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socialdemocrat has commented 13 times (0 in the last month).
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Books
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Hearing the Other Voice from the Grave: Why Should we Listen to David Ervine’s Stories?
Ed Moloney’s Voices from the Grave: Two Men’s War in Ireland has received considerable attention in the press and in the public realm since its publication earlier this year. Although the book relates the experiences of the Provisional IRA’s Brendan Hughes and the PUP/UVF’s David Ervine, much of the discussion has focused on Hughes’ stories [...] read our review » -
Help me with the West Wing: Essential viewing or Party Political Broadcast?
Having somehow managed to avoid watching a single episode of the widely praised West Wing TV series I was delighted to discover the entire Box set in my Christmas stocking – and with enough spare time over the holidays to give it a good lash. But with 10 episodes of the first series under my [...] read our review »
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Of the Old North and other Vanished Kingdoms..
I’m currently trawling through Norman Davies’s fabulous new tome – “Vanished Kingdoms” – Five stars in the (London) Telegraph’s review from Ben Wilson: All the nations that have ever lived have left their footsteps in the sand,” writes Norman Davies. “The traces fade with every tide, the echoes grow faint, the images are fractured, the human [...] read our review »
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Comment on Reducing the number of departments by one and missing the opportunity to meet manifesto commitments
on 12 January 2012 at 4:26 pm
The Assembly and Executive Review Committee seems to be a bit of a joke now? Perhaps SF and the DUP can agree next week what to do with Parts III and IV of the Northern Ireland Act so the committee can go for a pint in the Stormont Hotel instead of meeting with the terms of reference set up under St. Andrews…
Carve up much?
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Comment on Department of Employment and Learning goes, but Alliance keep Justice?
on 12 January 2012 at 4:18 pm
apologies for any spelling or grammatical errors… it’s exam time at Queens and the old head is fried.
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Comment on Department of Employment and Learning goes, but Alliance keep Justice?
on 12 January 2012 at 4:17 pm
Would anyone else agree witn me in saying that this “deal” as mentioned in the above article, and let’s not pretend that it is anything other than a duopolistic deal, (1) makes the government structures look like a joke with an entire department being seemingly erased in a day and (2) making a farce of the Assembly and Executive Review Committee who is charged with examining the number of and remit of government departments amongst other areas (and who is to say the DUP and SF won’t make the decisions regarding Parts III and IV of the Northern Ireland Act next week, o wait… they have come to an agreement on the allocation of the Justice portfolio as well, Alliance must be so grateful). Said committee is due to make its report to the SoS in May 2015… Big Owen will be able to read it in its entirety before his finishes his morning crumpet.
This is not power – sharing but rather an abrasive demonstration of power-telling.. an absolute joke. A total carvery.. and not the good type you get in the Glenowen on a Sunday
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Comment on SDLP go to the polls this weekend – a look at the voting process as Attwood becomes the bookies’ favourite #sdlp11
on 2 November 2011 at 5:49 pm
I’m not surprised Attwood has closed on the others. Now, I never expected him to be favourite but there you go. To be fair, I have a friend, who actually supports one of the other candidates but who will freely admit that Attwood has been winning the hustings hands down… maybe paddy power have an insider? Either way, the result of this leadership contest is definitly not a foregone conclusion. A few weeks ago, people might have said that it was between McGlone and McDevitt… it could now be between McDonnell and Attwood.
Any why not? Attwood has proved time and time again that he can deliver in positions of power and with the odds stacked against him. He might not have the charisma of McDevitt but as Eddie McGrady rightly pointed out “charisma does not deliver change”. If i had to choose between a charismatic politician or an intelligent and competant politician, I would definitly choose the latter.
People have attacked him for his electoral decline but they forget two things…
Firstly, the change in electoral boundaries have changed which has impacted negatively on the SDLP.
Secondly, the rise of SF in West Belfast would be unstoppable by any SDLP politcian… just as the Sinn Fein vote has grown in nearly every other constituency where they have actually tried.
We shall see.
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Comment on SDLP leadership readers’ survey: McGlone leads with good show from McDevitt…
on 31 October 2011 at 11:44 am
Fitz,
My thanks go to you resoring an element of balance to 40s claims. People attack Attwood all the time for his electoral performance but people who make this argument are using numbers without any context. People should remember this before they start splaying numbers on the page.
40- I agree that Mcdonnell is a very skilled and driven man. The rest of the party could learn a few things from his performance electorally. However, this man also fell asleep in the house of commons and answered his phone on live television. A good an motivated campaigner, yes. A leader, I’m sorry but I just don’t buy it.
Furthermore, the above wasn’t a pro Attwood post. It was to try and add some balance to this debate. A lot of alasdair and patsy fans use slugger it seems.
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Comment on SDLP leadership readers’ survey: McGlone leads with good show from McDevitt…
on 28 October 2011 at 7:16 pm
He has also apparantly been winning the hustings events.
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Comment on SDLP leadership readers’ survey: McGlone leads with good show from McDevitt…
on 28 October 2011 at 7:15 pm
I have heard from a neutral SDLP delegate, and no, it wasn’t Alex Attwood himself, that Attwood is making up a lot of ground. The Irish News and the Belfast Tele etc are merely speculating about who is leading. Another source has told me that McDonnell has closed the gap on McGlone.
As for Alex Attwood, I think the criticisms so far have been unfair. What the SDLP need now is someone with a bit of bottle!! Someone who has had experience in politics when the going gets tough. To coin Alex’s campaign slogan, someone with “Proven Leadership”. McGlone and McDevitt are unproven in higher positions of power and as for McDonnell, he is just a liability.
I wouldn’t rule Alex Attwood out just yet. Certainly not if the SDLP members snap into a little common sense.
It is worth saying that I am not a party member so I can’t really be sure of these things.
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Comment on Queen’s Visit: Time to move on but not to forget…
on 19 May 2011 at 12:18 pm
Comparing Adams and McGuinness to Michael Collins?
…. ok.
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Comment on Post election, Sinn Fein’s position is (not) like…
on 19 May 2011 at 10:54 am
We should consider amending the legislation to allow for a serious and viable official opposition option. Although I agree with much of what has been said above about the calibre of the Sinn Fein machine, I think it would be interesting to see how SF would perform as the only nationalist party in the executive. I think the the SDLP need to think very carefully about the merits of remaining in the executive. A similair situation for the UUP, although they have many many other problems to sort out first.
Hopefully NI will get to the stage were the electorate rewards performance and competantcy in government. We need a system that allows for an alternative! Official opposition…
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Comment on SDLP play the same Ministerial card expecting a different result?
on 16 May 2011 at 8:58 pm
Mick,
Further to our discussions in an earlier thread, I am going to have to side with Oracle here. This is a lynch mob and if you are trying to argue that this isn’t personal you aren’t doing a terribly good job.
Attwood is by no means the most popular politician around, but he has conviction, ability and substance. I am yet to see a compelling argument for why McGlone should be minister before him. Yes, this is indeed is a piece of politics, proper politics, the “right man for the job” politics. This is a leader putting in the person they think is best for the job rather than bowing to coup d’etat threats from others who wish to destablilize rather than unite.
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