

10·
3 days agoIt was one of the most controversial parts of the Good Friday Agreement to pardon people on both sides of the fence, but deemed a sort of necessary evil to obtain peace. A lot of ex-paramilitaries ended up as taxi drivers doing tours of Belfast and a lot of our older politicians in Northern Ireland are well known to have killed people. It sucks but it’s the price of peace. Derry Girls’ final episode dealt with it really well. I’m from the post-GFA generation so it was hard to get my head around it growing up but the alternative is far worse.

I have a sighthound and although mine isn’t ex-racer since he’s not a purebred greyhound I know a lot of greyhound adopters whose dogs were found dumped in ditches left to die after getting injured racing, or abandoned because they were too slow, or even with scars from having cigarettes stubbed out on them as a punishment for losing a race. It’s a disgusting industry and it’s shameful that Labour want to act as though it’s something all working class people support. There’s a great documentary by the Irish public broadcaster RTÉ about the industry there but the same principles apply everywhere else. Sighthounds are such sensitive and sweet dogs that are usually far happier sleeping all day than racing.