Policing
Chief Constable on NI Media: “they are part of the confidence-building…”
The PSNI Chief Constable, Matt Baggott, has been speaking to the Leveson Inquiry about the Northern Ireland media. From the BBC report Mr Baggott said: “The local media in Northern Ireland have an absolute commitment to the future of the province. “They have a stake in it. And they are part of the confidence-building and they [...] more »
You say RUC AA, I say Police Athletic Association Northern Ireland (or else!)
A few weeks back Jim Allister kicked off a small storm by highlighting the remarks of Assistant Chief Constable KERR: “In blunt terms, a perceived unwillingness on the part of the Association to change to the more generic “Police Athletic Association Northern Ireland” may result in a failure to secure the grants on which this [...] more »
“The agency’s investigation has produced evidence of what might be characterised as a lawless lifestyle”
The BBC reports the delayed start of the Serious Organised Crime Agency’s [SOCA] application for a civil recovery order of property and assets belonging to Seamus Francis Mullan. A former member of the Provisional IRA who was serving a life imprisonment sentence for the 1985 murder of an off-duty RUC officer before being freed on early release licence in [...] more »
“Failure to deal with the past is the Achilles’ Heel of the current arrangement”
Haunted is a good word for the core subject of Robin Wilson’s op ed in the Belfast Telegraph today. The past haunts all the players to one degree or another. He echoes DPP Barra McGrory’s concern that treating all matters via the judicial route is not the most desirable means of moving forward. As Tim [...] more »
“This is a read-back into the so-called ‘dirty war’…”
In yesterday’s Belfast Telegraph, Brian Rowan attempted to explained the thinking behind Sinn Féin’s expressed concerns about the “Dark Side” [It's "a sound working partnership and one that is to be commended" - Ed] Indeed. From the Belfast Telegraph article …this is not a row for the sake of being awkward. It is a serious [...] more »
Boston College: A glimpse of the archive…
Let’s keep the dialogue ‘hinged’ this time. With Ed Moloney and Anthony McIntyre aiming to try to head the US Government off at the pass, the legal battle over each ruling along the way continues in the PSNI/HET’s attempt to access some of the material in the Boston College Belfast Project archive. In the meantime, [...] more »
“local communities need help – particularly funding and local political leadership”
In June last year The Detail’s John Breslin was asking questions of the International Fund for Ireland (IFI), and the “significant amount of money under its control, or on the way, that has not yet been either allocated, or is in the hands of, particular projects.” On Thursday last week the IFI announced a Peace Walls Programme with [...] more »
Boston College: “an example of just how unhinged the dialogue has become in some quarters.”
I had mentioned in the comments on a recent post that there was little threat of the pre-emptive destruction of the Boston College archive material which is being sought by the Historical Enquiries Team. As Thomas E Hachey and Dr Robert K O’Neill of Boston College point out in the Irish Times There have been people [...] more »
“he will remain available to exercise any legal authorities required beyond the delegated authorities”
As the BBC reports, the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman, Al Hutchinson, has appointed Colin Lewis as Interim Chief Executive for the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. From Colin Lewis’ profile [pdf file] In 1991 Colin entered the Northern Ireland Civil Service as an Industrial Accountant with the Industrial Development Board (IDB) and [...] more »
“They do absolutely fantastic work in some very challenging areas”
“They” being the 304 former RUC officers currently employed by the PSNI as civilians on temporary contracts. They’re part of the 399 civilian staff on such contracts supplied by a recruitment agency. And I’m sure the other 95 civilian staff are also appreciated. From the BBC report The PSNI has previously revealed that it is currently using [...] more »
Boston College to hand over Dolours Price interviews
According to Kevin Cullen, reporting for the Irish Times, US district court judge William Young is continuing his in camera review of the Boston College archive material. And he has already ordered the college to hand over the recorded interviews of former Provisional IRA member Dolours Price. From the Irish Times report College officials said [...] more »
Nuala O’Loan: “that is not the foundation for a just society.”
A novel suggestion for dealing with the past from former Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman, Nuala O’Loan, in a Guardian interview. And it’s not an “absurd” and “disingenuous” call for an international ‘truth’ commission. From the Guardian article …the former ombudsman, now Lady O’Loan, stressed that a “Waking the Dead” style unit investigating Ulster’s recent conflict would not [...] more »
“That would require approval by the justice committee, the executive and by the assembly as a whole”
According to the BBC report’s headline -”Justice minister may look into the rehiring of RUC officers”. Well, he may. At issue, apparently, are the unknown number of former RUC officers in the 399 staff currently supplied by a recruitment agency for temporary employment, as civilians, by the PSNI. Apparently, again, “Sinn Fein has asked the Northern Ireland [...] more »
Dublin High Court dismisses Garland US extradition application
As Garibaldy notes, Dublin High Court has dismissed the US application for the extradition of former Irish Workers’ Party president, Sean Garland, in the long-running saga of the counterfeit ‘super-dollars’. From the Irish Times report Authorities in America had sought the extradition of Mr Garland (76), of Beldonstown, Brownstown, Navan, Co Meath, to face charges relating [...] more »
PSNI & Security Service [MI5]: “a sound working partnership and one that is to be commended”
The Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Owen Paterson, has “received and welcomed a report from Lord Carlile of Berriew on the operation of arrangements for handling national security matters in Northern Ireland for the year to date.” But he’ll not be publishing it “given its sensitive nature”. From the NI Secretary of State’s statement The report [...] more »
“Boston College declined Judge Young’s offer to seek a stay and appeal his decision”
In the Irish Times, Kevin Cullen adds a significant detail to the Boston College archive ruling. From the Irish Times report Boston College declined Judge Young’s offer to seek a stay and appeal his decision, saying it would turn the records over to him by tomorrow. more »
“Shaun Woodward ordered his recall on the basis of what his legal team have described as ‘closed material’.”
The BBC reports that Martin Corey has been “granted leave to seek a judicial review of the decision to revoke his licence over unspecified allegations that he was involved with dissident republicans.” The 61-year-old from Lurgan, County Armagh had been released on licence in 1992, having served 19 years of a life sentence for the murder of [...] more »
Boston College Ruling: “These are serious allegations, and they weigh strongly in favor of disclosing the confidential information.”
Via Newshound. The Boston Globe reports the long awaited US court ruling on the release of the Boston College archive material. And it’s something of a half-way house. For now. From the Boston Globe report A federal judge rejected yesterday a motion by the trustees of Boston College to quash subpoenas that order them to turn [...] more »
“Maybe your client is understating his importance.”
Yesterday Dublin High Court rejected an application by Freddie Scappaticci, who denies he was a British army agent within the Provisional IRA known as “Stakeknife”, for a judicial review of the Smithwick Tribunal’s decision to allow witness Kevin Fulton to give evidence from behind a screen – and for a halt in the hearing of that evidence until [...] more »
“Something, Something, Something, Dark Side…”
The last time Sinn Féin wheeled out little known placeman, and non-public representative, Declan Kearney, in November 2009, the party was trying desperately to raise the stakes over the devolution of policing and justice powers - while muttering about “the NIO spooks and PSNI’s political detectives“. What he’s doing out of his box again is anyone’s guess… ANYhoo, here’s [...] more »
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Books
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The Imperfectionists (Tom Rachman) – an insight into a newspaper that’s maybe not so fictional
‘news’ is often a polite way of saying ‘editor’s whim’ Given the shift from print to online and e-ink, maybe Tom Rachman’s The Imperfectionists was a suitable first first book for me to finish reading on the Kindle. Considering the economic pressures on the newspaper industry, his novel perhaps captures the spirit and soul of [...] read our review »
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Lessons in Cute Hoorism: “Graft was accepted, for you were taking from the British…”
I’ve been catching up on some reading, recently. Most pleasantly surprised by John Drennan’s latest opus from Gill and Macmillan, Cute Hoors and Pious Protestors… It’s early days yet, but I was struck by this paragraph, part of a dissection of Fianna Fail near the beginning: One of the more fatal consequences of our colonial [...] read our review »
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“Unionism Decayed 1997-2007″ by David Vance: book review
I initially wrote this when the book was first published three years ago; whilst certain elements of it now sound dated, its basic premise that the period of 1997-2007 was a period of irreversible decay for Northern Irish Unionism can still be argued as a valid opinion. My own feeling is that it did indeed [...] read our review »
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