and if brothers want anything to get done, they might have to find the local IRA chief. Kinda like Sicily.
metatron
the Ireland branch--> issues over the years
by WildeLover 51 Replies latest watchtower scandals
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cedars
I still think the lingerie story is the most plausible....
Cedars
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AnnOMaly
Uh uh. I don't think it was the lingerie department incident, cedars. I heard it was because a branch committee member lost a bet and had to kick the District Overseer [quote] up thee arrrse [unquote]. Needless to say, it didn't go down well.
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Queequeg
Feck...arrrrse...girrrrls!
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Gladring
Almost all of the high ranking brothers in Ireland aren't Irish. They are/were British. There was a big push in the late 80s for British witnesses to "move where the need is greater" - ie. Ireland. One in particular was a hard-arsed Scot called Ewan Watt (he wrote articles for the Awake magazine - Awake correspondent in Ireland). I could actually imagine him getting stuck in with his fists. I know there was a falling out some years ago. Only 4-5 circuits in Ireland and I think there was a lot of jealousy over who was given which circuit. I think they created the fifth circuit just for him.
About 5 years ago they sent in two American brothers to run the branch. Back then I remember having the feeling that they had been sent in to "sort things out".
I'm really out of the loop these days. Been out for almost 4 years.
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MMXIV
I believe I read on JWN it was closed due to a widespread cost cutting exercise although no doubt there would be a number of other issues involved such as control. The branch was pretty tiny (effectively a large extended house) with only a dozen or two of live-ins so probably very quick to bring those duties in-house to London bethel.
It certainly would have been perceived as a negative step from the Irish JW's perspective no matter what spin was used.
mmxiv
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slimboyfat
dozy I can't see you post for some reason. What were you going to say?
I knew a brother in Aberdeen whose brother was on the branch committee. I tried to ask him about the various troubles they had in the Ireland branch over the years, but he wouldn't tell me anything, just retorted that Jehovah always sorts these things out. He was quite old and that was a few years ago now, so don't know if he is still around.
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Dagney
We had friends that went to Ireland I guess in the late '80's, hard to remember. They had a haaaaard time. The congregation small, difficult and much fighting amongst themselves. This was in the country I think, not in the big city.
Still curious.
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cedars
Most Irish congregations that are rural are tiny, and the main backbone of the congregations are comprised of special pioneers that are drafted in from abroad, mostly the UK. I once visited a congregation on the west coast that was made up of only 11 publishers, and the majority were either special pioneers or regulars.
It doesn't surprise me that they pulled the plug on the Irish branch, because from a logistical perspective, the numbers just didn't justify it - especially when you have the London branch nextdoor speaking [mostly] the same language with good transport links between the two countries.
Cedars