“Bellwether interface” kicking off with multiple petrol bomb attacks…
Tweet This is the front page of the Irish News this morning. It makes the legitimate point that whilst David Cameron was telling the world Northern Ireland has changed, a four year old girls received minor burn injuries from a petrol bomb thrown into Bryson Street in the Short Strand. The incident brought substantive comment [...] more »
“We need you to get this right.”
Tweet “We need you to get this right.” - Barack Obama, Belfast Waterfront Hall, Monday 17 June 2013 Thought this deserved a special illustrated note. Perhaps we can carry this alongside us. more »
#G8, transparency, tax and “the soft bigotry of low expectations…”
Tweet On tax, and transparency, here’s the final communique from Lough Erne. Ten “shoulds”, all of them ‘good things’, based on self reporting. Ah, “the soft bigotry of low expectations” says Joseph Cotteril. No imminent world government then? As The Economist noted last week: …offshore centres such as the Cayman Islands and Jersey, corporate service providers have [...] more »
Obama’s “Peace comes dropping slow (but not necessarily *this* slow)” speech in Belfast…
Tweet So, Obama’s speech? As Fionnuala O’Connor pointed out on BBC NI yesterday comparisons with past speeches are ill-placed. When Clinton spoke in 1995, she argued there was a lot riding on it. There was virtually nothing riding on Obama’s delivery yesterday. The regular mis-pronunciations were testament to the downgrading of Northern Ireland both in [...] more »
#G8: Taxation should remain focused on capital and employees not where sales are generated…
Tweet Sammy Wilson’s negative comments re the Republic’s tax regime at the weekend, just before the G8 convened, was clearly jumping on board mumbling from the US Congress, and Westminster PAC… …the British government does have some leverage on the Irish Government there, because they have a £7.5 billion loan, that is a lot of [...] more »
“Drowning in the last hours of the day…”
Tweet Somewhat belatedly, here’s the annual excellent Bloomsday video. It’s tradition! Those of a sensitive disposition are duly warned, again, that James Joyce enjoys the language in all its fecund nuttiness. Enjoy! more »
Obama strikes a note of realism in making a cautious appeal to open a gate in the peace walls before tearing them down
Tweet While it causes a thrill to see Obama in town, lockdown bloated security hassle and all, visits by presidents, prime ministers and even popes are now subject to the law of diminishing returns. Timed to deliver a powerful boost the fledgling peace process in 1995, Bill Clinton’s impact at the City Hall was bound to [...] more »
Obama’s Speech in Belfast…
Tweet Obama’s just arriving at the Waterfront Hall… I’ll try and note the main highlights of the speech here (when he gets to the podium)… We're about to go LIVE!! UTV with full #Obama coverage at 9.25am. And don't forget the live online blog http://t.co/2o7j6pC8P9 — Marc Mallett (@MarcMallett_UTV) June 17, 2013 And US people, [...] more »
G8 Youth Summit looks beyond Trade, Tax and Transparency to focus on Equality, Poverty, Health and Peace
Tweet Around a hundred 16-25 year olds from across Ireland converged on the G8 summit site a month early to put together a shared vision of the top four issues they wanted the G8 leaders to address. Before they left, the young people attending the G8 Youth Summit presented their ideas to the British Secretary [...] more »
Shane gets the Lions roaring..
Tweet Here’s my team: 15 Halfpenny – he missed a kick in 2011 and a tackle in 2009….I’ve decided to let him marry my niece. 14, hmmm difficult – I think Kearney…or maybe Shane… 13, Davies – player of the tour so far, 12, O’Driscoll – if he’s fit 11, North – ditto 10, Sexton [...] more »
Query: Why are the EU and Republic of Ireland flags at the Lough Erne G8 resort?
Tweet Just out of curiosity I noted both the EU and Republic of Ireland flags flying at the Lough Erne resort in County Fermanagh on the local news earlier today. Now the G8 leaders countries are the USA, Canada, UK, Germany, Japan, France, Russia & Italy. Apparently the Presidents of the EU Commission and European [...] more »
“Adding more weapons to this volatile situation could destabilise the entire region…”
Tweet The Northern Ireland First and deputy First Ministers were in a sunny Downing Street garden yesterday, welcoming that suspect package, and extolling the virtues of demonstrating “peacefully, positively, constructively” [Is that with, or without, a Thompson sub-machine gun? - Ed] Without, probably… ANYhoo, on the same day Sinn Féin released the text of what appears [...] more »
‘#G8 development dividend in the balance’ – 5 issues to watch
Tweet This is a guest post from Overseas Development Institute (ODI) Director Kevin Watkins Effective action at the G8 summit could see Africa reap a ‘development dividend’ that boosts poverty reduction and sets the region on a course for more self-reliant growth, according to the Director of the UK’s leading development think tank. The ODI has described [...] more »
“[Mr. Robinson, Mr. McGuinness], tear down this wall!”
Tweet Caption competition I’ve kicked it off: “[Mr. Robinson, Mr. McGuinness], tear down this wall!” more »
Theresa Villiers Pre G8 package for Northern Ireland…
Tweet So, I’m on the hoof at the moment, but here’s Theresa Villiers (substantially Owen Patterson’s original outline) package: An additional £100 million in capital borrowing powers for the Executive over 2014-15 and 2015-16 to support specific shared housing and education projects. A further £42 (€50) million in UK funding for the PEACE IV programme [...] more »
NI21′s chair Tina McKenzie on why she got involved, party labels and Alliance
Tweet New to politics but not a newcomer to recruitment or change management, Tina McKenzie chairs the newly launched NI21. She was interviewed by Kerri Dunn for yesterday’s On the Record politics show on Lisburn’s 98FM. Over the twenty minute interview she answered questions about why she joined the party, her thoughts about standing as [...] more »
Ipsos/MRBI: FF maintain a short lead whilst SF rejoin Ireland’s political peloton…
Tweet So, the latest Ipsos/MRBI poll is out in the Irish Times. At this mid point in the term of the thirty first Dail, there’s not a lot of change to highlight. Fianna Fail at just two points ahead of Fine Gael is within the margin of error, but means steady as she goes. The [...] more »
‘Tax avoidance’ makes the G8 in Fermanagh more meaningful to Dublin than Stormont…
Tweet Yep, and if you want a short (if a little repetitive) pen picture of what and the who of the G8, this short video from the US Embassy in London is as good a grab as any. You can see from the ariel photographs here just why the Lough Erne Golf Resort was such [...] more »
For the sake of the future, the Assembly needs reform
Tweet You could be forgiven for failing to notice that the Assembly’s Assembly and Executive Review Committee has been holding a review on “D’Hondt; Community Designation and Provisions for Opposition” over the past four months. As the committee is due to report about now we’ve not got long to contain our excitement. The sweeping nature of the inquiry contrasts [...] more »
In learning from the past do honesty and comprehensiveness cancel each other out?
Tweet “There must be ghosts all over the country. They lie thick as grains of sand. And we’re all so horribly afraid of the light.” - Henrik Ibsen (1881) So the past is a foreign place after all. Nowhere more-so than in Northern Ireland. The decision to ‘plant’ the G8 in Northern Ireland is testimony [...] more »
Ireland’s Call as you may never have heard it before….
Tweet Don’t you just hate American candour… We never ever get to hear Irish rugby players render Ireland’s Call in their own voices… Check this about here, but don’t say you weren’t warned… (most of the US players had the sense not to try, and those who did were largely drowned out by the crowd..) more »
Is the Catholic Church’s hard line on abortion legislation an acceptance that its influence over the Irish state is over?
Tweet There are some interesting twists in the abortion debate in the Republic. As Michael Kelly of the Irish Catholic newspaper noted yesterday Armagh’s new-boy-to-be Eamonn Martin has been clear in ways his soon-to-be predecessor Sean Brady never was. As he also added, Rome will be pleased. And as Kelly rightly observes, polls can be [...] more »
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Books
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The Earl Bishop
Tweet Interesting BBC article on an upcoming presentation and talk [Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre, 17 August] by lecturer and broadcaster Stephen Price on the subject of his new book – The Earl Bishop. The 18th Century ”Earl Bishop” was Frederick Augustus Hervey, fourth Earl of Bristol and Church of Ireland Bishop of Derry. Hervey was also [...] read our review »
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Philip Orr’s New Perspectives – Politics, Religion and Conflict in Mid-Antrim, 1911-1914: Book Review and Website Launch
Tweet A valuable resource on local history went digital last week with the launch of a new website called ‘New Perspectives’ on Home Rule,hosted by the Braid Mid-Antrim Museum in Ballymena. The content of the website is based on a book by Philip Orr, New Perspectives: Politics, Religion and Conflict in Mid-Antrim, 1911-1914, published last [...] read our review » -
Lessons in Cute Hoorism: “Graft was accepted, for you were taking from the British…”
Tweet I’ve been catching up on some reading, recently. Most pleasantly surprised by John Drennan’s latest opus from Gill and Macmillan, Cute Hoors and Pious Protestors… It’s early days yet, but I was struck by this paragraph, part of a dissection of Fianna Fail near the beginning: One of the more fatal consequences of our [...] read our review »
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