Slugger O'Toole

Newton Emerson in excellent form, once again, in today’s Irish Times, foolishly bravely running the risk of comparison with a satirical giant of Irish literature with a modest proposal for the Secretary of State, Peter Hain, to consider I’d like to reprint the whole piece.. if you’re reading this, Newton?.. Until then here’s a few [a few? – Ed] paragraphs – Northern Secretary Peter Hain unveiled two new budget priorities in his speech to the British Labour Party conference: “Boosting …

Read more…

Niall Mulholland argues a socialist line on why the IRA was wrong to fight its long war against the British in Northern Ireland. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Keep an eye on Desolate Row. A new Northern Ireland politico blog of some serious potential. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Bertie Ahern talking to the Seanad today, laid out the long promised framework of participation of Northern Irish voices in the Oireachtas. Hat tip Dave. In a context where progress is being made and trust and confidence are being restored, there is also an opportunity to address the issue of Oireachtas participation by Northern representatives. As I stated in the Dáil, what I will propose will be sensible but modest. It will be faithful to the recommendations of the All-Party …

Read more…

Residents from Ahoghill have shared their concerns over a prolonged campaign against Catholics in the area to TDs from the Dail. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Before it disappears out of mind, this piece from Morning Ireland a few days ago is worth a playback. It features a discussion of Peter Lennon’s controversial 1967 documentary Rocky Road to Dublin. The Ireland under discription is part of a world that seems to have almost disappeared, although it might be argued that there is still some reluctance to question national orthodoxies. It comes out in DVD version at the end of the month. Slugger O'TooleA general account used …

Read more…

TUAS is the old acronymn which several people have argued over the precise meaning of. But Brian Walker argues that in the wake of the disarmament of the IRA, has to be understood by a new one, TUS (Totally Unarmed Strategy – also Irish for ‘beginning’ or ‘start’). He goes on trace the specific ground on which negotiations will be played. The policing issue looks like the most substantive, whilst the issue of what’s to be done about the on …

Read more…

A new ESRI survey has found that sport contributes 1.4 billion euros to the Irish economy as well as contributing to social bonding, community involvement and the overall effective functioning of society. The ESRI singled out the GAA for particular praise, saying its culture of volunteering made it one of “great generators of social capital in Ireland”. According to the report, 400,000 people in the Irish Republic (15% of population) volunteer for sport while 20% play sport on a regular …

Read more…

If the green movement is looking for local low impact energy champions, then they need look no further than St Oliver Plunkett’s Church in West Belfast. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Hearts and Minds tonight: the DUP today presented the Prime Minister with a thick dossier of confidence building measures for Unionists, we find out what objections Sinn Fein might have as they press their own case at Downing Street. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Hearts and Minds has Jim Alistair and one of Sinn Fein’s coolest performers, Mary Lou McDonald each fielding some of the key issues that will dominate politics over the next six months. Allister lays out some of the keynotes from his party’s 64 page dossier handed into Downing Street – “there is no going back to the agreement of December 2004”. For her part McDonald plays every screw ball very deftly. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads …

Read more…

Interesting op ed in Daily Ireland yesterday from the Northern Irish MEP, Bairbre De Brún. Presumably referring to a recent meeting at the European Parliament, she reports that there is widespread support for the IRA’s decommissioning act. She notes that outside Sinn Fein and Mayo Sligo based independent Marian Harkin, none of the other Irish MEP have welcomed it. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

The Irish Times’ Religious Affairs Correspondent, Patsy McGarry, has a interesting article on the views of Pope Benedict XVI in which he argues “The present incumbent of St Peter’s chair is among the most conservative of men to become Pope in modern times.” The focus is on the expected introduction of new rules on who should be eligible for the priesthood, but other stated views of former-Cardinal Ratzinger, as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, are …

Read more…

Not the usual gripe about Northern Ireland’s employment being sixty per cent reliant on public sector funding. Samizdata picks up a BBC report that says the dymnamic is at work in Britain. A clear opportunity for forward thinking Tories to take on future PM Brown? Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

NORTHERN Ireland football fans should keep an eye out for Season Ticket on BBC2 NI tonight (Wed). It’s a special programme devoted to NI’s magnificent victory over England last month. If you ever wanted to see that goal from no less than 10 different angles, you’ll be switched on at 10pm. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Sometimes I think I’m no better than the man who strays down the wrong street in Belfast and runs into an attack he should have seen coming a mile off. In which case, it’s probably all my fault for retaining Slugger’s open door policy. I’m refering to some of the off-the-wall abuse being thrown at public figures recently and in two threads in particular. On occasions there has been a whole scale abandonment of the one golden rule of the …

Read more…

For those of you who are overseas, or just frequent crossers of the border, this may help determine which mobile network you settle with. Let us know what you think of it as a useful guide?! Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

That’s fairly quick for Northern Ireland standards. This discussion on Morning Ireland (sound file) indicates it may have been part of a local fragmentation of the UDA. Jim McDowell points out that in contrast to 1994 when the Loyalists took only six weeks to follow the IRA’s ceasefire, the paramilitaries of today are a patchwork quilt of local barons, rather than a coherent movement – an increasingly loose Association in fact. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads …

Read more…

The DUP is pushing for automatic access to British citizenship for people born in the Republic and living in Northern Ireland without having to go through the naturalisation process. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

IRISH Premier Bertie Ahern has told the Dail that he’s been having meetings with loyalist paramilitary groups recently – including the Red Hand Commando, the terrorist group that launched a sectarian hate campaign against Catholics who attend an annual religious ceremony in a Newtownabbey graveyard. It’s likely to be a long drawn-out process, but there’s also rumours that the UVF may be about to re-enter the decommissioning process with General de Chastelain this month (with rival faction the LVF likely …

Read more…