Slugger O'Toole

Latest comments from Nevin (see all)

Nevin has commented 6,594 times (155 in the last month).

1. Comment on “Sinn Féin in my opinion has been slowly sedated…”
   on 25 May 2012 at 12:44 am

   “It’s what happens when “the guerillas” become “the people in power”…”

   Strange things do indeed happen:

   Conor Murphy said Sinn Fein is getting some interesting visitors to its offices.

   “We find people who have families who have had links to the police and UDR now coming to our offices. Right across all constituencies reports are consistent. And we are attracting a broad number of people who obviously value the service we provide.

   Perhaps Anita is a member of the ‘old school’ and feared the worst when the police came knocking – or was in danger of being de-selected …

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2. Comment on Masterplan for Girdwood: “back to the sectarian drawing board…”
   on 24 May 2012 at 4:33 pm

   “I can’t believe Kelly’s that naive”

   Daniel, naivety doesn’t really come into it. The DUP and SF have a mutual veto so normal rules don’t apply. Any one who thinks otherwise – is being naive.

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3. Comment on Masterplan for Girdwood: “back to the sectarian drawing board…”
   on 24 May 2012 at 2:22 pm

   Daniel, Gudgin’s comments are based on the research carried out by the American academic; they’re merely a summary of Rose’s conclusions.

   London shut Stormont down presumably because the latter lacked the security resources to contain the conflict that flowed from the ‘socialist revolution‘. Dublin had done a runner when it realised that the revolutionary intent was to sweep away the administrations in Dublin as well as Belfast.

   After the worst of the firestorm swept through, various efforts have been made to restore Stormont so that London and Dublin could get on with more important business. Judging by the calibre of many of our MLAs it’s a little bit surprising that an agreement has been reached over the Girdwood site. Presumably it essentially involved some sort of DUP/SF trade-off.

   Various references have been made to the Housing Executive but its internal management problems seem to have attracted relatively little MSM or Slugger attention, certainly nothing like the deep dive coverage of NI Water.

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4. Comment on Masterplan for Girdwood: “back to the sectarian drawing board…”
   on 24 May 2012 at 1:38 pm

   “HE is an eternal standing reproach to unionist corruption of housing”

   Daniel, perhaps you are being swept away in a tide of propaganda …

   From the same link:

   Professor Rose (1968): “…no evidence of systematic discrimination against Catholics. The greatest bias appears to favour Catholics in areas controlled by Catholic councillors.”

   Graham Gudgin: “In other words, Catholics did not get more local authority houses only because they were poorer. At any given level of income Catholics fared distinctly better than Protestants.”

   I can provide various examples of poor governance in Moyle but it would be a mistake to extrapolate my experience to the other council areas – where matters might be better or worse. I can’t give an open and full account because of the impact of developers and paramilitaries.

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5. Comment on SDLP needs a story that makes its opponents more uncomfortable than it does themselves..
   on 24 May 2012 at 1:08 pm

   “It’s a ‘campaigning enthusiasm’ of one MLA which appears to have taken root at party leadership level.”

   I don’t view it as that and neither seemingly does Pat Ramsey. Pat is concerned about the growing impact of republican dissidents in Derry and, as can be seen from the highlighted text, is worried that the dissidents will take advantage of the prison issues. Both he and MP Mark Durkan have also condemned vigilantism in the city.

   A browse through the SDLP news archive will show that the party is raising and possibly playing a major role in a whole range of issues – including hospitals and railways; it’s certainly not a one-trick pony.

   From a democratic perspective I’m more concerned about the issues it leverages away from the public gaze through unaccountable structures such as the BIIB Joint Secretariat.

   At a local level in places such as Moyle it needs the support of unionist parties to promote its particular agenda yet it doesn’t seem to have grasped that salient fact. Ditto the unionist parties.

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6. Comment on SDLP needs a story that makes its opponents more uncomfortable than it does themselves..
   on 23 May 2012 at 10:37 pm

   “there no longer appears to be any reference to the Petition to free Gerry McGeough”

   I did a ‘mcgeough’ search on the SDLP website and there’s still this photo [jpg file] and this Pat Ramsey press release on 21 May 2012:

   Mr Ramsey said: “The SDLP is strongly opposed to the political views held by Marian Price and Gerry McGeough, but we are extremely concerned about the dilution of human and civil rights in each of their cases and are worried that this may be exploited by dissidents in their campaign of terror.

   “The meeting today with Mr Paterson was both robust and challenging. In what was, at times, a heated exchange, we sought to question the Secretary of State about the rationale for the continued detention of Marian Price. We also expressed concern about the impact of incarceration on her physical and mental health and due process in this case.

   “Additionally we presented the NIO with a petition calling for Gerry McGeough’s release, though Mr Paterson could not accept this in person due to an on-going legal review.

   “I will continue to work towards the release of Marian Price and Gerry McGeough.”

   Earlier on 16 April 2012:

   SDLP Foyle MLA Pat Ramsey has revealed that after intensive discussions with the [NI] Department of Justice, members of the Oireachtas now have the same rights to access prisoners [in NI] as any other elected representatives on the island, after he secured the amending of Prison Standing Orders.

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7. Comment on Masterplan for Girdwood: “back to the sectarian drawing board…”
   on 23 May 2012 at 9:14 pm

   “fomenting trouble at NICRA marches”

   No jumping needed, Daniel, just a small correction!

   The purpose of the NICRA marches was to foment trouble. Liam O Comain has described how John Hume wouldn’t touch NICRA and Desmond Greaves was an important influence on those republicans of various hues who used/abused rights issues to advance the UI cause. The Paisleyites were more than willing to oblige.

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8. Comment on Masterplan for Girdwood: “back to the sectarian drawing board…”
   on 23 May 2012 at 6:25 pm

   “DUP as not having changed in 45 years”

   Daniel, the DUP wasn’t formed until 1971, one year after the formation of the SDLP.

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9. Comment on Masterplan for Girdwood: “back to the sectarian drawing board…”
   on 23 May 2012 at 3:29 pm

   “back to the sectarian drawing board…”

   Back? I work from the premise that we haven’t left and won’t be leaving any time soon. The decade of anniversaries is more likely to increase the pressure at interfaces than to reduce it.

   North Belfast is a patchwork of small communities with opposing national aspirations and poorish economic prospects; it’s little wonder that there has been so much trauma there during the course of the past five or more generations, particularly the Troubles.

   It’s good that some sort of deal has been done – perhaps facilitated by the prospect of losing £10m(?) EU funding. Compromises can be messy but they’re better than no decisions – or full blown conflict.

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10. Comment on Stormont not so keen on transparency or the FOI Act…
    on 23 May 2012 at 1:39 pm

    It’s extraordinary what the torch can reveal – when MLAs turn it on: Harbourgate – cover-up and fraud?

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