Friday, November 30, 2007
“It seems to me there is an arguable case..”
The BBC reports that Mr Justice Weatherup has granted leave for a judicial review of the withdrawal of funding from the UPRG-negotiated CTI project following a legal challenge by an employee of Farset.
Granting leave for a judicial review, Mr Justice Weatherup referred to the challenge to the minister’s authority to make the decision on her own. He said: “It seems to me there is an arguable case she made the decision herself without referring it to the executive.”
Which would appear to point us back to those disputed minutes of that Executive meeting.. and, no doubt, there’ll now be renewed examination of what was said at the time.
Pete Baker @ 01:56 PM
“It just comes down to what glasses you are wearing”...
THE flat young earthers are back, as creationist Stephen Moore explains why he’d like any new Causeway centre to include ‘information’ on its ‘biblical’ origins. He’d also like his theories to be included in the Ulster Museum, to explain how dinosaurs walked the earth with humans. However, last night God came to me in a dream and told me that the Giant’s Causeway was in fact created by a legendary Irish hunter-warrior called Finn MacCool, and I am disappointed that this widely-held and obviously sincere view is merely considered a legend and not as seriously as this ‘volcanic activity’ humbug. Perhaps I should start a petition. Or maybe I have more sense.
Belfast Gonzo @ 01:23 PM
“the image..”
As noted here previously, Northern Ireland’s First and Deputy First Ministers are off to the US this weekend. But before they get to shake the hand of President Bush, for all his help in The Process™, they have an image to project to Times Square, as this BBC report notes.
[Leslie Morrison of Invest NI] says that while there’s still some “residual nervousness” about investing in Northern Ireland, the image of executive ministers working well together and interacting in a positive way helps to convince prospective investors that the process is here to stay and that it’s “for real”.
And here’s how that message will be driven home: when Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness visit the Nasdaq stock market next Wednesday morning, they’ll be invited to open the market by signing an electronic screen and pushing a button.
Pete Baker @ 12:03 PM
“And you believe it?”
Jeremy Paxman’s interview with the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Shaun Woodward, wasn’t part of the clips put online from the Newsnight report but, as with the Prime Time report, it’s worth noting.
Pete Baker @ 10:17 AM
Equality Commission: anti men and anti Protestant?
This is a strange one (subs needed). Yesterday’s Irish News carries a story about the make up of the Equality Commission. According to the raw figures in the Commission’s own report:
Staff Religious and Gender composition 1 January 07
Gender - Male 48 (34.5%) Female 91 (65.5%)
Religion - Protestant 49 (35.3%) Roman Catholic 88 (63.3%) Cannot determine 2 (1.4%)
Mick Fealty @ 10:03 AM
Fear of the mob?
In Alan Clarke’s stimulating history of the Conservative party he argued one of the driving forces behind it and its supporters was “fear of the mob”. Newtown Emerson questions the wisdom of using the social housing requirement on private developers as a means to addressing the growing housing needs in Northern Ireland. While accepting the success of such mixed developments elsewhere, he argues that many new private developments have no community identification (regardless of a community mix or not) and that the 20% requirement (if built on the same site) will lead to branding of entire developments. Is this middle class conservatism “fearing the mob”, or another attempt to define sectarianism as the reserve of working class/‘social housing type’ problem?
Fair Deal @ 09:06 AM
Thursday, November 29, 2007
“He’s covering up for them.. he knows them..”
As well as the report on the aftermath of the killing of Paul Quinn on BBC’s Newsnight last night, journalists at RTÉ are also paying attention - despite the apparent blindness elsewhere. As the Prime Time webpage notes - “major technical difficulties” prevented the full programme going to air, but the clips which should have gone to air are now available online - although the second clip still seems to be truncated. Intro report by Claire Murphy here.. and an interview with Paul Quinn’s parents here [RealPlayer files] Updated below the fold
Pete Baker @ 09:39 PM
“proposal to ballot classroom assistants does not mean we have changed our view..”
Interesting development in the classroom assistants’ dispute ahead of tomorrow’s meeting between the employers and the unions representing the classroom assistants, and following a series of meetings today [pdf file] of the NIPSA representatives, a BBC report notes that NIPSA have stated that they will be balloting their members again on the offered terms and conditions. Although
[NIPSA] said it was balloting members because employers had claimed there was overwhelming support for their offer… “The proposal to ballot classroom assistants does not mean we have changed our view on the employers’ offer,” Deputy General Secretary Brian Campfield said.
It’s also reported that
He said if the education boards “responded positively” and “stepped back” from any attempt to impose the offer the union would consult urgently with classroom assistants about suspension of the current strike action campaign.
Update At today’s meeting [Friday]
Unions representing classroom assistants in Northern Ireland have agreed to take the pay packages offered by the education boards. NIPSA which was outvoted at a key meeting this morning remains unhappy with the deal. It has yet to decide whether to continue with planned industrial action. It only took half an hour for the union delegates to accept by a small majority the deal offered by the education boards to classroom assistants.
Pete Baker @ 09:18 PM
Government inside the Government…
Reg Empey on the inner workings of the Executive, posited more evidence of the ‘ruling cabal’ inside the Executive:
“Not always, but more often than not, the DUP and Sinn Fein go into Ian Paisley’s office before Executive meetings to discuss their agreed approach to the agenda and leave myself, Michael (McGimpsey) and Margaret (Ritchie) sitting waiting. On one occasion it was as long as half-an-hour. Any other coalition in the world would break down in such circumstances.”
Mick Fealty @ 01:43 PM
Bring back Cavan Cola..!
I NEVER got the chance to taste the Ulster beverage that was Cavan Cola, but apparently it was a cult classic Irish product, like Tayto crisps (north or south), before being withdrawn. Now, fans of the drink are running a grassroots online campaign to get the cola back on the shelves.
Belfast Gonzo @ 10:41 AM
The public have spoken.. apparently..
Well the public had the choice of either the Dancing Tree, Phoenix Rising, or Spirit of Belfast.. and, according to the Social Development minister, the SDLP’s Margaret Ritchie, the voting was as follows - “The Spirit of Belfast design received 46.6% of the public vote while Dancing Tree received 28.8% and Phoenix Rising 24.6%.” So Spirit of Belfast it is for Arthur Square. You’ve only yourselves to blame.. Adds That’s 3000 members of the public have spoken.. apparently..
Pete Baker @ 10:23 AM
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
“I have spoken to the IRA in his area..”
On Newsnight tonight, BBC2 10.30pm, Liz McKean will have a report on political tensions following the killing of Paul Quinn. From the Newsnight blog
Liz MacKean has a report on increasing paramilitary violence in Northern Ireland. The story centres on the murder last month of Paul Quinn in South Armagh. Both his family and the Independent Monitoring Commission point the finger at members of the IRA but politicians on all sides reject the claims. We’ll also be speaking to Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward.
They’ve already spoken to the Northern Ireland Executive’s Minister for Regional Development, Conor Murphy, MP, MLA.
“I have spoken to the IRA in his area and I am satisfied with the assurances they gave me, very solid assurances, that they weren’t involved in his death,” [Conor Murphy] says.
Adds The BBC reports that more than 200 people attended a public meeting tonight in Cullyhanna.
Update In the Newsnight report, available here [RealPlayer file], according to Conor Murphy, MP, MLA, the Provisional IRA is in the process of “requires a managed transition”.
Pete Baker @ 04:39 PM
Who is anti agreement now?
Mark Devenport has been pointing out the inconsistencies emerging between the DUP’s previous stated positions and their current pronouncements which, some might say, reveal their terror at the idea of the UUP and SDLP pulling out of government.
On the same theme, Derek Hussey has tonight sought to ask questions of the DUP’s position. His statement reads:
Michael Shilliday @ 03:22 PM
Big boys punch back…
Featuring Alex Maskey and Sammy Wilson. Maskey reckons this is all a ‘sham fight’ and that somehow the budget cuts involved in housing provision were Ritchie’s own fault. Leaving aside the lack of detail on that, it’s probably true that this small party skirmishing has a highly limited life expectancy that will need to end in a tangible outcome for the smaller parties. The lesson from the States, for instance, is that parties which force long term budget delays with no tangible exit strategy, put themselves in danger of losing further public sympathy.
Mick Fealty @ 01:30 PM
“To generalise is to be an Idiot”
On the 250th anniversary of the birth of William Blake - Tate Britain has an ongoing exhibition of his work and there’s more at the Blake online archive - Terry Eagleton [previously noted on Beckett] has some fun contrasting Blake’s “vision thing” with current writers and politicians.. although not as much fun as Ian Sinclair and Michael Horowitz had on Radio 4’s Today programme - listen to the last 6 mins or so here.. and then the reaction to the birthday greetings at the beginning of the next segment [RealPlayer files]. From Eagleton’s Guardian article. Adds More on Blake’s vision here
In his own mighty epic - Milton - Blake turned back to his great Protestant forebear from a Britain now scarred by industrial capitalism. He raided Milton’s work to foster his own visions of liberation, passing on the revolutionary torch to WB Yeats. This self-appointed mythmaker to the Irish war of independence was inspired by Blake’s notion of the poet as prophet and public activist.
Pete Baker @ 10:28 AM
Time for Sweeney bye-bye..?
FOLLOWING the Enterprise Minister’s welcome for plans by the National Trust and Moyle Council for a new Causeway tourist centre, the Environment Minister - who was one “of a mind” to grant planning permission to a rival private developer - has also weighed in. Arlene Foster said: “I welcome applications from any parties who are seriously interested in providing a world-class visitor’s centre at the Giant’s Causeway.” It’s a non-commital, civil-servant-speak statement, but Foster cannot ignore this development. So long as the new bid gets its ass in gear, this proposal could provide a serious challenge to Seymour Sweeney’s plans to turn the Giant’s Causeway into something resembling Teletubbyland.
Belfast Gonzo @ 08:17 AM
Unionist commemoration group learns about IRA leader…
UNIONISTS from the Friends of the Somme‘s mid-Ulster branch are to get history lessons on iconic IRA leader Michael Collins thanks to the Republic’s reconciliation fund. Anyone else taking one small step to learning about understand the ‘other’ tradition?
Belfast Gonzo @ 07:32 AM
Collusion claims ‘were not properly investigated’...
FAMILIES of some of eight men murdered by the notorious Glenanne Gang of loyalist terrorists, soldiers and police officers in the South Armagh area in the 1970s are expected to respond later today to a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that alleged security force collusion in loyalist murders was not properly investigated. The cases were taken after claims made by ex-RUC officer John Weir (pictured) claimed to the BBC a group comprising UVF terrorists, UDR soldiers, RUC officers carried out a series of shootings and bombings. Weir’s affidavit in 1999 (in support of, but completely tangential to, Sean McPhelimy’s somewhat obfuscatory collusion claims) is one of the most explosive documents on collusion in the public domain, although whether he understood the bigger picture of what the slaughter he was involved in was promoting remains unknown.
Belfast Gonzo @ 12:57 AM
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Asymetrical warfare at Stormont…
One guy has already gone home, because Michael McGimpsey has put Health Service restructuring on ice pending an outcome to the current wrangling over the draft budget. The reason? He takes the view that Sinn Fein and the DUP are acting in concert to force pre-determined spending plans on the three ministers of the two minority parties, regardless of those ministers’ analysis of need. Effectively, the traditional horse trading between spending ministers and Finance is now taking place in open session of the Assembly, allowing those ministers to make their own separate pitch directly to the public.
Mick Fealty @ 09:54 PM
“There were several layers of irony in this..”
The BBC’s Mark Devenport points to the “layers of irony” in the “thinly veiled threats” from the NI Executive’s Finance Minister, DUP’s Peter Robinson’s statement in the Assembly last night. And there was an interesting joint appearance on Stormont Live, video below, of the leaders of what the NI Executive’s Deputy First Minister, Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness, is now calling the “problem parties” - the footage of that statement is worth watching for in today’s UTV Live news programme.
Pete Baker @ 07:38 PM
“I have always encouraged a timely solution..”
Confirmation of the consequences of the ministerial ‘mind’, unintended or not, in this David Gordon report in the Belfast Telegraph of the meeting between Moyle Council, the National Trust and the Enterprise Minsiter, the DUP’s Nigel Dodds. Reading between the lines of the minister’s reported statement
“I want to see this world heritage site maintained and I have always encouraged a timely solution which would deliver value for money for the taxpayer but which would also deliver the high standard of visitor facility expected at Northern Ireland’s most popular tourism attraction.”
..It would appear that he would like it to be seen as an intended consequence and, in fairness, when the Environment minister was “of a mind to approve” the private development plans, he did “encourage all the key local stakeholders to work together to help achieve that prize [world class visitor facilities].” But with the chair of Moyle Council stating that “Moyle District Council strongly believes that visitor facilities at the Giant’s Causeway should remain in public ownership..”, and the National Trust pointing to “UNESCO’s requirements for the protection of the World Heritage Site” as well as stating their belief that “the development and management of visitor facilities for Northern Ireland’s only World Heritage Site should remain in public ownership”, the question must be whether the Enterprise Minister [and the Environment Minister - Ed] will now back a visitor’s centre in public ownership?
Pete Baker @ 06:51 PM
“It is very clear that the members we represent are not prepared to accept the offer..”
The GMB union were first to accept the terms and conditions of the offer to the classroom assistants and now Unison has joined them. The smallest union involved, T and G Unite, were split 50/50 on strike action, but have not accepted the offer. Neither have NIPSA whose strike action continues. NIPSA General Secretary, John Corey, has also reiterated the union’s position. [pdf file]
“The Minister and the Education Boards are badly mistaken if they think that the 3000 plus Classroom Assistants represented by NIPSA will stop this campaign without an acceptable resolution. If the Minister wants the dispute resolved urgently so that schools can return to normal, the Minister should be meeting immediately with NIPSA to discuss how that can be achieved.”
Pete Baker @ 12:24 PM
“We are now beginning to see signs of control freakery being exhibited.”
The UUP leader and NI Executive Minister for Employment and Learning, Reg Empey, has issued a statement in response to the “pantomime” performance of the Deputy First Minister, Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness, and the “thinly veiled threats” from the Finance Minister, the DUP’s Peter Robinson - and, no doubt, also in response to the criticism of the Health Minister. From the UUP leader’s statement
“We are currently engaged in a process where we are discussing drafts - I repeat drafts - of the programme for government and budget. It is an opportunity for MLAs and the general public to openly debate and offer alternative viewpoints. The threats from certain Ministers to attempt to stifle debate by threatening the collapse of the government if these matters are not agreed to their liking reeks of throwing all the toys out of the pram and is a dagger to the heart of the democratic process. MLAs and parties must have the right to discuss and debate these draft proposals.”
Pete Baker @ 11:37 AM
The future of the British-Irish Body
The British-Irish Body is still discussing its own future
The former Conservative Security Minister Michael Mates has been a stalwart of the Body since its birth. He described the inaugural meeting 18 years ago as the most hostile suspicious and ill tempered meeting he had ever attended
The Body is in danger of being a fairly bland talking shop which ministers ignore and which is still ridiculously boycotted by the unionists
When it meets in 6 months time in Wexford it is likely to become the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly and shadow the secretive British-Irish Council and quiz ministers in these islands on various issues. There is no reason why Unionists cannot join the Body and turn it into a vibrant Strand 3 institution.
Gary Kent @ 06:56 AM
Dublin too dangerous for UDA leader
Fianna Fail TD Charlie O’Connor amused many at the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body with his tale of a UDA leader confiding that he was somewhat fearful of visiting Dublin due to its high levels of drug dealing, violent crime and murder. Ahem, indeed
