Newton Emerson pours scorn on Forbairt Feirste’s investment conference, aimed at consolidating support for the establishment of a Ceathrú Gaeltacht (Gaeltacht Quarter) in west Belfast. (H/T Concubhar) In essence he argues that the economic aspect of case is flawed, not least since “residents of the lower Falls live within a mile of 30 per cent of all the jobs in Northern Ireland.” He goes on to accuse the area of excessively cleaving to a kind of internal separatism:
One point repeatedly raised at the west Belfast conference was that the Titanic quarter will shift the city’s economic centre of gravity to the east. But thousands of people from west Belfast once worked on Queen’s Island. They travelled there by tram and they could do so again if Sinn Fein regional development minister Conor Murphy would spend £1.86 million a year on a west Belfast light rail line.
West Belfast is a place and a community apart, not least due to the massive and traumatic population shifts of the late sixties and early seventies. Early attempts by some residents to move their families out into mixed areas, even well beyond the confines of the city ended in some of them being intimidated back into the safer reaches of their original communities. This is often underestimated by outside commentators. If there is a siege mentality, some of it arises from what many in that community would see as good reason.
But Emerson does have a point when he suggested that some of the Troubles-centric development decisions have helped deepen a sense of isolation from the rest of the city. Not least the deep (and widening) trench that is the Westlink:
One obvious and highly profitable solution would be to drop the road into a trench and roof it over, creating hundreds of acres of prime city centre real estate. It might seem perverse to suggest this while the current Westlink widening is still under way but that project ripped up years of recently completed improvements.
Even mundane cities such as Leeds manage to bury their urban motorways, despite having no local ministers with devolved powers. However, burying the Westlink has never been seriously considered throughout all the many opportunities to do so, including the Invest NI conference.
It appears that certain people, both inside and outside west Belfast, are only too happy with its tarmac moat.
He argues that Sinn Fein’s leadership on this issue is at best misguided:
Last week’s ‘cultural conference’ may have helped some republicans to cope with the stench of global capitalism emanating from the Invest NI conference. But few of the party’s constituents will be helped by pretending that a neighbourhood Irish-language quango will be a force for economic growth even if they find this tribal totem more pleasing to contemplate than the difficult decisions that are actually required.
“Whenever I hear the word ‘culture’ I reach for my gun,” Hermann Goering famously never said. Sinn Fein, conversely, has put down its gun and reached for the word ‘culture’. There is little reason to believe that this strategy will be any more successful than the last one.
Fionnuala O’Connor railed against critics of the current settlement (subs required) in Northern Ireland yesterday. It’s not clear exactly who she was referring to, but there are several interesting developments that have come to a head because, however imperfect the institutions may be, decisions have been made largely because our previously responsibility-free politicos, have been forced (or are about to be forced) to make decisions. The most prominent is the forever vacillating Education Minister, who is being edged (excruciatingly) slowly towards compromise with her Unionist colleagues. The other is the Minster for Finance, Peter Robinson whose upbeat announcement that he will work with the Unions to formulate an improved offer to low paid civil servants.
This has been going on for 38 years. But in recent years the catalyst for a local resolution may well have emanated from legal actions in England. As the Guardian reported nearly two years ago, the Unions were being threatened with legal action from some of itheir members:
...a small group of no win, no fee lawyers are suing the union over the equal pay deals already struck by union branches in parts of the country, threatening to cost the union millions of pounds in payouts. The union faces more than 900 claims by lawyers contesting the union’s equal pay strategy, which name some of the activists at this week’s conference.
The bill for settlement is £100 million. That’s a lot of money, particularly when you consider that of Northern Ireland’s £18 billion budget only £9/10 billion is marked as ‘discretionary’ expenditure as opposed to ‘mandatory’. If it were delayed for the conclusion of what are commonly interminable Labour Tribunals, some sources believe it could rise by as much as £20 million a year.
Brown has little scope for funding it from Treasury funds since he’s just shelled out £2.3 billion to cover himself on the cut of the 10 pence tax rate. So Robinson is taking all the pain now, just as his own watch on Finance continues. With falling property prices, he may have to sell off a fair amount of the government estate just to bring this low paid group up to scratch.
Despite the spin, it’s unlikely to be a decision he’s taken either lightly, or willingly.
A source has claimed to the BBC that the DFP appraisal of the Maze plans believes the £100m price tag is a significant underestimate. The real costs would be:
With the Education Minister, Sinn Féin’s Caitriona Ruane, facing the Assembly’s Education Committee today, Alliance Party councillor Ian J Parsley makes a good point in the comments to the post on yesterday’s Executive meeting [Scroll down to IJP’s comment number 11]
“So although it is true that Unionists have to deal with the fact they are in coalition with an anti-selection Minister, the Minister also has to deal with the fact she is in coalition with pro-selection colleagues. It requires compromise, not just saying “Well I’m doing this, so there”.”
The ‘collective responsibility’ of the Executive is an issue we’ve discussed before - Mick had a detailed post on it here - “the legislation seems crystal clear on the primacy of Executive over the conduct [of] Ministerial briefs.” And the quote in the title? That would be the Education Minister, Sinn Féin’s Caitriona Ruane..
Monaghan District Court Judge Sean Martin McBride has been making headlines again.. This time it’s Tyrone and not Londonderry that was the target of his judicial displeasure. Strange story all round, it should be said, with the wrong woman summonsed to court in the first place. Apparently required to pay 50 euro to have the case dismissed, the woman in court only had sterling.. This, according to the reports, resulted in Judge McBride telling her she was “showing the typical thickness from Tyrone people”. [new links] Sinn Fein’s Barry McElduff, MLA for West Tyrone, is “going to write to the minister for justice from the south and ask that he withdraws the remark”. [Signed ‘Disgusted of Tyrone’? - Ed]
Legal technicalities meant that Ms McGrath still had to pay E50 bail to get the case thrown out in the circuit court.
It was when she explained that she and her father, who had accompanied her to the hearing, had only sterling that the judge accused her of “showing the typical thickness from Tyrone people”.
“I am well used to it through football growing up in Donegal and different things,” he said.
Ms McGrath’s father went to a nearby bank to withdraw the money.
Earlier Judge McBride ac-cused her of disrespecting the court by shaking her head when told that a different court would have to dismiss the case and she would have to pay for the transfer.
Possibly the most interesting point to consider from the Irish Times/TNS mrbi poll on political party support is how it may affect the Lisbon Treaty referendum on 12th June.. although the question wasn’t actually put. doesn’t appear to have been put - George tells me that it was and the results will appear in tomorrow’s paper. Anyhoo.. The poll was conducted last Monday and Tuesday among a representative sample of 1,000 voters in face-to-face interviews at 100 sampling points in all 43 constituencies. From the Irish Times frontpage
The adjusted figures for party support, compared to the last Irish Times poll in January, are: Fianna Fáil, 42 per cent (up eight points); Fine Gael, 26 per cent (down five points); Labour, 15 per cent (up three points); Sinn Féin, 6 per cent (down two points); Green Party, 4 per cent (down two points); PDs, 1 per cent (down two points); and Independents/others, 6 per cent (no change).
The core vote for the parties compared with the last Irish Times poll is: Fianna Fáil, 40 per cent (up eight points); Fine Gael, 20 per cent (down three points); Labour, 11 per cent (up two points); Sinn Féin, 6 per cent (down two points); Greens, 3 per cent (up two points); PDs, 1 per cent (down one point); Independents/ others, 4 per cent (no change); and undecided voters 15 per cent (down two points).
In terms of satisfaction ratings the poll shows the Government has recovered considerable ground since January, with a rise of 13 points to 48 per cent.
This is close to the rating it achieved just before the last election.
Dublin is the weakest region for Fianna Fáil, while the party is strongest in Mr Cowen’s home region of Leinster and in Connacht- Ulster. Fine Gael is also weakest in Dublin but it is the strongest region for Labour, which is now significantly ahead of Sinn Féin and the Green Party in the capital.
When voters were asked whether they believed Bertie Ahern was right to resign from the taoiseach’s office when he did, 70 per cent said he was right while 24 per cent said he was wrong, and 6 per cent had no opinion. Fianna Fáil supporters were more inclined than others to say Mr Ahern was wrong to go but there was a two to one majority among party voters who said he was right to go.
Asked about Mr Ahern’s personal finances and tax liabilities, 65 per cent of people said he had not given the full picture and had further questions to answer (a drop of 13 points in the number holding that view) while 24 per cent said he had given the full picture (up 10 points).
It was the seventies, and I distinctly remember one ijit having his ears pierced by his mate (a drawing pin was the preferred instrument) on a school window sill on the corridor outside Room 5, if I recall correctly. Ah yes, we had to make our own entertainment back then (when we weren’t listening to Radio 1 on plastic, Hong Kong made ‘transistor radios’). Stuart Bailie has similar memories from a similar time, only it was Indian Ink and tatoos in his case. A great new blog from the BBC!
As well as the Balmoral show which I mentioned below, Belfast has also been hosting the 55th conference of Liberal International. Alliance party luminaries have been meeting assorted Liberal leaders including Morgan Tsvangirai for whom it is to be his last stop before going back to Zimbabwe to contest the run off of the presidential election against Robert Mugabe where incidentally the new $500 million bank note worth 2 US dollars (today, probably rather less tomorrow) has just been issued.
“Getting the chance to host this Congress is a massive boost for Belfast. It provides a great opportunity to show influential politicians from around the world that Northern Ireland is thriving.
“This is the first time that Northern Ireland has ever hosted the prestigious Liberal International Congress. This gives us the chance of a lifetime to showcase Northern Ireland to powerbrokers from across the globe. The Alliance Party’s global links within Liberal International are extremely important, and I only wish all other parties in Northern Ireland took such a broad world-view.
“The timing of this event is perfect as former Alliance Leader Lord Alderdice is currently President of the group.”
Whilst Lord Alderdice had this to say:
“I am delighted that Liberal International is coming to Belfast for this Congress. Liberal International is a substantial global network of about 100 political parties from all around the world. Its recent meetings have been in Taipei, Marrakech, Sofia, Manila, Cancun, Dakar, Budapest, Ottawa and Brussels, so you can see that the choice to come to Belfast means that our capital city now figures with some big names on the global conference circuit.
“There will be the whole range of motions on issues of concern from across the world, but we will focus on three main areas - dealing with violent political conflict, movement of people (migration, asylum and human trafficking) and the environment. There will be special sessions and papers on all three issues.”
I presume this conference is why Charles Kennedy was in town for Let’s Talk last night.
Robert Dunlop has died in hospital after an accident at a practice session for the North West 200. His brother Joey was killed in a motorcycle race in Estonia in 2000. The BBC has tributes to Robert here, the Belfast Telegraph has an obituary here.
If anyone thought today’s Northern Ireland Executive meeting would resolve the impasse on the transfer of pupils to post-primary schools, although I don’t believe anyone actually did, they were proved wrong. This BBC report includes a short on-air interview with the Education Minister, Sinn Féin’s Caitriona Ruane, openly briefing against her Executive colleagues - “It is disappointing that colleagues who claimed that they wanted a discussion on the proposals didn’t even engage. What happened today was an attempt to frustrate change.” It also quotes the out-going First Minister, the DUP’s Ian Paisley Snr.
Mr Paisley said: “The education minister can make any suggestion she wants to. However, it will not come into force until she has the support of the DUP and the endorsement of the executive. “This is now a matter for the executive to deliberate and to decide upon. “We supported a proposal for a sub-committee of the executive to deal with this - this was rejected by Sinn Fein. “We supported a proposal by Margaret Ritchie that the executive as a whole would discuss the issue of post-primary education - this was rejected by Sinn Fein. This is an entirely unacceptable position.”
And, according to the RTÉ report - “Dr Paisley also said the minister’s plan did ‘not form a basis for moving forward’.” Morehere - First Minister Dr Paisley said it was a sad day for Northern Ireland. “The Minister for Education’s proposals, as currently framed, are totally unacceptable and do not form a basis for moving forward.”
This is day two of the Balmoral Show, the event when South Belfast is invaded by country people and assorted ex country people like us now trapped in Belfast. The Newsletter has vast coverage of this veritable extravaganza of farmerishness. We had a great time, Elenwe unfortunately was sick with the cold so dropped me and the boys at the show where we sat on tractors and diggers, looked at cattle, sheep, horses, rabbits, hens etc. etc. Whilst clearly not everyone’s cup of tea it was extremely good harmless fun and involved meeting various friends and some of Elenwe’s endless collection of relatives who always seem quite indulgent of my inability to remember that I am related to them. I guess if you are not from the country you do not really get it: or do townies go to sate their unfulfilled desire to be culchies as well?
“We make the same comment on the murder of Denis Donaldson in County Donegal in April 2006 as we have since we first referred to it two years ago: we are unable to attribute responsibility for it. The investigation is still continuing.”
I’ve been on the hoof in London all day, so I’ve not had a lot of time to blog. At 6.30, I’ll be at the US Embassy for live webcast of a debate on the future of digital politics online. You can pick the feed up here at the FT site. In Northern Ireland, we’re only at the beginning of this paradigm. Political representatives have as yet to make any significant use of the abounding technologies available. Projects like Councillor.info are designed to warm that space up, but it still requires greater curiousity and experiment, before we begin to see the kinds ot revolutionary turns now taking place in the States.
The failure of former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to provide convincing answers to the questions put at the Mahon Tribunal undoubtedly led to his eventual resignation. Those questions have continued and yesterday one of Ahern’s “long-term personal friends”, Joe Burke - a builder and former Fianna Fáil councillor in Dublin, who was appointed chairman of the Dublin Port Company in 2002 - has been providing equally unconvincing answers. The absence of a money trail featured heavily. From the Irish Times [subs req]
Joe Burke, St Luke’s trustee and chairman of the Dublin Port Company, said there was a meeting in the Gresham Hotel on O’Connell Street, where the businessmen discussed the raising of funds to purchase St Luke’s in Drumcondra. Some 24 “settlers” agreed to pay £5,000 each, at a rate of £1,000 a year for five years, Mr Burke said. Counsel for the tribunal Des O’Neill SC, asked Mr Burke if details of the contributors had been provided to Fianna Fáil. Mr Burke said they had not. “Those people who contributed at the time . . . contributed on a confidential basis only,” he said.
“There was no need for anybody to keep records going back all those years. But in hindsight, if we all thought we would wind up in Dublin Castle 20 years on, we certainly would have kept them.” Mr O’Neill said there was no evidence in the CODR account, supposedly set up to collect the money to pay for St Luke’s, of annual payments over a five-year period. “Some people paid it all in advance, some people paid £1,000 or £2,000 and then didn’t pay anything, stopped paying,” Mr Burke said. “Some people . . . paid extra with the understanding that when we got all the funds in, or the funds that we needed, that we would pay them back . . .”
Mr Burke said the £20,000 was withdrawn in cash to pay a builder for work on St Luke’s.
Mr O’Neill asked why it needed to be in cash.
“The old saying is very simple, it’s always nice to see the colour of your money,” Mr Burke said.
He held the money in his safe for two months, he said, but did not engage a builder. He then decided it should be re-lodged.
He had spent some of the original cash, he said, and may have used sterling to replace it, which he kept in his safe to buy bric-a-brac in England for his pub refurbishment business. Sterling was on a par with Irish pounds at the time, he said.
Mr Burke said he put the £20,000 in an envelope and left it to be collected by Mr Collins, who was to lodge it to the B/T account.
However, he did not tell the person he gave it to what the envelope contained.
Mr O’Neill said there was no logical reason to conduct business that way and it seemed extraordinary to him.
“There’s loads of things in life that are extraordinary, but I wouldn’t want to explore them here today, but it wasn’t extraordinary to me,” Mr Burke replied.
Back in the 80s and 90s they went in search of a better way. It was summed up yesterday by Joe Burke, who repeatedly told the Mahon tribunal that all he ever did was to work for “the benefit and betterment of Fianna Fáil”.
He, like the rest of the tribunal undocumented, wasn’t to know that the climate would change in the new millennium and humble witnesses without their proper documentation would find themselves in trouble.
A deposit account here, a deposit account there, and suddenly, you have deposit accounts and cash coming out of your ears.
Who was counting? Who would ever find out?
Then the tribunals came along, examining banks accounts and discovering that a very personable minister for finance was taking in money far in excess of his earnings when in office. And - the cheek of them - they began to ask why.
Which is how Joe Burke came to be back in the witness box yesterday, attempting to explain how financial transactions connected to Bertie Ahern were conducted, and where the money came from.
Affronted, might be the best way to describe Joe’s reaction.
Joe has dedicated his adult life - when not running his now defunct pub refit business - to furthering the cause of Fianna Fáil and Bertie Ahern. He has been the former taoiseach’s right-hand man for decades.
Joe, now chairman of Dublin Port, played a central role in the running of Ahern’s Dublin Central constituency organisation since the early 1980s. He was in charge of a number of bank accounts and involved in the purchase of St Luke’s, the house that would become the nerve centre of Bertie’s political operation.
Thirty thousand pounds was withdrawn from the B/T account and “loaned” to Bertie Ahern’s then partner, Celia Larkin, to help her aged aunts buy their rented home after they were threatened with eviction. An admirable gesture, even if it came from an account which was purely for the upkeep of St Luke’s.
No documentation remains. Trustee Joe presumed solicitor Gerry Brennan looked after the interests of the trust by putting the legal documentation in place for the loan. That never happened. “I did not question Mr Brennan’s legal integrity,” Burke told the tribunal.
Unfortunately, Mr Brennan passed away in 1997. Joe never discussed the loan with Ahern, his close friend, even though the money was going to Ahern’s then life partner. “Why would I discuss it?” he asked.
But when the house was purchased, Celia Larkin became the legal owner. She is not an elderly aunt, and the “loan” was only repaid in January of this year when the tribunal began asking questions.
Insisting that no favours had been offered, or received, Mr Ahern said: “I might have appointed somebody but I appointed them because they were friends, not because of anything they had given me.”[added emphasis]
Happily, Joe Burke was able to shed light on one aspect of the B/T account yesterday. Twenty thousand pounds was withdrawn from it in August of 1994, and IR£20,000 went into it in October of 1994. But a problem with damp was bigger than anticipated and he decided to hand the money back. Joe went into St Luke’s with the £20k and handed it to a secretary. He got no receipt.
But these things must be investigated by the tribunal, it was explained by Des O’Neill to an exasperated Joe. He agreed. “It is most important the public are kept informed. They are paying for it, at the end of the day.”
It is possible that in the 1570s Leonard and Thomas Digges in England actually made an instrument consisting of a convex lens and a mirror, but if this proves to be the case, it was an experimental setup that was never translated into a mass-produced device.
The telescope was unveiled in the Netherlands. In October 1608, the States General (the national government) in The Hague discussed the patent applications first of Hans Lipperhey of Middelburg, and then of Jacob Metius of Alkmaar, on a device for “seeing faraway things as though nearby.” It consisted of a convex and concave lens in a tube, and the combination magnified three or four times.
The Galileo Project goes on to record the development of the telescope by Galileo
The news of this new invention spread rapidly through Europe, and the device itself quickly followed. By April 1609 three-powered spyglasses could be bought in spectacle-maker’s shops on the Pont Neuf in Paris, and four months later there were several in Italy. (fig. 4) We know that Thomas Harriot observed the Moon with a six-powered instrument early in August 1609. But it was Galileo who made the instrument famous. He constructed his first three-powered spyglass in June or July 1609, presented an eight-powered instrument to the Venetian Senate in August, and turned a twenty-powered instrument to the heavens in October or November. With this instrument (fig. 5) he observed the Moon, discovered four satellites of Jupiter, and resolved nebular patches into stars. He published Sidereus Nuncius in March 1610.
The fault may lie with an over-enthusiastic interpretation of the perhaps ambiguous BT press release
The BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2009 was launched today by its organiser and sponsor BT. A key feature will be the International Year of Astronomy 2009 which coincides with the 400th anniversary of the development of the telescope by Galileo in 1609 and is being marked by events throughout the world.
The press release then goes on to make an error all of their own.
Due to Galileo’s foresight and advancements with the telescope, scholars and professors went on to discover our planets and solar system, the earth was deemed to be round and, in more modern times, space travel became a reality. The 400th anniversary will educate and inspire young people worldwide to look at the universe with the same questioning and pioneering spirit as Galileo. [added emphasis]
The concept of a spherical Earth was known to early Greek philosophers, Pythagorus [570 BCE], Plato [427 BCE] and Aristotle [384 BCE] in particular. With Aristotle providing physical and observational arguments supporting the idea of a spherical Earth.
And Eratosthenes [276 BCE] estimated Earth’s circumference in around 240 BCE.
Not to mention Ptolemy [90 CE].
Then there were the Islamic astronomers who, around 830 BCE CE [edited], calculated the Earth’s circumference to be 24,000 miles.
What actually followed Galileo’s observations is mentioned here - eppur, si muove
Sticking with the subject of soccer, there seems to a misapprehension abroad regard the IFA passports issue. It’s hardly surprising since there has been a lot of self serviing posturing around the issue. Even newsman Máirtin O’Muilleoir seems to have the wrong end of the stick, when he states that “...of course, it (the IFA) also insists its ‘international’ players carry UK passports”. However this this is what the chief executive of the IFA, Howard Wells, said before Fifa changed its mind in March 2006:
“There is not a problem about players travelling on either passport,” he said.
“The issue has been that historically, on the administration of some matches that we have had at international level, there has been confusion in the minds of some Uefa officials about the fact… that some of our players have different passports to each other.
“It is because people don’t understand the differences, or the uniqueness of Northern Ireland, in terms of our passport issue.”
Given that was the IFA position at the outset of the controversy, I’m not sure how Máirtín’s claim stands up to scrutiny now…
The exclusion of Donegal Celtic from the IFA’s new Invitational League has provided the icing on the cake for what has been a bit of an annus horribilis for the football authorities in the north in regards to their relationship with northern nationalists. Having first picked a fight with the nationalist community over the eligibility of Irish citizens to represent the Rep Ireland at international football level, the decision to dump the Irish Cup semi-finalists and team finishing 11th placed overall in the league in favour of First Division outfit, Bangor, has dismayed supporters of the club and rekindled not too distant memories of the lengthy battle fought by the club (and Lurgan Celtic) to secure membership of the League- which was only achieved in 2002 following a decision by the Equality Commission to support a court case against the IFA on grounds of discrimination. So should Donegal Celtic attempt to emulate Derry City and take to the Eircom League?
Unfortunately for the Wee Hoops, it would appear that that particular ship has sailed. The growing professionalism of the Eircom League has led to a widening gulf emerging between the calibre of football on offer at local level between the two leagues in Ireland- with only Linfield appearing able to match the growing professionalism of the Eircom League. The launch of the new weekly programme, MNS, as well as regular live television coverage of matches, is further evidence of the positive strides being taken by the Football Association of Ireland to develop the game at local level. Indeed, were Donegal Celtic to even make enquiries about entry into the FAI structures, they may find themselves several tiers below the Premier Division, given the competition from developing clubs across the state.
Unfortunately, north of the border it appears that the IFA continues to rearrange the deck chairs, expanding to a 16 team league then contracting to a 12 team league in the space of a few years. The obvious problem remains the quality of the product on offer by the Irish Football Association. In an era in which SKY tv/ Setanta bring top quality Premiership/ SPL matches to our living rooms, and numerous airlines take hundreds on the small leap across the Sea to view the top teams at low costs in day return trips which allow for fans to eat their fry at home and return comfortably in time to visit the pub or kick the feet up for Saturday television, Irish soccer will continue to struggle.
And in that context, it becomes even more glaringly obvious that the IFA have made a blunder in excluding a team with the potential to bring a whole new audience to local football from their new Invitational League. Worse still, they have merely confirmed the negative perception of the footballing body within the northern nationalist community, a perception built on the harsh experiences of the small number of predominantly-nationalist supported soccer teams who participated in the northern league- and survived to tell the story.
The experiences of Belfast Celtic, Cliftonville, Derry City and Donegal Celtic within the northern footballing setup do not make happy reading. Belfast Celtic exited the league not long after a shocking sectarian attack onb its players at Windsor Park; Derry City’s experience eventually led to withdrawal from the league and, more happily, finding a place in the more progressive looking Football Association of Ireland setup; for years, Cliftonville were forced to hand Linfield the distinct advantage of having two home games versus the north Belfast Reds; even this season, with the club experiencing its best form since winning the title a decade ago, sectarianism reared its ugly head as the Manager was on the receiving end of a death threat days ahead of a Cup fixture with Linfield.
And then there’s the experience of Donegal Celtic. For years the club were denied access to the league, securing membership only weeks ahead of the commencement of a court case taken with the support of the Equality Commission against the football authorities.
Yet here was a club willing to go in for the long haul, taking the knocks and sticking at it in an effort to reach the highest tier of local football in the north. Having done precisely that, and having just finished their best ever season in local soccer, reaching the final four of the Gibson Cup competition and exceeding all expectations and finishing 11th in the league, it is only natural that the club, its players, official and supporters are somewhat stunned by yesterday’s developments.
But have no doubt: the biggest losers in this affair are the Irish Football Association.
The BBC is reporting a significant rise in sexually transmitted infections in teenagers and young people. The Department of Health are apparently about to produce a “Sexual Health Promotion Strategy” before the Stormont summer recess.
From the Department press release: Targets included in the Strategy include: increasing the number of teenagers delaying sexual activity; reducing the rate of births to teenage mothers; reducing the incidence of STIs; and reducing the access time to Genito Urinary Medicine GUM clinics to two working days.
The Children’s Commissioner also has a press release on the subject and a policy paper which outlines some of the problems.
One of her comments which particularly struck me was that about young people in Fermanagh having a sixty mile trip to the nearest clinic. In most things to do with modern acute health care centralisation is key (whatever John Robb may have had to say on the subject). Regarding largely out patient based specialities such as sexual health clinics, however, there is significant merit in rolling them out as widely as possible provided staff experience levels can be maintained.
This looks like a proverbial can of worms. The Irish News reports that a complex points system “scored on various criteria, including facilities, underage structures, financial planning, coaching aptitude and success on the field” has seen Donegal Celtic excluded from a reduced IFA Premier League next year, despite them effectively finishing five places ahead of Bangor, who gained promotion from the Intermediate league. Understandably, the manager is livid:
“We’d 610 points last year and we’ve 543 points this year, so somebody has got their sums wrong,” slammed Bonner. “Every obstacle that has been put in front of us we’ve jumped it. Now, I’ll have to stand in front of 380 members and tell them we got to the semi-finals of the Irish Cup and that we finished in 11th place, but we’re no longer in senior football because there is a team [Bangor] in ahead of us who have not competed at senior level for 12 years.” [Emphasis added]
Hmmm… It looks like the IFA may have some explaining to do… Bonner adds to the intrigue when he reveals there is a dispute between the IFA and the Sports Council over £800,000 supposedly ear marked for ground improvements at Celtic.
Adds: It should be noted that fifth-placed Portadown also lose the place in the top flight for not filling in their forms in time. Bureaucracy gone mad!!
A DFP spokesman said: “Based on the latest information available and considering that the property is still occupied by the Bushmills Community Group, the District Valuer has concluded that while the original decision to grant exemption was correct, exemption is now no longer appropriate.
“Therefore, the District Valuer issued a Certificate of Revision on May 9, 2008, removing rates exempt status from the occupiers of the property. The effect of this decision has been backdated to April 1, 2007.”
The 1998 application for exemption was made by a body called Bushmills Community Advice Centre.
Moyle DUP councillor Davy McAllister has been involved with this organisation from that period. He is also a member of Mr Paisley Jnr’s Assembly-funded staff.
Mr McAllister yesterday said the advice centre was likely to re-apply for exemption.
“Our committee is not just up to date so we are reforming our committee. We are getting our stuff all put together and we will more than likely reapply,” he said.
A Freedom of Information disclosure issued earlier this year stated that £2,100 is being claimed in rental expenses annually from the Assembly by the DUP for the Bushmills address.
Mr McAllister has stated that the community advice centre is a voluntary operation, and that Mr Paisley Jnr’s part-time advice centre is based in a back-room.
“If I’m sitting in the front office, I’m sitting in a voluntary capacity. “If I sit in the back office, I’m sitting working for him,” he recently said.
There are clearly some individuals and organisations that are not particularly happy about the settlement of the Republican Movement’s war with the UK. And in the Strabane area, there is even sufficient organisation to have mounted an attack on an off duty PSNI man out by Castlederg. Yet the prospects of prosecuting a successful ‘revolutionary struggle‘ are remote to say the least.
The man tried to escape but they chased him and beat him with baseball bats. He suffered two broken legs and fractures to his skull and face and is in a critical condition in the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.
The PSNI are investigating the incident and have appealed for anyone with information to contact them. A spokesperson from Sinn Féin described the attack as “brutal”, and said anyone with information should go to the police.
Shaun Woodward said: “Under legislation I am obliged to review the status of all specified and other paramilitary organisations and I have today laid an order before Parliament seeking approval to despecify the UVF and RHC.
“Their statement of last May committed the organisation to assuming ‘a non-military civilianised role’. Government undertook to review the position at that time and we have now taken a careful look at the organisation’s position.
“In the light of this and in acknowledgement of their commitment and additional factors, I have therefore concluded that there are sufficient grounds to de-specify the UVF/RHC.
“Based upon my review, informed by the recent assessment from the IMC of ONH, it is my intention to specify this organisation.”
Following a review of specified and paramilitary organisation in line with obligations under the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998 the government has determined to de-specify the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Red Hand Commandos (RHC), as well as specifying Óglaigh na hEireann (ONH)
The order to despecify the UVF/RHC and specify ONH will be made under the terms of the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998. The order will be debated in both houses.
There are no changes to the status of other specified organisations. These organisations are as follows:
NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander won’t attempt that final precarious 7 minute descent until 25th May.. so expect more coverage as that date approaches. Meanwhile you could spend some time exploring the universe with the wondrous Microsoft Worldwide Telescope. The Guardian’s Jack Schofield has some useful background - it made Robert Scoble cry - although Jack’s Guardian colleague can’t get past his Mac fixation.. ANYhoo.. the Guided Tours are magnificent - the image is from the tour of the Centre of the Milky Way and is a radio-wave view, taken by the Very Large Array Telescope, of Sagittarius A, within which likely lurks a super-massive blackhole at the Galactic Centre, surrounded by supernova remnant shells and filaments created by magnetic fields. NASA seem happy too. Some FAQs here. What would Galileo say?..
There are clearly some individuals and organisations that are not particularly happy about the settlement of the Republican Movement’s war with the UK. And in the Strabane area, there is even sufficient organisation to have mounted an attack on an off duty PSNI man out by Castlederg. Yet the prospects of prosecuting a successful ‘revolutionary struggle‘ are remote to say the least.
