Just as a few months ago much of the comment on Letter to Slugger O’Toole reflected the overwhelming press interest in Unionism, we are now going through a spate of articles by and about Republicans. Danny Morrison believes he has a scoop. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
A conservative motion to oust Sinn Fein from their Westminster offices failed in the House of Commons yesterday. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
He touches on the expectations that have been raised by the peace process for Republicans: “Our task in the decade ahead is to provide the leadership needed to challenge the status quo. Our goal must be to exercise the political will and resolve to ensure that the voices of the neglected and deprived in our society are given their rightful place in decision making in the future. “This is the New Ireland we are struggling for. An Ireland of equals. …
Paul Dunne has a compendium of responses to Adams. But the most interesting thing I’ve read to date was written in anticipation of, rather than in reponse to Saturday’s speech. John Lloyd has consistently made the case for the Trimble’s position, however he chooses to concludes this longish and largley predictable article (subscription needed) by suggesting Republicans could play a key role in bringing the process to a successful conclusion: “There is a role that no republican or nationalist has …
He goes on to outline the issues to be addressed through social policies: “Across the island there are over 1 million people who are education poor. One in four Irish adults have some form of literacy problem. In this state over 54,000 thousand families are on local authority housing waiting lists. In the six counties it is estimated that 2000 people die prematurely every year because of poverty and that over a quarter of households in the North are enduring …
Winner of this month’s Bizarre Headline Award, this article (requires registration or subscription for readers outside Europe) begins with the apparently startling revelation that: “IRELAND was the seventh richest country in the world in 1870, according to new research. Far from being the economic backwater that is commonly portrayed in history books, the country enjoyed a boom in the late 19th century on a par with the modern Celtic tiger.” This conclusion arises from the work of two academics, Frank …
Roy Garland suggests that an end to what he terms the dual strategy once famously capture by Danny Morrison in his phrase “the ballot box and the Armalite”, will bring commensurate challenges to Unionism. “There will be nothing of substance left for anti-agreement people to hide behind having lost the unreconstructed terrorists in government argument. Not that complete transformation can hap-pen immediately, as Gerry Adams reminds us, but even he can envisage a future without the IRA.” Slugger O'TooleA general …
Gerry Adams starts out by laying out the radical nature of the Sinn Fein’s political roots: “Too many of our colleagues and friends have paid too high a price. Too many of our councillors, in both states on this island, and our election workers and our families, have paid the ultimate price for representing us, for anyone here, or for any of the many people who will represent us in the future, to take our elected status or the electorate …
Actor and social entrepreneur, Gearóid Ó Cairealláin, is insistent that the suspension of Stormont has little practical consequence for most ordinary Nationalists: “This is not 1974. New nationalism is resurgent, it is on the march forward and it is strong. We have our own blueprint to achieve equality and a better life. Perhaps it will include a regional parliament, perhaps it will not. But it will include an independent national democracy.” Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads …
Veteran analyst Tom McGurk in yesterday’s Sunday Business Post suggests that Republicans: “…should more accurately read into Blair’s seemingly ham-fisted approach his clear recognition that the internal political dynamic for change has come from the republican movement all along. Blair’s Belfast subtext was that once again it is needed to clear the stasis.” He continues: “The historic Irish space between constitutionalism and republicanism was closed when the former colonial power accepted a redefinition of `national self-determination’, which postulated British neutrality …
Seamus Heaney reiterates the often heard during his visit to South Africa. Indeed the Letter reported on some of the main points de Klerk made in relation to the peace process on his visit to Ireland in August. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Weblogger Paul Dunne has the full script of Gerry Adams’ (known as NI’s shadow secretary of State by some) speech in Monaghan on Sunday. The speech may prove to be as important as the British Prime Minster‘s of a few weeks back. We will revisit it over the next day or two for the important themes arising. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Ronan Fanning comments on the changing of the guard at Stormont. He clearly rated Reid above the Northern leaders: “…the fact that John Reid was neither easy to intimidate nor easy to impress perhaps best explains why he gave such offence. For, whatever divides unionists and nationalists, most of their leaders are united in their ludicrously inflated sense of their own self-importance. The swaggering intellectual conceit of David Trimble, the insufferably smug self-congratulation of Gerry Adams, the booming political evangelism …
It was found in a van this morning in Belfast City centre. It’s probably too early to apportion responsibility, but this later BBC report says the PSNI think it was planted by the Continuity IRA. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Paul Dunne delivers, or rather rams home, a sermon on the pitfalls of Google research. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
We do our best here at Letter to Slugger O’Toole to bring you bona fide comment and links to reliable on-line resources relating to Northern Ireland. Speed is a strong feature of the medium. Yesterday, for instance, we reported quickly on the change at the top in NI. However in the pursuit of the great themes in the news at times of crisis and excitment, there can be a danger of getting carried away. As in this sniper story in …
Mitchell McLaughlin told the FT that going ahead with elections in May, full implimentation of the Patten Report, and tackling number of other issues could lead to: “…a clearing of the decks and a reciprocal gesture from the IRA. What we would then see are incremental steps involving the removal of the IRA from the political landscape of Northern Ireland.” Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Chris Thornton reflects on Paul Murphy’s unique cross party appeal: “Paul Murphy enters Northern Ireland in an unusual position for a new Secretary of State: he is intimately familiar with the politics, pitfalls and players that await him. Perhaps that’s because Mr Murphy also left Northern Ireland in an unusual position. When he was promoted out of the NIO in 1999, he left with the near universal respect of the parties.” Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads …
Is é Státrúnaí Briotanach na Breataine Bige Paul Murphy a thiocfaidh i gcomharbacht ar an Dr John Reid tar éis athshuathadh Rialtais na Breataine Déardaoin. Nios mó anseo. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
David Ford looks at the reasons for the current breakdown: 1. “…the straw that broke the camel’s back was the failure of the republican movement to create sufficient confidence in the process by clearly demonstrating that it had made a firm choice of democracy over violence …the Agreement provides solely for sanctions against Ministers and parties with Ministers. There is no scope for sanctions against loyalists at present, although this might be examined in a review.” 2. “Four years ago …
