In both the Republic and the UK, the main opposition parties are leading the government by a huge margin, the crucial difference being that Fianna Fail have more than a two year breathing space in which to recover; while for Labour, the sands of time run out in a year’s time and Labour is actually trailing at third. Both sets of polling results suggest that the political establishments will manage to survive, with the qualification that a very low poll could confound that impression. “Labour” is not quite the same as “Gordon Brown” of course. For me the severest blow against the PM was dealt today when Vince Cable, Lib Dem economics sage and probably the only trusted politician alive, put the black spot on Chancellor Alistair Darling for alleged expenses irregularities. The Daily Telegraph reports for Monday morning:
Mr Darling moved into Downing Street and began to claim second home allowances for his grace-and-favour apartments, meaning that costs relating to two of the Chancellor’s homes were being met by the taxpayer. That would appear to contravene parliamentary rules that allow MPs to claim on only one property at a time. He was also receiving rent for his flat from at least September 2007.
The attack is all the more wounding for coming out of the blue from such as impeccable quarter. It is very doubtful that Brown could survive the Chancellor’s disgrace even if he dropped him from the government altogether on Friday. So far Darling’s neck has escaped the noose. The main new charge against him seems the comparatively minor one of a £ 1000 service charge. Letting out the property may now be frowned on but is not against the existing rules if he did not claim mortgage interest. However Vince, writing in the Mail on Sunday, says:
Until this crisis broke, I never engaged in personal, as opposed to political, criticism. I thought he was a fundamentally decent man doing an extremely difficult job. When he was accused of ‘flipping’ homes and getting the taxpayer to pay his accountancy bills, I was stunned. I assumed that either a good explanation or a resignation would follow. Neither did. I then assumed that a proper independent investigation would be launched to clear his name. Nothing
When Vince who is fending off calls to become a one-man emergency coalition Chancellor himself, calls for Darling to quit, the chances of Brown’s leadership surviving another full year begin to decline – even if Gordon shifts him in a reshuffle after the expected dire election results on Friday. Why though did the Telegraph return to Darling’s record tonight after giving him a good going over last week? Prompted by the Cable article, and with a pro-Tory political motive, by any chance?
After lying low for 10 days, the PM surfaced to give a spirited interview to Andrew Marr today, brushing aside any suggestion of quitting. Surprisingly, the pro-Labour but bitterly anti-Gordon commentator John Rentoul find this credible – for now – as Labour is braced for disaster. September however could bring a different story, Rentoul thinks.
And what of Europe itself, you know, the continent with the big starry flag no one waves much? Heartening to note that in the UK the Greens are forging ahead of UKIP and the fascist horrors are flat lining. The Observer today did a great exposee of the vileness of their racism in private behind their smoother public front.
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The Conservatives are now so Eurosceptic that their fliers could equally easily support the case for withdrawal. Cameron’s stance on quitting the main Conservative grouping in the European Parliament ( an awkward legacy of the past, I suspect) has attracted lofty condemnation from a string of retired Europhile grandees incited by the Guardian, (” a rigid commitment to impotence”) and the scorn of former Tory donor now UKIP supporter Stuart Wheeler who is wagering Cameron 100k that if he wins power he won’t hold a referendum on the treaty if the Irish pass it second time around in the autumn. Referenda may turn out different from elections but the way Mr Ganley is looking in Dublin, Mr Cameron may yet be let off the hook
The end of another part of twentieth century history occurred today. Millvina Dean the last survivor of the sinking of the Titanic has died in Hampshire at the age of 97: she was 9 weeks old when the ship went down and her own father died in the disaster. Despite the passing of the last survivor of the liner, I suspect the iconic story of “our” ship (built in Belfast etc.) will continue. Incidentally the image may well not actually be the Titanic but one of her sister ships (most supposed pictures of the Titanic are actually the Olympic or Britannic).
During the Politics Showdebacle debate the informed audience were asked to vote on a number of questions. The most interesting being how would they mark the Northern Ireland Executive’s economic perfomance. Out of a possible 10 the average rating was a generous 3.6. But given the time wasted on other matters only the SDLP’s Alban Maginness and the Alliance Party’s Ian Parsley were able to respond. So it goes.
CAPTION:Sinn Fein Election Cheer: ‘Tell me lies!’ Sinn Féin election workers rally in front of their bus shouting their election cheer
Drawing in a breath, this morning on Dublin radio, as reported by the Sunday Life, in a pre-election interview, Gerry Adams exhaled, relating a very detailed and sweet little story about his time in prison, when he and a 100 other prisoners would sing ”Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” to each other in order to keep their spirits up. Adams, who famously holds fast to the claim he was never in the IRA, did time from 1973-1977, as an internee and then a sentenced prisoner (He also did a 6 month spell on remand in 1978). The song, from the Monty Python movie, “Life of Brian” wasn’t released until 1979. Mark Devenport diplomatically calls it a lapse in memory. But, as others have noted, Gerry Adams lies like the rest of breathe. The man just can’t help himself. Rusty, meanwhile, has the exclusive tongue-in-cheek report that the theme song on Sinn Féin’s election bus this year, as opposed to last time round, when it was The Talking Head’s ”Road to Nowhere”, is Fleetwood Mac’s ”Little Lies”. Adams leads the sing-song on the bus, taking the lead: “If I could turn the page, in time then I’d rearrange just a day or two,” while the rest of the candidates and electoral staff take the chorus of “Close my, close my, close my eyes,” then they all belt together: “Tell me lies, Tell me sweet little lies.” Rumours are they’ve won more than their fair share of karaoke contests in pubs along the way with that number…
UPDATE 1 JUNE 2009 Metamorphosis Of A Lie
In the 1996 edition of his autobiography Before the Dawn, in chapter ten, he describes being held on the remand wing in the H-Blocks in 1978 facing membership charges. (That would be membership of the IRA, not the NICRM, though he did beat the rap). He writes, starting on page 269: “One memorable night on the anniversary of internment there was a great session on on our wing that went on until the early hours of the morning.” At four in the morning, the prisoners made a loud racket imitating the banging of bin-lids, which attracted the attention of the screws, who came onto the wing in riot gear. The tension mounted while the prisoners waited to see what the screws would do; they eventually left after shouting abuse.
“I imagined I could hear a collective sigh of held breath being released as an eerie silence settled over the wing.
Suddenly a voice rose in song from one of the cells near me. We’re on the one road, sharing the one load,
We’re on the road to God knows where…
The first was joined by another from a cell farther down the wing. We’re on the one road, it may be the wrong road….
Then another and another. But we’re together now, who cares…
And soon we were all singing. Northmen, Southmen, comrades all
Dublin, Belfast, Cork or Donegal
We’re on the one road, swinging along,
singin’ a soldier’s song
By now everyone was in full voice, but as the chorus ended, the first singer took up a verse on his own. The night is darkest just before the dawn
From dissension Ireland is reborn
Soon we´ll al united Irishmen
Make our land a nation once again
And then we were all back in for the chorus again. By the time we had the song finished our appetites had been whetted and our concert continued until some time after the light of dawn had entered our cells.
At HistoryForSale.com, a questionaire filled out by Gerry Adams, currently selling for $699.00, gives “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” as his favorite song. So we see this story change from 1996, when it was still appropriate for Gerry Adams, two years after the 1994 ceasefire and two years before the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, to recall himself and fellow IRA prisoners singing rebel songs to mark the anniversary of internment.
In 2008/9 (and perhaps earlier), Adams has changed the story to himself and fellow prisoners singing songs to keep their spirits up after a beating - in the first story, the screws did not beat the prisoners. Internment is no longer remembered, much like it has been forgotten as the focus of the West Belfast Feile, which was started to mark Internment night and nowadays ensures everyone forgets it, and looks down their noses at any youths who dare to remember with the traditional bonfire. He has substitued the rebel songs for his own personal favorite song, and makes mention in the video of a song that had become associated with Sinn Fein, often played at their Ard Fheiseanna during the 90s, Labi Siffre’s “Something Inside So Strong” - an anti-Apartheid anthem released in 1987.
This little lie illuminates perfectly the evolving, self-serving propaganda narrative Adams has constructed for himself, with details changed as politics dictates. Who needs the truth, when he can provide a feel-good ‘happy ending’ in his loved-up folk tales? And so, the lies have bobbed and weaved throughout the years - but will catch up with him in the end.
The Sunday World’s front page today carries allegations that a serving PSNI officer goaded loyalists about the presence of Irish Tricolours in the nationalist Heights area of Coleraine ahead of the violent loyalist attack which killed one catholic man, Kevin McDaid, and has left another fighting for his life.
The alleged text message read: THE TRICOLOURS ARE STILL UP IN THE TOWN- ARE YIS REAL MEN OR WHAT?
The paper further alleges that PSNI officers stood chatting with loyalists in the Scotts Bar area prior to the attack, with some PSNI officers goading the loyalists about the presence of tricolours.
Prior to these revelations, the PSNI were already in the dock for their handling of this killing. These new claims will not only serve to heap more pressure on the PSNI, it will also strengthen the dissident republican narrative that the PSNI remain a deeply partisan, sectarian force and immediately recall the actions of RUC officers during and in the aftermath of the murder of Robert Hamill in Portadown.
In this regard, the role of nationalist politicians in the coming period will be crucial. It will be extremely important for them to provide strong leadership in holding the PSNI to account at the highest level for the persistence of what appears to be a pervasive sectarian mentality within the police service at a local level within Coleraine.
I have already listed a number of questions which must be addressed by the Police Ombudsman in relation to this killing in a previous thread. Naturally, with these allegations there are a number of new questions which instantly arise regarding the name and rank of the PSNI officer concerned, but also his role in events on the day. Furthermore, the revelations also confirm suspicions raised about why the PSNI did not simply inform loyalists threatening violence on a predominantly nationalist community due to the presence of a couple of flags that they would not be permitted to invade the area and inflict such violence and could be arrested for making threats with such implications: clearly, a number of the PSNI officers shared the same objective as the murderous loyalists.
On the Politics Show European campaign special, the DUP candidate, Diane Dodds, managed to unite all three incumbents, the chairman of the meeting, Jim Fitzpatrick, and the audience.. and all with one letter from Defra..
The election campaign grinds remorselessly onwards to the excited expectation of the political anoraks (and if you are reading this site you are a bit of an anorak: I as a blogger am a hopeless snorkel parka case) and the mild interest of real people. I thought at this point as we are about to enter the final week I would take a non impartial look at the current state of the campaigns.
Turning first to my own lot. The TUV campaign has been going well. Despite a relatively small base of election workers, one can hardly move for Allister posters, they are even here in West Fermanagh (I only put a few of them up). The canvassing has gone well with large areas of the province covered, albeit we do lack the numbers to speak to many people at the doors. There has also been a decent TUV presence at public events like the Balmoral Show (as there was for all the parties) and even today I met TUV canvassers at the Pipe Band competition in Enniskillen.
Allister has been on radio and television (most recently on Hearts and Minds). He has done well: quite strident but that is what one expects. He has covered the issues and avoided any embarrassing slips. Even the grilling on expenses on Nolan seemed to go quite well. A lot of TUVists are now convinced he can win; the media, although still seemingly sceptical have certainly stopped asking him whether or not he thinks he will hold his deposit.
The DUP seem to be having a fairly good election. Again the DUP canvassers cannot be faulted for the hard work of their postering and the assorted DUP politicians have been out in force. I am inclined to feel that Diane Dodds has been a bit shrill especially on the Politics Show and Hearts and Minds and at times has avoided answering the questions. However, again she has avoided any major slip ups; and whilst the dynasty building jibe may cause a few problems, the expenses saga seems to not be damaging her personally (and the Robinsons have avoided the worst of the fall out, especially as compared to other MP couples). In addition I would suggest that Dodds seems a pretty personable individual.
Part of the problem for the DUP has always been how high to pitch their expectations. Clearly simply to win a seat would hardly be a stunning result considering where they are staring from. However, the other major objective: that of topping the poll is a fairly big ask. Mick noted a few days ago that the DUP were talking that up less than previously. However, they seem to have come back round to insisting on the importance of a Dodds first. If they succeed, especially if Allister does well that will be a major victory for them. Most of those in the DUP with whom I discuss these matters seem quite cautiously confident that Dodds will top the poll. I feel that may be a bit over confident but of course I am not canvassing for them, I have always avoided predictions and am not going to start now. If they do lose out on the number one spot it will be a bit embarrassing but by no means a disaster. Indeed the level of vote which would represent a relative failure is an interesting question.
One reason suggested by my DUPish sources for their optimism is the same one which the TUV hold to and that is the prospect of a melt down in the UUP vote. It seems fairly clear that the UUP are having a less than brilliant campaign. They are doing fairly well in terms of posters and their campaign literature is pretty good (as noted by Mark). However, the saga over the Conservatives and Unionists at the start of the campaign, followed by Sylvia Hermon’s as yet incomplete defection along with the other complete defection is all far from the perfect back drop to a successful election campaign. Jim Nicholson himself at times seems less than enchanted about the new arrangements as when he at one stage said he did not really like being a guinea pig (I do not have a link). In addition running Nicholson on a time for change type ticket seem particularly problematic in view of just how long he has been an MEP. Finally Nicholson himself although far from awful is not the most dynamic candidate.
Set against all of that, however, is the possibility that some new voters will be attracted to the New Force. In addition one must never underestimate the ability of disinterested voters (people with real lives) to vote as they always have. Today one of Elenwe’s cousins said she would vote UUP because she always does and I am unsure if my pleas (extending to offering a celebratory barbarque if Allister wins) will bring her round to TUVishness. The UUP may yet win; however, I suspect there will be some anxieties in that camp before the end.
Turning to nationalism the election has been a much quieter affair. There are quite a few SF posters around but in all honesty less than I would expect for the part of the world where I live (where the SF vote is expressed using scientific notation). I suspect the strategy on SF’s part is actually very clever. They may lose some votes in protest about their current position, we do not know how many. Had they proclaimed a desire to top the poll too loudly they might have snatched relative defeat from the jaws of victory if they failed to do so. Instead the more softly softly approach will allow for little embarrassment if they fail to be first. I must admit that DeBrún herself has been much more impressive on the media than I remember her from before. The clothes look expensive and yet close to trendy: her whole appearance is much less the school teacher spinster than I remember from before. In addition being the only candidate in this election under little pressure, she has performed highly competently on the media and I felt was arguably the pick of the candidates on the Politics Show.
The SDLP have to my mind been disappointing. They have a pretty good candidate in Alban Maginness and there is at least a small chance of them winning if unionist vote shredding goes perfectly for them. In spite of that I must admit to feeling that their whole campaign is a bit lack lustre: they almost seem to be going through the motions with no real prospect of victory; the slogan of “When we win you win” is almost as bad as UUP slogans from the days of Trimble political suicide notes. Okay it is not as bad as “Decent people vote unionist” (what could be?) but it is not exactly inspiring or catchy.
The Alliance and Greens seem to be having a relatively quiet election. They have a fair number of posters even some in Enniskillen for reasons a bit beyond me. Alliance may suffer a little from Parsley being relatively unknown and although I like and respect Mr. Parsley, I did not like his recent “I am not Paisley” - it seemed a little childish (sorry Ian). However, they might gain if the UUP vote really does fall apart. In addition putting forward a young person is a good tactic for the future: I hope and expect to see Mr. Parsley reappearing in more elections. To be honest, however, living as I do out here in the barren wastes I am not really in a position to judge how Alliance is doing amongst the coffee mornings in the leafy suburbs. I am also ill equpied to comment on the Greens except to note that they may also benefit in North Down (their natural habitat apart from the bizarre disconnect of Green types having Agas and 4x4s) from Sylvia Hermon’s position in / out of the New Force.
As I said at the start that is where I see the parties at the moment. Whether the last week will bring any startling rabbits out of the hat from either one of the parties or the government or indeed whether the QUB debate (to be screened tomorrow) produces anything interesting remains to be seen.
In the Irish Times Stephen Collins looks at the results of what seems to have been some fairly rigorous polling. [“The poll was conducted from Tuesday to Thursday of this week among a representative sample of 2,000 voters. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 500 people in each of the four Euro constituencies. The margin of error is 2 per cent.”] Overall party performances here. And Cian has more EU details at Irish Election. But of particular interest may be the figures for the Dublin EU constituency.
In Dublin, Gay Mitchell of Fine Gael leads the field with 28 per cent [+2], followed by Proinsias De Rossa of the Labour Party with 25 per cent [+4]. There is a big gap between them and the chasing field, which is led by Mary Lou McDonald of Sinn Féin, on 11 per cent [-3], followed by Eoin Ryan and Joe Higgins on 9 per cent each [-2 and +2 respectively]. Deirdre De Búrca of the Greens is next on 6 per cent, followed by former Green Patricia McKenna, who has slipped back to 5 per cent, the same as Eibhlín Byrne of Fianna Fáil. Caroline Simons of Libertas is on 2 per cent. The transfers from the weaker candidates will determine who wins the three-way contest for the final seat.
Bhí mé ag caint le cuid mhaith baill de Shinn Féin ar an ábhar seo agus shíl siadsan go raibh sé maith go bhfuil na daoine seo ‘gníomhach’ agus go bhfuil cuma ar an scéal go bhfuil polaitíocht dearfach de chineál éigin ag baint leo, seachas a bheith dírithe ar Shinn Féin fhéin go díreach.
Shíl cuid mhaith acu sin áfach nárbh fhada go mbeadh Éirígí ‘torn apart by its own inconsistencies’.
Cinnte, bheadh imní orm faoi Éirígí fosta, mar shampla, dúirt cúpla daoine liomsa, a bhfuil baint acu le hÉirígí go bhfuil siad ag caint ar son ‘an phobail.’ Is léir nach ionann an pobal seo agus na vótóirí ar an talamh áfach. Cé hiad mar sin?
An mbeidh vóta ag na brainwashed théis an réabhlóid nó ag an phobal seo amháin?
An mbeidh ráth orthu amach anseo sna toghcháin? Níl a fhios agam dáiríre. Is suimiúil liom gur dhúirt roinnt daoine a bhfuil gráin acu ar Shinn Féin liom go bhfuil ?irígí níos measa ná na provies’.
An bhfuil an bearna mór go leor idir Sinn Féin agus abair RSF don dream seo? An mbeidh daoine sásta vótáil ar son an sóisialachas réabhlóideach ag deireadh an lae?
An mbeidh Éirígí sásta an gnáthobair polaitiúil a dhéanamh ar an talamh? Mrs Murphy’s toilet seát is bruck again agus mar sin de?
Ach cheánna, is cinnte liom go bhfuil todhchaí níos gile roimh Éirígí ná mar atá roimh an 32 Cóinté Sóibhérintí Cámaití, an Réapublaiceán Nátwarc fur Iúinéat n? RSF fiú.
Ag an am ceánna, mar a mhaigh cuid mhór baill Shinn Féin liom, tá gach seans go mbeidh scoilt ann roimh i bhfad.
Mar shampla, chomh maith le bheith sóisialach, tá an dream seo thuas i mBéal Feirste iontach Gaelach amach is amach, is léir a dtionchar dála an scéil, ach an bhfuil lucht Éirígí thíos i nDuibhlinn leath chomh Gaelach agus an mbeidh siad sásta géilleadh do shlua na nGael amach anseo. Tá mé in amhras.
Nuair a sheasfas siad sa chéad toghchán eile, beidh deis againn go léir feiceáil cé chomh mór is atá tacaíocht s’acu, rud a bheas an spéisiúil ar fad.
One of the liveliest discussions at Picamp on Tuesday was the problem of how you maintain scrutiny of politics at a time of falling ad revenues are disincentivising commercial media organisations from strong political and current affairs reporting… Matt Cooper in the Irish Examiner (echoing Rupert Murdoch’s recent remarks) reckons that ‘end users’ will have to pay, if they want good quality news. Matt quotes Robert Thomson, managing editor of the Wall Street Journal, who may be in the process of setting off a big political battle with Google, the pioneering billionaires of net ad revenue, and putative architect of big newspapers’ downfall:
“There is a collective consciousness among content creators that they are bearing the costs and that others are reaping some of the revenues,” he said recently. “Inevitably that profound contradiction will be a catalyst for action and the moment is nigh. There is no doubt certain websites are best described as parasites or tech tapeworms in the intestines of the internet.”
That sounds to me like the declaration of corporate ‘thumb war’... In truth, Murdoch has been slow to come to this party… Waiting until it became a threat to bottom line rather than his topline figures may be what’s driving to take this aggressive stance… I am not sure how you put the genii back inside, especially when the bottle has been uncorked for so long…
Talking to James Harkin, the Belfast born author of Cyburbia: The Dangerous Idea That’s Changing How We Live and Who We are recently, it became obvious to me that the truth neither lies with the defenders of old world models of journalism nor the small platoons of citizen journalism. Interestingly, in a debate in last month’s copy of Prospect blog sceptic Paul Starr put the imperative facing political journalism better than I have seen for a while:
When I spoke of newspapers retrenching, and the inability of online news to fill the gap, I was referring to coverage of state government in New Jersey. It happens to be true, and it’s also true of government in other states as well. Nothing that you have said addresses this decline in reporting and its implications for political accountability - and your site is certainly no solution - you can’t aggregate stories that aren’t being written. Solving that problem is going to demand new investments in journalism by non profit organisations. new business models that finance reporting, and new public policies that allow news organisations to campture more of the revenue from the public good they produce.
As I argued in a presentation to the Reuters Institute last November, bloggers are opportunists… And, I would argue, that some of us do an order of work that the conventional model of journalism no longer funds... The let’s shut down the ‘net brigade may be angry but they are looking in the wrong direction…
In high finance, market information specialists like Breaking Views, a breakway from the Lex Column, do quite nicely (or nichely)... On a subscriber base of 15,000, and columns syndicated to a series of influential newspapers and magazines it funds 22 columnists and correspondents, and provides the kind of depth coverage that most conventional papers for which there is demand, but the conventional model of journalism cannot provide… Like a good blog would, they get on a story early, ride it through to the peak and work it thoroughly through the after effects…
As editorial direction in traditional papers hauls people off the story to conserve meagre resources, Breaking Views continues with the kind of follow through that is essential for anyone with a deep interest in the subject… They fill a need, and since the market will bear it, they can charge accordingly… In other less profitable market areas, alternative models may have to be developed and adopted…
But almost everything else in this equation is a distraction; not least the bloggers vs journos dilemma (the relationship is often a great deal more harmonious than either party likes to admit)... Unfunded blogs cannot, and probably have little interest in, doing classic journalism; but that does not mean there is no viable model that can create chargeable value that exploits (rather than is terrified by) the freer marketplace of the internet…
As has been noted earlier, the family of Coleraine murder victim, Kevin McDaid, have issued a statement critical of the PSNI’s handling of events in Coleraine in the period of time leading up to his murder. The PSNI’s response- issued by Assistant Chief Constable, Judith Gillespie (it seems ACC Finlay’s been benched, possibly following his ’mavericks’ faux pas?) is interesting for what it doesn’t say rather than its actual content.
There is no attempt to deny direct contact with loyalist paramilitaries, as has been suggested by the family of Kevin McDaid, and it is becoming clearer that, with time, the nature of those negotiations and the contacts on the loyalist side will become an increasing source of anxiety for the PSNI, not least proving the ACC Finlay directed assertion that those implicated were mavericks in the face of evidence as to the less than peripheral status of those now charged with the murder.
Nor is there an explanation as to why the PSNI would involve themselves in negotiating the removal of flags in this particular estate, allegedly at the behest of loyalist paramilitaries, whose record of flying flags in protestant and mixed residential communities remains unparalleled across the north of Ireland.
Meanwhile, ACC Gillespie’s stout defense of the PSNI officers’ actions in the estate during the violent attack is clearly not shared by columnist Kevin Myers, though his central contention that the murder is the result of an emasculated police service (and, surprise surprise, that’s the fault of republicans) collapses with the very mention of the name Robert Hamill, whose murder in Portadown was, of course, in full view of what Myers clearly believes to have been a more professional and effective policing service.
As I see it, the Police Ombudsman will require answers to the following questions:
1. Who initiated the contacts during the day when ‘tensions’ were purportedly raised due to the display of an Irish Tricolour?
2. What specific ‘threats’ were relayed from loyalists to the PSNI regarding a possible loyalist invasion of the area concerned?
3. Who suggested the ‘compromise’ which involved removal of the flag and who was the loyalist ‘guarantor’ that the deal would effectively end the threat of violence?
4. Did the PSNI even consider informing their loyalist sources that threats of violence against the local community on the basis of the presence of flags were unacceptable and that the presence of flags was a non-issue for the PSNI, as they clearly are for the organisation in virtually every other district in the 6 counties?
5. Why did the PSNI put such faith in the word of the ‘guarantor’ to the extent of reducing the effective policing presence in the area?
6. A number of newspaper reports have indicated that loyalists were amassing outside a loyalist bar in the town in the period leading up to the attack. Were PSNI officers aware of this mobilisation and, if so, what actions were taken?
7. Were the PSNI officers in the area armed and, if so, why did they not fire warning shots into the air to attempt to disperse the crowd?
I’ve received election leaflets from everyone but Jim Nicholson. Jim Allister alone sent through two distinct pieces for my consideration.
Time for a thread on the leaflets (I’ll add a view of Nicholson’s once it drops through my letterbox)
Agnew: small and glossy. It tells me it is both recycled and carbon neutral. Big photo of a young man on one side but with a strange wide, white outline. Other side is the policy stuff and there ain’t a lot. Good direction to online presence.
Allister: he sent me two; both medium size and glossy and they are both based on his strap line ‘Experience, Principle, Integrity’. While he has a good go at the DUP and SF in both he also has a strong focus on his European record. Very hard to find direction to online material.
de Brún: small leaflet, matt. Very little detail and it is split between English and Irish. Direction to a website pretty visible.
Dodds: biggest unfolded leaflet, glossy. Big focus on being No.1 and very little consideration of Europe. Direction to online content but doesn’t stand out.
Maginness: once unfolded the biggest leaflet, glossy. Simple message on the cover, the strap line ‘When we win, You win’. Split between ‘normal’ people endorsement and European policy. Many languages on back. Carbon neutral. Good direction to online content.
Parsley: small and glossy. Blue and Yellow. Small text. Little focus on Europe until the back page. No direction to online content.
If I was a swing voter Maginness and Allister would be ahead for me. Parsley’s was by far the worst with de Brún and Agnew following close behind for their lack of any content. What did you think?
Though in all honesty éirígí‘s ‘Stop the Difference’ leaflet (pdf) hits my spot more than all of the above.
Typical Derry, never knowingly undersold. The story of “ the oldest independent department store in the world”, Austin’s of the Diamond, ( founded 1830) occupied an hour of BBC2 prime time last night. The series “Keep it in the family” deals with the eternal rhythms of tradition and new broom, generational change and continuity. This episode was set in the heart of Derry but with the incubus of the Troubles refreshingly on the margin.
The Austin’s of my childhood was owned by the eponymous Austins, Protestant gentry, military, naval culturally genteel and very long lived. Grandmother lived to be over 100 (granddaughter was the BBC’s Wendy). At the height of the Troubles the Austins gave way gracefully to Luke Hasson, a carefully cross community Catholic, entrepreneurial, a pillar of Londonderry Chamber of Commerce and much else besides. Luke worked his way up through a series of small shops in Ferryquay St until he acquired the big one on the corner, at a time when the town centre had taken a terrible hammering. What the film doesn’t say is but is true, is that Luke saved the business with its iconic building and with it, much of the heart of the old city. Luke at 66 is now thinking about retirement and wants to persuade his 39 year old daughter Sinead, gently and with a little paternal guile, to give up her recruitment business in London and take over the family concern. So she does so - not for good, but for a fortnight’s filmed experiment.
Father and daughter warily swap perspectives. Says Luke: “It’s very important that the tradition is kept alive” “In some ways the quality of life here is better” says Sinead, as she looks over Butcher’s Gate towards Creggan. “Where should I look for a place to live, Mammy?” “Oh in the very heart of the town” says Mammy, (a reply that blew me over). The film struck a vein of history different from the nagging themes of the violent past and managed not to look self conscious. The high angle shots swooped magnificently and Derry looked great, a town worth coming back to at last. Although Sinead took no final decision, the power of the story lies in a newfound impulse to return.
The issue of the illegally operating Presbyterian Mutual Society, and those Presbyterian investors, continues to grumble on despite the acceptance of the administrator’s deal. Will Crawley, guesting on Talkback this month, notes on his blog, “Serious questions are being asked by PMS members about the way this crisis has been handled by Church House officials”. Other supernaturalists - in the Catholic, Anglican and Methodist churches - have expressed their “hope that the Northern Ireland Executive and the UK Government will take urgent action to resolve these difficulties”. And apparently, at the recent CameronDirect event in Ballymena, the question was put to Dave - “What would you do to help the savers In the Presbyterian Mutual Society?”
David Cameron: “I think this is a really, really difficult question because, on the one hand, there is a sort of technical reason why the savers in the Presbyterian Mutual Society haven’t been helped, because that Society wasn’t regulated by the Financial Services Authority. So it was outside the rules that were operating In the rest of the United Kingdom and that’s why they are not being helped.
But I do understand the real sense of unfairness that people feel because they look at, say the Dunfermline [Building] Society in Scotland, or they look at Northern Rock or they look at other organisations and they say; ‘hold on, we’re all part of the United Kingdom, we’re all part of this family. Why is this financial organisation not being helped?’ So I think the Government needs to look again.
“We have become increasingly aware of the difficulties faced by people whose access to their savings has been blocked by the Presbyterian Mutual Society being placed in Administration. Since assistance has been offered to others, it is our hope that the Northern Ireland Executive and the UK Government will take urgent action to resolve these difficulties”.
Cardinal Sean Brady (Catholic Archbishop of Armagh)
Archbishop Alan Harper (Anglican Archbishop of Armagh)
Rev. Aian Ferguson (President of the Methodist Church)
29th May 2009
And the transcript of the Cameron Direct event in Ballymena
Questioner: “What would you do to help the savers In the Presbyterian Mutual Society?
David Cameron: “I think this is a really, really difficult question because, on the one
hand, there is a sort of technical reason why the savers in the Presbyterian Mutual Society haven’t been helped, because that Society wasn’t regulated by the Financial Services Authority. So it was outside the rules that were operating In the rest of the United Kingdom and that’s why they are not being helped.
But I do understand the real sense of unfairness that people feel because they look at, say the Ounfillnllne SOCiety in Scotland, or they look at Northern Rock or they look at other organisations and they say; ‘hold on, we’re all part of the United Kingdom, we’re all part of this family. Why is this financial organisation not being helped?’
So I think the Government needs to look again.
You will have noticed this country is completely strapped for cash. We are borrowing 12.6% of our national output. I cannot stand here and make spending promises, but what I can tell you is that if I were the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, I would have a really good look to whether we are treating these people fairly: because I think they do have a ease to say, hold on a second, this is a UK organisation, guarantees should be extended to it rather than to other organisations, and it was the very extension of the guarantee to the other financial organisations that actually caused it’s difficulties.
So I think there is a real case for the Prime Minister to look again and I would urge him to do so.”
If you want a symbol of what happens when you emasculate a police force, it goes by the name of Kevin McDaid, RIP. Two armed policemen on duty who see a gang of loyalist thugs armed with cudgels attacking a blameless mixed-community should have only one set of programmed responses. That is, to protect the innocent; if that means dropping a couple of the attackers—and by that, gentle reader, yes, I do mean shooting them dead—then so be it. If the dead had wanted to remain alive, they should have stayed at home.
Ahead of tonight’s loyalist Pride of the Bann flute band parade in Coleraine, the Belfast Telegraph is reporting that several of those appearing in court yesterday charged in connection with the murder of Kevin McDaid are band members, and one is a former member of the UDP (strange set of ‘mavericks.’)
Worth noting again is the statement released by the band when it decided to curtail its route for tonight’s parade: It is with great sadness and no small degree of anger that Pride of the Bann Flute resent the way they have become embroiled in a controversy over their 32nd annual band parade
That decision was welcomed by some but not all.
Rest assured, though, that the band fully intend to return to the traditional route soon.
ONLY three days left on iPlayer, but could Strangford Lough’s prototype turbine point the way towards some cheap energy for Northern Ireland? A lean, clean, energy machine? Regular, predictable power, and you could build ‘em in Harland & Wolff. Hopefully, the project won’t sink the way project director Alexander (son of Max) Mosley did.
Congrats to Slugger’s Fantasy Football league winner Conor Curran, who held off George McClelland, George Burns and others in a tight finish. Fourteen teams exceeded the 1900 points mark, with Curran’s Suffolk’n'Close side triumphing with 1976 points, earning him 33,501st place in a field of just under two million. Final table below the fold. See y’all next season…
Team Manager GW Total
1 Suffolk ‘n’ Close FC Conor Curran 38 1976
2 Buckfast Buccaneers George McClelland 42 1969
3 26+6=? George Burns 35 1967
4 mid table mediocrity Brian Murray 50 1959
5 TimeToAwaken2012 ciaran murphy 42 1954
6 Its Up For Grabs Now Gareth Murray 35 1952
7 Different Dinners Damien Okado-Gough 56 1945
8 Klinsmania Mark Shepherd 55 1944
9 Madiba Magic Jon Boyle 55 1941
10 Maxwell’s Mighty Men Paul Maxwell 51 1929
11 Shankly’s Socialism Stewart Finn 53 1924
12 Champions FC Gréagóir O’ Frainclín 46 1917
13 Midnight Runners rob dex 26 1915
14 For Allah and Uládh Clady Cowboy 44 1907
15 Dynamo Dublin Peter Fitzmaurice 57 1864
16 Champions_Of_Europe Richard Anderson 28 1830
17 O’Neill Mr O’Neill 42 1822
18 McNulty’s Mofo’s Earl Of Funk 19 1807
19 Yer Ma’s Athletic Rory Connolly 43 1795
20 Belfast Celtic Philip McLaughlin 41 1794
21 Trap’s Dream Crokers Chris Donnelly 54 1790
22 Ulster-Scots XI Jonathan McCullough 37 1777
23 Philadelphia Celtic USA Sluggerite 51 1773
24 Nobby’s Nuts Gary Thompson 33 1741
25 FC Unionist Lite P o’neill 45 1736
26 Belfast Peaceniks FC L G 51 1727
27 cliftonville fc joe vallely 42 1696
28 Five Furra Poun John Baucher 44 1671
29 Chimney Corner Richard Cairns 47 1667
30 East Tyrone Celtic Gilbert-Paul Jeannon 55 1629
31 Nicola’s All-Star XI Nicola Maxwell 48 1620
32 AR5EN1L Peter Whibley 47 1583
33 Surreal Madrid Seimi MacAindreasa 34 1572
34 Bottom of the Barrel Mick Fealty 37 1565
35 Obi Wan Kenobi Nil Scott Jamison 27 1559
36 Red Star North Down nick pugachev 41 1527
37 Balloon Knot XI Baron Von Pummell 32 1511
38 Four In A Row Hoops Dan The Man 30 1491
39 Big Mick’s Paul McNickle 44 1487
40 Iniallators United Niall Kelly 56 1482
41 Lokomotiv Likesay Owen Polley 46 1467
42 We’re Not Brazil… Mark Hughes 18 1402
43 BigBadBobsBhoys peter fyfe 34 1374
44 arsnal taitans tom silvester 30 1355
45 Where there’s Muck.. Richard Price 19 1348
46 Sparta North Down nick Silvester 31 1290
47 Bibs Patrick McCann 23 1281
48 Dee Allstars dee daa 11 1202
As nine individuals appeared in court today facing charges in relation with the murder of Kevin McDaid in Coleraine, the BBC has reported that “70 loyalists” packed the court, with many captured entering the courthouse with scarves and hoods shielding their faces [though we have been ‘assured’ by Assistant Chief Constable, Alistair Finlay, that loyalists were not involved in the murder- awful big turnout for a ‘maverick’ crowd…]
Meanwhile, the news that the loyalist Pride of the Bann flute band have decided to shorten their parade on Friday night to avoid the area of the murder has been welcomed by some, but BBC Talkback’s Mike Philpot was decidedly less than impressed with the band- and others.
Is the cure becoming as bad as the disease? Blogger Iain Dale, a Conservative but a very fair minded one has come out in sympathy with yummy mummy Julie Kirkbride (Moran may be another story).
Julie Kirkbride quit, at least in part, over her child minding arrangements. She wanted her brother to be a child minder rather than a stranger. Who wouldn’t? It didn’t cost the taxpayer a penny, and yet she’s been made out to look as if she has fleeced the taxpayer. No woman with small children in their right mind will look at a political career if things carry on like this.
He’s unlikely to be the last along these lines. Is there a whiff in the air of the Witches of Salem? If the expenses rules for MPs were almost undefined, the rules for getting rid of them are non-existent.. It’s bad enough for the parties to hold their separate star chambers; they have a vested interest in the bullet. Where’s the natural justice in that? Now Nick Clegg has this daft idea for Standards Commissioner Chris Kelly - he who is charged with coming up with a definitive new expenses regime - to rule on individual cases and then submit the “guilty” to recall by 5 % of the voters in the constituency, automatically triggering an immediate by-election. Kelly would surely be loathe to act in a semi-judicial capacity. And 5% recall would make MPs vulnerable to attack by a small group of Trots, fascists or monster raving looneys. Leave recall to the Californian dreamer and Arnold Schwarzenegger. I suspect it’ll take just one MP under pressure to fail to fall on his/her sword and bring a human rights case or go for judicial review. That could bring the whole tacky process to a grinding halt, before the Kelly report.. Meanwhile the Daily Telegraph is remorseless.
CAPTION:Sinn Fein Election Cheer: ‘Tell me lies!’
recently, it became obvious to me that the truth neither lies with the defenders of old world models of journalism nor the small platoons of citizen journalism. Interestingly, in a debate in last month’s copy of Prospect blog sceptic Paul Starr put 
I’ve received election leaflets from everyone but Jim Nicholson. Jim Allister alone sent through two distinct pieces for my consideration. 
