (http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1470100&issue_id=13010)
Mr Justice Coghlin also hit out at those politicians and paramilitaries who over time have "cynically exploited" sectarianism.
"Sectarianism," declared Mr Justice Coghlin, "is the corrosive toxin that remorselessly eats away at the social fabric surrounding the main communities in Northern Ireland.
"Its manifestations include the crude daubing of slogans upon houses, schools and churches, the grotesque activities of those who orchestrate recreational rioting by children, social exclusion, harassment, physical eviction and community division."
He added that, "over time, sectarianism has been cynically exploited by politicians and paramilitaries. It has both nurtured, and in turn, been reinvigorated by more than 30 years of terrorism".
"Like the 'dreary steeples' in Churchill's famous speech, as the tide of terrorism abates sectarianism re-emerges oozing forth again to corrupt another generation," said the judge.