Conference tallis::celt

        I think that I have read "Killing Anniversary" a few years ago.
    Can you tell me if I'm thinking of the same book and if so the
    Author ?
    As far as I remember the story was based around a family feud which
    had its origins in the time of the "old IRA" and was carried on
    to the present day. The families involved were "O'Riordan /Riordan"
    and McMahon ?. The story details the rise of one son (McMahon) from
    childhood to a successful Newspaper owner and the other boy's (Riordan)
    involvement in the IRA - and the story ends with a fatal shooting
    outside a hotel in Belfast. One of the major themes throughout the
    story was "Forgive if you like,but never forget". Same book by any
    chance ?  
    Also if this is the same book were the main characters 
    completely fictional or based on real life ?
    Dee
    
    

    < Note 317.1 by GAOV08::DMCCONVILLE >
                            -< Same book perhaps ? >-
    
    Yes Dee, it is the same book. It is about the Riordans and Connors
    and it shows the way that their fathers fueded and how it passed
    down until both sons end up being killed.
    
    I am not too sure if it is true but from the introduction and the
    ending it would seem that it is true. Maybe somebody else out there
    has read this book and can verify.
    
    
    Ren�

Thanks Ren�,
    	   Was the father Pat Connors and his son Sean  , and one of
    the Riordans (son I think ) Liam ? As far as I can remember the
    story has Sean Connors shot in 1974 ? If you can find/remember any
    such information I can check historical records which are published
    at home in N.Ireland that detail all the people  who have died as
    a result of the 'Troubles' since 1969. I meant to do this long ago
    to check if the book was fiction or not - but had forgotten the
    name Connors .
    Thanks again
    	Dee

To answer the original question:-

Terence O'Neill, a Prime Minister of Northern Ireland in the sixties,
came from a famous old Anglo-Irish family.    He belonged to
the liberal wing of the Unionist party.

As PM, he tried to bring in a number of reforms to civil rights,
but could not carry the working class Protestant people with him
and had to resign when it was clear he wasn't getting anywhere,
and his reforms were not appeasing the Irish terrorists.

His best know achievement was to meet with Sean Lemass, then Prime
Minister of Ireland.    It may seem strange that a meeting between two
PMs of neighbouring countries should cause such a stir, but there was
great opposition on both sides of the border.   Northern Irish people did not
believe their PM should be talking to the PM of a country which had
a territorial claim on Northern Ireland, and Irish people objected
to Lemass doing anything that implied recognition of the separateness of
Northern Ireland from Ireland.

He is now Lord O'Neill of the Maine and lives in retirement in England.

Although liberals believe his attempts at reform were courageous,
some say he was too far removed from ordinary people to understand
the ancient fears and mistrust in the community.

Shane

    Leaprechauns remember that meeting.
    
    1st meeting : Lemass went to Belfast.
    2nd meeting : O'neill went to Dublin.
    
    There was little or no opposition to either meeting in the South.
    I remember it very well, we still admire them both for it.
    All the opposition was up north.
    
    Snake was there.