Ireland isn't normal.

Peace in Northern Ireland is still young, and today, it may be in danger. We explain what makes Ireland different, why peace is hard, and how democracy helps.
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From 1969 to 1998, Northern Ireland was engulfed in a civil conflict known as The Troubles. The country-only a small section of the island of Ireland-was divided between two factions fighting over the Irish border: Protestant British Unionists and Catholic Irish Nationalists, represented by various militias and the Provisional IRA, respectively. Car bombs and military checkpoints were commonplace, while “peace lines” segregated neighborhoods by religion. In 1998, the Good Friday Agreement brought the conflict to an end, legitimated by democratic referendums in the independent Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, but today that agreement is in trouble. A political row over Brexit’s Northern Ireland Protocol has erupted, pitting unionists and nationalists against each other once more over questions of the Irish border.
Spectacles is a love letter to democracy, its values, its caretakers, and its ideas. Around the world, individual rights and representative government are facing unprecedented attacks from the forces of reaction and revisionism. But despite liberal democracy’s real shortcomings and today’s all-too-fashionable cynicism, we remain committed to its preservation and improvement. Join us as we explore just what liberal democracy is, how it comes about, and how it can best be maintained in a changing world.
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CHAPTERS
00:00 INTRO
01:24 ONE STRANGE COLONY
03:54 DIFFERENCE AND DIVISION
05:49 A TASTE OF UNITY
08:04 WEAPONIZING PEACE
09:53 THE CHALLENGE

[@spectacles-dm]

Hey everybody, thanks for watching! Pinned comment to address some things (may be edited over time): 1. When referring to the partisans of the troubles, we said that unionists committed massacres like Bloody Sunday and on the other side was the Irish Republican Army. This isn't perfectly accurate. Bloody Sunday was itself perpetrated by British soldiers, not Unionist militias, but Unionist militias did commit other atrocities such as the Dublin and Monaghan bombings among others. The other side was hardly humane either, but it was not the IRA but the *Provisional* IRA, after a split within the organization. Sorry about those. 2. Some have complained about our characterization of unionists as colonists. To be clear, we didn't mean to do anything of the sort. Protestants did colonize Ireland, and many Unionists are themselves the Protestant descendants of those colonists. That's all we meant to say, and that's hardly anything but a fact of the matter.

[@suburbanyobbo9412]

Northern Ireland isn’t an Irish province. And you ought to make it clear that there is no mention of the border in the Good Friday Agreement, contrary to what many have claimed on the Remain side of the Brexit debate.

[@bernardmolloy4463]

Put the border back on land and Irish people, like myself and throughout Ireland just will not tolerate such ignorance to do so. Furthermore there will be a war. Fact. People in Britain need to really start listening and quickly realise that. For everyones sake. But then maybe a war is what you want.

[@suburbanyobbo9412]

@@bernardmolloy4463 What on Earth are you drivelling on about.

[@jgw9990]

@@bernardmolloy4463 Put a border between one part of the UK and another and the people of the UK will not stand for it. Its utterly ridiculous. I don't want war for obvious reasons, but I'll just say that when I look at the state of Irelands military (if you can even call it one) I'm not worried. Both options are stupid, and the EU knew this when it gave them. A new solution is needed.

[@suburbanyobbo9412]

@shane long This video gets basic stuff wrong, such as describing Northern Ireland as a province.

[@RClayton998]

Have you been to Northern Ireland recently? I live in Belfast, but I work all over the province as well as Cork and Dublin, working with people from multiple backgrounds and beliefs. I have not heard a single person advocate for a return to violence, not even politicians or the extremes of either side. In fact, the sheer thought of a return to violence is enough to make anybody here to feel violently ill. People just want to live their lives. Also, suggesting a return to violence is incredibly patronising and plain wrong. You wouldn't tell African Americans that Jim Crow era laws will return because of the George Floyd protests would you? So don't whip up a fear of violence in NI without actually talking to people on the ground. They know better than anyone, yet no one takes us seriously.

[@jconnor1zzzzz]

Im from NI too and what you're saying is correct for the vast majority yes but it may not take a lot for violence to resurface, tit for tat etc, especially with there being no clear solution for brexit on Ireland Although I think any violence commited would immediately be met with huge public opinion backlash, it still wouldn't stop some people

[@mikekelly5869]

Ha ha, very funny..... Sorry, couldn't resist your last sentence. On a serious note I think you're selling the opinions of people on the ground a bit short. I agree 100% with everything else you said but I think that the failure to listen to people on the ground is very much a feature of the current Tory government. NI is in the way of what they want to achieve and they're willing to take risks to change that. I think this will change before serious damage is done, at least I hope so.

[@Grizabeebles]

In a sense, it doesn't really matter what the overwhelming majority of people want or don't want. I wish I had a better historical example than this -- In 1932 the Nazi Party only got 37% of the popular vote. There were only 4 million brownshirts out of a population of over 66 million people. That's about 6% of the total population. 13.6 million Germans fought during the Second World War. That's only about 20% of the population. It only takes a bare handful of people who are willing to embrance violence to bring about the worst events in history. This doesn't have anything to do with "the German people" or "the Irish people" or "people who lived back then". It's an issue with *human beings.* 70% of people won't fight. Ever.

[@jackietreehorn5561]

Well said

[@blucheer8743]

True

[@barmybarmecide5390]

Not sure if "only victim of European settler colonialism" is entirely accurate, policies of Russification in the Russian empire, Magyarization in post-compromise Hungary and Germanization in Czechia, Poland and other regions all have many elements in common with the colonized experience

[@threesixnine369six]

Was thinking the same. Ireland, Scotland and Wales come to mind first. On the continent I was thinking more about the Sami people in northern Scandinavia.

[@ether6107]

Belarus and Ukraine are huge examples. They were colonized by the Lithuanians/Poles, and later by the Russians after Muscovy conquered those lands. The goal of the administrations of these colonial states were to economically exploit these lands while forcing the metropoles' culture onto the colonized.

[@Pine_of_England]

Scotland? In what was was Scotland colonised?

[@barmybarmecide5390]

@@Pine_of_England Scottish protestants and the English did succeed in ethnically cleansing the Scottish Highlands and Islands, I'd guess that's probably what he's referring to

[@ether6107]

@Schwainer mit ai Uh the Austrian Empire and The Mid-Century Germans (as I am assuming you'd call them wink) very much were working towards Germanization.

[@irishgigachad2347]

My dad grew up during the troubles and still to this day he still refuses to tell me what he saw during it its so tough man.

[@vernedavis]

damn right,he's ah tough man. vern

[@johnthompson7105]

Civil war in europe is now certain it will be started by all our entitled friends who turn up uninvited

[@stevenjackson6360]

Unless your dad had a woolly face, he probably saw nothing except from the news reports

[@Meghanslappy]

You can do your own research on it too.

[@ince55ant]

my da has no such reluctance. its bad and hard to say your da was wrong to keep it to himself (though he should definitely have someone to talk to about it).

[@milimnava9375]

As from Belfast and being a Nationalist, I can say for certain that the past still haunts this area. The hard walls can still be seen, flags are the new borders for areas and kids are being taught more to see the other side as enemies then political opposites. It's been getting worse slowly since 98 especially among teenagers

[@user-ze8yy8jg1f]

Coming from the Republic we were taught a lot about our history and even had teachers who supported the ira. So this is definitely gonna be a new generation thing. Majority of the main votes for sinn fein in the Republic is Coming from the new generations

[@beaglaoich4418]

@@user-ze8yy8jg1f ​ eh no maybe anecdotally you’ve teachers that openly support the IRA, that is not the norm. It would also be more true to say that we are now less nationalist in that manner of studying and moreso revering the early 20th century movement On top of that, a plurality support Sinn Féin, ie less than 50% but still the largest voting block from the last GE

[@user-ze8yy8jg1f]

@@beaglaoich4418 I said had teachers that's past tense. And I don't know why your even commenting. Your normal is not my normal or anyone else's. Republican support is at its highest since the end of the troubles that says enough

[@beaglaoich4418]

@@user-ze8yy8jg1f the issue was you said from the republic and we and therefore you were referring to more than just yourself, intentionally or otherwise as it apparently seems to be. I did mention that yours was an anecdote and not reflective of the experience of all. As for the rise of republicanism, I disagree, Sinn Féin support is building especially in the south primarily around the social issues of housing healthcare etc and less so their Republican credentials. Living near the border they’ve a substantially different modus operandi here. There’s a greater similarity with the Northern politicking of memorialising IRA members. Which is more concrete republicanism than the likes of Cullinane shouting up the Ra in Waterford after the election.

[@beaglaoich4418]

@@user-ze8yy8jg1f the issue was you said from the republic and we and therefore you were referring to more than just yourself, intentionally or otherwise as it apparently seems to be. I did mention that yours was an anecdote and not reflective of the experience of all. As for the rise of republicanism, I disagree, Sinn Féin support is building especially in the south primarily around the social issues of housing healthcare etc and less so their Republican credentials. Living near the border they’ve a substantially different modus operandi here. There’s a greater similarity with the Northern politicking of memorialising IRA members. Which is more concrete republicanism than the likes of Cullinane shouting up the Ra in Waterford after the election.

[@kindnessfirst9670]

One of the strangest things about the island of Ireland is that it's population has never again grown to the level it was prior to the Famine 180 years ago. Meanwhile the worlds population is eight times the population it was then. JFK famously said that Ireland's only export has been it's children.

[@rskb1957]

It is a tragedy for Ireland that so many of its sons and daughters found it necessary to leave, driven away by economic stagnation, casued in no small part by British policies aimed at 'punishing' Ireland for the 'temerity' of leaving the United Kingdom. Indeed most of my family had to leave and are spread across the globe, mostiy Australia and the US. I would point out that the Brexit supporters level the charge of 'punishment' by the EU for British temerity in leaving. How ironic!

[@brianbadonde8700]

It has grown about 1.5 million in the last 25 yrs mainly due to immigration and the plan is to double the population through mass immigration, doubling the population of all the major cities

[@kindnessfirst9670]

@@brianbadonde8700 Why just the cities instead of the entire country? And the plan needs a time frame to be any use.

[@brianbadonde8700]

@@kindnessfirst9670 it's everywhere but the cities have the infrastructure already that can be built upon

[@tomtomftube]

​@@rskb1957and Fine Gael continued the British economics and class system. FG are basically tories they despise poor and uneducated Irish people and they WANT them to either emigrate or die.

[@cromcruach5035]

A little bit of nuance that usually gets brushed aside is that Protestant Ireland was never one homogeneous entity. You had the Ascendancy, who were the relatively small Anglican landlord class throughout Ireland descended mainly from people given land grants under Cromwell, and then the Presbyterians and other Protestants descended from the Ulster Plantations and later migration from Scotland and England who make up a majority in parts of that province, and consist of all classes. Non-Anglican Protestants were once discriminated against under the Penal Laws (albeit to a lesser degree than Catholics) and until the construction of a homogeneous British identity, most ordinary Scottish-descended, Scots speaking Presbyterians living in Ulster had little to no sense of belonging to a dominant nation, or of being "British" rather than Irishmen. It would be wishful thinking to say many were still not loyal to the crown, but at the same time dissenting Protestants in Ulster had a strong tradition of radicalism which actually more or less created Irish republicanism as we know it. I think this is important to stress considering the notion of Irish Catholics and British Protestants being locked in this primordial struggle has become so essentialised nowadays.

[@spectacles-dm]

Wow, what amazing insights. Thank you so much for sharing. Obviously, we lacked the time to delve so deeply into the topics you're hitting on, but it's always so appreciated when someone takes the time to expand on the material. So glad you stopped by and hope you otherwise enjoyed the video.

[@alberain]

Why wishful?

[@cromcruach5035]

@@alberain Some republicans might like to think all Ulster Presbyterians were dyed in the wool republicans until they were duped by the English and Anglo-Irish ruling class into backing their interests. While there's a degree of truth to idea, it wasn't quite that straightforward.

[@raymondhaskin9449]

Another O’Irish guy here to give his 10 cents on protestant/British identity 😂. Firstly, there had been a strong notion of the British as a homogenous race since antiquity. Attested to in both classical and native sources. So, your suggestion that an Ulster Scottish Presbyterian saw himself as an “Irishman” and not belonging to Britain, is utterly insane. Secondly, you incorrectly describe the ascendency as a small group of Anglican landlords - not realising that all Protestants sects were part of the ascendency - especially Scots Presbyterians. The English and Scots elite classes had been intermingling for a thousand years at this point and shared the same ruling class by the 19th century.

[@cromcruach5035]

@@raymondhaskin9449 The cultural identity of the Ancient Britons and the modern idea of Britishness are two very separate things I'm afraid, as fond as unionists are of conflating them to give an air of antique grandeur to a fundamentally modern concept. The modern descendants of Ancient Briton cultures are the traditional cultures of the Welsh, Bretons and pre-anglicised Cornish. In this instance, it might be appropriate to quote Welsh nationalist Gwynfor Evans - "Britishness…is a political synonym for Englishness which extends English culture over the Scots, the Welsh, and the Irish.“ As for the Irishness of Ulster Presbyterians, considering the majority of the founders of the United Irishmen belonged to that sect of Irish society and even auld Ian Paisley was quoted as saying that one cannot be an Ulsterman without being an Irishman, its safe to say that the belief that many Ulster unionists now have that they are exclusively of "British" nationality is a very recent phenomena. Loyalty to a king and a national identity are not historically the same thing. And with the Ascendancy, strictly speaking the term denotes members of the landed gentry who were members of the established Church of Ireland. A class of people chiefly descended from Cromwellian planters (though some were from earlier plantations or even Irish turncoats) found throughout Ireland in small numbers relative to the population at large but monopolising the greater degree of capital and political power. Naturally, in Ulster the upper class included Presbyterian descendants of Scottish undertakers as well as Anglicans who received land in the Ulster plantations and settled it with English tenants who practiced the same faith as them. So while the line may blur slightly in those instances, by and large we can make a fairly clear distinction.

[@brianahern3636]

Although 'neutral', it is worth mentioning over 80,000 Irish citizens joined the British armed forces during WW2.

[@paulhalliday1515]

It's pretty simple, unionists leave Ireland to the Irish.

[@paulcarruthers2431]

Ireland should all be one country

[@benba8342]

You could make a spin-off on these 8 and remaining 3 agreements that were stable and empowering.

[@spectacles-dm]

That's a great idea!

[@carlosdumbratzen6332]

Honestly I am not quite sure which ones you mean, because I can name none ._. All the ones I could think off are still pretty hot and no where near as calm as NI. Are they countries in Africa and Central America that I am not remembering? Or are you talking about post cold war countries like Vietnam and Germany? Or is it something as insignificant as South Tirol? Because Sudan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Kosovo and so on are still pretty hot and nowhere near as calm as NI or as democratic.

[@NibanoTugano]

3:49, there is a mistake in the map because Moçambique was a Portuguese colony and not a British colony

[@peterpalashevky7423]

60 shot.11 died? That's a normal weekend in Chicago today 😢😢

[@user-gx7vl2lq6i]

Yeah man I live in Milwaukee but am in Chicago a LOT and I totally agree

[@fin4204]

I don’t believe that religious and ethnic conflicts are entirely unique to Ireland in the 17th century. I think you’ve labelled it as colonisation simply because it’s an island. Similar invasions have definitely happened between European powers on the grounds of religion or ethnic groups. I guess it is somewhat comparable to the 30 years war.

[@cremebrulee2484]

Calling the UK England is painful. I understand for a lot of people it’s became a synonym for the UK like how Holland is for The Netherlands but just know it’s absolutely not correct at all same as calling the UK Great Britain, that would be correct a few hundred years ago.

[@uknowme2077]

But the uk is england lol what else scotland bloody wales???

[@elseggs6504]

@@uknowme2077 its just like calling the soviet union russia. we all know who held the real power

[@cremebrulee2484]

@@uknowme2077 It’s not.

[@palepilgrim1174]

It doesn't bother me at all, I'm from Glasgow. It's merely pars pro toto. Maybe you should get a life and stop being bothered by such pedantic things. Almost everyone in the UK speaks English as their mothertongue anyway.

[@palepilgrim1174]

@The Floppa show - SUBSCRIBE! Are you English? Who do you descend from? Have you ever taken a DNA test? What’s your surname?

[@rustydawgt]

Amazing videos, just finished bingeing all your videos. New ideas and great editing, script, voiceover on par with channels with millions of subscribers. You’ll get there in no time, keep it up!

[@spectacles-dm]

We hope you're right. So glad you enjoyed :)

[@pandahugs2271]

I like these types of videos and eould like to personally thank @hoog for sharing not only this channel but other very informative channels.

[@spectacles-dm]

Yes, Hoog is amazing! Been such a huge help to us. So glad ot have you and that you're enjoying the videos.

[@taylorrowe2002]

How about England just renounces its heresies and rejoins the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church and then this would all be over and Ireland would maybe consider rejoining the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, we have the Anglican Church allowing LGBTQ marriages and women Priests. Of course, Ireland, a nation under God, will not put up with this wokeness.

[@bigcreamyfukits8967]

"Ireland unfree shall never be at peace"=Patrick Pearse 1 August 1915

[@ronanmurphy9426]

9:12 Unionist parties still received more votes and seats than nationalist parties, although the single largest party is nationalist, Sinn Fein. The unionist vote is just more divided between parties.

[@spectacles-dm]

Correct. By "nationalists won the most votes" we meant that "a party representing nationalists won the most votes." We should have been clearer. Thanks for pointing this out.

[@ronanmurphy9426]

@@spectacles-dm No problem, thank you for acknowledging my comment. This is excellent work, very well researched and presented, and here hoping there's much more to come!

[@spectacles-dm]

Thank you so much!

[@peterdoyle1591]

That is incorrect IMO. The Unionist vote was 356,180. The rest of the parties received 455,104 votes. There is a simple rule in NI. You either vote for a Unionist party or you are not a Unionist. With declining Unionist votes there is no tolerance for sitting on the fence like the Alliance party is doing. This is why they burn effigies of the Alliance party members as well as nationalist party members along with the Irish Tri-colour on the 11th of July. Alliance votes/seats come from Unionist areas, not Nationalist areas. Unionists are not stupid and know the Alliance party votes are a combined protestant nationalist and catholic nationalist vote turned into seats in order to weaken the Unionist vote and fewer Unionist seats. Useless nationalist votes that would otherwise end up as Unionist seats. An undeclared Alliance party with no love for any Unionist party is a disguised Nationalist party. You are loyal to the Crown or you are not. It's just not that easy to burn them out these days.

[@megadwarf4714]

@@peterdoyle1591 to be a nationalist you would have to support irish unity, no? alliance party voters are split roughly evenly on the issue

[@Aodhomh]

Excellent video. Well thought out and superbly researched. As an irish person (from the south) it made me feel really sad being reminded that a large amount of the hatred is still brewing beneath the surface. The older genreration of people in the North have put up with so much crap during their life times always being the bargaining chip. I hope common sense will prevail and the north doesnt return to violence and can return to stabilty without any discrimination of one group or the other. Whatever form that may take I do not know. But I feel we are at definitely at a dangerous turning point where some form of drastic change is currently the likely outcome.

[@spectacles-dm]

Aodomh, thank you so much for your thoughtful comment. It is indeed a very sad and sorry state of affairs. Today is not so different from the Troubles, in that the vast majority of people have no interest in conflict but only wish to live in peace and quiet, not worrying about whether their sons or daughters may be traumatized or worse by senseless violence, while a few individuals who stand to profit from radicalism and ideological brinkmanship use them, as you say, as bargaining chips. Here's hoping peace can prevail once more.

[@trackman2300]

Not going to be visiting Ireland any time soon

[@spectacles-dm]

@@trackman2300 That is too bad. It's a beautiful country full of kind and generous people -- like most countries!

[@King_Scorpia_IV]

@@spectacles-dm thanks man, we don’t want people terrified of our greenery!

[@seankavanagh7625]

@@spectacles-dm Thanks lad👍

[@n00b1n8R]

Insta subbed, high production value, well researched, well presented. Can't wait to watch the rest of the videos and see the channel blow up.

[@spectacles-dm]

Thanks so much! Happy to have you?

[@taylorrowe2002]

How about England just renounces its heresies and rejoins the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church and then this would all be over and Ireland would maybe consider rejoining the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, we have the Anglican Church allowing LGBTQ marriages and women Priests. Of course, Ireland, a nation under God, will not put up with this wokeness.

[@paulkirwan3431]

Well, there's a Bot-written comment, if ever there was one! So obviously AI.

[@MayoRatOfTheLands]

As someone from Belfast and has a family that is divided due to my fathers side being Catholic/Nationalists while my mothers side is Loyalist/Protestant. I can understand both sides points and views. Learning my countries history as well has also brought more understanding. Honestly even with all the understanding etc Idek what identity or nationality I can claim to be my own. Am I British or Irish. A Complicated country and a complicated people and history. I hope the peace lasts

[@biodiversityfanatic2454]

Can you share with me the unionist position? I'm from America looking at it from afar in the 21st century, why the religious division even today in a increasingly secular world? Why can't Ireland unite, giving North Ireland people the right to proudly fly the 🇬🇧 up high or be protestant? Why do unionist need to be literally in Britain, then just identify with Britain.

[@MayoRatOfTheLands]

@@biodiversityfanatic2454 So the general idea is that Nationalists are Catholic while Protestants are Loyalists/Unionists. Even though you’d think it’s a religious issue from how it’s described on the outside. It’s far from the truth, no one in this nation is particularly religious anymore and the whole topic disregards religion, the issue is identity, nationality and culture. It did or was mainly about religion at somepoint but that’s disappeared over the centuries and decades. Even though we can own dual-citizenship and even though people can identify as British even if Northern Ireland does reunite with Ireland, it would just be the same issue but reversed. So instead of people identifying as Irish and being apart of the UK, it would just be Brits apart of Ireland. I think the general fear for Unionists is the fear of being treated the same way the unionist treated the Nationalists back in the past, segregation, prejudice, and even though you’d think we’re past that in the 21st century, I don’t think I need to say look at the world to say as far as we’ve come we’re still behind in a lot. Also even if people identify as British they’d feel their country no longer share those ideals, laws and values although similar to Ireland. Furthermore mainly the NHS (National Health Service) of the UK is free (Not really since we pay taxes that’s why it’s free/whole topic) if we were to integrate with Ireland we’d lose that free healthcare plus the taxes and bills within Ireland are higher than that of the UK. So the fear of losing the NHS, the fear of higher costs of living and the possible loss of a Brit identity is what I’ve gathered from my family and just most unionists I’ve spoken with. I have no idea what I personally identify as in regards to Nationality but there’s always dual citizenship if I can decide either or

[@MayoRatOfTheLands]

@@biodiversityfanatic2454 also the Nationalist/Catholics will eventually have the majority in terms of population and the only real unionists now a days are generally the older generation. Most young people tend to be more open to reunification and just more open to a lot of things. I’m 21 so I’ve still plenty of life in me to see my countries history unfold infront of my eyes.

[@timlinator]

@@MayoRatOfTheLands My dad grew up in Limerick and said basically the same thing not really about religion more about land, culture and national identity.

[@noodlyappendage6729]

Basically British Unionist identity is more inclusive and unifying Then Irish Republican identity. British Unionists believe people can be English and British, Scottish and British, Welsh and British or Irish and British. In fact many of us are mixture. I’m partly all four. I’m British. Republicans are anti-British and they don’t accept that people can be Irish and British. One other thing. Britishness isn’t just from Great Britain. But also Ireland which was referred to as Little Britain at the same time Albion was referred to as Great Britain. Both islands are a part of the British Isles.

[@viperxmars6091]

As someone who is from england, i think the uk holding onto it is utter stupidity. its simple in my mind, give ireland, the whole of ireland. if you want to be part of uk, then come over to the uk. i dont know why you would want to join the uk, cause it quite crap here. but what ever suits you i guess. thats my thoughts on it all, its just the uk being petty, and being awkward, as the country always is.

[@tomtomftube]

Exactly it's imperialism British never had a right to claim our land

[@JPA65]

It’s not our decision, it’s their decision only. I don’t see what is so difficult to understand, they have the right to vote however they want. They have a right to call the vote whenever they want.

[@oldreprobate2748]

It appears to me that Ireland with its quick rise economically, there is perhaps a poor distribution of wealth not unlike here in the USA that is bordering on a fracturing of irish democracy. Here in the United States who is presumed to be the richest country there has been a continual inequality of wealth distribution to the point that for all intensive purposes the US government is now under the control of an oligarchy made up of billionaires, multi-millionaires, and their corporations. They represent a mere one to two percent of the population. I hope ireland isnt headed in that direction, but if so, I hope the citizens of Ireland's working class will address it head on before they too fall prey to oligarchic control of their government. Capitalism is essentially good, but when the government allows it to become unfettered through legislation that deregulates the means, ant at the same time fails to properly tax it for the welfare of everyone is when capitalism fails the overall human society. Consider this: The care and happiness of humans, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.

[@MaVOfficialHD]

The Irish government are lining their pockets through unbridled capitalism and landlordism. We are on a one-way trip to calamity. They profit from homelessness and the massive housing crisis in the country. Capitalism is not essentially good, as an American I understand you are probably brainwashed into thinking that, not your fault. When the English army left Ireland, they left their capitalists and their bankers, and therefore have managed to continue to rule us, in a different, yet crueller and more effective way.

[@jagggy_snake]

It is going that way sadly

[@henrypierce8900]

That horse has bolted!

[@PatoneLol]

Billionaires and multi-millionaires 1 to 2 percent of the population? Lmao, try 0.01%. There's a total of 770 billionaires in America today. Not 770k, just seven hundred and seventy. Income inequality is WAY worse than we think.

[@gregbone8149]

This is great and I love the visuals that enhance the points you are making

[@spectacles-dm]

Thanks so much!

[@keneokafor8327]

Ireland will be United

[@EddC97]

As someone from the UK, and someone who has studied the Troubles in detail, I don't think this video is helpful. Sure, the creators have good knowledge about the conflict and, to an extent, the current situation. However, I think it's a bit click baity and quite frankly irresponsible to make the thumbnail "europe's next war". A whole generation was traumatised by the troubles and their children and grandchildren have inherited it. I have a protestant Northern Irish friend who, whilst at school, was told that he wasn't allowed to tell other kids that his Grandfather had been a police officer, as revenge attacks were still a common occurrence. The people of Northern Ireland are in no rush to get back to those days, and neither are we here in England who also payed a high price in blood. Whilst things are tense again, I don't ever see it going back to how it was back then, and the thumbnail just reeks of typical American alarmism and mistunderstanding of situations in other nations. It comes across as massively insensitive.

[@noodlyappendage6729]

And as we all know these videos tend to lean towards Republicanism. UK all the way baby 🇬🇧 NI won’t leave anyway.

[@tomtomftube]

Northern Ireland has no right to exist

[@JPA65]

Of course it’s American alarmism. I’m sure they’ll be sending in their cash donations from Boston to the terrorists (IRA) across the pond if they had the chance again. It’s funny how that all seemed to stop once 9/11 happened. I guess financially supporting a terrorist group fell out of fashion.

[@TheSchleepingmoney]

I would agree, however history tells us that Northern Ireland tends to heat up quickly. If you told someone in Northern Ireland that there would effectively by a civil war by 1970 they wouldn’t believe you.

[@user-vl7qb5zf1q]

The Irish have paid a far greater price due to Britain's involvement in their affairs. They didn't ask for , didn't need , certainly didn't gain from that interference.

[@williamdonaldson9813]

I grew up in a nationalist area. I saw my first dead body at five years old. Our house was bombed when I was 8. No one in my family was involved in politics. Innocent people suffered because of fear, greed and inflexibility.

[@GUIGuyify]

Another subscriber… well researched and presented. Well done 👍

[@spectacles-dm]

Thank you!

[@Pine_of_England]

Strange that the Scottish involvement isn't mentioned

[@hugepumpkin8094]

It's easier to villainise the English

[@chrishilton3626]

@@hugepumpkin8094 Yeah I hate people keep villainising English and they don’t touch on the fact that the Scottish were heavily involved in colonising Ireland even James the sixth of Scotland I had advocated colonising Ireland

[@palepilgrim1174]

The Ulster Plantations were literally the brainchild of James VI of Scotland (later James I of England). While solely King of Scotland he advocated actually genociding Gaels within his own kingdom and was instead talked down by his advisors and encouraged to merely forcibly assimilate (so ethnociding instead) them through colonization efforts instead (which were moderately successful), see 'The Gentlemen Adventurers of Fife' for more details. He later decided to do the same thing on a larger scale with Ulster. Lowlanders are not Scottish. Lowlanders are not Celtic. The term for the Lowlands in Gaelic is actually 'The Place of the Foreigner' and the Gaelic word for a Lowlander is 'goill' (stranger/foreigner/alien/outlander) the same term they used for other Englishmen, Norsemen and Normans. Another term they used for Lowlanders was simply 'Saxon' (which is what Lowlanders frequently used to refer to themselves). In fact most of the rabid anti-Gaelic, anti-Celtic racial theories and dehumanizing campaigns came from the Lowlands from racial scientists such as Robert Knox. They are literally the Austrians of English people.

[@chrishilton3626]

@@palepilgrim1174 lowlanders are Scottish that’s like saying Henry Tudor wasn’t a Direct descendent of William the Conqueror Because he was

[@palepilgrim1174]

@@chrishilton3626 Well then the Tudors clearly weren’t Welsh were they? Did they even speak Welsh? If they descend from Normans and speak only English then how the hell are they Welsh, lmao? Same with the Lowlanders.

[@bennyrico4205]

imagine people stealing your land,and then you have to pay monies to get it back what an injustice

[@mohammedhumaid7636]

Northern ireland is firmly Irish. It will definatley sooner or later join Ireland.

[@dylon2932]

This video is really well produced - the graphics were exceptionally effective at communicating information clearly. The channel deserves to have many more followers. BUT the thumbnail was clickbaity.

[@spectacles-dm]

Thank you so much!

[@Gmackematix]

Clickbaity thumbnails are unfortunately still the best way to get content seen.

[@TheAlternative_27]

@@Gmackematix yeah. You most likely wouldn't had watched this if it wasn't like that.

[@joeduffy3309]

the graphics that show nationalists in balaclavas and unionists in chefs hats?

[@piuthemagicman]

You got a sub, awesome content. Guaranteed if you keep this up you'll have a 100k subs in relatively no time 👌 Greetings from a Finnish history lover ✌️

[@spectacles-dm]

Thanks so much! We hope you're right :)

[@paulohagan3309]

And thank you for the Finnish sailor who along with his Swedish friend [!!!] walked off his ship in Dublin Harbor joined the rebels and fought for a few days with them. Survived, then when the fighting was over both returned back to their ship unharmed and sailed out of Dublin ... I may have got some of these details wrong but this or something close to it was sworn to be true afterwards. I read it somewhere and I am trying to get details on the internet but so far no luck. Can anyone help?

[@taylorrowe2002]

How about England just renounces its heresies and rejoins the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church and then this would all be over and Ireland would maybe consider rejoining the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, we have the Anglican Church allowing LGBTQ marriages and women Priests. Of course, Ireland, a nation under God, will not put up with this wokeness.

[@taylorrowe2002]

How about England just renounces its heresies and rejoins the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church and then this would all be over and Ireland would maybe consider rejoining the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, we have the Anglican Church allowing LGBTQ marriages and women Priests. Of course, Ireland, a nation under God, will not put up with this wokeness.@@paulohagan3309

[@atiffayyadh4654]

I love the quality! Earned a sub, keep up the good work!

[@spectacles-dm]

Thanks so much! We're so glad to have you :)

[@AirShark95]

Subbed! The production quality on these videos is wonderful! I'd love it if you could cover some topics from Latin America too, perhaps one on the lasting legacy of Operation Condor, the failure of Chile's new constitution, the failure of Argentina to become a strong power, or the rise of narcostates in Central America.

[@spectacles-dm]

Those are great ideas! Especially interested in working on something about the Chilean constitution. Truly too many things it's hard to choose!

[@gianlucag100g]

Mi General...

[@crossllc]

oh my god a video about ireland and a reference to archer, new favourite channel

[@spectacles-dm]

Kindred spirits :)

[@tomjordan7606]

A new generation shall be ruined by the stupid violent asperations of the younger generation from the 2000's. Anyone older or who is actually educated by their elders, would know this is never something to be repeated.

[@taylorrowe2002]

How about England just renounces its heresies and rejoins the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church and then this would all be over and Ireland would maybe consider rejoining the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, we have the Anglican Church allowing LGBTQ marriages and women Priests. Of course, Ireland, a nation under God, will not put up with this wokeness.

[@ElijahSmith]

No! Ireland is not the only European victim of European powers' colonialism. Ukraine was in the same situation, being pressed by the Russian Empire.

[@Crimsrn]

What? Ukraine wasn’t a thing when the russian empire was a thing

[@enrico7474]

Ah yes rewriting history, wonderful.

[@mikekelly5869]

@@Crimsrn Ukraine fought Russia from 1917 to 1921 and it was indeed a thing. The Russians won though, and took revenge by collectivising the farms and starting a famine that killed millions. Russia then colonised the vacated land with ethnic Russians, hence the problems in the border regions now.

[@Crimsrn]

@@mikekelly5869 yes but 1917-1921 russia wasn't the empire anymore. also it's not colonialism.

[@anneoleary8190]

@@mikekelly5869 Ukraine was much closer to the center of power than we were. Half of the USSR presidents were Ukranians.

[@daraghtyson5611]

As a Unionist in Northern Ireland, I think it's important to address that not all Unionists agree with the DUPs tactics

[@spectacles-dm]

You are certainly right!

[@retrocd7991]

And you absolutely shouldn’t! Sure Sinn Fein tried what the DUP are doing now and got nowhere doing it….

[@bosco292]

I'm praying 🙏 the DUP just keep doing what they do best! 😊 Annoying the elites in Brussels! 👍

[@tomtomftube]

As a unionist why don't you accept the Irish democratic majority of the 32 counties? Nobody wants to take your Britishness away you can be British in Ireland, the territory is Irish, don't reply with you can be Irish in northern Ireland, I'm Irish only, I don't have a choice about the blood in my veins

[@bosco292]

@tomtomftube Unionists and loyalists never accepted an independent lrish Republic. They were planted in Ulster to subjugate and partition lreland. Its their sole purpose of being on the island, to divide the nation, and to keep it weak economically. Gallant Irish Republicans launched an all-out offensive military campaign to get them OUT and back to their home countries 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 to serve their English crown and flegs! 🌹

[@jacobluna305]

Long live a united Ireland!

[@olcu9722]

No thanks. The Republic will vote no.

[@jasonirwin2947]

🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪

[@lesliedrysdale2434]

You know nothing about it I don't want to live in a banana Republic no NHS and the euro no thanks

[@fearmorpiercemacmaghnais7186]

Great vid very explanatory especially the background

[@yes.elevens3688]

I don't think anyone in Northern Ireland who lived through the troubles would ever want it to happen again, I have heard stories of children waking up in a room filled with shattered glass due to a bomb shattering their window and just other horrible things.

[@ErwinHistory]

>the only European colony in Europe The Tartars, Kazans, Sami, Latvians, Estonians, Georgians, the Lezgic, Circassians, Polish, Lithuanians, Abkhaz, Nenets, the Komi, the Basque, and the Sorbs would like to talk. And unlike Ireland a lot of them don't have a nation of their own, and the Tartars, Kazans, Lezgic, Circassians, Abkhaz, Nenets, and Komi are still being genocided and replaced by their colonisers.

[@cheeyoongng1328]

oh? the same folks that joined up the golden horde contributing nothing but, wanton violence? Retribution can be brutal especially from victims. Don't be surprised any part of the world knocking hard on Britain door step.

[@ErwinHistory]

@@cheeyoongng1328 Hey guys, some people did bad things over 500 years ago, therefore the Russians should be allowed to commit genocide! Get off the copium vatnik, and go answer your mobilisation order.

[@cheeyoongng1328]

@@ErwinHistory Aw... don't be ashamed of it.... It more than a thousand year of Anglish history since withgil and sons boats landed on canterbury. By your logic Anglishmen should get out of albion and america.

[@anneoleary8190]

Nothing to do with colonialism. Violence, oppresion, yes - colonialism, no.

[@mylesmooney7505]

The majority of English don’t even understand the whole north / south issues…

[@Sean-sn9ld]

The Brits committed Bloody Sunday , not the Unionists.

[@AcktuallyBananas]

as an irish person im very impressed with this video, even tho not everything was correct, you did a pretty good job

[@user-pm8nj3mb6q]

I just don't understand why it's titled "Ireland isn't normal." After all, England is the only part behaving abnormally with their EExit; The Irelands behave like all normal countries do under the circumstances.

[@ltmund]

​@@user-pm8nj3mb6qIs it abnormal to want to leave an empire? (Yes, the EU is an empire)

[@FFM0594]

@@ltmund That's just ridiculous. I suggest you check the definition of empire, or name the EU Caesar.

[@ltmund]

@@FFM0594 I think you need to check the definition.

[@FFM0594]

@@ltmund I did before writing my comment. Your turn now.

[@redtob2119]

As a British man who knows two people who were present at IRA bombing attacks I hope that differences can be set aside and no one has to die for this, never again. Both sides did wrong and both sides will do wrong so I hope for the sake of everyone this is resolved peacefully.

[@redtob2119]

@shane long Yes yes i’m very aware that the Irish love celebrating their little war criminal terrorists it’s okay.

[@redtob2119]

@shane long Stop trying to defend your IRA pigs. I know personally two people who were at terror attacks one was Christmas shopping when a bomb went off and the other was working in a building across from the barracks in Deal when a bomb went off killing 11 teenagers who were there for band practice. The IRA admitted to having a bomb fail to blow up at a fucking parade filled with children and civilians. The IRA bombed pubs and executed POWs. The IRA crippled many people permanently they have thousand of victims so nothing you can say is going to convince me that your little terror group is a force for good.

[@redtob2119]

@shane long Calling out your terror organisation isn’t trolling

[@redtob2119]

@@swaglad9728 There are thousands of languages and you woke up and decided to speak lies

[@redtob2119]

@@swaglad9728 Also it’s spelt ironic

[@loto7197]

As an Irish person living in a border community, I can promise you that a civil conflict will never arise again. The people who think it a possibility down the country have no idea or memory of life up here 25+ years ago, the people who think it a possibility in N Ireland usually live in self-isolating communities, not realizing the opinion of those beyond said communities. Children know better now, catholic/protestant society is almost completely integrated and the country is full of foreigners who feel indifferent either way.

[@tomtomftube]

Yea but Winston Churchill said the last war in Ireland will be between the British and the loyalists. I can definitely see that happening in the event of a border poll winning

[@eyes-on-targets2730]

Great video, thanks for the concise explanation and showing the underlying factors

[@spectacles-dm]

Glad it was helpful!

[@grumpiesttitan7930]

Ireland wasn't the only European victim of colonialism. Finland, Sapmi, Estonia and Scania were all colonised by Sweden for one example.

[@laryone]

The GFA was underpinned by the assumption that both entities - the UK and Ireland - were in the EU and so borders were unnecessary. Brits who decided to vote Leave created this totally irresponsible and unnecessary situation, threatening a hard won peace. They were warned. They didn't care. What's left is an impossibly situation to resolve without pushing one or either community beyond what they would consider tolerable. It's not helped by the way politics 'works' there, how divisive everything is. It comes at the same time that the demographic tipping point has been crossed, they no longer have the Protestant majority that the border was supposed to ensure 100 years ago. The whole thing is really volatile, and those in power have behaved in the most despicably blasé way about it all.

[@captainweekend5276]

That's a massively oversimplified and frankly ignorant view. There's no reason why the soft border couldn't have continued, as was it the UK's intention. It was the EU's INSISTENCE on a hard border after brexit, something neither nation wanted yet the EU pushed for regardless. You can't shackle the UK to the EU by way of Ireland, self determination is a two way street, the UK is not responsible for the RoI. The irony of out of touch bureaucrats stoking a war because they do not care for the constituent nations typifying the exact reason why the UK wanted to leave in the first place is apparently lost on you. The UK had the right to leave, the EU threatening hard borders was a disgusting punitive measure they had no right to do. Not to mention the fact that NI would have been a leave majority had it not been for EU/remainer fearmongering of a hard border and a returning of the troubles, never has there been a better example of the tyranny of the so-called weak.

[@KWijcik]

I would take issue with the statement of Ireland being the only European victim of settler colonialism. It only is so if you completely forget the existence of central Europe. German colonialism both in its Prussian (later German imperial) and Austrian form was equally reminiscent of colonial endeavours outside Europe. Complete with statement or supposed racial superiority of the germanic peoples over the Slavs, the justification of Kulturkampf by means of a claiming to civilise etc. Also Russian imperial attempts to eradicate Ukrainian or Ruthenian culture as well as the economic exploitation of those territories can be viewed as no less colonial than Britain's. Both the german and Russian empire had legislation that was to exclude Poles from possessing land in an attempt to uproot populations. Both the german and Russian empire made attempts at eradicating languages other than those of the coloniser. I would say that a western centric lens from which such statements come can be even seen as vestigial colonial thinking .

[@spectacles-dm]

Hi, thank you so much for commenting. Several of these examples came up between us as we wrote that portion of the script, and they're undoubtedly important. So we are not surprised by your comment. However, we chose the term settler colonialism carefully to exclude many other examples of imperialism, and we concluded that those other examples didn't seem to fall into the typical definition of settler colonialism, and if they do, they don't fit nearly as cleanly as the example of the colonization of Ireland. Maybe we're wrong, and we welcome a debate, but I don't want you to be mistaken and believe these examples never occurred to us. Thanks again for watching and for engaging so thoughtfully with the video. Best wishes.

[@anneoleary8190]

@@spectacles-dm Exactly. People use "colonialism" to describe every kind of oppression. Colonialism in the strict term - inside Europe - only happened here.

[@icemanire5467]

The Balkans have entered the chat

[@rudolfx1070]

Great Britain leaving Europe was not thought through and died on ignorance.

[@joethebassplayer]

Great channel, I am watching your back-catalog tonight.thank you

[@spectacles-dm]

Cheers

[@redzenith0488]

Partitioned countries are always such sorry compromises.

[@yiro6577]

Free scotland and free northern Ireland!🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@morganwheeleryear1123]

Scotland is free, they had the freedom to vote on whether to leave or stay, and they chose to stay. This is what you call democracy. If Northern Ireland wishes to join Ireland, there will be a referendum to decide. So far they haven’t demanded one

[@yiro6577]

@@morganwheeleryear1123 The majority in Scotland are british not scottish,meanwhile the previous referendum got 44% voted for yes to secede... it's up to the people of scotland to decide,and also the fact that u have the gut to say that under this video disgust me

[@trueblue3719]

Halfwit 🇬🇧💙🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@DandyDNA]

"Ireland is different, because it was the only European victim of European settler colonialism" Bollocks, somebody hasn't heard of Ostsiedlung, Fennoswedes, or the bloody Romans.

[@hoplitomeryx490]

Great content 👌 Thank you

[@spectacles-dm]

Thank you!

[@soroushsamadi4607]

Great video I’ve always wondered why there is two countries on such a tiny land

[@spectacles-dm]

Happy to help!

[@risinggael1685]

Were not two countrys....were one country split into two jurisdictions one independent the other still apart of the uk... Were still a single country and single nation... it was the state that was split into two states...

[@noodlyappendage6729]

No you are two countries. One is mine (the UK). The other is the RoI.

[@risinggael1685]

@@noodlyappendage6729 you dont even understand that the uk is made up of three countrys and part of one country....england, scotland and wales are countrys in a union...along with part of mine... Dear god learn what the uk is before you make such outrages uneducated proclamitions...the uk is a union of countrys...hence the devolved governments and not just mere councils....

[@chrisbreen3188]

The island is one country: IRELAND As mentioned above, split into two jurisdictions…. For now

[@cbr_n]

You’re going straight to the top!

[@spectacles-dm]

hope you're right!

[@Pats0c]

Those chapters on the bottom are amazing. What font do you use?

[@spectacles-dm]

Thanks! Josefin Sans is our font for everything in video

[@Kamome163]

Awesome video!

[@spectacles-dm]

Thank you so much!

[@calumpatrick319]

I think it's an important note that until around the 1800s Protestant Presbyterians, were about as rebellious as Catholics is the majority of the United Irishmen in the north were mostly Presbyterian. Being Pitted against each other was top down regular people 9f ireland don,t want to fight

[@raymondhaskin9449]

You’re wrong, they weren’t rebellious at all. Practically all Ulster Presbyterians were supportive of the state, because it had been the state which rescued them from their hated enemy, the Gaelic-catholics, in the previous centuries. By the 1800’s many had carved out vast fortunes in Ulster’s commercial industries. You shouldn’t use 6 or 7 people in the United ireland movment to represent all Protestants or Presbyterians - an entire race of people in Ireland. Those Protestant united irelanders stood apart from their people.

[@sl_721]

That’s like saying slave owners rebelled against their slaves

[@anneoleary8190]

@@raymondhaskin9449 You're right, they were rather the exception than the rule.

[@spanishSpaniard]

You could say that cyprus had a similar fate as ireland.

[@keegandecker4080]

“The only people in Europe who were victims of European imperialism” Except of course for the Bretons and the Catalonians, the basques, the poles, the Czechs, the Hungarians, the Ukrainians, all the Baltic states, and absolutely everyone in the Balkans.

[@TheHi-FiHour]

At the 7:45 mark, is there a list of all the ethno-religious conflicts, the 20 peace-sharing agreements and which 9 survived to the present day. I'm interested to see which ones lasted and which ones failed out of genuine curiosity & interest.

[@samueleveleigh2767]

one small note, this ignores the added complexity of British enemies, or rather Englands enemies being a bit too supportive of total Irish independence as seen with Spanish armies "liberating" Protestant lands via massacre when a rebellion occurred and now with France and Belgium pushing for a maritime border with all of their political clout. Ireland isn't normal but countries trying to use them to get back at the British very much is.

[@fin4204]

Feels like the EU is trying to restart the troubles so that they can say “look at what you’ve caused by leaving”

[@elseggs6504]

@@fin4204 the idea of having a giant economic and political bloc kinda doesnt work if you dont a border to enforce your regulations on. In other words, having an external border is non-negotiable. Now the problem with Britain is that no matter what, the solution would piss at least someone off. Either the current one or by doing breaking the Good Friday Agreement and having borders within Ireland again. And I dont think anyone was eager to have bombs detonate that arent made by middle easterners this time

[@fullirishham1015]

@@fin4204 Nah. UK decided to leave, they also broke northern ireland off from the rest of it as part of the peace treaty between the Nascent Free State and the British Empire. Add to that they helped ignite the Troubles in the first place by making sectarian segregation and preferential treatment towards unionists the norm. There is no passing the buck on it, it is entirely a consequence of British policies and actions in the region.

[@fin4204]

@@fullirishham1015 weird way to mix and mash contemporary and historical issues. We voted to leave the EU and instead of respecting that, the EU is trying to make it as difficult as possible so that they can stand on their high horse and go “look at how great we are”. My point is that it could go a lot smoother if the EU decided to co-operate instead of making an example out of Northern Ireland. Also the North/loyalists didn’t want to and still don’t want to join the south regardless of whether they are backed by British policies. You should acknowledge that Britain didn’t just cut a chunk out because they felt like it.

[@fullirishham1015]

@@fin4204 My point is that your claim that the EU is "punishing" Northern Ireland is frankly disingenuous and misinformed. The EU is a guaranteer of the Good Friday Agreement, so it's actions against the UK is entirely in regard to maintaining that agreement. On the other hand, the British government has failed to make any effort to maintain that agreement, besides the fact that it was entirely their fault it exists in the first place. And besides that, WHY should the EU make life easier for a country no longer associated with its union? One that has, both during their time in that union and after their exit, thrown boat loads of vitriol and claiming it as an evil empire in one breath or a withered husk doomed to fail in the next. You won your little vote, now either shit or get off the fucking pot.

[@mickmacgonigle5021]

Most programmes like this get it wrong. This one is no exception

[@binamc1125]

Amazing video well done

[@Hexaglyph]

Song at the end?

[@bob_0146]

What a great video!

[@spectacles-dm]

Thank you!

[@micoolkidfilms3270]

As a catholic I would like to know why you are not talking about the British terrosits like the UDA and talking about the imperialist British army?

[@trueblue3719]

The UDA are Irish terrorists same as the UVF the IRA and the INLA. Your living in the wrong century to be calling the British army imperialists and the army are told where to go by the government.

[@david-lu6mk]

Ireland was not the only European country colonized. Cyprus, Malta, Greece, Bulgaria, Ukriane, etc., etc., etc.

[@Alphae21]

🤦‍♂️

[@stageblood9935]

couldnt believe my eyes when i saw that subscriber count, the production quality on this amazing that i thought this was some big channel I'd never ran into

[@spectacles-dm]

Wow, thank you!

[@sharonsloan]

I've often wondered how history in Ireland would have been different if the United Irishmen rebellion had resulted in equal rights for all. It was one point in history where Catholics and a lot of non Anglican Protestants worked together to gain rights only the Anglican Protestants had.

[@Christian-sm9he]

Another interesting counterfactual is what if catholic emancipation had come a generation earlier; for example with the Act of Union. Would Irish nationalism have become more like Scotish or Welsh nationalism in a world where the catholic Irish had not been second class citizens deep into the 19th century.

[@sharonsloan]

@@Christian-sm9he That is another point in history where a big difference could have been made. There probably would still be an independence movement, but it would be similar to Scotland's. The further away from London people get, the more likely it is. Even Cornwall has a small independence movement!

[@REDARROW_A_Personal]

@@Christian-sm9he I think it's interesting you bring that, because the only people who objectified against it where the Unionists in Belfast. I actually do wish for Ireland and the UK to have some Union, but it would have to be removed from Royalty and Westminster which would mean needing to be in the form of a Union Government to look after each others interests.

[@deanodog3667]

Ha ! If napoleon couldn't prevail how could united irishmen? The Catholic relief act only emerged so as to use irishmen as cannon fodder in napoleonic wars , over 40 % of Wellingtons pennisular army were Catholic irishmen and a third of the ' British ' contingent at Waterloo, and how were such brave souls repaid for their endeavours? The famine , that's how !!!

[@Christian-sm9he]

Catholic emancipation was in 1829 so I think you have cause and effect reversed here.

[@kevinlove4356]

There is an error in the video. Ireland is not the only place in European to experience settler colonialism. Imperial Russia and the Former Soviet Union did exactly the same thing. We are seeing the results of that today, with the forcible partition of Ukraine so that its eastern bits that are dominated by the descendents of ethnically Russian settlers were forcibly annexed by Russia. Yes, just like the partition of Northern Ireland.

[@ThePresentPast_]

Great video

[@spectacles-dm]

Thank you so much!

[@Var_]

Nice video!

[@spectacles-dm]

Thanks!

[@andredeketeleastutecomplex]

Unite Erin, down with the empire!

[@peterwilson5528]

Thanks that was very well made. :)

[@thespatulaa]

Excellent stuff.... Have a feeling u will grow big

[@spectacles-dm]

Thanks! Hope you're right!

[@dbrennan6041]

The UK also kept the Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus. They'd still have the Treaty Ports in Ireland if Chamberlain had never been Prime Minister. Churchill publicly complained that giving back those ports cut the UK's defence range by a large amount.

[@noodlyappendage6729]

And Churchill was right. Chamberlain was a div.

[@noelowen8453]

Not really. They could have taken them back any time, and still can.

[@bluechip297]

@@noelowen8453 Really!

[@davediesel90]

​@@noelowen8453how exactly, like Russia did with Ukraine? International sanctions, The UK treated like a pariah and a rogue nation due to invading another sovereign nation, not to mention military intervention from Irish allies externally namely the EU and USA, and over whelming internal resistance. Still can my bollocks

[@davediesel90]

@@thetruth9210 hahahahaha deluded to the point of hilarity 🤣. States doing research and knows nothing of the EU common defence strategy, Ireland is a member state of the EU so defecto is the EU. How exactly, and I mean exactly, do you explain your assertion that, especially (the rest of) the EU wouldn't assist? I want you to explain why the other member states somehow obviates their treaty commitments to align with your assertion 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@Gamer-is6ew]

Incredibly underrated! Keep on the great work!

[@Bryzerse]

I'm sorry but this is so far from reality in so many regards. There is not a risk of such serious violence returning to Ireland anytime soon. Yes it's a little tenser than it has been in a while, but it's not even close to being like the Troubles. Even the walls have been slowly coming down for ages now. And realistically, it's all bound to be over sooner or later when the UK inevitably decides to rejoin the EU within the next couple of decades. The section of this video discussing the history is outrageously incorrect. Ireland was colonised by the British, not the English, and it was far from the only country in Europe to be colonised. Countless countries such as Germany, France, and Turkey all did it to various degrees across hundreds of years. Have you never heard of Russification? Ukraine was still getting colonised under Stalin's regime, while groups like the Tartars were shipped to central Asia. This is just astoundingly ignorant. I'm honestly shocked someone claiming to be educational could seriously write this into a video. Britain didn't carve off a chunk of Ireland, the Northern Irish wanted to remain in the UK. It was their choice, not some colonial tactic (obviously it's incredibly complicated, but it is certainly not how as presented here). Ireland wasn't a colony at this point, and should not be compared as such, it was a fully-fledged part of the United Kingdom of Britain and Ireland. Not to mention that in fact, the British did carve up many chunks out of its colonies. Look at a single map of Cyprus, it'll blown your mind if you think NI looks funky. Turks and Caicos certainly look like they'd fit in with the Bahamas too, same as Gibraltar with Spain, the Falklands with Argentina, and the countless other remaining British possessions around the globe. Look into any of them and you'll find they are a bit more complicated than you would initially expect, and no two are alike, but to act like NI is this uniquely strange part of the UK that doesn't fit in is just completely baffling. It's sad because broadly this is an enjoyable watch and I think it's very well made, but the information, message, and conclusions are not accurate, to levels far beyond what you have so far corrected in the pinned comment. You clearly have potential to create quality content, but this is just terrible. Don't oversensationalise. It's not a good path to go down. I've just come from your video on the Moonies before this one and it suffers from many of the same issues. But this is far worse. People who are unaware of the details I've raised will come away from this without seeing the issues. I honestly think it's best to avoid such a touchy and complicated subject if you're not seriously well versed in it, otherwise you end up spreading harmful misinformation like this.

[@franknwogu4911]

This channel has a bright future. Good luck.

[@eelvis1674]

Incredible quality

[@spectacles-dm]

Thanks!

[@RoyalT0208]

Good video but one important correction that I think is important to note - Ireland was not the only European country to fall under settler colonialism. Ukraine is the best and most obvious example given the war being waged there now, which is very directly linked to their history with Russian imperialism. You also have much of the Balkans, which also had a number of nasty wars in the 90s which were influenced by the impacts of colonialism going back centuries

[@RoyalT0208]

@@enrico7474 Thank you for your response. I will respond once and only once because (1) it’s a zero sum game, it’s very rare people change their opinions based on discussions on the comment sections of KZbin or Twitter (2) it’s a waste of my time - do I care if I win this ‘argument’ or change your opinion, realistically no I do not. It has no intrinsic value to my mood, my personal growth or my sense of self worth. I could be doing a million different things that add far more value, as could you (3) I don’t know you. You might be a real person wanting to have a serious discussion on a complex subject matter in good faith, or you might be a Russian, Chinese or Iranian bot actively looking for discussions to support Russia and pro Russian narratives/seed negative feelings about “the west”. For me this is the social media equivalent of Schrödinger's cat. What’s the benefit of spending ages working out the truth of your identity and motivations! However I will respond because I think it’s important to do so, just to counter some of the points you made and for the benefit of anyone reading this who also wants to challenge, or looking to better understand the subject matter, and it’s parallels to Northern Ireland (no two conflicts are the same but there are definite similarities here that are worth noting). So few questions and citations for you and anyone else interested to ponder: - Why is Russia so big? Is it a conveniently homogenous nation or is it a diverse nation of different ethnicities, religions, geography, languages and culture. And if the latter, how did it come to be? Did all these different peoples really want to be under the control of Moscow? How has Russia maintained control when a number of different nations that were once unions across the world that shared similar cultures and languages went their own separate ways? Well this thread on Twitter gives a pretty good idea why… twitter.com/maksymeristavi/status/1495323069539405826?s=46&t=UI1rPGjirOZ5ZOkucx1I0Q - Why are the small, very democratic and progressive Baltic states so afraid of their benevolent and peaceful friends in Russia: * Not like Russia stopped their troops from leaving after independence “for the sake of Russian speakers” hmm that sounds familiar doesn’t it www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-10-30-mn-989-story.html * never signed off borders, recognise independence properly or continually attempt to undermine the democratic institutions and threaten the security repeatedly in the early post Soviet years www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2002/10/07/tensions-with-russia-propel-baltic-states-toward-nato/1804f0bf-fbe2-4355-9485-f099d0837e47/ * Not like Russia ever attacked these nations for minor disagreements like oh I don’t know moving a statue that has nothing to do with the culture and history of the nation where those statues were built news.err.ee/1608688201/estonia-subjected-to-extensive-cyberattacks-after-moving-soviet-monuments * If they are so peaceful and diplomatic why are the Russians frequently found to be bribing military, intelligence and political officials of foreign nations like in Slovakia dennikn.sk/2767213/spionaz-pre-rusko-naka-zadrzala-ludi-zo-sis-ministerstva-obrany-aj-hlavnych-sprav/?cst=4cf99f1d746fa6379f03c57d0994e35260203069 * Why are central Asian nations that are in the Russian economic and military unions not support Russia now and in fact taking the opportunity to turn their back on mother Russia and even criticise them openly twitter.com/peter__leonard/status/1581017812264398848?s=46&t=UI1rPGjirOZ5ZOkucx1I0Q * Not like millions of Russians themselves turned to Western media after the invasion started to ohh I suppose get angry at the alternative dissenting opinion www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2022/millions-of-russians-turn-to-bbc-news * The fact that Ukraine was willing before and after the invasion to become neutral, and compromise over the status of both Donbas and Crimea * www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60901024.amp * www.ukrinform.net/amp/rubric-ato/3443041-ukraine-offers-15year-talks-with-russia-on-status-of-crimea.html * Not like since taking Crimea Russians have gone back to oppressing and punishing Crimean Tatars www.rferl.org/amp/russia-crimea-tatar-dzhelyal-sentence/31993103.html * The fact that Crimea was transferred to Ukraine in 1954 as a way of fortifying and perpetuating Soviet control over Ukraine after the Russians won the civil war www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/why-did-russia-give-away-crimea-sixty-years-ago * Oh and what about those oh so genuine “separatists” that had nothing to do with Moscow bylinetimes.com/2022/09/21/the-myth-of-russian-separatists-in-the-donbas/ * What about the “good faith” Russia always showed after the agreement of ceasefires in 2014. Not like they took advantage to slaughter hundreds of retreating Ukrainian soldiers who followed the agreement despite holding a position of strength. Or that there was totally no Russian armed forces involved in the DPR/LPR * www.ausa.org/publications/siege-ilovaisk-manufactured-insurgencies-and-decision-war * www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49426724.amp * Every day there are plain sight examples of prominent Russian commentators actively calling for the genocide of Ukrainians twitter.com/neilmackay/status/1584138455314886658?s=46&t=UI1rPGjirOZ5ZOkucx1I0Q Think that will do for now. I could go on for days with countless examples of the imperial attitudes and bad faith of Russia. The west is far, far from clean. You could create equally long threads of terrible atrocities committed by those nations. And Ukraine absolutely has its faults and no doubt there are and will be examples of crimes they commit in this war. But as with WW2 sadly it’s important to be unequivocal and clear - there can and in fact are far more dangerous states to the peace, freedom and prosperity of the individuals and nations of this planet we share than those in the west. If you read all of this and the citations I linked, I thank you for your time 👍🏼

[@elseggs6504]

Lol. Lmao even. Ukraine is a shit example. Poland, Czechia, Slovenia and Serbia purging themselves off of Austrians who were settled to increase their influence over the austrian lands is a better example. Or the pre 1910s turkish population in the balkans. The 90s had nothing to do with colonialism except Kosovo maybe. Bottled up nationalism, Scars of WW2 and foreign influence however did.

[@crose7412]

@RoyalT0208 Wales, under the English Marcher Lords, is another example that people usually forget of settler colonialism in Europe.

[@blueocean2510]

A book worth reading, Europe's Last Chance, Guy Verhofstadt, Prime Minister of Belgium 1999 - 2008.

[@crose7412]

@@TheKeendark The Soviet Union WAS a colonial project as Russia colonised 14 other countries in order to to create it.

[@andrewjerome3684]

Keep it up! These are great.

[@spectacles-dm]

Thanks! next one tomorrow!

[@chrisdjernaes9658]

Brilliant review and analysis. Cheers 🍻

[@yperman2025]

The English (not British) were brought over by one of the medieval Irish Kingdoms as mercenaries and were colonising long before Cromwell. By 1900 the case for Irish independence was strong enough for the British Government to agree to it. The British Home Rule plan was intended to give the Irish their own parliament, domestic laws , courts, police and taxes and once that was all going smoothly onto to dominion status (Irish control of defence and foreign policy) and then full independence like Canada, Australia etc. But in May 1914 the Protestant Northern "loyalist" Irish in the Ulster refused point blank to be handed over to the Catholic South and determined to stay British started to arm and train a major militia force. Under the slogan "Ulster will fight and Ulster will be right". Southern Irish Republicans began to arm too. The British government ordered the British Army to crush the Protestant Loyalist rebels. The British army effectively mutinied and refused to fight fellow Loyalist Brits. Winston Churchill as 1st Sea Lord planned to use the 3rd Battle Squadron to bombard Loyalist Protestant Belfast! (It didn't take place). WW1 caused a pause apart from the 1916 rising and was followed by an ugly guerrilla then civil war. Since neither Republican or Loyalist could agree the British government simply drew a line on the map around the Loyalist counties and said to both sides "right the South is a Free State and Ulster is a part of UK". Sinn Fein then made a serious strategic error which continues amongst the Republicans to this day. They assume the English and the Ulster Loyalists are the same, they are not. (I am a Southern English Anglo-Catholic Republican and support a United Ireland by the way). The English today don't give a tuppenny (two cents) damn about Northern Ireland. What the Republicans SHOULD be doing is winning over the Ulster Protestants now in their 30-40s who have grown up after the Troubles and due to the EU cross the border the way Americans cross county lines and have friends , husbands/wives trading partners from the other side.. Many in Ulster see the benefits of an EU united Ireland and if the Republicans gave concessions say two states Eire and Ulster in a Federal Republic with Dublin like DC guaranteed English and Erse as official languages and full protection for the protestant religion they could probably get a democratic referendum vote in Ulster for a United States of Ireland. Instead they are antagonising the Ulster folk with important symbolic demands like the compulsory teaching of Erse in Ulster etc. There is a chance but it will go soon as the Tory UK Government is risking the Good Friday Agreement by not complying with the Brexit Treaty and post Brexit UK has major economic and political troubles and with a new Depression Sectarianism in Ulster could easily re-emerge. That might be enough to re-start the Troubles. Let us all pray for a United Ireland at peace with itself.

[@rskb1957]

Thank you for your very useful precis of the history. It is true that Norman knights appear in Ireland and soon became 'More Irish than the Irish.' This may have well been the pretext used by the English crown for early attempts to subjugate the island under English overlordship.

[@OSTARAEB4]

You earned it! Respect to you Sir and this story is come to the forefront as it needs to be told. For too long this history has been suppressed.

[@user-vl7qb5zf1q]

Well put together. Clear, factual & informative.

[@andrewworley4401]

Great video, thanks.

[@michaelmulligan0]

The major problem in NI is the DUP Why? They are afraid of giving up power, for that reason they were the only major part to campaign for a no vote in the Good Friday Agreement (having walked out of the talks). They don’t want Irish influence in NI, that’s why they were the only major NI party to back Brexit

[@charlesbrain6220]

Very intriguing to learn about, didn't know things were looking shaky again in Ireland. Loved it!

[@ChippyCentral]

@FemonicZI dafuk

[@ProfileP246]

Northern Ireland!

[@fitzstv8506]

Shaky in Northern Ireland not in Ireland.

[@Dylan20579]

@@fitzstv8506it’s all the same

[@fitzstv8506]

@@Dylan20579 NI Ireland is completely different from Ireland. Ireland is in the EU and far more progressive in general, Ireland has a different administration, different measurements(metric), different currency(Euro), higher educational standards, better infrastructure, far higher wages, superior employment prospects, far higher and more broad social welfare benefits, full employment, no political or sectarian violence, better public representation, higher quality of life, better standards of living, better quality housing (if more expensive) and much more advantages beside. Ireland is very far from perfect but it is a much better place to live and grow old than NI currently is but this of course will all change for NI when unification inevitably comes.

[@ryanc.b8530]

Such a great video

[@spectacles-dm]

Thanks so much!

[@riki4644]

Will watch soon

[@marcoblo2489]

You're going big my man

[@spectacles-dm]

We sure hope so. Thank you for watching!

[@RendererEP]

2:12 i wouldn't say the only example of european settler colonialism in europe, The Russian Empire and then the soviet union also used settler colonialism methods in Europe