As Charles accedes to the throne, his role as Colonel-in-Chief of the Parachute Regiment for 46 years is not forgotten in Northern Ireland where Paras have committed a shocking number of killings, some still being revealed in court.
As some people across Britain celebrate the accession of King Charles III – complete with a carefully-crafted image – his status as Colonel-in-Chief of the British army’s Parachute Regiment is not forgotten in Northern Ireland, despite the presence of Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill at the coronation.
O’Neill has made it clear she is attending Westminster Abbey in her role as First Minister designate of the suspended Stormont power-sharing executive – rather than as the deputy leader of her republican party.
Many of Sinn Fein’s followers, however, while understanding her rationale – that she must represent both communities in Northern Ireland – must be scratching their heads. A recent poll found 0% of her party’s supporters favour the monarchy.
It will not have passed them by that Charles continues to personify the Parachute Regiment whose record in Ireland includes an eye-watering number of criminal actions, some of which are still being revealed in court.
This is, after all, the regiment behind the shooting of 14 people in January 1971 on Bloody Sunday in Derry, labelled as “unjustified and unjustifiable” by former British prime minister David Cameron in his response to the findings of the Saville Tribunal.
It is also the regiment behind the shootings of a further 11 people in the “Ballymurphy massacre”, five months before Bloody Sunday. (more...)
King Charles: Patron of a Disgraced Regiment
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