Profile for Turgon
Latest posts from Turgon (see all)
Turgon has posted 705 times (1 in the last month).
2013 elections: the alienation of Freelander man
Tweet The local election results in England and Wales (mainly rural England in actual fact) are now in. They are somewhere between a protest vote with little relevance to the next Westminster elections and a complete sea change in British politics. As ever the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. It does, however, illustrate [...] more »
The abandonment of conservatism in British politics
Tweet The vast majority of the analysis of the Eastleigh byelection has centred round the failure of the Conservative Party and the success of UKIP. Essentially the analysis seems to be that the Conservative Party has not been right wing enough and most of the prescriptions for it have been to move to the right [...] more »
The inequalities of same sex marriage
Tweet Gerry Lynch has had a couple of contributions recently on the subject of extending marriage to homosexual couples. The coalition’s legislation has often been called “Equal Marriage”. Historically the marriage of a man and a woman has been heavily discriminated in favour of by legislation. This has been justified by moral and religious positions, [...] more »
Thoughts on the Flag protests
Tweet The flag protests have now been going on for a month. During that time we have heard assorted apportioning of blame, descriptions of the events as marking a disintegration in loyalism (and by extension then unionism), calls on various people to display “leadership” and much merriment and contempt directed at the flag protest leadership: [...] more »
Anders Behring Breivik: murderer, fascist; and object of derision?
Tweet Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik was found guilty (and sane) last week. There is an excellent article on Breivik and his ultra right ideology by Matthew Feldman on the BBC website. Feldman (a Reader in History at Teeside University) is an expert on fascist ideology and the far right. Feldman notes the “Lone [...] more »
Independent review into children’s congenital heart services
Tweet At the start of this month the Health and Social care Board released a report into paediatric congenital cardiac services in Belfast. The report was by a team of highly respected experts in the field chaired by Professor Sir Ian Kenny. The panel made a number of important conclusions: 3 ii: It is the [...] more »
Thoughts on the Monarchy
Tweet For a unionist to admit to being less than a wholehearted monarchist is often difficult, especially so during the 60th jubilee. Alex Kane, a unionist and open republican, has a very good analysis during which he almost becomes a pragmatic monarchist. It is worth reading in totality but his main argument centres around the [...] more »
Health reforms slowly being revealed
Tweet Slowly, almost painfully so, the health reforms are beginning to be revealed. The Compton Review stated that each of the Health and Social Care Trusts was to bring forward proposals for hospital services by June 2012. It is slightly unclear if that was to be the start or the end of this month: however, [...] more »
The Coalition’s woes: mid term blues or the times they are a changing?
Tweet The backlash to the Labour gains in the council elections seems to be continuing. Some such as William Hague have tired to write the election results off as a typical mid term result (and to be fair although good for Labour they were not a Tory melt down) but others are more concerned. The [...] more »
Last week at Smithwick: nothing to see here
Tweet The revelations last week from the Smithwick Enquiry that Martin McGuinness allegedly authorised the murders of Chief Supt Harry Breen and Supt Bob Buchanan as well as the use of human proxy bombs have made few enough political waves. In most western democratic societies the claim in a judicial setting that the Deputy First [...] more »
Latest comments from Turgon (see all)
Turgon has commented 2,251 times (6 in the last month).
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Books
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Belfast 400: People, Place and History (Sean Connolly, editor)
Tweet Ten days ago I finished reading Belfast 400: People, Place and History, a book published to mark the four hundredth anniversary of the city’s charter. In the light of last week’s reawakened community tensions and violence, it is interesting to look back at the roots of the city and its journey into the twenty [...] read our review »
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Learning from 1798?: Northern Ireland’s Upcoming Decade of Commemorations
Tweet Last year, the Lilliput Press released a new extended edition of Tom Dunne’s Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize winning book, Rebellions: Memoir, Memory and 1798. First published in 2004, Dunne’s book provoked considerable controversy with its critique of the ‘commemorationist’ history that Dunne believed dominated the 1998 commemorations of the 1798 Rebellion. The book blasted the [...] read our review » -
What Ireland did right (and what it needs to do)…
Tweet It is difficult to believe now that one country recently sent 19 delegations to Ireland to study how well our economy was managed. The revelation that our model of economic management featured positively in political and economic discussion in countries including Estonia, Greece and Scotland may also come as a surprise. As we survey [...] read our review »
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Comment on 2013 elections: the alienation of Freelander man
on 5 May 2013 at 8:25 pm
Malcolm,
I am gald you have accepted that I did not plagarise Rawnsley. I am also gald you accept that I did not accuse him of plagarising me. Thank you
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Comment on 2013 elections: the alienation of Freelander man
on 5 May 2013 at 7:20 pm
Malcolm,
You accused me of plagarism. I have demonstrated that that is impossible as I posted my article prior to the publication of the article you claim I plagarised.
I want you to accept that it is impossible for me to have “borrowed” anything from Rawnsley’s piece seeing as it was published after I posted my blog. Claiming that I took from Rawnsley’s article without attribution is defamatory.
Furthermore I have not now accused Rawnsley of “borrowing” from my piece. That is simply untrue.
Separately I have not claimed this was a sea change election. I noted at the top that it might be a sea change or irrelevant and the truth was likely to be somewhere in the middle. Please try to stop putting words into my mouth.
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Comment on 2013 elections: the alienation of Freelander man
on 5 May 2013 at 5:07 pm
malcolm Redfellow,
“This discussion looks like an elongated, and less well-composed version of Andrew Rawnsley’s piece in today’s [London edition] Observer.
I think I even recognise some “borrowings”.”
You may like Rawnsley’s piece better: that is fine. However, I always attribute anything I use of someone else’s. I take an accusation of plagarism very seriously. Now which bits did I plagarise: put up or shut up.
Incidenally since I posted my blog at 4.20pm BST (16:20) and Andrew Rawnsley posted his at 20:48 on the same day (ie afterwards) you are wrong Malcolm. Your accusation is either a mistake or a defamatory lie.
I await a full retraction and an apology though you are of course free to say that you prefer Rawnsley’s piece.
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Comment on 2013 elections: the alienation of Freelander man
on 4 May 2013 at 7:19 pm
Alanbrooke,
“They have more in common with each other than with their electorate.”
Very true. I think the peasants revolt is an excellent term and one I will steal as I mercilessly stole letsgetalongerists from fitzjameshorse 1745. I think the peasants revolt may well fail as the peasants tend to come from differing viewpoints and are likely to say “a plague on all your houses” without being willing / able to set up an alternative. Still it makes life more interesting.
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Comment on 2013 elections: the alienation of Freelander man
on 4 May 2013 at 6:42 pm
Alanbrooke,
Sorry you are (sort of) wrong on that one. Blaenau Gwent has actually elected independents when Labour tried an all woman short list. You are more accurate on Merthyr. Then again exactly the same could be said of Louth and its sucessor Louth and Horncastle.
Many seats are stable and I suspect few of the Tory shires will fall to UKIP at the general election. What is relevant, however, is that it is not impossible to have a socially somewhat more right wing, economically more left wing position and gain electoral success. If one looks at the surveys done of opinion in the UK that is not an uncommon view. It is also one which is not being put forward to any great extent by the mainstream parties.
In actual fact Farage himself seems surprisingly close to such a position on some issues. That may very well be simple populaism though as I said before in a blog (largely from John Harris in the Guardian) there is a lack of understanding of true conservatism in the UK’s political parties.
I sometimes wonder if this is because of the obsession with new, progressive etc. and concepts such as that. The idea of conserving and modernising the old when it is useful along with ditching the old when appropriate is a difficult concept to get across. Also of course knowing which old things it would be useful to save is difficult. Back to Dr. Beeching. Whilst experts do not have a monopoly of wisdom neither does the market.
Incidentally (and I am not trying to get at you) talking about “mindless tribal voting” though I understand what you mean is not that good an idea politically.
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Comment on 2013 elections: the alienation of Freelander man
on 4 May 2013 at 5:56 pm
Alanbrooke,
I was talking about electoral success. Labour in South Wales have exactly that. Yours is an irrelevant tangent about the failures / problems in Wales and Labour’s responsibility. The fact that Labour enjoys such electoral success despite such issues simply proves my point about electoral success which was the purpose of the article.
Your scratching your head simply shows you did not understand the point – or maybe you have head lice – or both.
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Comment on Ex- Combatants, Religion and Peace in Northern Ireland: Book Review
on 7 March 2013 at 2:25 pm
A most interesting book by the sound of it Gladys. It fits into the standard narrative of the churches should have done more. It also seems to proceed from an analysis of religion which stresses the outward social manifestation of religion in suggesting that large institutional organised churches should be doing something collectively.
Clearly the Roman Catholic church is by its nature hierarchical and the CoI is somewhat similar if less so. However, the CoI and even more so the other Protestant denominations are dominated by the concept of the priesthood of all believers and are much less hierarchical. The Presbyterian Church has absolutely no hierarchy beyond the elders (the moderator is emphatically not the leader of the church); the Methodists have no leader beyond the minister.
As such individual churches of a given denomination (or non organised denominations which are increasingly common) will have outreach to help individual ex-terrorists or any other ex criminals but will not want to engage in over arching quasi political work.
I know one elder in my church who repeatedly visited one of the most notorious loyalist murderers and argued incessantly with him about the wickedness of his actions and his need to repent. I know another church member who has tried to help ex terrorists with employment etc.
That issue of repentance seems a problem to some of those interviewed according to your review. The simple fact is that all practically Protestant denominations prioritise the need to repent as a prerequisite for proper forgiveness by God (I am pretty sure the RC position is similar).
However, for criminals to complain that people want them to turn away from and accept the wrongness of their actions (what repentance actually is) is not always likely. Many criminals want forgiven without the need to recognise the full enormity of what they have done. In taht contexxt their complaints about the churches are unsurprising and one is filled with little sympathy for them.
The suggestion that “others argued that churches ‘must share some of the responsibility for
creating the abnormal social conditions out of which violence grew.’” is entirely unsurprising. Criminals are remarkably good (as are all of us at times) at trying to shift the blame for wrong actions (in the terrorists case utterly wicked actions) to others.
The suggestion which rings most true seems the suggestion that “those who became more devout (Catholic) or became born-again
(Protestant) during prison, this more often led them to prioritise
‘personal piety’ rather than working for peace. “ I know a few ex terrorists who now have become “saved” or whatever. They spend their time living out their Christian faith and studiously avoid all forms of politics, (and would regard “the peace process” as a form of politics) as politics helped lead them into wickedness so they now feel they should stay out of it.
I am almost certain that none of the reformed terrorists I know or know of would have been involved in this work. The people I know and know of want to stay out of such things. That somewhat flaws these sort of research endeavours and the fact that only 29 people were involved in the research makes its generalisability doubtful.
That small number of people does not invalidate the research. It does, however, rather invalidate the claim that this research gives any evidence at all that the churches should have done anything different to what they did or that they should now be doing anything different.
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Comment on Mid Ulster by election: Reassuringly boring and predictable…
on 6 March 2013 at 4:41 pm
DR is of course correct. The prospect of unionists lending their votes to the SDLP in Mid Ulster is remote: there is no history of it and in view of the recent positions the SDLP has adopted on a range of issues it is highly unlikely.
I do not know about this election but I well remember that most of the pressure to have an agreed candidate for FST at the last general election came from the grass roots unionist community: mainly non party member unionists. I suspect there may have been similar pressure this time: again DR might be well placed to comment. Furthermore the selection of Molloy by Sinn Fein is likely to have increased the calls for a unity candidate. Suggesting that Molloy’s candidature would have increased unionist votes lent to the SDLP is naive in the extreme.
The only plausible scenario whereby any significant lending of unionist votes to the SDLP would have been likely would have been if no unionist candidate (and possibly even no Alliance candidate) had stood. That would clearly have been a non starter, would have handed SF a huge propaganda victory and damaged the SDLP still further.
As an aside I have no time for Frank Maguire’s politics (though he died when I was 10) but the attack above on him is really quite unfair and completely irrelevant to the discussion.
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Comment on Nordie OUTRAGE: Our speciality…
on 5 March 2013 at 10:35 pm
Actually this is a common problem in the automobile industry. Since cars are now sold internationally companies spend considerable time and energy trying to ensure car names are not insults, swear words or cause offence in assorted languages or cultures. Exactly the same problem occurs for the pharmaceutical industry.
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Comment on Making plans for Mid-Ulster, never mind plans for Nigel
on 4 March 2013 at 4:45 pm
Alan,
Indeed I never suggested your comment was untrue. However, Mr. Lutton’s main connection to the Troubles is that he has been involved in victims’ groups and his father was murdered by terrorists. The fact that his cousin was a terrorist is less relevant. Indeed describing Mr. Lutton in the terms you used, although accurate, is less accurate and less relevant than calling him a victim, or saying that his father was murdered etc.
It would be exactly analogous to calling Geraldine Finucane the sister in law of an IRA terrorist. That would be a true statement but also somewhat disingenuous. Of much more relevance is the fact that she is the widow of a solicitor murdered by loyalist terrorists.
Describing Mr. Lutton’s father’s murder as a “tragedy in the candidate’s close family” is a further example of this. A better and indeed more accurate description would be to say that his father was murdered by the IRA, though if you feel the term murder is biased in terms of Mr. Lutton’s death (I cannot see how you could / would want to say that but if you did) you could say killed by the IRA. Either way although your comment about Nigel Lutton may be accurate it is also incomplete to the point of appearing somewhat disingenuous.
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