Advertise
-
Books
-
Douglas Murray – Bloody Sunday: Truth, Lies and the Saville Inquiry, Book Review
The aftermath of the Saville Inquiry into the events around Bloody Sunday has left me, and I suspect many others, with one enduring image: Prime Minister David Cameron’s apology in the House of Commons, where he says that the actions of the British Army were ‘unjustified and unjustifiable.’ But there’s a lot more to the [...] read our review » -
The Creative Class and Northern Ireland
As part of NICVA’s series of masterclasses from its Centre for Economic Empowerment project, there was a morning seminar on the topic of the “creative class” (as popularised by Richard Florida) and its applicability to Northern Ireland. The agenda was to: Explain Richard Florida’s idea of the “creative class” and the link between economic outcomes [...] read our review »
-
A New Vision for the Catholic Church – Book Review
The oft-quoted verse from the book of Proverbs, ‘where there is no vision, the people perish,’ (chapter 29, verse 18) opens a new book by Gerry O’Hanlon, A New Vision for the Catholic Church: A View from Ireland (Columba Press, 2011). That verse could be considered an apt summary of the current state of the [...] read our review »
-
Comment on “They’re unprofessional with what they’re doing.”
on 28 January 2010 at 11:39 pm
“the intention has been to shoot someone in the knees. On one occasion a person was shot in the shoulder”
We know these paramilitary types tend to be morons, but not being able to tell the difference between a knee and a shoulder is surely a new low !!
Go to comment
Comment on The political logic says Peter should stay if he’s cleared
on 13 January 2010 at 3:30 pm
i dunno whats going on over there in norn iron land. but it made the newspaper here in the uae.
from the web version..
http://gulfnews.com/news/world/uk/robinson-affair-causes-a-stir-in-northern-ireland-1.565809
Robinson affair causes a stir in Northern Ireland
Member of parliament solicited £50,000 to give to her teenage lover without telling lawmakers, media claim
AP Published: 00:00 January 10, 2010
Iris Robinson with her husband, Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson. Peter vowed on Friday he wouldn’t quit as leader of Northern Ireland’s Catholic-Protestant government. Image Credit: AP Belfast : A political scandal riveting Northern Ireland has a certain cinematic feel: An affair by a 58-year-old woman named Mrs Robinson with a 19-year-old male lover.
Five separate Facebook groups with hundreds of followers have sprung up, lampooning the affair and comparing it to the 1967 film, The Graduate.
But there is a serious side to the story of Iris Robinson, who also happens to be a member of parliament and the wife of Peter Robinson — Northern Ireland’s government leader.
The BBC reported that Iris allegedly solicited £50,000 (Dh294,000) from businessmen so her young lover could open a restaurant — without disclosing the fact to lawmakers.
Iris has said she would not seek re-election because she was suffering clinical depression that left her unable to function in public life and revealed that she attempted suicide. She also begged forgiveness from her husband and the public.
So, so sorry
“Everyone is paying a heavy price for my actions … I am so, so sorry,” she said.
Peter, who in 2008 succeeded the Reverend Ian Paisley as head of Northern Ireland’s government and its major Protestant political party, vowed on Friday to stay on following the revelations about his wife.
“I will be resolutely defending attacks on my character and contesting any allegations of wrongdoing,” Peter said after the BBC investigative team in Belfast exposed the scandal. He stressed he hadn’t known key details of his wife’s affair before the programme.
On Wednesday, Peter invited four journalists to his home to give his own agonised account of his family’s private turmoil — an unprecedented display from a man renowned for an icy demeanour.
The Robinsons neglected to mention the nub of the BBC report: That Iris’s lover, 39 years her junior, had received third-party cash from her that should have been disclosed to parliament.
Father’s friend
The BBC interviewed the former boyfriend, Kirk McCambley, now 21, who had a relationship with Iris in 2008 that lasted several months. She had been friends with the boy’s father, who died earlier that year.
“She looked out for me to make sure I was OK,” McCambley said.
He said Iris gave him two checks for £25,000 each, but then asked him for £5,000 back, possibly to donate to the evangelical Protestant church she attends.
The BBC said Peter was aware of the financial deal — which should have been reported to British parliamentary standards authorities in both Belfast and London. Peter Robinson denies having known about the deal.
Go to comment
Comment on Governments have between the 4th and the 8th of January to save the entire political process…
on 2 January 2010 at 3:42 am
as somone who is now baed in the middle east. its really strange to see this bickering between christian based tribes. what exactly have the disputes got to do with achieving something? what is each side trying to achieve? is it just trying to stop the other team? it really does seem to be a world within a world if this site to be taken as what is important in Northern Irish peoples minds. very strange…
do people in NI not realise that nothing is going to change or come to an end because of what they think? they are actually living in some kind of make believe world. try watching BBC World or CNN News !!!!
Go to comment
Comment on Parades: “political expediency would take precedence over valid human rights concerns…”
on 30 October 2009 at 2:28 am
when will the sad bastards in NI realise that it doesnt matter what religion someone is… i haven’t read slugger in months, but a quick scan of the threads shows some sort of stone age type mentality about people in NI.
utterly utterly embarrassing for those of us that have made a life for ourselves in other countries to read the same old backward nonsense of the morons back home….
Go to comment
Comment on Does Northern Ireland exist in the Dublin newsroom?
on 3 September 2009 at 12:14 am
lol sammy
try and imagine that London is a good republican village in a gaeltacht area ‘down south’ then im sure you wont have a problem with saying Londonderry 
Go to comment
Comment on Does Northern Ireland exist in the Dublin newsroom?
on 2 September 2009 at 10:44 pm
the old ‘not saying the proper term for things’ is what i would call the old fashioned ‘being biter’, either to be more nationalist or more unionist. this is fading away as this sort of thing becomes more ridiculous over time.
people from Northern Ireland referring to themselves as Northern Irish is entirely accurate and follows standard worldwide naming conventions. after a process of normalisation you would expect to end up with something along the lines of worldwide norms.
there does seem to be an element, mostly in Northern Ireland, that seem to be stuck in old fashioned ‘biter’ language. its as if they think that using the proper term ‘Northern Ireland’ or referring to themselves as ‘Irish’ (geographical not nationality), will cause a complete collapse of who they are and what they are about, or something as dramatic as that..
On political TV panel discussions, have you ever seen anything more ridiculous as a fast paced debate where one or two people are trying their best to ‘not say Northern Ireland’? it often seems as if they have to concentrate hard to avoid letting a ‘Northern Ireland’ slip out!
i find observing the lengths some people go to ‘not say Northern Ireland’ to be extremely amusing. Check out slugger for starters
the one that makes me cringe with embarrassment (by association) the most is where someone from Northern Ireland is on TV saying they arent Irish. i saw Nelson McCausland doing this once, totally embarrassed us all…
as for the ROI being called Ireland. i think calling a country the same name as the island it is on when it only covers part of the island is pretty stupid. they should have been forced to use a different title that included the word ‘Ireland’ somewhere. a bit like how those sensible Northern folk named their state Northern Ireland when they set it up..
as for euro/euros, in english i think the correct plural is with an s on the end? if those mainlanders want to say euro then thats up to them, we should be preserving our own localised language. if we dont, then the next thing you know you’ll be putting the euro symbol at the end and using a ‘,’ instead of a ‘.’ !!! if they dont understand us then they should have their state hire an interrupter for them and have all official documents printed in our language aswell as their own!!!
Go to comment
Comment on 1911 census online
on 31 August 2009 at 1:28 am
“18.“The census also records an individual’s ability to read or write and ability to speak the Irish language, and whether deaf, dumb, blind, idiot, imbecile or lunatic”.”
i think i could probably recognise a lunatic if i saw one, but how would you decide if someone is an idiot or just an imbecile? which is worse? !!
imagine someone in your house ticking either of those 3 boxes beside your name??
are there any idiots, imbeciles or lunatics in the families of our politicians???
Go to comment
Comment on NI Human Rights Bill in the doldrums
on 30 August 2009 at 10:26 pm
dont pack your case just yet WT. everyone knows that there is no need for any more rights in NI. the absolute guff that seems to have been talked at this meeting would seem to confirm this.
Go to comment
Comment on A Prayer for Ted Kennedy
on 30 August 2009 at 9:43 am
gragoir, have a day off will ya !
Go to comment
Comment on When talk isn’t cheap…
on 28 August 2009 at 2:32 pm
fin, maybe ruling classes were a factor 100s of years ago. but the reason most countries learn english today is because its the language the world communicates in.
its a strange contrast where the rest of the world wants to learn english, but in the english speaking british isles, there are people who want to revive ancient languages, and then insist on communicating in them…
i dunno..
Go to comment