Is it good for Poland as Sinn Fein will win today in Northen Ireland

@mafketis
I'm not a diplomat but I'm glad the problem with Northern Ireland has been resolved.

That won't happen in your lifetime or mine, however the good thing is that the impediment to trade has now been removed.

Not anymore Jon. In 2022 they published the latest figures and it's down to just over 30% now. That's those who identify as solely British. I think gradually people in the North are identifying more as 'Northern Irish' than either British or Irish. It's better that way really as hopefully they can find a way forward with a common identity.

There will be a small pocket of resistance to the new deal within the DUP as always .............

Is there anything in the new deal that hasn't been on the table since 2018 or so? (year chosen arbitrarily)

You'll have to wait for the DUP to decide that :) Apparently it has to pass 'the Seven Tests' .................

rte.ie/news/brexit/2023/0228/1359260-ni-protocol-dup/

Not really, the EU has real time access to British trading databases something promised previously but never implemented by the UK. Green and red lanes were offered by the EU over a year ago and so on. The difference is that there now appears to be grown-ups in London who have realised that a semi permanent "war" with the EU is in on ones interests.

The ball is now in the DUP's court...

All they really do is object to things.


This is the first and last time that I will ever say that it's fortunate the Tories have a majority. Hopefully soon they will be out of office, however right now, an 80-seat majority means that the DUP don't hold bargaining chips.

Sinn Fein seems to love Halloween. Why exactly did the Catholic Irish introduce this satanic holiday all over the world?

@Alien
All Irish people love Halloween not just the chucks.


Consider it a gift who doesn't like Halloween

Various Christian folk holidays and traditions have indeed pagan roots, namely Christmas!

Halloween, Christmas and Easter are pagan holidays repainted in Christian colors. Nothing wrong with that.

(I'm not sure about St. Johns.... can you guess why it's less important than the other three?)

Oh, I never meant there was anything at all wrong with it.
I simply meant that there is a strong heathen undercurrent in the practice of "Christian" celebrations, that's all.

pagan origins... christianity didn't try to stamp out old practices it simply renamed and incorporated them... very healthy

and why is St. John's Night less important than the other three (except in the southern hemisphere)?

It was an ancient pagan Irish holiday.

Samhain in particular... fall is when the harvest ends and the earth symbolically 'dies'.... it's when animals are slaughtered for the upcoming cold season.... it's natural that it became associated with death.

Christianity simply harnassed those natural ideas and renamed them and directed them toward christian aims...

One of the reasons Christianity is the largest religion on the planet is that it's easily the most adaptable among the major religions.

Neither Islam or Judaism or Buddhism or Hinduism or Confucianism has been able to incoporate other religious traditions as well.

Of course they do..... Sinn Fein is IRA and they love blood and death.

The IRA dissolved.

It's not Satanic. It is the night that the dead walk among the living but it has nothing to do with Satan. My grandmother used to leave chairs by the fire for the dead so that they could come in and warm themselves. It was a great night when we were kids. Every house had a party of some kind.

Unfortunately like so many things that the Irish brought with them when they emigrated, the Americans got hold of it and their weird version has spread all over the place.

rte.ie/news/ireland/2023/1029/1413638-halloween-ireland/

I find that fascinating!

That's why you dress up, so that they'll think you're a spirit like them. The faeries are around that night as well because they live underground and they come up when the portal opens. Although they can be around at any time actually.

Read the article, it's very informative.

Similiar to Easter (origin Equinox) and Christmas (origin Winter Solstice)....I guess the success till today is the sugar coma for the little ones (and grown ups) the West has made of them! :)

I hear you.... I like American Halloween just fine (favorite holiday as a child) but I can think of no good reason to export it anywhere.... I'm kind of glad that it's never really caught on in Poland.


So... why isn't St John's night (Summer Solstice) as important?

.....no idea....never heard of St. Johns (in Germany that is)....not enough sugar for the kids? :)

A clue... a friend lived in Boliwia for a few years and it's extremely important there, one of the bigger holidays in the calendar.

Oh I know of summer solstice, these old traditions are not lost.....I meant St. Johns....

So do I, why isn't it as important as the other three holidays in Europe (and why is it very important in Bolivia)?

....na ja, Google showed it's rather recent and has more to do with a rediscovering of the old native culture (as is Paganism in Europe and North America).

laprensalatina.com/bolivia-hails-summer-solstice-calls-for-new-relationship-with-mother-earth/

When the christian re-building of St.Johns didn't get such a hold with the Christians then probably because people and kids didn't get to stuff themselves so much! :)

(I'm fairly sure the Pagans in Britain are marking summer solstice too, just not St. Johns)

The friend lived there decades ago..... the answer is... in Europe the summer solstice marks the transition from spring to summer which is just not nearly as important the transitions from summer to fall (all saints' day) fall to winter (Christmas/New Years) and winter to spring (Easter).

Bolivia is below the equator so the summer solstice is the beginning of their winter/cold season so it's more important.

Of course the dates differ everywhere....as does nature....Pagans know that....and Jesus wasn't really born on the 24th of December, but it is the time of Winter Solstice in Europe (ca.)

What are we discussing?

holidays... Christmas seems to be three separate pagan holidays, Saturnalia (from Rome), Yule (northern germanics) and Kolada (Slavic)