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Books
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A poem for the day – Launching the Whaler Juan Peron
A Belfast epic, and one of my oldest poems, the opener of my first collection, Grub. The gist of the story was found in Moss & Hume’s Shipbuilders to the World: 125 Years of Harland and Wolff, Belfast, 1861-1986, which tells how Eva Peron was due to launch a huge whaling vessel in Belfast, built [...] read our review » -
Do Words Matter?: Book Review of Political Discourse and Conflict Resolution – Debating Peace in Northern Ireland
I share many of the concerns of Andy Pollak, whose recent post ‘My Response to the Slugger Begrudgers’ zeroed in on the ‘relentless flow of negativity’ of some Slugger commentators. Pollak’s post was largely concerned with the medium of the blog. Indeed, I think the anonymity of the online world encourages extreme discourse and allows [...] read our review »
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“You can see Newton’s mind at work…”
To add to the open access treasure trove at the Royal Society, Cambridge University Library is putting online some of its collection of books, maps, manuscripts and journals. We have called the first phase of our work on the Cambridge Digital Library the Foundations Project, which runs from mid-2010 to mid-2013 and has been made possible [...] read our review »
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Comment on How Stormont sustains division and structurally disables the middle ground…
on 5 February 2010 at 9:27 pm
BryanS,
I think this is a symptom of the unfortunate mentality of themuns and usuns, which still permeates Northern Irish politics.
An individual may have plenty of issues which he or she would rank above their constitutional position, but at the end of the day, a party could come along which ticks all their governance boxes but doesn’t holler their -ist/-an credentials from the rooftops and, as a result, said individual cast his/her vote for the party with the colours they recognise. I hope that this is something Norn Irn will grow out of, but I’m not convinced it will be any time soon.
For what it’s worth, I couldn’t give a fiddlers fart if Northern Ireland is governed by Westminster, Dublin or Washington DC, as long as I can raise my family in a safe, stable environment. I figure that makes me neither Unionist nor Nationalist, but I sense that I am in the minority.
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Comment on Even so late in the day, why don’t they tell us what their probems are?
on 22 January 2010 at 6:48 pm
DM,
A lot of people out there erroneously believe that the post of dFM is inferior to that of the FM. I’ve encountered that belief time and time again. Some people are positively shocked when they find out the two posts are on a level footing, especially Unionists.
I can only assume that many Unionist politicians are only too happy to keep their voters labouring under that assumption.
Surely if a joint operation between the UUP and the DUP was spun as a ‘Keep Sinn Fein Out of the Big Seat’, it might increase votes for both of those parties, with non-voters and otherwise TUV voters turning out to stop Sinn Fein from ‘taking over’.
Such is the political cynicism in ‘our wee country’.
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Comment on Even so late in the day, why don’t they tell us what their probems are?
on 22 January 2010 at 5:16 pm
Driftwood,
I like your style.
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Comment on Even so late in the day, why don’t they tell us what their probems are?
on 22 January 2010 at 4:26 pm
N.Exile,
I agree heartily with your sentiments but I’m not sure how realistic they are.
As I’m sure you’re aware, the decades of violence here have made the North almost entirely reliant on public sector work, and a UI would either remove most of these jobs, or cost Dublin a fortune.
I agree that our politicians should be courting outside investment to end this depressing reliance on government money, and maybe with a UI we would be able to elect proper politicians? I dunno.
As for voting in politicians that have a grasp of real politics instead of simple tribal warfare, please, show me these politicians and I will vote!
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Comment on McAliskey: “Before this pretence of a democratic administration unravels in abject disgrace…”
on 21 January 2010 at 11:01 pm
Jimmy_Sands,
“The fact is that NIO policy, certainly from 1999, was to tolerate violent crime committed by terrorist groups provided that it was confined to their own communities, a policy which was only reversed in the aftermath of the McCartney murder.”
Judging by the sporadic burts of violence which I see reported in the media as ‘being shot in the legs’ with no apparent signs of follow-up arrests (and I’m not talking about last nights events), I’m not sure how much things have changed regarding violence confined to the perpetrators communities.
La meme chose…
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Comment on Finding the balance between security and privacy…
on 21 January 2010 at 10:38 pm
Tacapall,
As uncomfortable as it is, what alternative do you suggest?
The people the PSNI are trying to obstruct are exclusively Nationalist. You won’t come across a Loyalist dissident Republican, I don’t think. Are you suggesting that they should carry out stop and search everywhere in Northern Ireland simply in the interests of fairness? How is that any better, or any more effective than what is being done now?
It’s like saying that the Metropolitan police force trying to prevent Islamic terrorists operating in London should carry out Section 44 searches on Jewish people living in Cardiff just so as not to offend the Muslim population of London.
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Comment on Finding the balance between security and privacy…
on 21 January 2010 at 9:12 pm
Tacapall,
I take your point, but if we are trying to build a normal society, then police shouldn’t be segregated in specific areas which are deemed ‘safe’ as was the case during the Troubles.
Even with that said, I know from a number of friends of mine who have recently joined the PSNI, there are still areas where they are not allowed to live, simply not as extensive as it was before, so ‘throwing them to the wolves’ might be too strong.
As for the MI5 offices in Holywood, I have good reason to believe that they aren’t only engaged in NI work out there, but that they were involved in preventing dissident bombing attacks, which I can’t deny is a good thing.
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Comment on Finding the balance between security and privacy…
on 21 January 2010 at 8:30 pm
Tacapall,
The PSNI are trying to disrupt and obstruct dissident republican activity. I would say it’s reasonably safe to assume that these people would probably live in Nationalist areas, and that is where the PSNI would probably be wise to focus their efforts. It’s unfortunate that that is the state of play, but there you go.
If you reject the violence perpetrated by these people, then you have to stop viewing the police as an instrument of state oppression, and see them as having an extremely difficult and dangerous job to do, and not a huge array of tools to do this job at their disposal, hence relying on the problematic and inefficient use of stop and search powers.
Is there a case to be answered for a lack of information coming from sections of the Nationalist community who would outwardly profess to support the peace process? I couldn’t possibly speculate, others would know better than I
As for what section of the community I come from? I hardly see the relevance, but I don’t mind saying that I’m neither Unionist nor Nationalist. I’m much more concerned with the good governance and security of the province I live in.
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Comment on Finding the balance between security and privacy…
on 21 January 2010 at 7:52 pm
And by face, I mean fact.
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Comment on Finding the balance between security and privacy…
on 21 January 2010 at 7:51 pm
JaneJeffers,
I think he’s referring to the face that in the past few weeks Nolan has been ignoring the elephant in the room regarding Gerry Adams and his role the allegations of sexual abuse, especially considering the field day Nolan had over what I regretfully refer to as ‘Irisgate’.
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