September 2002 – Page 2 – Slugger O'Toole

Policing drama

admin on September 25, 2002, 3:37 pm | Readers 1

Gerry Adams believes that the decision of the UUC at the weekend (see here) will encourage an increase in sectarian murders. Despite his party’s close ties with the Loyalist paramilitary organisation UVF, Billy McCaughey of the PUP insists that policing should be left to the PSNI. The release of the latest crime figures will not have bolstered the confidence of the same body: “Irwin Montgomery, of the Police Federation, blamed sectarian rioting and the terrorist threat. He said: ‘The amount …

Applying principles

admin on September 25, 2002, 10:41 am | Readers 6

Dissident Republican Anthony McIntyre uses Chomsky to provide a lesson that should not be lost on every side of the conflict in Ulster: “If we propose some principle that is to be applied to antagonists, then we must agree – in fact, strenuously insist – that the principle apply to us as well.” McIntyre writes: “The unionists …are finding it all too easy to steal the moral high ground. It is cumbersome to argue against Trimble who manages to sound …

Todhchaí nua?

admin on September 25, 2002, 10:30 am | Readers 1

Tá David Trimble i dtrioblóid. Ach ba mhaith leis go mbeadh Caitlicigh compordach i gComhairle Aontachtach Uladh. Agus i gcursaí teanga, “…tá rudaí athraithe sa chaoi is nach bhfuil blas Caitliceach ar na téacsleabhair níos mó, rud a gcuirim féin, mar Phrotastúnach, fáilte mhór roimhe”, dar le Ian Malcolm. adminA slightly inhuman presence that bans bad comments and works late at night to remove the wrinkles in Slugger’s technical carpet. You will need to know about the comments policy to …

Nationalist government?

admin on September 25, 2002, 9:38 am | Readers 1

After Mark Durkan and Gerry Adams met yesterday, both appealed for the British government to hold the line, and not suspend the political institutions if unionist ministers resign. This introduces the interesting scenario that all major posts in government could be run, by default, by the remaining ministers, ie those held by the SDLP, Sinn Fein, and possibly even the DUP, who have, as ever refused to reveal their political hand in public. The parties remaining in post may even …

Nationalist backroom

admin on September 24, 2002, 2:39 pm | Readers 1

The repercussions of the UUC’s motion on Saturday, are beginning to hit through the Nationalist bloc. Gerry Adams and Mark Durkan are to hold talks “…aimed at reinforcing the primacy of the Good Friday Agreement.” One SDLP source said, “The Good Friday Agreement is not up for renegotiation. The policing reforms cannot be reversed.” It will be interesting to hear what the subject of those talks will be. It may be that the prospect of facing the ‘nuclear option’, ie …

An odd aside

admin on September 24, 2002, 12:54 pm | Readers 2

For those still vaguely aware of the outside world, the dossier against Iraq has just been published on the New Statesman site – apparently some of the UK government sites hosting it crashed earlier with all the extra traffic. They have also published (in actual fact, re-published) a companion ‘dossier’, with John Pilger leading the anti-US charge! Normal Slugger service will be resumed shortly. adminA slightly inhuman presence that bans bad comments and works late at night to remove the …

Loyalist paramilitaries

admin on September 24, 2002, 12:46 pm | Readers 7

The danger of another Loyalist fued taking off, raises its head again. Johnny Adair was in court cheering on Andre Shoukri, after the latter was remanded in custody on gun charges. adminA slightly inhuman presence that bans bad comments and works late at night to remove the wrinkles in Slugger’s technical carpet. You will need to know about the comments policy to stay off the fightin’ side of me and there is a bit of background about me here. You …

January deadline

admin on September 24, 2002, 10:09 am | Readers 2

Whatever the outcome, the newly imposed deadline has certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons. Mark Durkan is not happy, accusing Trimble of wearing a sandwich board for Jeffrey Donaldson. Martin McGuinness was also quick to put his own spin on the news: “What we are witnessing now is a full-frontal assault on the Agreement by the UUP and the DUP, and it is about denying equality to the people we represent. It is about totally destroying power sharing and …

American in Andersonstown

admin on September 23, 2002, 5:35 pm | Readers 2

Just picked this up from the archives at Samizdata, one of the most prolific and well organised weblogs on the net. It’s one man’s outsider view (from the inside) on the range of paramilitaries currently active in Northern Ireland. The style is brusque and American, and he finishes with something of a stylish flourish: “Some day there may be a vote here on which country we are to be a part of. I suspect by the time it happens the …

And there's more

admin on September 23, 2002, 4:49 pm | Readers 1

Ian Paisley, erstwhile leader of the DUP, calls for the dissolution of the current Assembly rather than to prolong the current crisis until the new year. Noel McAdam weighs up what it might mean to Trimble. And in the subscription only Irish News, Roy Garland suggests that things may not be as bad as some liberal Unionists currently believe: “Ulster Unionists have signalled they cannot absorb any more fudging and the ball is now with the republican movement. The British …

Other Unionist voices

admin on September 23, 2002, 3:04 pm | Readers 3

From Beowulf at Carisenda: “Keep picking fights you can’t win guys, keep reacting with your heart and not your head, keep up the in-fighting, the splits, the tantrums – I’m sure Gerry and the lads have a nice fat smile on their faces watching you slowly tear yourselves apart.” It has to be said that this shift to the right within the party has been touted almost since the beginning of the summer. The Letter picked up first indications in …

Wider reaction

admin on September 23, 2002, 11:36 am | Readers 11

John Reid is typically sanguine, suggesting that all sides will need to full committment to turn around a history at least 80 years in the making. Gerry Adams condemned it as a Wreckers Charter; “…if the unionists refuse to be part of that process then the two governments must proceed anyway. Today’s victory for the no camp will not deter us and will not stop the process of change. That will only happen if we give up and we and …

Unionist backroom

admin on September 23, 2002, 11:19 am | Readers 1

It’s all over bar the shouting. In the ninth meeting of the ruling Ulster Unionist Council since the signing of the Belfast Agreement in 1998, David Trimble was forced to deliver an ultimatum to Sinn Fein that the IRA disarm and disband by the 18th January 2003. A boycott of the North/South ministerial bodies begins immediately. Some Unionists, like David Burnside, believe that Sinn Fein will inevitable fail to satisfy Unionist demands for ‘definitive disarmament’. But it is likely that …

One last comment before the weekend…

admin on September 20, 2002, 5:19 pm | Readers 1

The whole week’s commentary in Northern Ireland seems to have been bent towards one event; the meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council, which may or may not decide the fate of their reform-minded leader, David Trimble (more here, here, here, here and here). Whatever happens this weekend, it is unlikely to be the end of what is becoming one of the longest running Soap opera plots in the recent history of Northern Ireland. But I’ll leave the final word to …

Ouch!

Mick Fealty on September 20, 2002, 3:42 pm | Readers 9

Rumour has reached us that one of the assailants in a recent gun attack also managed to put himself into hospital by shooting himself in the ‘privates’ during the get away! For those less familiar with recent events in Belfast, there has been a low level conflict rising between rival Loyalist paramilitaries over the last few weeks. For background, see here. Anyone familiar with the plot line of Colin Bateman’s novel and subsequent film, ‘Divorcing Jack’, or Martin Lynch’s early …

Short Strand protestants..

Mick Fealty on September 20, 2002, 3:10 pm | Readers 32

Suzanne Breen talks to protestant women in the troubled area in East Belfast, kindly reproduced by Newshound. The three women all live right on the peaceline in the Clandeboye Estate. Jean grew up in the staunchly unionist Newtownards Road area. She has five children and moved into the Short Strand 30 years ago. “Since May our homes have been under sustained attack from loyalists day and night,” she says. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers …

Politician’s weblog

Mick Fealty on September 20, 2002, 3:00 pm | Readers 12

Interesting weblog by Westminster MP Harry Barnes. This piece is intriguingly titled; IRA plc and Loyalist Limited. Harry is a member of the House of Commons Northern Ireland Select Committee. 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 Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty

Economics.

Mick Fealty on September 20, 2002, 12:29 pm | Readers 2

James Kelly in the subscription only Irish News, is getting fed up with the seemingly endless series of constitutional crises, and suggests that NI Plc is being seriously neglected in all the furore. Meantime, out in the real world away from the political hothouse, voices are being heard protesting about the political stranglehold which is choking economic growth here. One such voice is that of Jim Berry, a specialist on planning and development at the University of Ulster. He is …

More on the UUC meeting…

Mick Fealty on September 20, 2002, 12:06 pm | Readers 4

The Guardian editoralises boldly: The immediate villains of the piece are anti-agreement campaigners inside the Ulster Unionists, led by two MPs, Jeffrey Donaldson and David Burnside. They hold out the unacceptable and un realistic prospect of devolution without Sinn Fein. Unionists should recognise that by rejecting Mr Trimble, they would also be rejecting Northern Ireland’s opportunity to run its own affairs. By contrast, Mr Trimble’s record is commendable. He took the bold step of swinging mainstream unionist opinion behind the …

Unionist backroom

admin on September 20, 2002, 11:51 am | Readers 1

As the weekend meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council approaches, more and more journalists turn their attention to the expected showdown between David Trimble and the hardliners in his party, a group who in the Assembly at least can be expected to have greater influence than in the past. Rosie Cowan describes one of the more youthful dissident voices within the Unionist Party, Arlene Foster as a “young, articulate, up-and-coming solicitor, mother of a two-year-old and an 18-week-old baby, and …