Comme la vague irrésolue

When Jim Allister was an MEP he wouldn’t have supported Bairbre de Brún in any way, his stance on Sinn Féin seemed to deny Jim Nicholson space to cooperate with them nevermind give a full endorsement. Things seem to have moved on apace with the former DUP man’s departure from the European stage.

During the debate on de Brún’s report on the animal health requirements applicable to the non-commercial movement of pet animals, Nicholson was postively gushing:

Mr President, first of all let me begin by thanking the rapporteur for all her hard work on this report. What many of us felt at the beginning would be a dossier which would not cause us much of a problem turned out to be an awful lot more tricky than we thought.

Unfortunately the rapporteur had to take the brunt of most of the negotiations, but she certainly had to work very hard to ensure this report got through within the necessary time frame, which was very important as we were under pressure to secure the extension of her derogation which was due to run out in June of this year.

Even Diane Dodds voted in favour of the report.

Adds - the video of the speech with a shot of Bairbre clearly lapping up Jim’s praise.

Mark McGregor @ 07:42 PM | Comments (6)

Tohill kidnapper remanded in custody at Belfast Crown Court

Presumably when the BBC report that Henry Joseph [Harry] Fitzsimmons has been remanded in custody at the Belfast Crown Court after being “arrested in Aughnacloy on Thursday”, what they mean is that he’s been transferred from the custody of the Irish authorities.  Right?  He was being held on remand on a European Arrest Warrant.  And, before going on the run in May 2006, he had already pleaded guilty to attempting to kidnap dissenting republican Bobby Tohill on 20th February 2004.  Fitzsimmons is now due to be sentenced next month.  Two of the four men who went on the run at the time were re-arrested and sentenced in February 2007 - Gerard McCrory received seven years in prison and Thomas Tolan was given a six-and-a-half-year term.  Police have still not released a likeness or even a basic description of the fourth wanted man, Liam Rainey, from New Barnsley Crescent, Belfast.

Pete Baker @ 06:31 PM | Comments (1)

Introducing… Google Public Data

It’s a great new service from Google, which allows you to (very easily) visualise a ton of historic demographic and economic public data in many different forms.

For example -

Play a video showing the unemployment rate in the APIIGS group (including UK) from 1984 until today

Visualise life expectancy at birth in the UK and Ireland

Fertility rates in the UK and Ireland

Foreign born population in Ireland, USA, UK and France

Infant Mortality in Ireland, UK and USA

(Incidentally Ireland also has an exceptionally low maternal mortality rate)

GNI per capita

Income inequality

This is a useful jumping off point :-

http://www.google.com/publicdata/directory

Have fun!

Mack @ 03:14 PM | Comments (11)

Tory Spokesman was not official….

The story posted with above title on Slugger O Toole has rattled many cages.

Responding to the narrative official spokesmen Jonathan Caine said:

“Both David Cameron and Sir Reg Empey made clear on Tuesday  afternoon their one hundred per cent commitment to the continuing partnership between the Conservative and Ulster Unionist parties.

“We remain determined to bring national mainstream politics to Northern Ireland and to end its semi detached political status.

“The person identified (in earlier post ) is not an official spokesman for the Conservatives and does not speak with authority of the Conservative Party.”

No one should doubt the standing or integrity of the individual quoted in earlier post.

As you can see Mr Caine was clearly not the author of those  quotes in the earlier post on Slugger.

I do my best to be fair.

Eamonn Mallie @ 02:39 PM | Comments (36)

da Silva doesn’t think much of Hunger Strikers

The last time Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva involved himself in matters Irish was sending a message of congratulations to Ahern and Blair on the return of Stormont:

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has sent messages congratulating the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair, and the Prime Minister of Ireland, Bertie Ahern, for the commitment of both Heads of Government during the long process of negotiation that culminated in this historic moment, which is both an example and a source of inspiration for other regions in conflict in the world.

Now in an interview with AP while supporting Cuba over the death of Orlando Zapata he has raised the issue of Irish Hunger Strikers and criminality and rejected the legitimacy of a tactic he once engaged in:

Mark McGregor @ 12:54 PM | Comments (11)

Six Nations Weekend 4 - Gatland a menopausal warthog!!

Here’s the fixtures:
Saturday:
Ireland v Wales, 14:30
Scotland v England, 17:00
Sunday:
France v Italy, 14:30

Here’s Vincent Hogan in Monday’s Irish Independent:

Sour Gatland can’t get over Irish allergy
Nice:
“Gatland has a problem with Irish rugby in the way Michael O’Leary has a problem with the Dublin Airport Authority. He feels that business between them has been soured by a toxic, personal agenda which, I’m afraid, makes him snappy as a menopausal warthog.”
Funny - but this I found strange:
“One of the unexplored stories of last year’s Grand Slam game in Cardiff was the flaring unpleasantness in the Millennium Stadium stands. Ordinarily, international rugby crowds steam along amiably together, everyone florid with alcohol, but generally agreeable.
In Cardiff, the vibe was different. It was palpably sour. In maybe 15 previous visits for Wales-Ireland games, I can never remember a more menacing, confrontational vibe in the city.”
I was there - didn’t get that vibe at all to be honest:
Anyway below the fold…...

Dewi @ 12:51 PM | Comments (9)

“That’s politics. It’s about time we saw more of it.”

Brian may be correct to identify the NI Assembly vote to devolve some policing and justice matters, whilst continuing to reserve others, as a missed “golden opportunity” for the UUP and the SDLP.  But it is not perverse to argue, as Malachi O’Doherty does

There are two ways of looking at politics. Many see the peace process as a greater good which must be served at the expense of all other political considerations. That argument had greater weight when the danger remained high that the IRA leadership would end its ceasefire and start killing and wrecking again to get its way.

But the principle appears to survive in the minds of many, perhaps most, that talking and agreeing must continue because these are good and bring us closer to reconciliation between estranged communities. Many who endorse this way of thinking fail to see the lazy, unpolitical nature of this perspective.

Pete Baker @ 12:46 PM | Comments (6)

Ulster Unionist/Tory alliance in danger of collapsing?

A senior conservative is warning the UU/Tory alliance is in danger of collapsing. This shaky relationship has been threatened on the back of the decision of the Ulster Unionist Party to defy the wishes of David Cameron and his party on policing and justice. A local conservative levelled the following charges at the Ulster Unionists:

Eamonn Mallie @ 10:56 AM | Comments (47)

“Perhaps for the citizens of the Republic too, the Belfast Agreement is in fact a settlement.”

It is, perhaps, symbolic that, rather than attending Sinn Féin’s Irish Unity Conference in London, David Adams, Martin McGuinness, et al, found themselves stranded on a Belfast runway in an ice-bound Aer Lingus jet.  It meant they missed Paul Bew’s contribution to the debate.  And in the Irish Times today David Adams, belatedly, has his say

It is often forgotten that unionists are not the only ones who need to be attracted to the idea of a united Ireland. The people of the Republic must endorse a unitary state as well. It has always been taken for granted that they would jump at the chance of reunification with the North, but it would make more sense if in fact they preferred to stick with the existing arms-length relationship.

Whatever its faults, the Republic is settled, cohesive and self-contained. Why on earth would its people want to gamble all in some new dispensation with nearly two million troublesome Northerners – most particularly if it were the case that a substantial number of their erstwhile neighbours were being dragged into something against their will?

Maybe republicans aren’t rocking the boat in the South because they realise that the people there aren’t any keener on a united Ireland than unionists are. Perhaps for the citizens of the Republic too, the Belfast Agreement is in fact a settlement.

Pete Baker @ 10:38 AM | Comments (30)

In the Justice vote, the UUs and the SDLP missed a golden opportunity

Good columnists thrive on perversity but this time,  Malachi strains his case by claiming Reg Empey was right to “launch a kick at the (DUP’s) groin” in opposing P&J on Tuesday. But even he admits:

Empey has made bad calls: appearing some of the time to want to draw closer to the DUP at the instigation of the Orange Order and squandering his only MP by forming an alliance with the Tories. But this call was his and he had the right to make it and he is not a failure as a politician or a human being for putting party interest first; that is his job.”

How it was “putting his own party’s interest first” to stand alongside the TUV beats me. And was that a kick in the groin?  All Reg “launched” was not a kick in the groin but a gentle tap on the DUP’s shoulder to remind them to protect their own flank and stay united.  Now I admit that in the debate, it was genuinely touching to hear UU and SDLP speakers claim credit for the “heavy lifting” that made devolution of the powers possible, police reform and the institution of the Policing Board heading the list. But politics has moved on. The extremes have parked their tanks on the old lawn the UUs and the SDLP uneasily shared.  The completion of devolution exposes their joint problem even more starkly, but it can be exaggerated. If there isn’t room for more than two parties in a 108 member Assembly elected by STV, the others have only themselves to blame. How do they make progress?

Brian Walker @ 09:56 AM | Comments (7)

Iris Robinson: The Musical – on banjo!

If any of you are going to be in London tomorrow, you may want to round the day off with a trip to the 12 Bar Club in Denmark Street (a short walk from Tottenham Court Road tube) to see Mid-Ulster’s very own Cormac Heron performing ‘Iris Robinson – The Musical’

Now Iris is no longer in public life, Cormac anticipates her possible relocation into showbiz (or possibly the catering business) with his latest musical spectacular.

From what I can glean talking to him, the material isn’t all based on Iris or her story, it’s a jumping off point for a fictional pre-St Patrick’s Day banjo-based cabaret. But if the idea of a banjo-based musical don’t make your blood run cold, then it’ll probably be worth a look-in?

Tickets are £6 and Cormac is on stage at 8.04pm. If you’ve got a Facebook account, the event has a page here. You can save a few quid on the ticket if you follow the instructions there.

Paul Evans @ 09:22 AM | Comments (1)

BBC agree to meet Plaid and SNP on the election debates - very kind.

The Western Mail reports the latest on the election debates.
From Ieuan Wyn:
“Unless broadcasts are held in a fair, impartial and accurate way, the legitimacy and integrity of the general election results will be called into question. That cannot be an acceptable state of affairs for anyone. The action the BBC has taken in putting together these plans is nothing short of a betrayal of the principles upon which the editorial integrity of the BBC is built.”
The Scotsman with its usual impartiality headlines: “Nationalists scale down demands over TV debates”....
And here’s the BBC report. I like:
“Mr Jones and Mr Salmond have also written to international press bureaux heads accusing the BBC of bias.”
I await the coverage in Zimbabwe and Florida with interest.
Update - a thoughtful and balanced post from Betsan.

Dewi @ 09:18 AM | Comments (11)

Realism over MI5 needed, not hypocrisy

Rumbles about MI5 accountability or the lack of it featured in yesterday’s P&J debate. It was ironic that I was so absorbed in the debate that I forgot to head off to hear Eliza Manningham-Buller the former head of MI5 last night telling the Mile End Group that she had no knowledge of US torture in the interrogation of the British resident and Guantanamo detaineee Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.  She gave this naïve sounding answer to a question I had intended to ask myself.

I said to my staff, ‘Why is he talking?’ because our experience of Irish prisoners and terrorist was that they never said anything.
“They said the Americans say he is very proud of his achievements when questioned about it. It wasn’t actually until after I retired that I read that in fact he had been waterboarded more than 163 times.”

So odd that she didn’t check it out more, if only because we’re always told that intelligence is so much more reliable if volunteered than given under pressure. 

Brian Walker @ 08:15 PM | Comments (24)

“Is Everything We Know About The Universe Wrong?”

As I said at the end of last year - It’s still the experiment most likely to find more than a pair of WIMPy socks.  If they’re really there…  But it might take a little longer than expected.  Belfast-born director of accelerators at Cern, Steve Myers, has told the BBC that the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s highest energy particle accelerator, will only be run at half-maximum power for 18 to 24 months before being switched off for a year to carry out improvements to the 27km tunnel - at which point maximum power collisions will be attempted for the first time.  Although the CERN bulletin doesn’t appear to have heard the news, whilst the Director General portrays it as standard procedure.  And if you missed it last night, you can catch another wondrous Horizon on the iPlayer - “Is Everything We Know About The Universe Wrong?” - on the ‘fixes’ to the standard cosmological model required to match the observable universe.  Including the inflationary hypothesus, ‘dark’ matter, ‘dark’ energy, and, possibly, ‘dark’ flow.

Pete Baker @ 02:27 PM | Comments (9)

“The Friendly Sons can go outside if they want to smoke”

The Irish Times notes a selective approach to anti-smoking legislation by the Friendly Sons of St Patrick on Washington DC City Council.

Washington DC city councillor Jack Evans, a member of the all-male Society of the Friendly Sons of St Patrick, pushed emergency legislation through the council last week to exempt the Sons’ annual dinner from the smoking ban which the council passed in 2006.

Pete Baker @ 11:08 AM | Comments (17)

FRU the Looking Glass

The Belfast Telegraph reports that “calls have been made for a specialist police unit to deal with dissident incidents”:

Sinn Fein Policing Board member Daithi McKay warned that people’s lives could be put at risk, and has called for a specialist unit to deal with difficult incidents.
“These are dangerous situations,” he said. “We saw the threat when a device went off in Newry. It could have done a lot of damage and killed people in the area.
“There is obviously public concern about police response times for some incidents, and there is a duty on the Chief Constable and the PSNI to look at these.
“If the PSNI is unable to adequately respond to these incidents, then it is worth considering looking at a specific unit or specially trained officers to deal with such issues. That could lead to better response times and decrease the risk to the public.”

Rusty Nail @ 10:31 AM | Comments (41)

Victims still have make their case -  a lesson from Venables

In the hue and cry over the Jon Venables case, the assumption goes unquestioned that Denise Fergus the mother of murdered toddler Jamie Bolger has “ a right to know” the details of Venables’ alleged reoffending.  No one lightly crosses the mother of an infant murder victim, but Simon Jenkins is surely right to conclude that justice is a meal best served cold and as free as possible from public comment during the investigative and judicial process. To bow uncritically to Mrs Fergus’s natural fears and demands is to deprive her of her own sense of wider responsibility. We live in a less deferential age when judges are no more treated like Gods than are politicians. Victims have been elevated to a new status and nowhere more so than in Northern Ireland, although their status remains unclear.

Brian Walker @ 10:21 AM | Comments (19)

Fearghal McKinney to run for Fermanagh South Tyrone…

What is it about old UTV men, and politics? First Mike Nesbitt in Strangford for the UUP and now Fearghal McKinney in Fermanagh South Tyrone for the SDLP. No doubt about who has the harder task, Michelle Gildernew is a popular figure and clearly feels her time at Agriculture will stand her in good stead over McKinney. Still, he’s the first impact player the SDLP have managed to pull in from outside the political game for a party who’s public representatives generally lack just such qualities. His initial statement is below the fold:

Mick Fealty @ 10:06 AM | Comments (68)

The new threat of the post ceasefire dissident Republicans

A year on from the killing of Sappers Mark Quinsey and Patrick Azimkar shot at Massereene army base in Antrim there is now incontrovertible evidence that dissident republicans have the capacity to do immense damage into the future. Two developments in dissident republican engineering have forced the police to reassess their approach.

The bomb at Newry courthouse was the first time since Omagh on August 15 1998 that a so called improvised explosive device actually detonated. And the second development which is worrying the police is the fact that so called under vehicle bombs are having a deadly impact as was the case in the bomb attack on GAA footballer and PSNI officer Peadar Heffron.

Eamonn Mallie @ 09:37 AM | Comments (11)

Disappeared car heard in the Cross Examiner first…

All news is local first, and for the record, that disappeared car, the BBC apparently got it first from the Cross Examiner… That’s a new one for the blog roll…

Mick Fealty @ 09:28 AM | Comments (1)

Bill Drummond remembers Belfast…

THE man who burnt a million quid and sprayed a toy machinegun at an unsuspecting Brits audience has been back to Belfast, to re-imagine the city. The wonderful Bill Drummond is no stranger to Northern Ireland, and I kinda wished I’d bumped into him, like Moochin Photoman did a while back. Drummond seems to have a genuine love for Belfast - he makes it sound like it’s really worth visiting. Oh well… maybe sometime. Click to hear the Radio 4 programme instead.

Belfast Gonzo @ 11:24 PM | Comments (6)

“underpinning the devolution of policing and justice matters”

Worth noting that among the items the NI Assembly voted to remain reserved today is the “politically motivated” Serious Organised Crime Agency [SOCA].  Meanwhile, the Assembly and Executive Review Committee has published its second report on devolution of policing and justice [volume 1 here, volume 2 here].  Included in Appendix 4 are the “Agreements, Concordats, Protocols and Memoranda of Understanding underpinning the devolution of policing and justice matters”.  Of particular interest, the national security protocols which NI Secretary of State Shaun Woodward had, for some time, resisted providing to the committee.  You need to scroll down from here to find the relevant section - “Handling Arrangements for National Security Related Matters after Devolution of Policing and Justice to the Northern Ireland Executive”.

1. After devolution of policing and justice, the Northern Ireland Minister of Justice (hereafter referred to as the Minister of Justice) will be responsible for policing and criminal justice policy[1].The Secretary of State remains responsible for national security matters. The Transfer of Functions Orders set out in more detail what this means in practice in terms of the full range of functions which will devolve and the small number of functions which will remain with the Secretary of State.

2. It is recognised that national security related issues may touch on the responsibilities of the Minister of Justice. This protocol sets out arrangements for managing this issue so as to ensure that the NI Executive and the UK Government can each carry out their respective responsibilities effectively and that national security issues are properly protected.

Pete Baker @ 07:26 PM | Comments (20)

This, not that and two bits of the other

The last we heard from this blog, (not this, this blog but that this blog) before heading off to give his Ard Fheis speech was:

‘This Blog is now off to a small room in another building to spend a little time practising for this evening’s live event. I’ll let you know how it went later.’

As yet this hasn’t reported back on how or what it felt later. By the looks of things the feeling was good.

ADDS - this entry is now declared a caption contest Mick: Not it is not!

Mark McGregor @ 06:11 PM | Comments (14)

Which way was his wind blowing today?

As a small aside to today’s vote, Radio Ulster indicated current Independent MLA but Fianna Fail member Gerry McHugh, formerly of SF, voted to endorse the devolution of policing and justice.

Which yet again seems to run contrary to his declared reasons for leaving SF:

“I feel the direction Sinn Féin is taking is more about appeasement of the British government and administrating British rule in Ireland rather than working towards the end of British occupation.  Assembly structures support this - at both committee and plenary level unionists have majority control.

Mr McHugh said Sinn Féin’s decision to endorse policing in the north was a “factor” in his decision.

“I have no difficulties with the idea of civil policing but I have a difficulty with the excessive amounts of MI5 and military spooks operating in the six counties,” he said.

......

“The fact that the PSNI is being used by MI5 for political policing here should be a major concern for everybody here,” he said.

Mark McGregor @ 05:49 PM | Comments (4)

“They are still campaigning for a united Ireland, they are not going to get that either”

The NI Equality Commission was highly critical of Derry City Council’s approach to attempting to officially change the name of the city from Londonderry to Derry and, in September 2009, “strongly advise[d] Derry City Council not to proceed with the policy as it is currently proposed”.  That attempt stalled on Monday when the Council failed to agree what its next step should be.  Sinn Féin and the SDLP are blaming each other for that failure - an Irish News report provides the detail.

Members voted on two separate proposals - an SDLP plan to form a working group to discuss the name change and a Sinn Féin motion to petition the Privy Council to change the name. The SDLP proposal was voted down by Sinn Féin and the DUP. The Sinn Féin motion to change the name was defeated by the SDLP and the DUP. Both the SDLP and Sinn Féin accused each other of thwarting any name change.

SDLP councillor Helen Quigley said the Privy Council would have rejected any petition after considering the Equality Commission and Community Relations Council reports. However, Sinn Féin’s Kevin Campbell accused the SDLP of opposing the name change.

Adds I should have mentioned the bid to become the UK City of Culture…

Pete Baker @ 05:39 PM | Comments (18)