Slugger O'Toole

An avid reader of histories, Danny Morrison raids the Republic’s bloody origins and argues that Fine Gael had leading members of the old IRA within it’s ranks well into the forties, that is now being hypocritical in its opposition to having Sinn Fein in government. It’s available in today’s print version of Daily Ireland By Danny Morrison Last March the IRA prisoners in Castlerea (some serving time in relation to the killing of Gárda Jerry McCabe in 1996) issued a …

Read more…

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…

A FAR-right group linked to Combat 18 seems to have taken the inspiration for its name from the alphabet soup of loyalist paramilitarism. Note to CAIN: You need to update this page. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

COULD the Queen get the boot from Windsor, worries the News Letter. Robin Wilson of Democratic Dialogue thinks the building of the new Maze stadium could be the “right time for a new song”, in the same way that the other regions of the UK have their own distinctive pre-game ‘anthems’. Why not get rid of it? It’s tediously slow and capable of rousing neither players or fans – apart from those who insist on getting in their obligatory ‘No …

Read more…

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…

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…

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.

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.

David Vance is wowing them over in the States. He now has a spot on Tech Central, on what he calls the Blair doctrine on terrorism. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

There is certainly a theological argument in protests against Cemetary Sunday, the day when Catholics remember their loved ones by visiting their graves and praying for them. Although, on All Souls Night, protestants the length and breadth of Sweden make a similar visit to light the graves with candles in the darkest of Nordic nights. What is decidedly not theological, is the threat by some of the protesters to dig up the graves of individual Catholics in revenge. Susan McKay …

Read more…

Belfast City Council at its first plenary of the autumn has urged people to support the PSNI and called on all elected representatives to disassociate themselves from the violence of the summer. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

PA also reports a minor ruck in Blackpool between David Burnside and Conor Murphy when the latter told the fringe meeting that he had no regrets over the Brighton bomb, but that it was simply part of the IRA’s long war. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Ian Paisley visited one of the Catholic schools that recently came under attack from Loyalists, St Louis Primary School in Ballymena this morning. Of the attackers he said, “What we have to do now is to see how these people are isolated and that they know that all sections of the community are opposed to what they are doing.” Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Spotted by the, allegedly, semi-retired Richard Delevan. The announcement of the IRA’s final act of decomissioning, perhaps tellingly, merited only a brief mention by the satirical Onion – “I knew that Guns For Guinness trade-in program would work where so many other attempts had failed.” Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Speaking in Blackpool today, David Burnside has suggested that his party consider merging with the British conservatives: “It is all very well the DUP talking about restoring confidence within the unionist leadership. It was not very apparent in Brighton last week where only the Ulster Unionist Party had any sizeable presence at the Labour conference. “Looking further down the track, unionist influence will never become real power unless there is a possibility of an Ulster MP becoming Secretary of State …

Read more…

Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

SDLP South Antrim MLA Thomas Burns said he believes the UVF was behind the protest at the Carnmoney Blessing of the Graves and subsequent threats to desecrate Catholic graves. From Thomas Burns: “The UVF is flexing its muscles all around Greater Belfast since the Whiterock parade, and it seems this protest gave it just the excuse it needed to win a bit of turf from the UDA. “Our message to the paramilitaries is simple: get out of business or be …

Read more…

The BBC are reporting that the government have decided to appoint Mark Thompson as the new Chairman of the Ulster-Scots Agency – the role has been vacant for 18 months since Laird Lord Laird resigned. Thompson, conveniently, is already a member of the board, and “has been actively involved with grassroots Ulster-Scots groups for over 10 years and is a member of the ‘Low Country Boyus’, an old-time hillbilly/Ulster-Scots gospel group.” *ahem* Update And it’s been confirmed by Peter Hain. …

Read more…

Buried in this story carrying the remarks of Bertie Ahern on the Carnmoney threats to Catholic graves is a reference to dozens of windows being broken in the Martyr’s Memorial church on the Ravenhill Road. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.