Independent Monitoring Commssion report published

The fifth report of the Independent Monitoring Commssion has been published and is available here. Updated againIn a detailed and wide-ranging report on all the paramilitary groups and their activities the IMC, as had been indicated, state that – PIRA continues to seek to maintain its medium term effectiveness. It recruits and trains new members, including in the use of firearms and explosives. It continues to gather intelligence. And in it’s conclusions the report notes – – In view of …

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Sinn Fein: all Ireland approach to flu needed

John O’Dowd, Sinn Fein’s health spokesman has called for all Ireland preparation for the possible impacts of Avian Flu. Although the potentially lethal strain remains relatively constrained in the Far East, it’s estimated that where it to develop it could kill up to 17,000 people in Northern Ireland alone. BBC Health report. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest …

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A suitable quiz for a Sunday

From Dave J, “the American blogger ‘It Comes in Pints?’”, according to the Sunday Tribune. Your Deadly Sins Lust: 80% Pride: 80% Sloth: 80% Gluttony: 60% Greed: 60% Envy: 40% Wrath: 40% Chance You’ll Go to Hell: 63% You’ll die while in the throws of passion – the best way to go. How Sinful Are You? Hmm.. I need to work on the wrath.. Pete Baker

Eammon McCann’s sideline view…

Eammon McCann Eammon McCann is not the most successful political operator Northern Ireland has seen. For instance, he stood for Eglinton ward this time out to highlight an issue around the lengthening of a runway at Derry Airport rather than in the City, where he might have drawn in greater numbers of votes. Well maybe, at times, it’s the quality rather than quantity that counts. This piece outlines what he discovered this time about the working class protestant experience in …

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Barnardos’ innovative use of blogs

Last week a reader sent us a link to this blog which is a diary of a foster parent. It’s a good example of how blogging is starting to have mainstream uses in communication strategies. I just wish they’d follow blogging convention have the latest entry at the top of the page, rather than making the reader scroll down for it! Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics …

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Keeping kids off the streets. Or not…

FUNDING for out-of-school childcare is funded by the Government in other parts of the UK, but in Northern Ireland, it’s funded through the European Union’s Peace and Reconciliation Fund – a source which is about to dry up. Despite Labour’s so-called commitment to ending child poverty, NI still has high levels of the problem – which are likely to be exacerbated when 40 after-school clubs close.Parents may now have to quit to care for kids, and the knock-on social and …

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Hunting ‘not cruel’ say hunters…

FOLLOWING the BBC report of stag hunting in Co Down not so long ago, an investigation was held to find out whether accusations of cruelty could be upheld. Since the inquiry was carried out by three no-so-independent hunting organisations, the answer was unsurprisingly ‘no’. No kidding – what a farce.Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK where wild stags can be hunted. However, I am aware of plenty of anecdotal evidence whch suggests stags are being illegally bred …

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Re-routing the Marathon…

Arguably that’s exactly what needs to be done with the political marathon.. ANYway.. not for the first time there has been an attempt to disrupt the Belfast Marathon. The BBC carries a report on the “viable device” that caused a diversion, and a bit extra on those 26 miles 385 yards, for the runners. UTV has a report too, which includes some extra details from journalist Eamonn Mallie, who received the bomb warning in a phone call. Pete Baker

Bragging rights

Found at Bill’s place. A little diversion for a Sunday afternoon.. and definitely not a case of dropping hints to my fellow bloggers *ahem* The Commonly Confused Words TestWell, since you ask.. English Genius You scored 100% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 100% Expert! You did so extremely well, even I can’t find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don’t. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you’re …

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DUP hopeful caught in controversy

This morning’s Sunday World breaks an embarrassing story for the DUP. Tensions are high between Northern Ireland’s gay community and the party. It seems that one of the DUP’s Westminster candidates, Paul Berry has been targeted by a gay activist, who arranged to meet with him in a Belfast hotel and taped some of the conversation. Berry denies there is anything more to the meeting than a massage for a sports injury. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He …

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Moral guidance…

WRITING on the former Pope’s death, Michael Fitzpatrick thinks that Catholicism may be in the ascendency as a source of moral authority – both in the UK and globally – he also argues that the “doctrines of Catholicism provide no solutions to the terrestrial problems of the new millennium. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com

Dud Northern Bank notes already…

The newly designed Northern Bank notes (no, not these ones) were launched on the 9th March this year following the Northern Bank raid. Well, Slugger can reveal that it has not taken the forgers long to get to work. Dolores Kelly the SDLP’s candidate in Upper Bann was in Tescos in Lurgan today, when she discovered one of her £10 notes was in fact counterfeit. That’s just about fifty days later. Back to the drawing board? Mick FealtyMick is founding …

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Neither your place nor mine

That’s Lough Neagh – perhaps the most recognisable geographic feature on our map. There are a number of issues arising from this report by the BBC on the ownership of Lough Neagh – news that, in itself, may come as a shock to many. The owner Lord Shaftesbury, whose body was found in the Alps earlier this month after he went missing – he is believed to have been murdered – in November last year, seems to have had a …

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Could be interesting

As a wee aside to all the politics. If you are at a loose end this coming Sunday evening you can tune in to a live webcast (7.30pm) and watch the testimony of a man born and raised in Scotland by a family of alcoholics. He joined the British Army and served in Northern Ireland and later returned to join the RUC. He served as Dr Paisley`s bodyguard and at some point converted from Catholicism to the Free Presbyterian Church …

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Plug Pulled

The front page of today’s Irish News carries a story by Suzanne McGonagle,Government pulls plug on welcome pack funds, Subs needed, which reveals that the government has withdrawn an offer of £10,000 funding from the Falls Community Council which was to pay for the production of the “Welcome Pack” as blogged by Mick yesterday in A double edged welcome in the West? “The government had offered the Falls Community Council £10,000 for production of the welcome pack, subject to certain …

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Building bridges the slow way…

Seamus Mallon’s fears that Northern Irish society may Balkanise if voters slide towards Sinn Fein and the DUP has found an echo amongst moderates on both sides here. But in one small part of North Belfast there’s a new self build housing scheme that could see a softening in the harsh sectarian boundaries there. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a …

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Catholicism in the same boat as Anglicans…?

Catholicism’s relationship with the British state has often been complex and contrardictory. Some may even claim it’s been paradoxical. There’s an interesting panoply of chararacters from modern English Catholicism in the Economist. Strangely perhaps for Irish eyes, some of them deeply sympathetic to the cause of Ulster Unionists. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across …

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Kerr`s Corner

David Kerr of Ulster Nation and “The Twelfth” fame has a new blog which aims to publish on the web articles which first appeared in the East Antrim ‘Wizard Ads’ freesheet. David Kerr stood for election in West Belfast in 2003 as an Ulster Third Way candidate but polled poorly. KilsallyIT Technical Manager for a CCTV company in the UK & Ireland. Christian, Orangeman, Unionist. Webmaster of Ulster-Scots Online. Occasional blogger on Slugger O’ Toole. Eurosceptic. @Kilsally www.ulster-scots.co.uk

Child prostitution on the rise

Another potentially important story from Daily Ireland. It concerns the rapid rise of child prostitution in Northern Ireland, something which is more often associated in the public mind with far east countries like Thailand.Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People, Nigel Williams: A number of very worrying reports have come to my attention that criminals are attempting to involve children and young people in prostitution. My office has been liaising with the PSNI and child welfare organisations like Barnardos …

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Long term decline in the Catholic priesthood

As the Catholic Church’s Cardinals head into the Cistine Chapel for conclave today, the LA Times looks at a problem that’s writ large in the minds of most Irish Catholics: where are the new vocations coming from? It’s situation that’s been bubbling under for most of the late Pope’s pontificate. Out of three school friends who entered training for the priesthood in the late seventies, none are still practising priests. Ireland produced more priests than it could use for generations, …

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