English Queen responsible for British atrocities as head of State

As the Queen of England celebrates her platinum jubilee, she is being praised for her long service. All that is fine from her subjects, she has served them well. However, it is a different kettle of fish when Irish politicians praise her “significant” contribution to the Stormont “peace” process and to acknowledge her “dedicated public service to the British people” during her 70 years on the throne.

The leader of the Provisionals in the Occupied Six Counties wrote to her stating the above and she also thanked the Queen for her “warmth and unfailing courtesy” on the occasions when the pair have met and described the “value and respect” she had for the monarch’s contribution to reconciliation.

She has obviously forgotten that the Queen of England is Commander-in-Chief of the British Armed Forces, responsible for many atrocities against Irish people in the Six Counties, the Ballymurphy Massacre, Bloody Sunday in Derry, the Springhill Massacre to name but a few, not to mention torture and imprisonment.

As head of the British State she presided over their conduct in Ireland and elsewhere. She has also been said to have presided over the “managed” ending of Empire. Tell that to the people of Kenya, to the Cypriots and to others who only achieved freedom by taking up arms. Her father presided over the debacle in the Indian subcontinent in the 1940s and she has never been known to disagree with her governments as they rampaged around the world, torturing and killing.

It would be worth while for people to read the recent book by Caroline Elkins, “Legacy of Violence: A history of the British Empire.” She has painstakingly researched the atrocities perpetrated by the British as they were forced to relinquish their hold on the many countries they had looted down the years.

Elizabeth Windsor is an elderly woman living a very sheltered and pampered life. She became queen as the empire was disintegrating but she never at any time tried to rein in her governments as they tried to hold on to their ill-gotten gains and it ill behoves an Irish politician purporting to represent people in the Occupied Six Counties to talk about her service to the British people. Is she saying that people in the Six Counties are British?

Sinn Féin Poblachtach believe that peace with justice can only come about with a complete British withdrawal from Ireland.