flags
Matt Baggott on flag protests, Boston tapes, G8 summit, drones & social media
Tweet It’s all looking a bit fraught. We need a recovery plan. The words of the Chief Constable Matt Baggott describing the fortunes of his football club rather than the PSNI’s response to the flags crisis. Though the words must echo what went through the PSNI senior officers’ minds when the flags crisis didn’t abate [...] more »
What does the Irish flag mean to you?
Tweet So, this is an experiment. I’m going to introduce a special rule for commenting on the thread below. There’ll be no sanctions for those breaking them (unless you’re really bad!!), but I will take those comments off when I get back into Slugger Central later on today. The rule is you can only say [...] more »
Flags – Can we now have a sensible debate?
Tweet Last night at Platform for Change‘s Flags – Can we now have a sensible conversation? event, 120 or more people crammed into a room in the Holiday Inn to hear from nine local political representatives and to pose their questions. The two hour event, chaired by Robin Wilson, started with each panellist being given [...] more »
Basil McCrea: we are increasingly looking at a policing response that does more than just contain the situation
Tweet Lagan Valley MLA Basil McCrea was interviewed on his local community radio station Lisburn’s 98FM today. Presenters of the weekly On The Record politics show – David McCann and Kerri Dunn – quizzed the whip-less politician about his previous statements on flag, the state of his party and his political future. listen to ‘Lagan [...] more »
Basil McCrea: “I have stayed with the party through thick and thin, and I will continue do so …”
Tweet A long-standing family committment meant that Basil McCrea was unavailable for today’s scheduled UUP disciplinary hearing. But while his party have been relatively quiet over the past 24-48 hours as flag protests have resurged, the Lagan Valley MLA has issued a statement tonight. When I joined the UUP in late 2004 some were surprised [...] more »
“it is a straight-forward politically motivated attempt to undermine the DUP as the voice of unionism”
Tweet And there’s more … Sadly, more violence around tonight’s “peaceful protests” in East Belfast, another trip out for the PSNI water cannons, and a further statement from the constituency’s MLA and DUP leader Peter Robinson. The tone has changed, the motives of the protest organisers are being attacked, and clear water is being put [...] more »
“Leaders welcomed the opportunity to meet and engage in a discussion…”
Tweet According to the BBC report, after a “meeting at Stormont Castle, which began at 0930 GMT and lasted almost eight hours, [and] was supposed to take place last week but was cancelled after some parties refused to attend”, “The leaders of Northern Ireland’s five main parties have reaffirmed their commitment to the rule of [...] more »
The danger of an impotent Assembly
Tweet The litany of ritual condemnation in yesterday’s Assembly debate could have been spoken any time during direct rule. There is no hint here of a responsible government trying to get on top of events. Just a wringing of hands in an Assembly, impotent, riddled with its own contradictions, waiting for the trouble to burn itself [...] more »
No ‘mere anarchy’, but Northern Ireland’s weakened ‘centre’ is hardly fit for purpose…
Tweet The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. Second Coming – WB Yeats Okay, I do get the flag stuff. As Unionists point out, it is perfectly proper to fly the flag of the jurisdiction we have all, north and south, consented to be part of until there’s sufficient [...] more »
Who really leads the DUP..?
Tweet “THERE is new political space developing in Northern Ireland,” Peter Robinson told the South Antrim DUP at the weekend. “It is the DUP’s aim that unionism will own it and lead it.” But it can’t. Tonight, “the new political space” will be seen at the front of the City Hall, where I doubt those [...] more »
Jubilee entices England to re-embrace the symbol (if not the fact) of the United Kingdom?
Tweet As little more than an after thought to Brian’s piece on the utility of a lightly borne monarchy (see also my earlier Audioboo on the same subject), one of the things that has struck me is the sudden emergence of the Union flag as the emblem of choice, particularly in England where the cross [...] more »
POTD – It’s as close or as far away as you want it to be
Tweet St Matthews Chapel Newtownards Rd 3rd July 2011 more »
POTD – Back to porridge
Tweet Tattered flags at Simon Bolivar Park near the commercial port in Port-au-Prince. How time flies. 3 weeks in Haiti and i’m back to a shedload of editing. I took the old advertising adage “You’re better looking at it than for it” to a bit of an extreme. I’m looking forward to going through all [...] more »
Flag wars over St Patrick’s Day in Downpatrick
Tweet UTV are covering the story of the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Downpatrick. For the last 25 years the local council have handed out red and white St. Patrick’s cross flags. Sinn Féin councillor Eamonn Mac Con Midhe has announced that he will be carrying a tricolour during the parade. He stated: “I’ll be [...] more »
Photograph of the Day – Disappearing Orange
Tweet On Sunday i spent the day covering the charity cycle ‘Lap the Lough’ (86 miles clockwise around Lough Neagh). I didn’t make a note of where i took this unfortunately. Anyways another of my bug bears is the flags issue. I think there should be more respect shown and that the flying of these [...] more »
Belfast bonfire builders wipe Council’s eye
Tweet There are many hundreds of bonfires being prepared for the 11th night and one has destroyed a nearby home when it caught light early. Another on Belfast City Hospital property off the Donegal Road has been attracting more publicity The Irish News reported on Tuesday (not online) that this one is now part of [...] more »
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Books
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Robert Kee, hero of journalism and the television history of Irish nationalism
Tweet Slugger should note the passing of Robert Kee, historian, TV and print journalist and RAF bomber pilot, who has died aged 93. In this age of revisionist debate, his TV history series first shown in 1981 and The Green Flag, the written history of Irish nationalism which accompanied it, were well timed and still stand [...] read our review » -
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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Roddy Doyle’s Two Pints: An epic tale of modern Ireland in less than 90 pages..
Tweet Less than 90 pages long, Roddy Doyle’s latest book sounds like a must have… I must admit I have never heard three reviewers so obviously break down in laughter over just one book as on Saturday Review (12.02 in) this weekend. This extract from the Irish Times Review section is all I have to [...] read our review »
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