Hundreds have reacted to comments made by sports pundit Joe Brolly about the conduct of nationalists in Northern Ireland and people in the Republic of Ireland’s attitude to them.
The All-Ireland winning footballer, barrister and broadcaster appeared on TV channel Virgin Media Sport when he spoke about the views of some who live in the Republic, saying they "sat on their hands" as the Troubles unfolded in Northern Ireland.
He said: "In the south, sort of typical of post-colonial societies where the British would come, conquer a society and then part of it would get its freedom - the south.
"And then they sit on their hands as the horrors unfold in the place that's still not free and there's a feeling of embarrassment almost and you saw this orthodoxy that started in the south that nationalists in the north were to blame - it was the Catholics and the nationalists that were to blame for what happened.
"If they had just behaved themselves and not worried about civil rights and not taken to the gun everything would’ve been fine," he said.
Those viewpoints "completely [ignore] the reality of soldiers machine gunning people to death and then walking away," he said.
Mr Brolly referenced atrocities of the Troubles including the notorious murder of 39-year-old Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane in February 1989, who was shot 14 times by two masked gunmen from the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association (UDA) in front of his wife, who was wounded, and three children.
The pundit said Pat's son John who is an MP and solicitor is a good friend of his remains focused on what happened when he was a boy.
Last year, NI Secretary Brandon Lewis announced that a public inquiry would not be held into Mr Finucane’s murder at this time and that other review processes by the PSNI and Police Ombudsman had to run their course.
Mr Brolly said there was a "huge amount" of suffering in Northern Ireland. "It just wasn't the lived experience of people in the south. People get on with their lives. They have a lot to worry about.
"You had a different life from us and I understand that but it is important to have a true perspective on it."
Some on social media have disagreed with Mr Brolly's comments. One wrote: "Eh, no, Joe. I lived through the Troubles, in Waterford, and I never heard that said, by anybody. Nor did I ever hear said on national radio or TV. Not once, ever!"
Another wrote: "As a man born [and] bred in Tipperary, this is 100pc on the money, the narrative we were fed."
