June 2008 – Page 3 – Slugger O'Toole

Politics and the Periodic table

Turgon on June 26, 2008, 12:30 am | Readers 3

Those of you who did Chemistry will remember the Periodic Table. I was always fascinated by the actinides at the bottom which were highly unstable and decayed very rapidly: usually into less interesting things like lead. The political institutions of Northern Ireland have always had a significant degree of instability about them as well and a tendency to decay. Even at its height (or depth dependent on one’s analysis) the old Stormont was at times precarious. The new institutions are …

“looks unsatisfactory, there’s gaps, there’s inconsistencies..”

Pete Baker on June 25, 2008, 11:55 pm | Readers 4

Given the reports of leaked NI Executive briefing papers on the Maze stadium assessment noted previously, and the allegations by former Sports Minister Edwin Poots, it’s worth noting the comments of the permanent secretary of the Department of Finance, Leo O’Reilly, in front of the Assembly’s Finance Committe. From the BBC report Mr O’Reilly told assembly members “We can say to departments, as we have said, the information and the way it’s been presented looks unsatisfactory, there’s gaps, there’s inconsistencies, …

“disband and disarm or face the consequences..”

Pete Baker on June 25, 2008, 11:08 pm | Readers 382

Two men have handed themselves in to police in Londonderry and are being questioned in connection with the murder of Emmett Shiels but police say they know that 5 or 6 men were involved. Meanwhile, with Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Shaun Woodward, telling the House of Commons that “dissident republican activity is at its highest level for five years”, two of those republican paramilitary groups in Londonderry have denied involvement in the murder. In Strabane, however, where Sinn Féin …

Rathlin Ferry 2

Turgon on June 25, 2008, 11:00 pm | Readers 11

A quick update to the Rathlin ferry blog although to be honest Nevin’s blog is much the best place to go for all of these things. One of the vessels (the MV True Light) which Mr. O’Driscoll was due to use has failed a safety test whilst it is still not clear whether or not Mr. O’Driscoll will be able to use the current boat the MV Canna; his company is due to start the service on 1st July. Jim …

Adams threat to go “back to the drawing board”

Brian Walker on June 25, 2008, 9:28 pm | Readers 3

I’m sorry to miss an important speech from Gerry Adams in London tonight before what I expect will be the usual captive audience of the far English and Irish left who remain among his greatest admirers. According to a supplied text, the SF president will make his familiar claim that the GFA and St Andrew’s are all part of the long term plan to achieve ” a new all Ireland Republic”; and he will make his usual appeal for not …

Newsletter hosts live webchat with Victim Commissioners

Mick Fealty on June 25, 2008, 8:45 pm | Readers 0

Aha… The Newsletter is using the Cover it Live technology we first used for the London Mayoral election to host a participatory discussion with two the Victims Commissioners, Mike Nesbitt and Brendan McAllister.. Starts at 12 noon tomorrow… 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

How Cowen lost the Treaty

Peter Doran on June 25, 2008, 7:33 pm | Readers 1

This video essay on Brian Cowen’s response to the loss of the Lisbon Treaty vote is doing the rounds in government circles in Dublin. Peter DoranI am a lecturer in sustainable development and governance at the School of Law, Queens University Belfast. I also conduct work at United Nations negotiations on the environment for the International Institute for Sustainable Development. My book on the attention economy and mindfulness as commons was published by Routlege in June 2017. See A Political …

Law Lords and the silence of the witnesses…

Mick Fealty on June 25, 2008, 7:16 pm | Readers 1

Over at the Telegraph, I’ve a piece on the implications of the House of Lords decision to refer to the legislature the question of whether witnesses should be allowed anonymity during trials where there is a possibility they might be intimidated. The problem is more complex than it seems as it involves the breach of some ancient tenets of English common law. In most cases, there is no need to resort to such remedies. In London, for instance, the murder …

Robinson loses his cool

Brian Walker on June 25, 2008, 4:50 pm | Readers 2

Tensions between the government and the DUP were exposed as never before since the St Andrew’s Agreement, in a sharp exchange in the Commons between Peter Robinson and the normally deferential Shaun Woodward. At NI Questions, urgings that stalling over the devolution of justice and policing should end were even dragged into a question about youth crime and alcohol abuse. After exchanges deploring the murder in Derry last night of Emmett Shields, Woodward declared that dissident republican activity was ” …

Briitish and Irish race to kill off hospital bugs

Brian Walker on June 25, 2008, 2:48 pm | Readers 5

Here’s a heartening story from the Independent which reports that the powers that be in British and Irish hospitals are in a race to cut down on preventable deaths. As part of a world wide experiment, St Mary’s Paddington and other hospitals are instituting new checks on surgical instruments before each operation. It’s reckoned the checks will save over 1,000 lives a year. The measures resemble the simple checks pilots make before take-off. While I know at first hand of …

Shock new Bloody Sunday revelation

Brian Walker on June 25, 2008, 12:53 pm | Readers 1

With the revelation that the costs of Bloody Sunday inquiry have topped £188 million, you might have thought that news about the traumatic event would have been exhausted before the long awaited publication of the Saville Report itself. But you’d have been wrong. Radio 4’s Today programme reporter Sanchia Berg has had first bite at an astounding revelation from the 1972 National Archives at Kew. The official records show that after the Derry debacle in 1972, the army in desperation …

“The environment is safe in my hands..”

Pete Baker on June 25, 2008, 1:42 am | Readers 1

WorldbyStorm channels ELO for his consideration of the new Northern Ireland Environment Minister, the DUP’s Sammy Wilson. But perhaps Mark Devenport was right with his assessment, on Stormont Today last night, with his line on “unionism’s answer to Boris Johnson” – he has shown a distinct inconsistency on the issues. The man himself faced questions in the Assembly for the first time yesterday in typically knockabout fashion.. [see below the fold] And yet.. he’ll need to tone down the conspiratorial …

Alert the amphibious squadron!

Pete Baker on June 24, 2008, 10:21 pm | Readers 2

On his blog, the BBC’s Mark Devenport tells us that they “had been given a heads up” for this afternoon’s Assembly debate. Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams was to warn of potential meltdown.. again. He is off to London.. again. But then the DUP’s Peter Weir intervened on a point of order.. Let’s hope they have the footage.. Then, as Gerry was about to get to his killer quote, Peter Weir jumped to his feet. Was the DUP member going …

Deal or no deal?

Lee Reynolds on June 24, 2008, 9:54 pm | Readers 1

Gordon Brown faces another Westminster rebellion from backbenchers, this time over the third reading of the Planning Bill tomorrow. This would appear to be the third significant rebellion in almost as many months. Discipline seems to be falling apart in the Parliamentary Labour Party. In this case there is no talk of deals with other parties rather the Labour backbenchers are being worked similar to the 10p tax band but how should a smaller Westminster party handle such potential opportunities? …

“a faithful and loyal member of the Democratic Unionist Party..”

Pete Baker on June 24, 2008, 8:53 pm | Readers 0

Someone has been leaking NI Executive briefing papers to the BBC about the multi-sports stadium at the Maze site. Could it be the mild-mannered young-Earther, and former Sports Minister, the DUP’s Edwin Poots? In the Assembly yesterday he was asking some potentially awkward questions of the Office of the First and deputy First Ministers [see below the fold] – official record here. BBC NI political editor Mark Devenport discussed the “faithful and loyal member of the Democratic Unionist Party”s new …

“One wonders whether Powell fully understands how revelatory his account really is…”

Mick Fealty on June 24, 2008, 8:06 pm | Readers 71

Mitchell Reiss comes to Jonathan Powell’s magnum opus on the peace process under the Blair regimine a little later than some others, but given he was a key player in the Bush administration for latter years of the process, he is, as one might expect, a good deal more critical that some the earlier entrants in the debate. Although there are echoes of Mandelson’s: “the Process is the bare minimum of the policy you need…” He doesn’t pull many punches. …

“Where organisations are no longer a threat..”

Pete Baker on June 24, 2008, 5:44 pm | Readers 0

Speculation about a revised list of proscribed organisations in Northern Ireland, following Lord Carlile’s review [pdf file] of the 2007 operation of the Terrorism Act 2000, was initially met with a fairly bland NIO response, as noted in this Belfast Telegraph report. The BBC, however, have a more robust line from the NIO – “Lord Carlile was referring in his report to groups he suggests no longer exist, not to the IRA.” But the detail of Lord Carlile’s report isn’t …

Anglicans implode over Gay Rights

Brian Walker on June 24, 2008, 4:27 pm | Readers 3

Four years ago in the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral, I watched that supreme diplomat Archbishop Robin Eames trying – not to square the circle exactly – but to dodge around it as he presented the Windsor Report on ways of holding the Anglican Communion together after the election of the openly gay Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire. It was a good try but now, it seems the scales are tipping more and more heavily against him. Later …

Olympic discrimination against NI?

Brian Walker on June 24, 2008, 3:42 pm | Readers 91

Here’s a knotty identity issue from the DUP. NI hockey players aren’t eligible for the GB Olympic hockey team if they opt to play for Ireland in other competitions it seems, in which England, Scotland and Wales field separate teams. Alastair Ross MLA says NI players weren’t caught in this trap twenty years ago, but the rules have changed, apparently… “When the Great Britain hockey team was at its most successful, players from Northern Ireland were always an integral part …

“until we’re satisfied that it’s safe to do so..”

Pete Baker on June 24, 2008, 2:42 pm | Readers 8

I had previously noted the rise in the number of people who have been told their lives were under threat from paramilitaries in Londonderry. It’s not clear yet whether the man shot dead last night, at around 12.45 am, “by a group of possibly masked men” was one of those under threat, but it’s an indication as to why those threats are being taken seriously. As is the police response Chief Inspector Chris Yates said it was a “cold blooded …