Facts and figures

Facts and statistics can be used to distort the truth, granted. Simply using a phrase such as "a mere 20% of people" versus "more than one in five" can spin the statistics toward a more positive result, depending on context. I'm sure I am guilty of this myself, though I do try to minimise this usage, I often have to use the mechanism of language to illustrate a point. Such is the nature of political writing. Call it propaganda, if you will, for I will not deny that the purpose of my writing is to inform and to attempt to influence peoples' thought and opinion. I digress.

My point is that Ruairidh Kee, a unionist contributor to a promising new website/blog I have discovered, called 'Open Unionism', suggests, "Altogether, the IRA killed more than three thousand people in Ulster, including some seven hundred RUC officers."

This is entirely inaccurate. In total, between the years 1969 and 2001, a little over 3,500 people have been killed as a result of the Troubles. Republican organisations have been responsible for a little more than 2,000 of those deaths (just over 58% of the total). The Provisional IRA have been responsible for over 1,700 of the total deaths. But they didn't kill more than three thousand people, and they only killed 270 of the 301 RUC police officers who were killed.

Often, I am critical of the pernicious propaganda of Republicanism, and of the inaccurate statistics which are often taken completely out of context or entirely invented. Or sometimes by genuine mistake or misunderstanding. In this case, I don't mind saying that the mistake appears to have come from a unionist.

I hope that the website (who have already edited the piece) makes the relevant changes, so that  nobody is ill-informed or made ignorant. For, though I am unionist and make no pretensions otherwise, what really irks me is black propaganda and inaccuracies used to spin, or often totally distort, the truth. I hope that wasn't the intent by this particular unionist, Mr Kee. Otherwise, his article and opinion seemed fair enough.

And, so I don't take away from his basic premise with my criticism, let me reiterate his rhetorical question as I finish this post:

"...if Martin McGuinness and the rest of his republican gang are really committed to the peace process, then why did they spend so long last week arguing against banning criminals for working in the Northern Irish Assembly?"

Well said, that man.