Slugger O'Toole

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Latest posts from Chris Donnelly (see all)

Chris Donnelly has posted 582 times (8 in the last month).

SDLP tribes at war over Alasdair’s ‘poverty’ stance – UPDATE: Alasdair strikes back!

Wed 4 January 2012, 10:20am

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A very public war of words has broken out within the SDLP following Party Leader Alasdair McDonnell’s decision to launch a Save Politicians from Poverty Appeal in his Irish News interview earlier this week. Today, the SDLP Mayor of Lisburn, Brian Heading, has written to the paper strongly criticising his party leader. During his appearance on BBC [...] more »

Latest comments from Chris Donnelly (see all)

Chris Donnelly has commented 810 times (20 in the last month).

1. Comment on Football eligibility row illustrates unionism’s inability to respect ‘The Other’ tradition
   on 10 February 2012 at 8:48 am

   St Etienne and Cynic
   The story was prompted by a DUP MP raising the matter in the first instance.

   Furthermore, Slugger works much better if we stick to the topic of discussion- and, to his credit, Red Lion has shown that there is an argument which Northern Ireland fans can and will make in response to mine and others supportive of the rights of northerners to represent the Republic.

   But I’d be more interested in hearing thoughts from unionist contributors to the site on how such a hostile attitude to one expression of the all-Ireland identity of their neighbours sits in a new era where we are supposed to be accepting and respecting each others’ identities.

   Go to comment

2. Comment on In praise of… Borgen
   on 5 February 2012 at 11:03 am

   Been watching this myself- a great show!

   Go to comment

3. Comment on The Detail on post-primary exam results
   on 5 February 2012 at 10:11 am

   Mick
   I think the key element of the standard for assessing ‘failing’ schools in England is the inclusion of the two main curricular subjects of English and Maths in the 5 GCSE’s A*-C figures- not the provision of additional vocational qualifications.

   Over the past five years here, the secondary/ non-grammar sector has reported a year on year increase in the number and % of pupils obtaining 5 GCSEs A*-C, or grades equivalent to these.

   My own area of expertise lay in the primary sector, but from speaking to secondary teachers and principals, I’m led to believe that the successes have come from schools getting smarter about targeting subjects for pupils to ensure they get as many across the minimum threshold.

   That’s understandable and indeed commendable when compared against what went before, when far too many schools reported an alarmingly high number of kids leaving with either very few or no qualifications at GCSE level.

   In regard to your question, Mick, I think it remains the case that vocational qualifications count at GCSE level as equivalents, though I’d need to verify that.

   For those who follow the annual results table produced by the Irish News for non-grammars, or indeed for those who have looked at the Department of Education stats collated online for individual schools, it is worth noting that the local stats for % achieving 5 GCSEs do not include the stipulation that the reported % include Maths and English at GCSE precisely because all involved know that this will dramatically reduce the figures.

   Hence the reason why Torney had to obtain these new stats based on that key stipulation.

   Ultimately, two things will stand out in any analysis of our system. Firstly, that the job facing non-grammar schools is a considerably more difficult and challenging one to that facing the grammar sector, and that fact needs to be recognised.

   Secondly, in spite of the caveat outlined in the first point, it is very obvious that there are worryingly high disparities in terms of educational attainment within and across the distinct sectors which is confirmed by the most reliable and fair comparative analysis – ie that involving measuring school performance against other schools with similar profiles (grammar or non-grammar measured against others in the same FSME bracket.)

   ESAGS represents a good beginning, but I’d like to see more of a focus on incentivising high performing school leaders and teachers to work in schools located in the working class districts from which the long line of low attainers and under achievers invariably exist.

   As the performance of some primary and post-primary schools in these areas illustrates, there clearly are ways of significantly increasing the prospects for working-class pupils.

   Go to comment

4. Comment on Another go at transformation at the Maze
   on 4 February 2012 at 11:16 pm

   chris, do you think this centre will be mainly about the RM surely loyalists, prison officers and BA all played apart in the prison and conflict?

   Between Bridges
   Where did I intimate that the aforementioned organisations did not play a part in the prison and conflict?

   Your suggestion that there’ll be an argument regarding the name of the site may prove accurate, but that’s hardly an insurmountable problem.

   Indeed, having listened to the Belfast City Council meeting earlier this week, I note that nationalists have not stood in the way of those seeking to rename a local park in Orangefield after the British Queen. That’s a sign of maturity which, if reciprocated, points to the possibility of what were once seemingly intractable minor squabbles being ironed out.

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5. Comment on Another go at transformation at the Maze
   on 4 February 2012 at 9:05 pm

   A number of points on your thoughts, Brian.

   There is a notable imbalance regarding the ‘existing symbols’ which reflects where the balance of power lay in the past in this part of Ireland (or still lays, as in the case of the UDR statue recently erected in the ‘shared’ city of Lisburn.)

   I think you’re acknowledging the need to address that in your reply.

   I can’t see why the location of the RUAS near to this proposed development should be an issue at all.

   Regarding artistic vision or the ability to ensure that all sides have their stories told, I think the jury may be out on that one, but it’s at least worth a try.

   Incidentally, it’s not as if many existing locations with great symbolism have been particularly successful with ensuring that every story is told.

   After all, the Apprentice Boys seem capable of telling their story of the walled city without ever managing to find a place for the native Irish who really didn’t have the greatest of times in that area. If they can do that in the middle of a city which is overwhelmingly nationalist, then why can’t unionists facilitate a conflict resolution centre and museum recognising the historically significant events that occurred in Long Kesh?

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6. Comment on Another go at transformation at the Maze
   on 4 February 2012 at 12:18 pm

   Why not commemeorate the New Age with an International Ploughing Match to clear way the entire site? (There. I just knew somebody would be cynical).

   Brian
   While we’re at it, can we flatten the statues to Carson at Stormont, the UDR in Lisburn and the hundreds of other memorials across the north erected to remember dead British soldiers or individuals of note within unionism?

   Is that really a better idea than finding a means of ensuring that the contrasting narratives are provided with space in a new society based, unlike the old one, on mutual respect and equality?

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7. Comment on McGuinness wants to support Northern Irish football team?
   on 4 February 2012 at 12:13 pm

   Not sure how you could consider the ‘RC label’ to be quite a stretch”, when it is a sport predominately played by those of the Catholic persuasion. Not much stretching required.

   babyface
   The Northern Ireland soccer team is ‘predominantly’ supported by protestants. Sports like rugby and cricket are ‘predominantly’ played by protestants in ths same jurisdiction, and indeed a quick glance at any post-primary schools’ list of sports taught at a competitive level will reinforce the point.

   That does not make the sporting organisations ‘protestant.’

   On a similar vein, I note a DUP councillor in Belfast claiming that protestants are ‘under-represented’ in the boxing fraternity in the city.

   Quite apart from the MOPEish aspect of that assertion, by your logic, that makes boxing ‘catholic!’

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8. Comment on McGuinness wants to support Northern Irish football team?
   on 3 February 2012 at 8:48 pm

   I just don’t like people trying to bluff those that know no better into thinking it is not an Irish/Gaelic/Nationalist/Republican/RC organisation.

   DT12….

   There’s no doubt that the GAA is proudly rooted in Irish culture, though the RC label is quite a stretch.

   But there’s also no doubt that the Northern Ireland international side- and troubled history of the IFA post-partition – reflects the fact that both were reflective of a unionist mindset- heck, even protestant if you want to examine the history of opposition to Sunday soccer.

   Sporting allegiance – in many parts of the world- is intertwined with political and cultural identities.

   But for many supporters and players involved with the GAA and Northern Ireland soccer, it’s the game they love and nothing more.

   What the political elites of the DUP and Sinn Fein are showing at present is that both acknowledge the need to respect ‘the other’ as they are, an important step in cultivating a more tolerant society.

   Go to comment

9. Comment on McGuinness wants to support Northern Irish football team?
   on 2 February 2012 at 11:16 pm

   Mick and Dec

   I used the term ‘Spat’ in the most benign sense of the word…..;>

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10. Comment on McGuinness wants to support Northern Irish football team?
    on 2 February 2012 at 11:55 am

    Barnshee
    That’d be a case of comparing apples with oranges.

    Soccer is a global sport, whereas Gaelic Games are more common to other sports restricted in appeal to specific countries (though if Ireland had an Empire that may not have been the case….)

    You’re also making the mistake of failing to recognise that many people of a catholic background have played for Northern Ireland ‘in spite of’ the prejudices they faced- something which reflects will on those individuals, not the people seeking to make it a less favourable option for them.

    With regards to Mick and Dec’s spat, I think to suggest people feared voicing opinions on specific sports is something of a stretch, though obviously not for said taxi driver.

    I attended school in west Belfast in the 80s/ early 90s and would’ve participated in many discussions about cricket, rugby and hockey with pupils and staff- a group of us even managed to get tickets and attend the famously heartbreaking loss to Australia in the ’93 Rugby World Cup in Lansdowne.

    That was a period of time when I was regularly getting a multiple tickets for Republic matches for fellow pupils in the shed of a stadium that was the old Lansdowne…..those were the days!

    This is a good news story which, like Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Dublin’s Croke Park and the Garden of Remembrance and McGuinness’ work in Derry with the much maligned Rev Latimer, send out positive messages which strike the right chord with people for a variety of reasons.

    That it is something which McGuinness and Robinson will be remembered for- and not a coalition of the ‘middle-ground’ which many others longed for- indicates how comfortable the OFMDFM partnership are in the current political climate.

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