ummm... no comment...

Let me tell you this. If you were an escaped convict found guilty of conspiracy of committing a terrorist act, then you are in no position to complain about game violence.

I fail to see what he has said that is so against video games.. he said "we need to make sure that children are safe when using the internet and video games".. since I saw nothing really bad in the Byron report, and he is supporting it, no problem.

The terrorism thing is irrelevant.. I'm sorry to say, but MANY of the current politicians in the now relatively peaceful Northern Ireland government were once terrorists, some in the IRA, some on the other side... this is just the fact of of the situation there.

I'd be more concerned about keeping my children safe from people like him. I hate fucking hypocrites...

Uhoh... This kind of thing (The whole terrorists in government) is really controversial over here. He's not the only one...
As to what they think of the Byron review, fair enough. They don't seem to be bias either way!

"...a firm basis for discussion at the next Ministerial Sub Committee meeting."
Oh great, they actually have something to now! Not so useless after all!

Sometimes people change. Not saying that's the case in this instance, since I don't know the guy, but it happens.

The situation in Northern Ireland drove the actions of IRA members and other "terrorist" groups here, now that the situation is.. more or less back to "normal", that's gone.

It is totally irrelevant to this discussion, he is a politician now, and as such has to deal with the concerns of his constituents. This is an area that the vast majority of politicians are not going to know a damn thing about, so these kinds of statements, non-committal and promising to discuss it, are to be expected from anyone.

I can only think it was added as a sort of reactionary response to anyone who gives even the slightest hint they may be "anti-games".

As it happens, he more than most has seen some serious violence over the years, and the effects it can have on people. He's even caused some, allegedly. How exactly does this invalidate anything he has to say on the issue of violence in games, should he make any actual statements on the issue, rather than being one of dozens of politicians commenting in response to the report?

@Mikeu

Good point, the situation in Northern Ireland was less terrorism, in many ways, than it was an outright civil war.. the IRA and their cohorts of course being on the loosing side, but the winning side did some pretty bad thing as well (by other side, I do not mean the army, but the militias who were just as much illegal terrorists as the IRA were, but against them).

As you said, the terrorism is irrelevant.. he fought on the loosing side of a civil war... now, he is a politician, because the only way to get past that war is for the people to leave it behind them.

Dang, I swung over to wikip's page on GP to see if I could dig up some dirt and post a good old-fashioned contrarian reply, but the worst it's got is a reference to Jack Thompson's "strained relationship" with the community. You win this round, Dennis!

Anyway, I've got former FLQ members in the Parti Quebecois right next door to me, so I can't exactly decry Kelly's past affiliations. I'd rather have ex-terrorist politicians than ex-politican terrorists.

Kelly's the Terrorist, Byron is the one writing the review.

Before making any hasty judgements regarding that review, I'll have to read it first. Not everyone is biased when it comes to the violence issue. I've read some pretty logical and pro-gaming reports that address the issue, without sounding like Deatheater JT.

I come from Northern Ireland, and making crappy comments about Gerry Kelly, really isn’t on. Regardless of what many of you might or might not have read on Wikipedia, none of you, unless you grew up, or your family grew up there, has a right to pass judgement.

At the time of his actions, gerry Kelly was active in a part of Ireland that treated the Catholic community like dogs, where the entire six counties was treated like a dumping ground by UK government, and where an entire section of the community was denied access to jobs, education, accountable policing, justive or democracy.

In all fairness to GP, that through away comment is well outside the remit of this site, totally unjustified, and to be honest, you’re not qualified to make judgements on the situation or what went on.

Neither do any of the rest of you, unless you grow up in the North.

I might add, until you to walk to your place of worship while a crowd hurl insults you, and while your father business is told to close up during the celebration of an event centuries ago, and burning pyres 40 foot tall are made each summer, celebrating same battle, many of you are probably unaware of how sustained and repeated oppression will warp anyone.

Things have changed now. What ever has happened, he has been pardoned, and now serves as a democratically elected official in a legitimate government.

Theres no arguing with that.

I also find it pretty crappy as well, that you do mention the activites of Jeffery Donaldson, an extraordinary bigot, a man who joined the UDR, a army group known for its collusion with loyalist paramilitaries, and who supplied arms to said loyalist parties with the intention of killing innocent catholics and nationalists.

Now, while i am not suggesting that Donaldson was party to this, his contempt for any power sharing mechanism was/is well known, and is one of many unionists who would be much more content if catholics knew their place.

come on GP, he was in prison because vidya games made him do it in the first place

GP: We can’t help but noting Kelly’s Wikipedia entry, which reports that he was found guilty of conspiracy in regard to a 1973 terrorist bombing in London which killed one person and injured 200 more. He subsquently escaped prison, shooting a guard in the process.
Wikipedia is a great information website, but due to the nature of the website, some people could get away with some lies. I think this is one of those article that passed by. It just doesn't seem plausible or miss represented.

It just seems hypocritical to look at a unreliable resource to judge an anti-video game activist, yet we criticize them for misrepresenting games based on misrepresentive information.

It just seems hypocritical to look at a unreliable resource to judge an anti-video game activist, yet we criticize them for misrepresenting games based on misrepresentive information.


It is unreliable when one doesn't look at sources. One could argue you are at fault for not checking the sources yourself, since they do have an article dated 99 that stated Gerry was part of the group while the IRA link is dead or something.
So you can't really say Dennis was criticizing him by misinformation.
I can't find a part where he shot a guard, so that can be considered [citation needed]. The man went through crap standing up for rights, so it can be ironic that now in power he's attempting to limit rights of others just as it happened to him.

In any case, I only know what I read, and it sounds worse than waterboard ing torture.

Im not going to comment on the guy's past...kinda touchy issue if brought up..but the guy approves the Byron Report...

That would mean that the rest of the British Isle politicians would follow suit

@JC
I know that many Wikipedia articles are reliable, but I do not it's reliable enough to be sourced by news articles. It is still possible to put false information on Wikipedia without notice.

Wikipedia talks about it's own reliability
Concerns have also been raised regarding the lack of accountability that results from users' anonymity, and that it is vulnerable to vandalism and similar problems. In one particularly well-publicized incident, false information was introduced into the biography of John Seigenthaler, Sr. and remained undetected for four months.

Don't get mad at me. I question just about everything. It's my nature ;)

@Paul
I appologize if the information we have received is wrong, but you do have to realize how reliable a source like Wikipedia is. You understand we don't have a lot of media coverage about Ireland. We have to take what we can get.

Personally I DO understand where you're coming from. I've been there, no exageration, which is saying something considering the U.S.'s "freedom." Like I said, I'll read his review before I pass judgement.

Well, as a UK resident, I've avoided commenting on this, I won't necessarily agree with all the points here, but I think Scazza is pretty much right, like the rebel who leads a coup and becomes the leader of a country, he might have been forced to take a dubious road to victory, but it is how he behaves after the victory that really defines the man.

It's not easy, as a UK resident to accept the fact that this man saw the guard he killed as an enemy in a War, and I've met a fair number of Irish people who are bitter at the entire population of the UK, which I think is grossly unfair, kind of like holding all Iraqis responsible for Extremist attacks or all Americans responsible for Corporate Exploitation, but that is a discussion for another time and place.

Both the UK and Ireland need to put this behind them, and that means neither side pointing fingers.

Being born and living in Northern Ireland, this story strikes close to home. It would surprise you to know how many of our politicians have been convicted for sectarian violence. As GP sums up nicely, this guy is a hypocrite of the highest degree.

@FunkyJ,

As an Englishman im willing to put aside the IRA being a bunch of murderous thugs for the sake of the peace process, but that works both ways. Lets leave the tired old divisions aside and move on huh?