Sinn Féin board member and MLA Alex Maskey said he was in the City Church the morning after the breaking of the windows and watched CCTV footage showing the attack and the attackers. He believed the incident was “allowed to get out of hand, partly driven by media assumption that this was part of concerted, sinister racist intimidation”.

Of course, that assumption was also evident in statements by the SDLP, the UUP and the DUP.  But, although the Alliance Party came close, none were as definitive in their identification of those responsible as Sinn Féin’s Alex Maskey.

“This attack is a new low for those racist criminals engaged in a campaign of intimidation against ethnic communities here in the south of the city.”

The PPS said it had decided to drop the case against him because he would not receive a fair trial. They took the decision after the police said they could not make all relevant material available to the PPS. The police said this material did not originate from either them or the security services.

“Despite the efforts of the PSNI, we are not in a position to make available all the relevant material to PPS for the purposes of disclosure,” a police statement said. “Consequently, the PPS have concluded that Mr Zaitschek could not receive a fair trial and PSNI are in agreement that a prosecution could not proceed in those circumstances.”

Adds The BBC have the full text of the police statement.

One of the five is Bangor man Jim Gamble who is chief executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP).
Also in the running is Bernard Hogan-Howe, chief constable of Merseyside.
The remaining three candidates are Jon Stoddart, chief constable of Durham;
Paul West, chief constable of West Mercia;
and Matt Baggott, chief constable of Leicestershire.

The DUP MLA accused the barrister of “flippant and nasty” remarks when his alleged desire for custody was likened to brandishing a whip before Formula One boss Max Mosley. He also said: “John will come to regret the day he said those things.”

. What does that mean? That John Larkin would no longer acceptable to the DUP as Attorney General because he crossed Paisley junior in court? I hardly think so. It is Ian jnr who will come to regret the day he said those things. These remarks are incompatible with his membership of the Policing Board, where he is sitting on the interview panel to appoint the new Chief Constable.  Although affable enough and by no means without talent, Ian junior behaves like a spoiled boy, a privileged son. This has created strains within a party which long ago ceased to be its founder’s creature. His resignation as junior minister during the Seymour Sweeney affair exposed the father and seems to have hastened the end of the reign. The DUP’s big challenge now is to ensure that the name of Paisley will not be on the candidate list for North Antrim. The old man ‘s notion of standing again may be a desperate bid to save the situation but is hardly realistic. If the party can’t quash the idea of a dynastic succession, they know very well that they risk losing the seat, not out of political principle but because of an unwarranted assumption of personal privilege that offends the egalitarian soul of Bible Protestantism. More than that, it is an offence to democracy.

For the 12th, well the 13th, the intention is to get to the Ardoyne feeder, the main Belfast parade, then Bangor and back for the Ardoyne return (was taking transport issues into account and am open to amendments).

Anyone wanting to join the group or act as guides drop me a line. Or feel free to get out there, do it yourself and report back.

ADDS: I’d be particularly keen on hearing a suggestion for replacing the morning Ardoyne one with something more rural but as most of those interested are greater Belfast based need a sensible geographical suggestion.