Newlyweds in a spin after wedding…
HERE’S a couple of Northern Irish newlyweds who almost came a cropper in a chopper. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
Month: February 2008
Northern Ireland’s political doublespeak…
IN the wake of Arlene Foster’s ‘minded’ statement to approve another party member’s planning application (although it’s a ‘mind’ she changed), Claire Simpson has been exploring some of Northern Ireland’s political doublespeak. I didn’t realise Hugh Orde coined ‘fit for purpose’, although, let me be clear (Gerry Adams/ Danny Kennedy) that – in the round (Mo Mowlam?) – the reality is (Martin McGuinness?) there are probably a few others that are far more meaningless – though Slugger arguably has developed …
Hearts & Minds
Hearts & Minds is available to UK users watch here. Listen carefully to the DFM’s answers on the question of a United Ireland. Carefully worded aren’t they? Malachi O’Doherty’s ‘If you ask me‘ was, as usual, thoughtful and thought provoking. Michael ShillidayI used to write and get paid, now I read and don’t. Former UUP staffer, currently living in London. @mjshilliday
Still waiting.. – Redux
The absence of an update on the Northern Ireland Executive’s meeting yesterday was, indeed, evidence of the absence of a decision on retrospectively authorising the Social Development minister to cut the UDA-linked funding for the CTI scheme – that legal case looms and those disputed minutes remain. And, according to the Belfast Telegraph’s sources, a last minute paper from the DUP ministers seems to have been responsible. DUP Ministers produced a paper at yesterday’s Executive meeting, the second time it …
Why are you paying for a millionaire’s junkets..?
THE Irish News reports that the NIO has defended the £77,000 cost of the multi-millionaire Secretary of State’s three business class trips to America in the space of five months – they were needed in order to ensure continued US support for the peace process. Obviously this is taxpayers’ money well spent, given the constant deluge of stories in the media about the US constantly threatening to withdraw its support for the new, stable, US-backed political institutions… Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
Why Shankill ‘walk of shame’ won’t be the last one…
THE detection skills of the PSNI know no bounds, with an early assessment – a mere two weeks after the event – that paramilitaries may have been behind the Shankill ‘walk of shame’. This might sound like the cops are stating the bleeding obvious, but it’s a major advance from what the Secretary of State (left) said on Wednesday, when he told Nigel Dodds that “the possibility of paramilitary involvement is still being considered”. Now we already know the NIO’s …
Adams: I don’t want to be Irish president…
GERRY Adams hasn’t gone completely away, you know. But he will be – yesterday, he was on Newstalk to rule himself out of the running for the Irish presidency. “There is a life outside politics. No, under no circumstances,” he said when asked. And why not? “I’ve been locked up in an institution before.” Very witty, but I find it hard to believe that an ambitious politician with such a high opinion of himself will allow his star to fade …
Did the SDLP wipe Gerry’s eye, or not?
The SDLP get a double whammy from Peter and Iris Robinson for the refusal of the Assembly party to back to the budget and the Programme for Govenment. Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness are painting the party as ‘absolutely and totally confused’. And, as commenter J Kelly points out, the often SDLP supporting Derry Journal has a stiff piece of editorial saying that the SDLP, “has to make up its mind if it wants to be a party of government …
Anything you can do
Following the ‘volunteer’ row, a number of victims groups intend to take a legal challenge against the new proposed Victims Commission appointments. This follows the successful challenge to the Parades Commission appointments. Lee Reynolds
Education Minister is wasting Committee time..
Further to Pete’s post yesterday, it is worth noting Sammy Wilson’s (DUP Chair of the Education Committee) scathing remarks on the Minister’s performance yesterday: The Minister was only willing to meet with the Committee for an hour, and she spent almost half of that time reading a pre prepared statement. She also read it in Irish, obviously trying to draw it out as long as possible so that she wouldn?t have to face the committee and answer the questions that …
Unionist council removes ‘Unionist’ symbols…
That is, if you include the badge of the Hampshire Constabulary as an offensively ‘British’ symbol. This issue was flagged up on David Vance’s blog a few days ago in one of his overviews of the Dromore by election. Banbridge District Council (a council with a vast Unionist majority) has removed a number of symbols of Britishness after an equality impact assessment: The items include a painting of an RAF vehicle checkpoint, entitled ‘Freeze all Movement’, which had been on …
Still waiting..
From the absence of updates to today’s report by the BBC on the Northern Ireland Executive meeting today, I can only assume that the decision to retrospectively authorise the Social Development minister, the SDLP’s Margaret Ritchie, to cut the funding to the UDA-linked CTI project [and avoid the implications of that decision, despite the legal advice – Ed] has been put off again. As it was at the last Executive meeting.. Ah.. If it wasn’t for that legal case.. and …
The ABC of HIV
HIV / AIDS is a modern scourge, having been with us for almost three decades. Despite significant progress in the developed world there is still an overwhelming problem in the developing world especially in Africa where 64% of infected people live with only 1 in 5 getting treatment. Here in the UK with complex antiretroviral therapy doctors talk in terms of almost normal life expectancy. That is far, far from the case in Sub-Saharan Africa. There are, however, suggestions that …
Spotlight: the problem of two football associations..
Interesting piece from Spotlight on the problem of Northern Ireland losing talent to the FAI. Darron Gibson of Derry City apparently is only the third NI born player to make the A team of the Irish Republic, but a pro-active campaign on the part of the FAI suggests that pressures in the modern game may be forcing its hand someone. Interestingly, the FAI declined a camera interview. FIFA, who don’t come well out it at all, produced an internal circular …
Budget vote was tighter than SF expected?
Strictly for the record, but worth noting that the decision of the SDLP not to vote with the budget must have forced a degree of unexpected pressure from Sinn Fein whips to have sufficient MLAs in the Chamber for the budget vote. Given it was a cross community vote, it needed a nationalist majority to pass. In the event the Aye vote was just 59.5% (and that’s with the Minister voting against the SDLP line). Six out of the 28 …