Slugger O'Toole

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Latest comments from PaulT (see all)

PaulT has commented 401 times (44 in the last month).

1. Comment on The McGeough case raises worrying questions about the peace process. The SDLP are right to raise them
   on 24 May 2012 at 3:01 pm

   “The proverbial dogs in the streets know – or thought they know – that paramilitaries suspected of terrorist crimes committed before 1998 would be left alone. And nearly everything that has happened since that date confirms that view.”

   Really not sure about that statement

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2. Comment on L’ (middle-aged) enfant terrible of the UUP given his cards by new party captain…
   on 24 May 2012 at 1:20 pm

   Is he still Asst Grand Master, Wiki says yes, Newsletter says NO, think that prob makes a difference.

   The OO wesite says the current ones are Mr. Raymond Spiers and Mr David Mahon

   Still seems a bit harsh to expell him for an interview, esp compared to FF and O’Cuiv

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3. Comment on Masterplan for Girdwood: “back to the sectarian drawing board…”
   on 23 May 2012 at 3:36 pm

   Houses! For fenians! on the site of the UVF Social Club, that’s got to be progress.

   http://www.thedetail.tv/issues/20/udr-girdwood-story/british-army-covered-up-udr-units-links-to-uvf

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4. Comment on “I think it might be part of a wider fraud organised by certain political elements…”
   on 22 May 2012 at 3:45 pm

   Get the feeling they might mean that other republican party Pete, afterall it looks like he was set up by a crowd of builders who then legged it abroad.

   Probably hatched the plan in a tent at the Galway races

   http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0330/1224314098255.html

   “Mr Owens said it had been suggested that Floyd was an innocent abroad, “but from beginning to end he is a person who was acting with full knowledge”.

   He added: “He was not some Forrest Gump of the building contracting trade. He was a full participant knowing full well what he was at in relation to each of these things.”

   However, in his closing speech, defence counsel Anthony Sammon said his client was in court “as a sacrificial lamb to show that the Revenue is doing its job”.

   Mr Sammon said Floyd was 22 at the time of the alleged offences, when he was “targeted by cunning and manipulative elements and used and abused”.

   He said the court had heard that other builders involved had left the country and he asked: “Who is here with all of the mess in his life but the unfortunate Derek Floyd?”

   He added: “When a person ends up as the only person who has been brought to book and when you know there are a lot of other persons involved and they have not been brought to book, it does lead to this: doesn’t the very fact that he is so evidentially exposed in terms of the paper trails – doesn’t that speak volumes in terms of the man’s naivety, gullibility and vulnerability to being exploited in this way?”

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5. Comment on Education Minister refuses to provide colleagues with a breakdown of £2 Billion of funding for schools…
   on 22 May 2012 at 12:39 pm

   Well Cynic as they found out in the middle east you can rent an Afghan but you can’t buy one.

   Think, something may have slipped out there with the term ‘belonging’ sez it all really, perhaps it explains the desire to be ‘part’ of the Irish nation instead, that whole ‘belonging’ and ownership thing went out the window mid 20th century (have you kept an old map with all the pink bits, just for the memories)

   Incidently I see Sammy is off on his third (force!) solo run, with a desire to run policing in Larne. But still his Party stay silence, he’s become the Theresa May of Stormont,

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6. Comment on Education Minister refuses to provide colleagues with a breakdown of £2 Billion of funding for schools…
   on 21 May 2012 at 10:07 pm

   “He has to be taken on trust.”

   Yes Mick, so has Sammy, and every other minister in any assembly or government.

   OR

   is it cos he’s a fenian

   OR

   Poor arguement Mick, you confirm my suggestion that Sammy isn’t up to the job, if he doesn’t know his remit or feels he needs extra powers to fulfil his remit he shouldn’t be in the job. Read what you write, he’s in the hot seat, so why is he worried about the bloke sitting next to him. What O’Dowd does is a minor part of Sammy’s responsibility, is Sammy so on top of his job he can afford to lend a hand or is he looking for a distraction.

   I think there’s a conflict coming in the DUP before the next election because I think the sums don’t look great, TBH I think SF’s success in the South is eating away at a few DUP people, so its not just market share, its a feeling of inferiority

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7. Comment on Education Minister refuses to provide colleagues with a breakdown of £2 Billion of funding for schools…
   on 21 May 2012 at 4:17 pm

   But there is transparency Mick, the % was worth mentioning cos it was so small, my other point regarding the Education Committee is still valid, read the minutes, they delve everywhere, Sammy used to chair the committee, he knows they scrutinise the department, so he can only want to have control over allocation and spend, hence O’Dowd’s pointed comments.

   It looks more like a half-arse attempt at aping Gordon Brown’s stalinist approach. and wanting control over everything.

   Of course, Brown’s approach was because he wanted the top job, I think this is more Sammy smarting from O’Dowd making him look ineffective and going overboard making himself look both ineffective and reactive.

   Alternative Answer

   “there are an awful lot of decisions to be made over the size of the school estate in the next few years.”

   so SF don’t duck the big jobs then?

   Of course similar big decisions over at Culture as well, with commerations etc

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8. Comment on Grammar schools and social mobility: a Northern Ireland contribution to the debate
   on 21 May 2012 at 2:45 pm

   “Overall, the province easily outperforms England: 88.5 per cent of Northern Irish pupils get three A-levels, compared with 82 per cent of English ones.”

   if this is the evidence for the arguement, it’s pants. You can not do a rational comparison of two groups when one is 1.8million and the other is 60+ million,

   Not to mention omitting faith schools which are a sizable % in cities and in NI, esp as faith schools tend to be regarded as better than state schools and many on a par with grammar schools.

   So really factor all that in and I can’t see any difference between having Grammar schools or not.

   But, more than happy for them to be allowed as long as they are self funded and taxed like any other company and not like Eton is at the moment ie a tax free charity.

   But of course this is Peter Robinsons crusade, wonder what he thinks!

   BTW, you do know that ICM Poll is over two years out of date

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9. Comment on Willie Flags Up An Interesting Question
   on 21 May 2012 at 2:20 pm

   Willie seemed to cope with his emotional distress while the European funding was in full flow, only rediscovering it now all hope of turning the tap back on is gone as the money has been recycled into the OO.

   Willie is back on the road, starting from scratch again, lets see if his friends in political circles will defend him now that he’s no longer fronting an organisation with £1,000,000 of taxpayers money in the bank.

   Granted the taxpayers are now funding the OO to the same amount but they like Willie did while the money flowed, seem to be playing the game, I’m predicting a very peaceful 12th, glorious!

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10. Comment on Education Minister refuses to provide colleagues with a breakdown of £2 Billion of funding for schools…
    on 21 May 2012 at 11:32 am

    which as its over 3 years is actually ……….0.012% per annum

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