Cad a bhfuil le rá faoin Phoblacht?
Pléigheann Ian Malcolm ar an substaint den ráiteas deifreach a thainig ó David Trimble ar na mallaibh. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
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Tá Robert Fisk ag teacht go Doire
Tá an t-iriseoir, Robert Fisk, le 30ú léacht chuimhneacháin Dhomhnach na Fola a thabhairt i nDoire, Dé Luain seo chugainn. Is é Crimes Without Punishment teideal na léachta ina gcuirfidh sé an próiseas síochána anseo i gcomórtas lena mhacasamhail sa Mheánoirthear. Níos mó. Faighte againn trí Bheo. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
In support of Trimble?
One unlikely supporter of David Trimble came in the form of Eilish O’Hanlon. Never is her wit so wry and biting as when it has a clear target in mind. This time she went after Trimble’s various critics. We’ll begin by quoting her last line, first: “FINALLY, a correction. In the Sunday Independent last week, Jody Corcoran wrote that the Troubles began ‘in 1968’. This should, of course, have read ‘approximately 800 years ago with the arrival of those filthy …
DUP: internal grumbling
The wrangle over DUP selection in Mid Ulster continues. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
UUP: the Orange link
Dennis Watson, an Orangeman and former member of the UUP told the DUP’s conference at the weekend that the link between the Order and his former party would be broken in the near future. We carried various Unionist views on this scenario at the beginning of November. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Protestant support holding
The US Consulate took the unusual step of releasing figures from one of their private polls, which seems to contradict the impression that support for the Belfast Agreement is fading fast amongst the protestant population. Interestingly, there seems to be no single reason unifying those opposed. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Derry/Londonderry: name change?
Gregory Campbell complains that the proposed name change is sectarian and divisive. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Paisley in good voice
Veteran politician Ian Paisley proved that at 77, he is still capable reproducing his own inimitable brand of rhetoric at his party’s annual conference at the weekend. Though there is a certain incongruity between the character of the leader’s speech and that of party secretary Nigel Dodds, who spoke of “…a good and viable alternative and only the DUP has the strength and ability to negotiate a better deal.” Update: Paisley has told his party that anyone making contact with …
Policing drama: new deal?
Henry McDonald says that the government is ready to offer Sinn Fein a deal, in which former prisoners will be allowed to sit on the district policing boards, if they take their seats on the central board, giving their approval to the PSNI as the legitimate police force in the North for the first time. But there are signs that if this move were attempted without substantial moves towards IRA disbandment, Unionists would simply walk out of the central board. …
McIntyre: intimidation in Derry
This is the first of a series of three articles telling the story of a family in Derry that has been in dispute with local Republican paramilitaries. It’s a bit of a long read, but worth it. Although Republicans are by no means the worst offenders in terms of intimidation and the use of exclusion orders – the semi state body charged with mediating in such circumstances dealt with over 900 cases in the last year, the majority victims of …
Paul Durcan outraged
In a week in which the poets of Ireland have held more space on the Letter than usual, Paul Durcan joins Paul Muldoon and Tom Paulin in the headlines. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
The middle ground is crucial
Eoghan Harris is annoyed with with David Trimble over his remarks attacking the Republic last week. “…why has Trimble twice attacked an Irish State that no longer exists? Some people think he’s trying to flank the DUP. But as Professor Robert Mahoney remarked to me this week (returning from America to his current beat in Belfast) the UUP can’t go further right than the DUP, so it might as well stay in the decent centre. That insight is crucial to …
Gerry Anderson on airports
“There was a time when a man could bring almost anything on to an aeroplane providing it wasn’t alive and bent on savaging people. Not any more.” More here. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
DUP successors to unionist power?
In an article in the print version of last night’s Belfast Telegraph, Noel McAdam asks some interesting questions about the real intentions of the DUP. He suggests that in some government circles in Dublin are muttering about the idea that a post Paisley DUP might be the only Unionist party able to make any deal stick. He charts the party’s move from ‘no direct negotiations with enemies of Ulster’ to the suggestion that ‘an agreed honest broker could flit between …
Trimble needs to say more
Discussing Trimble’s seemingly rash words on the Irish Republic, Ruth Dudley Edwards says, “it is a universal truth that Irish nationalists can dish it out but can’t take it.” In general she echoes the Newsletter’s sentiments, that this may be a stimulus to an important debate. But she ends with an acute observation: “If he wants nationalists anywhere to listen to him, now that he has more time on his hands, it would help if he explained his views on …
A walk on the wild side
Or drag queen terrorism! One of the leading members of the UDA appears to lead a somewhat bizarre double life. Jack Holland takes up the story. Thanks to reader Walt for this one. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Brian Keenan on Donaldson
Beirut hostage speaks in support of the ‘IRA spy’ Denis Donaldson. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Dublin bombing papers emerge
The subscription-only Irish Times, carries a story about British government papers that have emerged that may throw light on the Dublin and Monaghan car bombings in May 1974. 33 people were killed and 200 wounded. It was the worst single atrocity of the Troubles. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
O'Donahue's Croke Park appeal
The Republic’s sports minister outlines how Croke Park is crucial to the success of the joint Ireland-Scotland bid for the European Football Championship. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Whatever happened to the 'peace dividend'
Another subscription-locked Irish News story. James Stinson interviews Graham Gudgin on the once much heralded ‘peace dividend’: If peace has made a difference we should expect our share of UK employment and GDP to rise. Northern Irelands share of the UK total in terms of employment and GDP was fairly flat until about 1990. From 1990 to 1994, Northern Irelands share of UK GDP and UK employment surged. After 1994, when the first ceasefire occurred that new level was maintained. …