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Books
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Stay out of Libya: counterinsurgency doesn’t work
Tweet A moment of some significance in journalism perhaps, as the New York Times reviews the current talked about book, The Wrong War: Grit, Strategy, and the Way Out of Afghanistan by Bing West. The author is no bleeding heart but a former assistant Defense Secretary from the Reagan era who stomped his way round the [...] read our review »
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What Ireland did right (and what it needs to do)…
Tweet It is difficult to believe now that one country recently sent 19 delegations to Ireland to study how well our economy was managed. The revelation that our model of economic management featured positively in political and economic discussion in countries including Estonia, Greece and Scotland may also come as a surprise. As we survey [...] read our review »
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Learning from 1798?: Northern Ireland’s Upcoming Decade of Commemorations
Tweet Last year, the Lilliput Press released a new extended edition of Tom Dunne’s Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize winning book, Rebellions: Memoir, Memory and 1798. First published in 2004, Dunne’s book provoked considerable controversy with its critique of the ‘commemorationist’ history that Dunne believed dominated the 1998 commemorations of the 1798 Rebellion. The book blasted the [...] read our review »
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Comment on A5 ruling: “They should not be left in any doubt about what may or may not occur…”
on 10 April 2013 at 9:32 am
The justification for this road scheme was based on a safety case, where the lives saved made the investment worthwhile. However, it was always a political flagship for those wishing to demonstrate that they could deliver for their electorate. As noted by Justice Stevens, a Strategic Environmental Assessment wasn’t conducted to look at the alternatives. Had this taken place, it might have considered how many lives would have been saved by spending half the original £860m on a dualling scheme and half on cross-border medical services!
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Comment on “I want to know if the Minister is going to put pressure on these factories.” ..”
on 12 February 2013 at 5:53 pm
On 25 Jan, O’Neill was at Loughry when Simon Coveney arrived to tell the assembled farmers/producers about CAP reform. He’d arrived over an hour late. The reason? He’d stopped off at Silverhill Foods to be briefed about the horsemeat issue, so she can hardly claim lack of awareness about the issue.
The comparison between the 2 Ministers was stark; she gabbled through a prepared script and and nothing of import to say, whilst he was relaxed, convivial and completely on top of his brief.
I know we don’t have a wealth of talent in our politicians here, but she is pretty low down the ranking of a pretty mediocre bunch. To use the well worn phrase, we definitely get the politicians we deserve.
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Comment on Paisley Junior: SF ‘content’ for paedophiles and gangsters to run writ across NI…
on 31 January 2013 at 8:50 pm
As variously noted above, strange goings on in the senior echelons of the DUP. I would add the case of Peter’s comments about Attwood over the John Lewis decision;
“The issue of retail policy is a matter for the whole of the executive to take a decision on, and not just for one minister,” Mr Robinson said.
“Therefore the intention that was indicated by Alex Attwood in relation to its impact on the John Lewis store is something that the executive will decide on rather than the minister himself.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-21200390
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Comment on Strabane District Council consider restricting public and press from committee meetings
on 20 January 2013 at 8:29 am
Let’s say that that RPA requires the new councils to post video coverage of their meetings online (as above), then the first question that will be asked is who’s going to pay for this. Despite the small financial cost and huge benefits for democracy, it is unlikely to be funded.
Too many of our MLAs have the breadth of vision of a gnat, fostered by their experiences from councils. How likely are we to get effective MLAs, and indeed effective new councillors, when all that seems to matter is that they deliver for their own tribe and not for NI society as a whole?
Am I alone in finding this all thoroughly depressing? I think not, when we consider at the turnout at elections.
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Comment on “the looming legal row, which is due to commence on 9 January, could become a defining event for Northern Ireland…”
on 31 December 2012 at 8:32 am
The NI PPS1 states; “The town and country planning system exists to regulate the development and use of land in the public interest. The public interest requires that all development is carried out in a way that would not cause demonstrable harm to interests of acknowledged importance.”
Necessarily, this is a complex task and compromises must be made. In the eyes of many, the public interest of the Runkerry development distils down to the economic benefits of new jobs, but this is simplistic and ignores the intention stated in the Northern Area Plan to protect the landscape around the Giants Causeway. This is at the heart of the NT’s case and why they were given leave to proceed with the Judicial Review.
Dragging this back on topic, it is seems to me unlikely that the JR will be a “defining event” for NI politics, but the importance certainly should not be understated. The real question is whether the JR will throw any light into the darker corners of the planning system and the extent that politicians attempt to manipulate the planners.
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Comment on Reflections on the SDLP conference and Alasdair McDonnell’s speech
on 11 November 2012 at 7:00 am
Dull, dull, dull leader with almost zero public profile and seemingly zero contribution to the party’s policy development. Why would anyone support this party except that it is the least worst alternative?
Given that much of the party’s profile is due to Alex Attwood having been a reasonably effective Minister of the Environment, is McDonnell going to change him and, if so, whither Attwood? Thoughts of pissing and tents occur…
Perhaps those nearer the party could shed some light on this?
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Comment on #GiantsCauseway: Fenians lose out to Bible.
on 5 July 2012 at 12:12 pm
As to why the National Trust would give the Creationist view any exposure, £9.5m of NITB from a DUP controlled Department funding might have just had something to do with it…
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Comment on “Without prejudice to the negotiation of territorial sea boundaries…”
on 16 December 2011 at 7:53 am
Does this mean Ireland will update the “Real Map of Ireland”? See
http://www.marine.ie/NR/rdonlyres/5960CD91-B5D9-4788-B57E-247634A3013A/0/TheRealMapofIreland_Nov09.pdf (5 Mb file)
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Comment on Godot arrives: Compton Review delivers
on 14 December 2011 at 9:56 am
Without reading the Compton report, I am content to accept the comments above that it is a comprehensive review. What surprises me is that there seems little mention of the new Erne hospital in the comments and a word search of the report also finds no mention of either Erne or Enniskillen hospital.
As a £276m project due to open in summer 2012, the new Erne would seem to be a strong contender to remain open, not least because I understand the funding to be a PFI project, so would doubtless cost more to close than run! More details at
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/health/276m-enniskillen-hospital-with-all-the-mod-cons-16081359.html
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Comment on What’s all this #fracking nonsense then Arlene?
on 28 November 2011 at 8:13 am
What is the real issue here? As I see it, the fundamental point is that NI imports 96% of its energy at present. The price of dong so will undoubtedly increase and security of supply decrease. It is irresponsible of any government not to address these issues and one aspect of doing so is to investigate availability of local supplies, be they renewable or traditional, since a mixture of both is needed to meet our energy needs.
In light(!) of the above, I welcome DETI’s efforts to identify what potential local sources are present. No politician needs telling twice that there will be an almighty row when voters turn the switch on their light/cooker/heating and nothing happens. IMO, if sources are present, the development of shale gas or Rathlin oil is a matter of when, not if. The deciding factor will be the economic viability of doing so.
Turning to fracking, the company involved in the Fermanagh (Tamboran) have given an absolute guarantee that no chemicals will be used in the process, other than sand and water. I accept the point already made about the visual impact, but the well pads are less visually intrusive than wind farms, since they can be sited in woods and hollows, not on the tops of hills. I also worry about the impact from the infrastructure necessary to both build and operate the wells. However, none of this should stop NI from discovering what resources are present. The licence is for exploration, not production.
Where this gets murky is the local political edginess in Fermanagh. Local SF reps have been using the issue as a way of dishing Foster, saying that she has no local mandate to licence this. The land ownership is a red herring, since the area licensed for exploration is almost half of the whole county, from which the company has chosen to concentrate their search in a relatively small area with the best prospects. Foster is very unlikely to have known that the search area favoured by the company would include her husband’s land and, even if she had, probably had no need to declare an interest, since the siting of the well pads is flexible in any case, so will be subject to some market forces.
Finally, while no great admirer of our regulatory regime, my observation of the pressures English, Welsh and Scottish “independent” equivalents tells me they are under huge pressure to produce the politically expedient solution. This pressure is brought to bear by reducing funding and hitting jobs; no different whether independent or government department, I’m afraid.
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