Saturday, November 22, 2008
“Even Chamberlain had a piece of paper”
The BBC are reporting that Peter Robinson is claiming to have been private assurance that the army council has gone away permanently. The BBC are quoting him as saying: “It’s important that those who are in the leadership of the republican movement make it very clear publicly, as they have done to us privately, that the IRA is out of business for good and is not going to return.” This has drawn a predictably stinging response from Jim Allister “Even Chamberlain had a piece of paper, all Peter has are “private assurances” from the republican leadership - the same leadership which assures us Gerry Adams was never even in the IRA! “
Turgon @ 04:21 PM
Jim Allister has been out smarted by the DUP on Policing & Justice and he is now just saying anything he can, No Sinn Fein Minister for justice, No date set and No Sinn Fein say on the appointments on judges I think everyone can be satisfied with that.
Posted by on Nov 22, 2008 @ 05:31 PMWhat would convince Jim Allister? His political strategy need unionists to be afraid and negative so good news for everybody else is bad news for him. It’s an unfortunate position to be in.
The news is not about Sinn Fein assuring Robinson of anything. It is about Robinson accepting in public what he has known for a long time. It’s progress and it’s very welcome. Well done Peter.
Posted by on Nov 22, 2008 @ 05:34 PMReal witty quote.
But you’re right Henry. This is very significant. The choreographing has begun.
Posted by on Nov 22, 2008 @ 06:29 PMAllister had the upper hand on Lets Talk in his battle with Dodsy who probably would not have moved on the issue of Police and Justice if he had in his own words feared “Aglo Irish direct rule”
The army council issue is a good political stick to beat the DUP with in exactly the same way as the DUP beat Trimble with the absence of proof on decomissioning.
The problem for Robbo and Dodsy will relate to the appointment of judges by a panel who in turn may be appointed by SF - as I undersatnd it this aspect of the deal is not clear.
Jimbo will continue to try to Lundify Robbo in the same way as the deal makers of the past ONeill, Faulkner and Trimble were Lundified by the DUP and their ilk.
4th Time Lucky or 4th Time Lundy for Robbo?
Posted by on Nov 22, 2008 @ 06:31 PMTurgon can you tell me just what will satisfy you and your leader that the IRA army council is out of buisness??
Posted by on Nov 22, 2008 @ 06:33 PMThey’ve played their last card. Next step seats on the back benches.
Posted by on Nov 22, 2008 @ 06:48 PMI remember when Jim said that the end of the IRA army council was his litmus test , funny how he doesnt mention that very often now
Posted by on Nov 22, 2008 @ 06:58 PMI’m a little behind on the TUV. Do they have a website? The only thing I can find is a wikipedia entry and Allister’s personal website.
Posted by on Nov 22, 2008 @ 07:39 PMHenry.
“What would convince Jim Allister? His political strategy need unionists to be afraid and negative so good news for everybody else is bad news for him.”
He learnt that well in the DUP!! Peter Robinson and company wouldn’t be sitting in lucrative jobs now if it hadn’t been for the strategy outlined above by Henry. In fairness the UUP before them played on the fear ticket while their unemployed or lowly paid working class supporters were living in atrocious housing with outside toilets, no hot water supply and minimum heating facilities. Nothing like the spectre of a United Ireland to rally the troops!!
I listened to Peter Robinson doing his Folk On The Hill voice today on Inside Politics with Mark Davanport. In the first five minutes of that discussion, and without any prompting, Peter Robinson mentioned Jim Allister about ten times.I have no truck with TUV but the DUP must be suffering inner turmoil to be so obsessed by Allister. The golden rule in politics is to be able to put down your opponent without giving them the value of free advertising by spitting out their name over and over again. Allister couldn’t have bought the exposure that Robinson afforded him. If you didn’t know who Allister was before the programme you sure as hell would have after it!
Posted by on Nov 22, 2008 @ 07:41 PMObserver
I agree - I was astonished the number of times he mentioned Jim Allister even though the question was not about Allister.
Made me wonder if it suits the DUP strategically to be pretending to be in a battle with Allister?
I don’t think the Folks on the Hill have worked out how to do Allister’s voice very well yet, by the way.
Posted by on Nov 22, 2008 @ 07:59 PMSlug, Interesting thought regarding pretending to do battle with Allister, although they need to take him seriously. The Newsletter (website) has had Allister’s picture on its front page all week, and he seems to be more of an opposition to the DUP than the UUP are.
re: Allister’s voice; he has a problem pronouncing his fluid consonants like, l and r, especially l. I’m sure the FOTH phoneticians will catch on sooner or later and be able to zero in on his articulatory idiosyncrasies. (BTW, I’m not mocking his speech impediment, I have one myself)
Posted by on Nov 22, 2008 @ 08:48 PM6countyprod
It is only his personal website that I can find.
Observer,
part of the last 151 days, or whatever it was they sat on their hands, the DUP were obviously giving birth to the party line of how to attack Jimbo and the TUV.One part of the party line which I think is a mistake is to admit that they had to do a deal with SF for fear the Englezes would implement Joint direct rule with Dublin. They say this because they dont want their electorate moving across to the TUV who wants Stormo with SF to be abandoned. Surely, however, this is damaging to them as a party to show that they are simply taking the least worst option rather than getting a good deal for their electorate.
Posted by on Nov 22, 2008 @ 08:48 PMI don’t think the Folks on the Hill have worked out how to do Allister’s voice very well yet, by the way.
Slug the voice isn’t good, but the new dummy of him is brilliant. Its a newer dummy, and its much more real and life like I think.
Posted by on Nov 22, 2008 @ 10:25 PMso this is how it ends?
with the news broken by the clontibret kid, the man who was elected to westminster with the aid of the same uda who killed the lawyer who defended the ira for years, the inspiration for a movement that traded with the fascists of south africa for guns and grenades, by the guy who carried paisley’s water for two decades as his boss whipped up bigotry and hatred?! was it for this the wild geese fled, that ten men starved to death, that so much sacrifice was made? and where is the ubiquitous p o’neill at this defining moment in history? skulking in the corner, ashamed to show his face, scared to tell his own people what he has done, content the news is released instead by a character whose extremism and fundamentakism would make george bush blush. what was it they used to say? the most principled leadership ever, the most skilled negotiators. what a sick joke!Posted by on Nov 23, 2008 @ 01:26 AMIf PIRA’s Clown Council has ‘gone away, you know’ then I assume they are in process of secretly donating a few hundred million in cash and assets to various charities now that it is no longer required for ‘the cause’ for which it was acquired. I very much doubt that the godfathers would keep all of that wealth for themselves and thereby unmask themselves as common criminals. The sheep who went to jail for long periods as a result of activities directed by said godfathers would never stand for an outcome where their efforts merely served to make a few individual extremely rich, surely? No, never… and besides, they were never criminals and so said Bobby Sands so the Clown Council will now prove it by donating the wealth to various charities.
Posted by on Nov 23, 2008 @ 02:02 AMjosephine
so this is how it ends?
This is not how it ended.
All Volunteers have been instructed to assist the development of purely political and democratic programmes through exclusively peaceful means.
Volunteers must not engage in any other activities whatsoever.
That IRA statement in 2005 was the end. This is just Peter Robinson facing up to it.
How clear could they have been in 2005?
We believe there is now an alternative way to achieve this and to end British rule in our country.
The overwhelming majority of people in Ireland fully support this process.
They and friends of Irish unity throughout the world want to see the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.
And that statement only confirmed what had been obvious for years before that. The war is over. Happy Christmas.
Posted by on Nov 23, 2008 @ 08:34 AMIs it just me or are both Jim Allister and the DUP “Tilting at Windmills”
It is obvious that the PIRA army council is today not even a windmill.
Posted by on Nov 23, 2008 @ 09:34 AM“and its much more real and life like I think. “
Could it be the real one?
Posted by on Nov 23, 2008 @ 10:00 AMHenry94,
with any element of the IRA intact e.g. the Army Council it is reasonable for Unionists to have concerns about what its function might be.
Whatever SF say publically a failure to implement the STA by Englezes\Unionists in my opinion would\may lead to some sort of resumption of the ‘armed struggle’ (perhaps under a new name).
Remember, we have not implemented the GFA 10 years after the event and some of the personnel who inhabit the DUP may yet harbour plans to scupper things.
Posted by on Nov 23, 2008 @ 10:57 AMSammy
I’m not saying the concerns of unionists were unreasonable. But they were tactical too and for Peter Robinson to say what he has said is progress. It means he thinks that it is safe for the leader of unionism to say it.
Republicans had to slow progress to a crawl at certain stages too so I’m not condemning him for it. He knows his community and it was his call to make.
On decommissioning and policing Sinn Fein waited until the vast majority of their supporters were ready to move. And often it was by waiting that people came to understand the necessity of movement. It’s slow but very stable
Posted by on Nov 23, 2008 @ 11:09 AMSlug, I thought the DUP ‘battle a day’ was supposed to be with Sinn Fein!!
Posted by on Nov 23, 2008 @ 11:16 AMHenry94
From my position of complete outside observer the DUP seems to contain pragmatists led by Robbo and ideologues led by Dodsy. It is difficult to distinguish between the 2 - although Marty indicated on Hearts and Minds he knew who was in each camp.
I suspect that Robbo would have jumped before now but indulged Dodsy as long as possible until their position (even with their funny 3 locks much loved by Pete Baker) became unsustainable. The game was certainly up for the DUP when the SOS said that the non transfer of Police was endangering the cementing of the peace process.
P.S. Of course we might of expected this type of stuff from the DUP but the Alliance, the Tories and the UU all failed in their political responsbiltiy to administer a political kick up the DUPs backside.
Posted by on Nov 23, 2008 @ 11:42 AMJosephene
we could also ask what was it all about? sure, not to worry, the slabs and their friends are multi millionaires, gerry is lord of gortahork and all’s well with the world, Ireland, indeed, is rearing them still.Posted by on Nov 23, 2008 @ 12:15 PMHard to believe just how rattled Robbo seemed yesterday on Inside Politics.
So that’s Jeffrey, Dodds and Robinson Jim has rattled in one week. When was the last time you could say that about the UUP?
Posted by on Nov 23, 2008 @ 01:08 PMP.S. Of course we might of expected this type of stuff from the DUP but the Alliance, the Tories and the UU all failed in their political responsbiltiy to administer a political kick up the DUPs backside.
Given that Sinn Fein have rolled over and backed off, and essentially conceded that they had no grounds for their boycott of the executive, it’s not looking at all reasonable to suggest that anybody had the political responsibility to push the DUP anywhere other than Sinn Fein. I’ll tell you this though, I wish I inhabited your wee fantasy world where Alliance were able to administer a kick up anybody’s backside. What’s the party supposed to do, stamp it’s foot and scream a lot ?
The Tories and the UUP couldn’t administer a bottle of cough syrup.
Posted by on Nov 23, 2008 @ 01:45 PM
