Ireland
Obama strikes a note of realism in making a cautious appeal to open a gate in the peace walls before tearing them down
Tweet While it causes a thrill to see Obama in town, lockdown bloated security hassle and all, visits by presidents, prime ministers and even popes are now subject to the law of diminishing returns. Timed to deliver a powerful boost the fledgling peace process in 1995, Bill Clinton’s impact at the City Hall was bound to [...] more »
G8 Summit: “Gardaí will place a particular emphasis on securing the Border…”
Tweet According to the Northern Ireland Finance Minister, the DUP’s Sammy Wilson, the NI Executive will face a bill of £6 million from the £60 million total cost of hosting the G8 Summit in Fermanagh on June 17th and 18th – the UK Treasury is expected to provide the rest of the funds required. But, as the [...] more »
“still much to be done in those communities that have not previously, or only partially, engaged in peace building and reconciliation activities…”
Tweet The Irish Times reports on, what would appear to be, the International Fund for Ireland’s (IFI) response to the Northern Ireland First and deputy First Ministers bullshit distraction about ”Building a United Community”. From the Irish Times report “The community transformation strategy recognises the new reality on the ground and looks to support communities that are still [...] more »
Harry Fitzsimons arrested in Senegal
Tweet As the BBC reports A west Belfast man has been arrested in Senegal in west Africa. It is understood Harry Fitzsimons was detained in the capital Dakar last month. Earlier this year Italian police issued an arrest warrant for Mr Fitzsimons in connection with an alleged mafia money-laundering operation in Calabria in Italy. The [...] more »
ODI: Ireland v Pakistan
Tweet A four from the last ball of the game by Kevin O’Brien saw Ireland secure a draw in Thursday’s rain affected One-Day International against Pakistan [Duckworth-Lewis applied]. Ireland’s 275 for 5 included 103 runs from 107 balls by Paul “that kid is a freak” Stirling. Going into today’s second ODI in the two game series, Ireland were confident of an upset [...] more »
Flaws in Enda Kenny’s case on abortion exposed as the hierarchy brings out the ex factor
Tweet The next Catholic primate of Ireland Archbishop Eamon Martin has told the Sunday Times( £ ) “You cannot regard yourself as a person of faith and support abortion,” Martin said in an interview with The Sunday Times. “You cannot believe you are with your church and directly help someone to procure an abortion. This [...] more »
“during the Derry visit, Martin McGuinness and Peter Robinson were nowhere to be seen, surely mindful of their upcoming trade mission to China.”
Tweet According to an Irish News report today …OFMDFM has refuted any suggestion that the Stormont leaders snubbed the Dalai Lama when he visited Derry last month. A spokesperson for OFMDFM said the ministers were unable to attend “due to prior diary commitments”. Which is fine… After all, “diary pressures” was the same excuse Tony Blair [...] more »
Irish Justice Minister: “a tribute to how far we have come as a society”
Tweet As promised by the Irish Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter, in June last year, legislation has been passed by Dáil and Seanad providing for the granting of an amnesty and apology for the way the Irish State treated members of its Defence Forces who left to join the Allied Forces during World War II. I’ve noted previously the historical [...] more »
Celebrated in London, Sam Thompson’s “Over the Bridge” is as powerful today as ever
Tweet Last Sunday the great James Ellis, still rockin’ at 82, poet, translator and household name in the 1960s and 70s as Bert Lynch in the gritty TV cops series Z Cars, saluted the cast of the London revival of the late Sam Thompson’s prophetic shipyard play Over the Bridge, just after the performance . Jimmy had special [...] more »
Canning pleads guilty on 2011 Easter Monday charges
Tweet The BBC has a report on the on-going trial of one of the three Londonderry men charged, along with Marian Price, in relation to a 32 County Sovereignty Movement Easter Monday parade in the city in 2011 – the charge is of managing a meeting in support of a proscribed organisation, the IRA. And we [...] more »
No parallels with Ireland as a pro-union strategy in Scotland begins to emerge at last
Tweet There were risks in sending a posh English boy like George Osborne to Scotland to warn that it might be no doddle for an independent Scotland to continue using sterling as its currency. The move might yet backfire among thrawn Scots if the English try to put the frighteners on them. Like pointing out [...] more »
“the British Government, and the British State, no longer claim jurisdiction over this part of the island”
Tweet So claimed Sinn Féin’s Alex Maskey, MLA, in his recent appearance on UTV Live. Here’s the quote again. The fundamental difference between before the Good Friday Agreement and after the Good Friday Agreement is that the British Government, and the British State, no longer claim jurisdiction over this part of the island. That’s very very [...] more »
“But we’re still part of the UK…”
Tweet The DUP’s Jeffrey Donaldson, MP, and Sinn Féin’s Alex Maskey, MLA, appeared separately on UTV Live this evening to give their thoughts on the 15th anniversary of the 1998 Agreement. Apparently Alex Maskey hadn’t arrived at the studio in time for the first segment… Whether by accident, or design, it was left to presenter Seamus [...] more »
Theresa Villiers: “our economic package will be closely linked to, and conditional on real progress by the executive…”
Tweet The Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers, was in west Belfast today on the 15th anniversary of the Belfast Agreement. Here’s a couple of lines from her press statement The Agreement called for ‘reconciliation, tolerance, and mutual trust’ and as I’ve travelled around Northern Ireland, I’ve seen many fantastic initiatives that are bringing different [...] more »
Margaret Thatcher is like Alex Ferguson…
Tweet I don’t intend to comment on the putative legacy of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher [Too early to say? - Ed] Perhaps. And Mick has it covered… But I will point to Tom Chivers’ observations on some of the more, erm, extreme reactions. My own hypothesis, and it’s only a hypothesis, is that she’s hated by [...] more »
A5 ruling: “They should not be left in any doubt about what may or may not occur…”
Tweet The Northern Ireland Department for Regional Development have 7 days to appeal the Belfast High Court ruling issued today quashing the decision to go ahead with the controversial A5 £330m dual carriageway project. As the BBC reports Following the verdict, lawyers for the department sought to have the court order put on hold. They wanted time to meet a [...] more »
Theresa Villiers: “I’m extremely pleased that we were able to answer the Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill’s request for a military helicopter…”
Tweet Following a request yesterday from the Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister, Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill, to the Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers, for “urgent access to helicopter support“, an RAF Chinook flew from its Hampshire base today to airlift supplies in order ”to get food on the ground for stranded animals“. [It's just "a transport helicopter"! [...] more »
“unless it’s because politicians in Northern Ireland want to be able to sue newspapers more readily…”
Tweet Some interesting added detail in the News Letter report following up on the story of the Northern Ireland Executive’s failure to consent to the Defamation Bill going through the UK Parliament. To begin with, it’s claimed that it wasn’t the Executive after all… Last Wednesday, the News Letter revealed that the Defamation Bill – [...] more »
The growth of Digital Media between two Papacies…
Tweet Could not be better shown than these two photos (a mock up by Sarah Price here). Who is not online these days? This is also one of the reasons the gap between reality and perception is going to be so hard to reconcile. The Catholic Church is only the most prominent, traditional and self [...] more »
Dublin High Court grants CAB €600,000 judgement against convicted Provisional IRA man
Tweet Back in 2010, in an update on convictions resulting from Operation Phoenix – “Northern Bank robbery – redux” - I noted. Then-30-year-old Don Bullman was arrested at Heuston Station in Dublin in February 2005 with a red Daz washing powder box containing more than €94,000. Bullman was described in the 2005 report noted earlier as “a chef and fundraiser [...] more »
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Books
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Against the use and promotion of ‘hate speech’…
Tweet Of all the reasons to write a book this one’s got to the most incongruous: i.e. the receipt of an email saying “YOU ARE A TOTALITARIAN ASSHOLE”. Nice piece from John Paul Stevens in the New York Review of Books, in which he reviews Jeffery Waldron’s theses that freedom of speech should be tempered [...] read our review »
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Ian O’Riordan’s Miles to Run: An invitation to madness?
Tweet Ireland is in the middle of a boom – a running boom. Chances are, even if you have never run a step yourself (apart from some painful P.E. classes many moons ago), someone you know has taken up running over the last little while. Road races in Northern Ireland and in the Republic have [...] read our review »
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Debating the Churches’ Role in the Peace in Northern Ireland
Tweet This morning’s Sunday Sequence featured a substantial debate (about 35 minutes into the recorded programme) on a new book,Religion, Civil Society and Peace in Northern Ireland (Oxford University Press 2011), written by sociologists John Brewer, Gareth Higgins and Francis Teeney. The debate was framed in an opening vignette by presenter William Crawley in uncompromising [...] read our review »
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