Lannigan’s Ball at Stormont…

Tom Kelly on the pussy footing manoeuvres at Stormont. He asks some questions about who government is really for: the people or the parties. 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

TK Whittaker and Irish economic expansion

The Irish Times today celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the accession of TK Whittaker to the humble civil service post of secretary to the Department of Finance. Marc Colman charts Whittaker’s crucial role (subs needed) in developing, inputting and ultimately actioning key intellectual capital into a state that, economically, was going backwards. As Colman argues, possibly without exaggeration that if the Rising made the Republic’s independence possible, this unassuming Co Down man made it viable.Whittaker sets the context for his …

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Euro judges wrap Irish knuckles

The European Court of Justices has ruled an Irish government complaint to the United Nations about the Sellafield MOX Plant as illegal. The judges declared: “By bringing proceedings against the UK within the framework of the Convention on the Law of the Sea, Ireland has breached community law.” They added that: “A breach of this nature involves a manifest risk that the jurisdictional order laid down in the Treaties and, consequently, the autonomy of the Community legal system may be …

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Happy British Day?

The BBC History magazine poll has chosen 15 June, the anniversary of the Magna Carta, as the best day for celebrations of Britishness. With 27% support it beat VE day and D-Day. Perhaps some of them were persuaded by Tristam Hunt’s argument for embracing a radical British historical narrative. Lee Reynolds

Shoukri brothers in bother?

Many of the papers have dedicated articles in recent days to on-going internal ‘difficulties’ within the UDA. It would appear that the Shoukri brothers have fallen foul of a number of their former ‘colleagues,’ and could be facing expulsion from the organisation in the time ahead. Whatever about the nature of the argument, a hyped-up UDA in north Belfast and south-east Antrim is about the last thing everybody needs as we approach the Summer, particularly given that many of the …

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Tan War film wins Cannes Film Festival Award

Ken Loach’s ‘The Wind that Shakes the Barley’ has claimed the Palme D’Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival. The film is about brothers who join the republican struggle during the Tan war and continues into the post-treaty civil war period. It is due for release in Ireland in June. Loach also won a top accolade at the Cannes Festival for his 1990 film Hidden Agenda, which was about the British army’s shoot-to-kill campaign in the 1980s. Chris Donnelly

If you go down to the Beach today….

Well, watch where you step or you could be in for a big surprise. The Good Beach Guide, published by the Marine Conservation Society came out on Friday. I’ve pasted the link, as its quite an interesting and informative site. The good news is: 8 beaches have been recommended, an increase on 6 beaches in 2005. The bad news is: Newcastle in County Down was issued with a warning, and its water quality was judged to be poor as a …

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Telling it like it is… with authority

I really like this piece from Alan McBride from yesterday’s Sunday Life There are so many people, myself included, who feel they have a right to pontificate on the whys and wherefores of Northern Ireland. Alan McBride is in a completely different category. Having lost his wife and father in law in the Shankill bombing, he has set out changing the world he lives in. Although he would be happy enough with ‘one small step’, he has the courage to …

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Spy story rumbles on…

As David Vance points out the Sunday World story on Martin McGuinness is now moved to the Daily Telegraph, who appear to have had sight of the same document the Sunday World had. McGuinness is not named in the document, but former British spy handler ‘Martin Ingram’ claims that the code name J118 refers to him. So far it is simply one man’s accusation against another. But whatever it’s veracity, it will do McGuinness (one of Sinn Fein’s most able …

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O’Flanigan: Ireland’s last Corinthian?

Kevin O’Flanigan has died aged 86. According to the Sunday Times he, “…won both rugby and soccer caps for Ireland. He also played soccer for Arsenal and was a great track-and-field athlete, holding the national 60-yard, 100-yard and long jump titles in the late 1930s”. He also played for Distillery, and according to one caller on tonight’s Sportscall, several times, thwarted Belfast Celtic at crucial moments.Sean Diffley in today’s Irish Independent with a classic snippet: There is a famous bit …

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Slugger mentioned in dispatches…

El Mat picked out this mention of Slugger on a Canadian government website that’s looking seriously at the applied use of blogging. It’s fairly old (in internet years), but it’s interesting to see governments taking an interest in the soft (talk) end of the net, as opposed to the hard techie end. 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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Would I Spy?

Several of todays papers are making the claim that Martin McGuinness has been a British Agent within Sinn Fein and the IRA. The Sunday World story is front page news and declares that “McGuinness was Brit Spy.” According to the Sunday World, Martin Igram, the former handler from the Force Research Unit supports his claim with documentary evidence. The Sunday World claims to have obtained a transcript of a conversation that Ingram claims is between McGuiness and his handler. Again, …

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Beware comparisons..

When I saw this report at the weekend I had my doubts about its veracity. But there are direct quotes and it seems to be genuine. Although, the story is probably more revealing than was intended. Looking closely it seems the curator of an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Trisha Ziff, submitted a provisional list of invitees to the official opening of the exhibition of the Argentine-born Ernesto Guevara de la Serna – Che Guevara: Revolutionary and Icon. …

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3 main parties move 3 points each

The Sunday Business Post/Red C tracking poll results for May have been published and as Pat Leahy points out – see below the fold. The electorate are clearly open to persuasion, but they haven’t been persuaded yet. The major moves in this poll are all in threes: Fianna Fail drops three points since the last tracking poll four weeks ago; Fine Gael adds three points; Labour adds three points. All the changes in support for the other parties are one-point …

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What about the river in the trees?

This Bank Holiday weekend Seamus Heaney will be at the Guardian sponsored Hay Literary Festival[they already have some great content at that link, scroll down to listen to last year’s Blasphemy debate with Stephen Fry and Christopher Hitchens], with other poets at the Poetry Gala on Sunday, and talking to Peter Florence in The Eos Marquee on Monday. Which gives me the opportunity to link to the Radio Ulster Heaney Day page [Updated link], again, where they now have links …

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He’s making it up as he goes along

When the Secretary of State for Wales and Northern Ireland, Peter Hain, announced his new [and improved? – Ed] Restoration Committee, officialy titled, it would appear, the Preparation for Government Committee he laid down a deadline for a response from the parties – Tuesday. And Sinn Féin have taken him at his word, scheduling a meeting for their MLAs to decide on a response – on Tuesday [that’s what happens when you set a deadline here – Ed]. I expect …

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A diplomatic incident?

Well, maybe not quite that serious. There’s not a lot of detail available on this story [probably stemming from the lack of information in the original statement from SF – Ed], just the simple fact that the Sinn Féin Mayor of Monaghan, Cllr Pat Treanor, was refused entry to Canada on his way to Prince Edward Island on what appears to have been a official Council visit,

As we were saying….

Before I rudely interupted the conversation with my middling in software things of which I know comparatively little. I really did feel homeless there for a while. But we’ve been rescued by the Dissident Frogman, who neatly sowed the missing code back together again. Most the posts and conversations of this intergnum can be found at the newly renovated blogspot site, as soon as I have republished it there. If any of our bloggers wish to republish their posts (for …

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