Kieran Tonra
I'm retired after 40 years in teaching. I play golf badly, am into crosswords, sport, current affairs.
Location Longford, Ireland
Achievements
Activity
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
Thank you for a very enjoyable course. I'm certain that my knowledge of the goings-on in Europe has increased greatly.
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
Looking forward to this week's contribution
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
I discovered a lot of things I didn't know previously this week.
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What aspects of the Rule of Law are being flouted?
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
The Refugee problem is probably the EU's biggest problem in the future. I look forward to this week's discussion.
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
I enjoyed the first week of the course thoroughly and look forward to Week 2.
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Kieran Tonra replied to Samia Gamal
I agree
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@ThomasDoyle And don't forget that Northern Ireland had voted to remain in the EU.
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Her heart was never for withdrawal anyhow.
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Kieran Tonra replied to HONGTING TANG
@ThomasDoyle Very well put!
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Kieran Tonra replied to Jennifer Shoesmith
@JenniferShoesmith You have hit the nail on the head there Jennifer. I don't think that Cameron expected Britain to vote to leave the EU.
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Kieran Tonra replied to Thomas Doyle
@AndrewB . Many years ago, an Irish poet wrote about the Treaty of Limerick (1691) "The Treaty broken ere the ink wherewith 'twas writ could dry". Britain could never be trusted where international laws were concerned.
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Kieran Tonra replied to Margaret Skinner
I would like to hear other patricipants' opinions on the way in which the "problem" of Ireland was dealt with, and their opinions on whether the EU should tackle the problems of the Irish border with Northern Ireland. Is this a good time for the reunification of Ireland?
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
The UK has fully opted out of the EU.
Article 50 was the mechanism used to exit the EU.
The UK never used the European currency, the Euro.
The negotiations are completed but not satisfactorily for everyone. -
Kieran Tonra made a comment
My opinion goes way back to the time when Britain ruled the world's greatest Empire. Britain was one of the richest countries in the world, and as such, dictated its terms in its own way. Under the EU, Britain had to obey the Union's rules, something it didn't have to do for centuries. This was anathema to Britain, so to establish itself in a global context,...
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
This is probably the greatest crisis of our time and how we deal with it will shape all our futures for many years to come.
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
Hello, I'm Kieran. I've participated in many Future Learn courses over the years and I'm interested in current European politics. I'm from Ireland, and no longer young. I hope to learn much from the course and maybe meet some like-minded people.
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Kieran Tonra replied to Lesley B
Thanks Lesley for your comments on my assignment, very helpful. Best wishes in the future.
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Kieran Tonra replied to Timothy D
Thank you Lesley for your helpful comments when reviewing my assignment. Much appreciated. Best Wishes.
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Kieran Tonra replied to Timothy D
Well done Timothy and many thanks for your kind words when reviewing my assignment.
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
i enjoyed it immensely, but i was expecting more input from the educators.
Nevertheless it was a very satisfying experience. Well done to everyone who participated. -
@juliemeredith It certainly looks that way.
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@BlairSoutherden A united Ireland will surely come about, but the Unionists are a long way from accepting that, and it will take time.
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
Please allow me for a moment to deviate to tell my fellow participants of an event which happened exactly 100 years ago this week.
On October 25th 1920 the Lord Mayor of the city of Cork in Ireland, Terence McSwiney died in Brixton Prison after a 74-day hunger strike in protest at his internment and the fact that he had been tried by a military court. His... -
Kieran Tonra replied to Terry Davies
Maybe I'm all wrong, but I have a theory that the reason Britain is leaving the EC is that Britain ruled the Empire for so many years that Britain now fears that it cannot dominate any more and doesn't want to be told what to do by Europe.
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Kieran Tonra replied to julie meredith
How true!
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I agree wholeheartedly. The average Englishman/woman went about their daily tasks and didn't give a damn about the Empire.
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Kieran Tonra replied to Russ Darbon
I immediately thought of s book I read as a youngster called "In Times of Peril".
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Kieran Tonra replied to Ron Blundell
@RonBlundell Nor did I, in my childhood innocence.
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Kieran Tonra replied to J A Cochrane
@JACochrane I remember reading "The Coral Island" and " Masterman Ready" way back in the 1940s. I did not in any way connect them with British Imperialism then.
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Kieran Tonra replied to Brian M cConnell
That is only one of many stories about the despicable behaviour of the Black and Tans in Ireland. Thank you for sharing it with us Máire.
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
One could add the name of Irishwoman Dervla Murphy whose travel books are well worth reading.
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@PaulRichardSheridanTD Agreed
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@DavidManning Perfectly well put, David.
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
The telling of history is like making a patchwork quilt. The small pieces fit into the overall picture just as importantly as the larger and "stand-out" bits. It's when the whole thing is assembled that we get the true picture.
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Kieran Tonra replied to David Mullen
The "small stories" are part of History too, but with the passing of time and the fact that many of them were passed down by word of mouth makes some of them less than authentic.
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Kieran Tonra replied to Anthony Rich
The theory is marvellous Anthony, but the implementation is sadly lacking.
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
Who was it said "History is bunk"? Our interpretation of history depends entirely on whose version of history we were taught.
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Kieran Tonra replied to Pauline Hayes
Yes indeed - who knows where it might lead to?
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Your last sentence sums it all up.
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The most probable explanation.
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
Looking forward to this week. Religion is behind a lot of the conflict in Ireland over the years and I look forward to other people's views on the subject.
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Kieran Tonra replied to Therese Grace
I hadn't realised that air power was used to such an extent so early in the 20th Century. I was under the impression that The Second World War saw the beginning of aerial warfare.
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That is exactly my reading of it too.
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Kieran Tonra replied to Eamon Lucey
We are going into entirely new territory here. The English always regarded the Irish as inferior. Your second point raises the question of Catholic abuse of children, a 20th century matter.
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Kieran Tonra replied to Kiran J
It was the quick and cheap way to "put manners" on these uncivilised people.
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When British rule ended in Ireland in 1922, civil war followed
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Paying compensation to the descendants of the victims of Mau Mau atrocities might open up a "can of worms". Did Britain make an apology to the people of Kenya as they did to the people of Derry (Londonderry) for the atrocities of Bloody Sunday 1972 when British soldiers killed 26 innocent cililians?
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Well said.
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Your comment on the similarity to the Northern Ireland many years later is valid. The IRA were also branded "terrorists".
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The trouble was that the Written History was one-sided, and did not tell the full story.
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In the 18th Century in Ireland Penal Laws were passed by the Colonists to ensure that the peasantry remained ignorant, uneducated and downtrodden.
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I read it many moons ago.
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Kieran Tonra replied to Ann Bolton
Agreed!
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The French (in the late 18th Century) and the Germans (World War II) had their eye on Ireland too, as a base from which to attack Britain.
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Kieran Tonra replied to Jordan Harris
It certainly was an ingenious way way of promoting the Empire - did it prove to be successful?
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
I wonder what the reactions of the other world powers at the time were to this poster.
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Makes the world go round!
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To me they mean much the same thing.
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Siam had no alternative but to sign the Treaty when a gun was held to their heads. They didn't have the military might of the British, and consequently couldn't go to war. There was nothing of any consequence in the Treaty for the Siamese.
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Kieran Tonra replied to Ann Bolton
History has a terrible habit of repeating itself.
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The Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 entitled Catholics to become Members of Parliament.
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I am, for the first time hearing the thoughts of so many nationalities and their observations about Ireland. Indeed many of them seem to have a greater grasp of Irish History than myself. Keep up the good work fellow historians.
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It is worth remembering that the Norman Invasion of Ireland in 1169 came as the result of an invitation by Irish Chieftain Dermot McMurrough to the then English king (Henry II) to help him (McMurrough) reclaim his territories in Leinster.
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Well said, Máire. The Famine was the result of centuries of oppression.
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Yes, but Ireland gained much from being part of the Empire. Much of Dublin's most beautiful architecture is part of that heritage.
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Originally it was a "land grab", a way of paying off British people who performed "great things" for the Empire, by granting them great expanses of territory taken from rebellious Irish chieftains. The names of Walter Raleigh and Edmund Spenser come to mind here. The Plantation of Ulster (1609) introduced to Ireland Scottish Presbyterians to what is now Ulster...
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Kieran Tonra replied to Claire W
I agree completely - Britain wanted to hold on to Imperial power and saw "fighting for freedom and democracy" as an excuse to continue building the empire.
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Kieran Tonra replied to Ann Bolton
How true!
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Pardon me for asking, but is Milner's Kindergarten not alive and well as I write with the current goings-on in the UK Parliament?
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Even the great Roman Empire collapsed.
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When the Empire was falling apart, the colonial powers always left conflict behind when they left. In Ireland after Independence was granted, Civil War followed. This occurred in many other colonies throughout the world.
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Kieran Tonra replied to Máire McCluskey
1949 was the year Ireland became a republic and left the Commonwealth.
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
I am looking forward to doing this course as I would like to hear the opinions of other people on the topic. Being Irish, I grew up with anti-British views, because of the way History books portrayed British Rule in Ireland for 800 years. As I write these words, I am reminded of the words of a poet who wrote of the Treaty of Limerick in 1691, "The treaty...
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
Thank you so much University of Exeter and all the participants that I have encountered over the past couple of weeks. I feel that I have a much better grasp of the subject as a result,
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
Courses like this one should be made mandatory for all educational establishments. There is so much the next generation would learn at an early stage in life, and perhaps lead to a better world for us all.
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Kieran Tonra replied to Isla Miller
Me too! I hadn't realised that we have the ability to change tipping points if we, collectively make the effort. I have enjoyed the course immensely and I congratulate all my fellow participants who taught me so much. Thank you all.
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Kieran Tonra replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]
The solutions to our environmental problems are all in our own hands. We owe it to the next generation to hand over to them a world that is as free from pollution as we can make it. The coming generation will not thank us if we fail.
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Easier said than done, Sarah.
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
A "smoking in Public Places ban" was introduced in Ireland in 2004 and was one of the first in Europe. It, along with the charge on plastic bags, proved to be the best environmental decisions we have made in many years.
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
In parts of Ireland, particularly the Shannon Basin, winter flooding has become a huge problem. Part of the problem was that farmers were dumping waste silage wrap and blocking channels, thereby preventing water from reaching the rivers.
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Unrest was already in Syria, but the drought exacerbated the turmoil
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Kieran Tonra replied to Amelia Griffiths
I agree wholeheartedly." Normality" for us is living lives that cause the pollution and add to the problems that need to be attended to.
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
If you look at the map of the US you will see that the wealthy states in the East and the West are not part of the Climate Alliance. I don't think the US are genuinely aware or worried about the danger they are creating.
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Kieran Tonra replied to Sarah John
@MatthewGreenhill And yet it is highly probable that he will be re-elected in November!
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Kieran Tonra replied to Sarah John
@SarahJohn Don't place all the blame on Trump.What about the people who put him there.
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Flooding will become a huge problem for many countries in the future.
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Very true, the world is a small place
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We will all be impacted by the fallout from this pandemic for a long time to come.. The Tipping Point has not been reached and the discovery of a vaccine will stall it eventually (we hope).
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Kieran Tonra replied to Anna Valentine
That is only the response of an unintelligent leader, nevertheless a dangerous one!
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Kieran Tonra replied to Jon Reardon
That is very interesting - I hadn't heard that before.
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
I'm not sure if the authorities in Brazil are fully aware of the consequences of their actions in wanting to clear vast areas of the rainforest. The "Trump of the Tropics", Mr Bolsonaro may not be the best man to reverse their recent decisions.
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Kieran Tonra replied to Val H
That is exactly what I think it means.
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
A recent phenomenon in Ireland has been extensive winter flooding. The land that was once able to absorb the winter rains doesn't seem to be able to do so any more, hence thousands of hectares of arable land are under water for weeks, causing untold hardship.
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Kieran Tonra replied to Kieran Tonra
Maybe the Covid-19 pandemic will bring nations to their senses; after all the problem is a global one and not confined to the wealthier countries.
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
We have been told for the past 20 years or so that we are approaching a critical point in Global Warming. I know that relatively speaking, 20 years is a very short period, but the signs are there, and we are doing very little about it.
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Kieran Tonra replied to Val H
I tended to assume that a tipping point meant a point of no return, but as you say, it doesn't necessarily have to be so.
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
I think we are fast approaching a Tipping point , and I fear that the present pandemic of Covid-19 will hasten that moment. We are already threatened and need to change the way that we behave if we are serious about saving our planet.
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
Hi, Kieran Tonra is the name. I'm Irish, no spring chicken, long retired but anxious to keep the brain cells working. Didn't Julius Caesar have a Tipping Point when he crossed the Rubicon? It's a point of no return, a critical moment. Looking forward to meeting new friends on this course.
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Kieran Tonra made a comment
I think some of this is too much for an 80 plus year old brain. I am having serious difficulty taking it all in, so I will throw in the towel and try something less taxing.
