Slugger O'Toole In this fascinating survey of the early history of the troubles, dissident Republican Anthony McIntyre draws out several surprising insights out of the last four years of disclosures from the Public Records Office. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
David Trimble has been warned by one of his harder line rivals that a return to powersharing will almost certainly trigger another meeting of the UUP’s ruling council. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Cedric Wilson leader of the NI Unionist Party has highlighted the resignation of Bill Lowry as Head of Special Branch as part of what he calls an Appeasement Process. It was also the subject an editorial in Tuesday’s Belfast Telegraph. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Brian Feeney argues that the need to have accurate representation in an Assembly, outweighs concerns over the future of a ‘liberal’ Unionist agenda: “Who comes out on top in each community is an understandable anxiety in the main parties, but there are other reasons for holding elections here. Elections are snapshots. They show the state of play at a precise moment in political history. A family photo of the current assembly members, if you could get them all together for …
Brid Rogers response to the DUP plan to re-negotiate the Belfast Agreement is to insist that they will not let it happen. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
A lot of the pressure the British government will seek to exert on Sinn Fein today will be to effectively decommission the weapons of the IRA. However, this sticking point is not uniquely peculiar to Northern Ireland. In Sri Lanka, another place where substantial progress has been made towards a post confilct state, they it seems have struck the same rock. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Despite the findings in last week’s global research, Dublin is slipping the e-commerce stakes. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Brendan O’Neill resumes his vigorous criticism of the Irish 2 project at spiked-on-line. In particular he singles out the project’s criticism of the 2001 Census question in Britain: “According to the Irish 2 report, the ethnic category is too much of a ‘simple label’, which doesn’t allow for other, more diverse forms of Irishness. ‘[A] simple categorisation of “White” followed by a national identity such as “British” and “Irish”…will produce an over-identification with “British” because it is seen as a …
Gerry Adams has expressed concern that the electoral authorities have failed to register as many as 80% of first-time voters. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Not strictly Northern Ireland, but here’s an interesting interview with the blogger behind the recently established site carrying Samuel Pepys’ diary. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Paul Murphy is to appoint a set of commissioners to represent the interests of prisoners like Johnny Adair who find their release from prison under the terms of the Belfast Agreement revoked. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
A petition by Shankill residents claiming that Sinn Fein MP Gerry Adams continued boycott of the House of Commons is failing them as his constituents is to be handed to the Speaker Michael Martin by West Belfast Unionist councilor Frank McCoubrey. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Cheif Constable Hugh Orde has warned that he may use a clear the streets method of arresting large numbers of Loyalist leaders. However there were warnings from Unionist MLA and barrister Bob McCartney that the ends cannot always be seen to justify the means. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Though Ian Paisley was robust in suggesting there was no serious difference of opinion within the DUP, one of his more senior rivals in the UUP insisted that there is a serious tension below the surface within that party. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Although the Belfast Telegraph is hopeful that the election deadline will concentrate minds enough to strike a workable deal, it fires a warning: “…in the absence of agreement, an Assembly election would set Northern Ireland on a dangerous course. Mainstream unionism and nationalism would suffer at the expense of the hardline parties. After such an acrimonious poll, it would be highly unlikely that any sort of inclusive deal could be struck.” Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads …
According to several readers living in Portadown, yesterday’s story in the Times about the Mosque at Bleary had been a controversy before Christmas, but was beginning to settle when the story broke nationally yesterday. The local Portadown Times (not to be confused with the satirical Portadown News) reported: “Alderman Fred Crowe (UUP) said he was called in by residents ‘who are objecting in the strongest terms possible’ adding ‘despite the fact that glaring deficiencies have come to light, planners are …
Unionist MPs will discuss the future of selective education tomorrow in the House of Commons. Publicly funded selective education in NI has been in doubt since the local Education minister Martin McGuinness announced that the province wide selection test, known as the 11 plus was to be abolished. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Former British Prime Minister Edward Heath is due to give evidence today at the Saville inquiry into the events around the Bloody Sunday shootings. Update: Heath denies allegations that the events of Bloody Sunday were planned in advance by the British government. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Peter Robinson believes that Sinn Fein will only make slight gains in the coming elections. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
DUP MLA Jim Wells draws attention to a low level conflict in and around Downpatrick that he claims is a turf war between the Provisional and local elements of the Continuity IRA. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.