McDonalds

[chimney]

I remember people telling me that McDonalds were funding the IRA (about a penny from every pound), because of this I never ate them again.Was there any truth in it?

[undercovers]

a great rumour that developed due to a wage-slip aacronym e.g.Individual Retirement Account.

[Lonnie]

I'd heard that also, years ago, thanks for clearing it up undercovers.

[Grunty]

I am not making any comment about McDonalds, but funds raised in the USA were for Noraid, which was a kind of front organisation for the IRA.

[chimney]

Oh well. I'm still not eating them because I prefer Burger King and KFC.

Probablyturns out that they fund Al - Qu'ida now!

[randomsasha]

If you saw what KFC did to there chickens and the state of them before there killed you wouldnt.

[chimney]

What do they do sasha? Are there pictures?

I've seen the conditions supposed free range chickens are kept

[madein1978]

I've been boycotting McDonalds and KFC for years now because of their bad business practices, and the fact that KFC keep their chickens in appalling conditions. I never knew about that IRA thing. Both companies treat their employees like sacks of s*it which was an offput as well. I only eat BK, Subway and Dominoes, not only because their quality is very high, but they don't seem to be rotten to their staff.

[noxlumos]

Not true, Macdonalds never funded the Provos, but they are a terrible company that sells sub standard food and treat their staff appallingly. Mind you, show me a truly ethical company ......

[kempie]

MacDonalds probably never directly funded NORAID, however some of their establishments (along with other companies) within the US certainly had NORAID collection boxes displayed upon the counter.

Perhaps more telling is that NY and Boston police made weekly contributions through their wages which was distributed by their union to the criminials that run the IRA. NYPD's support was no secret - I am not sure if they openly sent their pipe band to republican terrorist funerals but some of the bandmembers certainly attended a 1985 parade in Ireland honoring 10 IRA supporters who starved themselves to death in 1981.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0CE4DC173BF930A35756C0A963948260

It was only in February 2002 that the US government declared the Provisional IRA and Real IRA as being terrorist organisations.

[joko]

if they had funded the IRA, does anyone seriously think they would print IRA on the workers payslips!!

[noxlumos]

You need to remember Kempie that things were very different in the north of Ireland in 1985 than they are now, although even now they are far from perfect.There was a presence officially of the pipe bands in 1983 and 1984, then an unofficial presence in the years after that and there has always been a very strong support from the USA for the Republican cause, the reasons for which are so manyfold and complex that it would be impossible to even start to go into them here. Noraid supplied money to Sinn Fein ( a political organsiation), not the IRA and please try to understand the huge differences between the IRA, Provisionals and Real IRA, they just can't all be lumped together.

[kempie]

noxlumos - I do appreciate that there are differences between the Official IRA, Provisional IRA, Continuity IRA and Real IRA.

Likewise there is a difference between Official Sinn F�in (now known as The Workers Party) and Provisional Sinn F�in (now known as Sinn F�in) named in similar styles to the paramilitary groups to which they are affiliated.

If Sinn F�in were truly not aligned to the PIRA why include "Provisional" in their name after the 1969 split of the OIRA?

[Golden Shred]

I hadn't realised that Sinn Fein had split into two, kempie. If you have time, could you enlarge a bit, please, it will be most appreciated. Which one are Adams and McGuiness with?

[THECORBYLOON]

To say Noraid doesn't fund the IRA is laughable. Sinn Fein and the IRA are one and the same. As to the differences between the Officials, Provisionals etc do you really think that the relatives of the thousands murdered and maimed by Official Sinn Fein/OIRA, Sinn Fein/PIRA, Real IRA, Continuity IRA, Irish National Liberation Army, Continuity IRA/ Republican Sinn Fein or The Real IRA/ 32 Counties Sovereignty Committee give a toss about the subtleties?

[noxlumos]

Well Kempie, as doubtless you know Sinn Fein as they are known now don't use the word Provisional at all, that was a term coined by the old school to describe their breakaway Marxist ways.The fact that the Provo's (IRA) came about at the same time, with a similar political leaning but with the will to use force is niether here nor there to (Provisional) Sinn Fein.You could write a book easier on the whole subject that try to explain it here in a few sentences, as I'm sure you know.The fact that some IRA members are Sinn Fein members as well and vice versa is only to be expected and should not call into question Sinn Fein's independance of the IRA in any of it's forms.

Goldenshred, Gerry Adams etc are in what's now called Sinn Fein but what Kempie refers to as Provisional Sinn Fein. The party split in 1970 and the rest eventually became The Worker's Party.

[noxlumos]

I would imagine they don't Corbyloon, but if you are to have an informed discussion on any topic then it must be exactly that, accurate and informed. I don't expect any of the families of the people killed by the PCNI, British Army or Protestant Sectarian groups make much distinction either between them, such are the problems we face in the North.

[kempie]

BTW chimney - NORAID have placed KFC on a boycott list.

http://www.noraid.com/boycott.htm

[Ward-Minter]

Without sounding like an over important twit, I was in The Royal Intelligence Corp for my entire Army career. Of course there are things I can not say on here, but as a captain in the greatest regiment the world have EVER seen primarily involved with terrorism, I can safely say without breeching any official secrets that McDonalds have no direct involvemnet with the IRA at all. To the best of my knowledge it was never even supposition.

Further, without doing an Forbes check etc even one penny from every Maccy D pound would amount to 10's of millions.

The IRA, bless their little hate-filled hearts, were (are)never really a great finacial institution. Organised fairly well yes, but if they were on a good cut, I don't think they would resort to drugs, prostitution, protection rackets, blackmail and pirate videos somehow.

However if you do lower yourself to eat junk food, Burger King appears more tasty.

[noxlumos]

So it was you that didn't see the Belfast Bank robbery coming was it Wardy?:)

[Ward-Minter]

I was out of the army by then dear boy. Wouldn't have happenned in my day!

I would still maintain that the loot stolen then (20 mil i think???) would still equate to less than 1 percent of McD's.

By the way on a tour of NI the IRA tried to blow up my car. But they burnt their lips on the exhaust. Boom boom.