History of civil rights movement, according to Nelson McCausland

Ray Saunders: Who cares? Civil rights does not have a flag, a skin colour, or a religion; it belongs to everyone. He would better serve the people of Northern Ireland by working for civil rights and equality today, instead of trying to score cheap points by digging up division.

Mal McGuigan: And ignore the reasons behind NICRA being formed in the first place. But make sure you mention republicanism. Sound, Nelson. Robert Ritchie: It’s funny he didn’t mention why it was needed.

Martin Hearty: If unionists knew anything about the true origins of the civil rights movement, there never would have been a conflict.

Stuart Kelly: I have just read the article twice. Nelson’s like the needy, mildly annoying person you know who is doing a BTEC in media studies and is ever so eager to try to pass off

knowledge as wisdom.

Kieran John: You know you represent the bad guys when you are trying to retroactively demonise a movement that demanded basic human dignity and political equality. Nelson’s opinion is the same as those who try to glorify the crimes of empire, apartheid and other oppressive political regimes. The final insult is seeking to criminalise the campaign that brought it to an end. Niall Oman: Yes, Nelson, that’s why NICRA’s executive had Robin Cole, former chairman of Young Unionists at Queen’s University, on it.

Ken Aiken: Is there a statue to Kevin Agnew in Maghera? Or at least the main street renamed after him? I think it’s the least they could do for him.

Paul McMorrow: It doesn’t matter if they are republicans, or communists. One human being had more rights than another just because they were born a certain religion. That’s not how a society should work. Paisley even admitted that the Irish were treated as second-class citizens.

Paul Gerald: Communism would’ve been a better option for the whole island in hindsight, instead of these self-righteous organised religions exploiting working people for their own ends and dividing them, instead of people seeing what unites them.