If you are going to comment on the origins of the conflict and how the British army came to be in Ireland at that time at least be honest about. Ulster Loyalists were whipping things up into a frenzy long before the Provos had to emerge to defend their people.

As for the discussion at hand, there is simply no similarity or comparison between the (frankly difficult) relationship between Irish Republicans and the Church and Italian gangsters and the Church. In fact it is bizarre that the opening comment on this is from someone from Tipperary, with that area’s own proud record in the fight for freedom, talking about “murders”. The War of Independence saw ordinary Irish men and boys do the hard yards for their country and thank God that they did. Thank God also that there were good priests there to minister to them in that crisis. For an understanding of the value these men placed on their faith I would recommend anyone to read Guerilla Days In Ireland by Tom Barry and they would see quite clearly that they are dealing with a different beast to criminals and murderers who associate themselves with the Church to assuage their guilt or for reasons of cultural attachment. They were humble young men who fought and died for their country, usually single and upstanding individuals, not philandering gangsters prepared to make others pay for their own personal gain.