Slugger O'Toole Harry Browne is an ex pat American journalist who lectures in media studies at DIT. His views are often interesting because they are from outside that of the media establishment. In Counterpunch he has an interesting take on the changes in Adams’s strategy in the US, and detects an allignment with Hillary Clinton’s expected bid for the US presidency in 2008. Adams, who was briefly the IRA chief of staff in the 1970s, is now a bearded visage for the …
Davy Adams with an important corrective to the view that Northern Ireland in any way represents the intractable harshness of reality. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Mick noted The Guardian’s Ship of Fools’ funniest religious joke the other day. In today’s Guardian, comedian Emo Philips, quite rightly, points out – Hey!.. that’s my joke.. and adds a couple more for the sheer hell of it. heh. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
I’d say the caption writer at AP or Newsday has been given some serious lattitude on this photograph featuring what he/she calls ‘Leaders of the Irish Republican Army’. Thanks to reader Jeremy. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Interesting idea from two academics at the University of Ulster, who have argued that the GAA’s amateur status could make it an engine for increased sports tourism. One Australian aficionado suggested to Slugger earlier this week in Dublin that the popular International Rules tests could provide a powerful boost for the game over there. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Eamonn McCann, in the Belfast Telegraph, takes issue with the DUP’s claim that “Northern Ireland’s not for sale”.. oh yes it is, says Eamonn.. and reminds us that as well as publicly owned buildings being put on the market, the widely opposed tacitly approved PFIs will increasingly dominate any government investment in NI. Although he doesn’t seem to have seen the report from the A&L Goodbody consultancy firm, published recently, which states that, based on ISNI figures there is likely …
Like many things in Northern Ireland the arrangements around the decommissioning were made entirely in secret, and not simply the act itself, but who was chosen and when. That secretiveness alone is what makes it suspect in eyes of Unionist observer, argues Lindy McDowell. She ends with a typically wry but sharp perception: Meanwhile, it is weird, is it not, to hear Gerry invoking British intelligence assessments as proof that the Provies have indeed come up with the goods. When …
In spite of the naysayers, *ahem*, I say congratulations to Derry City – Derry wins City category in Britain in Bloom 2005.. and congratulations to Jeanette Warke too[scroll down to Outstanding Achievement award] Belfast Telegraph report here Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Aileen Quinton’s article from the News Letter last week about pressures felt by victims: In light of the recent rioting, anger seems to be the emotion of the moment. I am angry too. Angry about terrorism, prisoner releases, OTRs, RIR disbandment, parades rerouting, pressure to have terrorists in government and the suspicion that we will be increasingly maliciously misgoverned until we do. All this with the odious thread of appeasement running through it all. I am angry that the government …
The Public Accounts Committee report on the Navan Centre is available online [and as a pdf file here], which the BBC reports here. The Committee concluded that “This case is a classic example of how not to manage a cultural/tourism project” and declares it an expensive failure. But have lessons been learned? The Committee states – “We expect the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure to ensure that the handling of any future projects in this sector fully reflects the …
The inaugural Northern Ireland Business Monitor 2004-2005 has found that a whopping 77% of the 2,000 businesses surveyed felt that the Assembly suspension has had no effect on them. Only 16% said the suspension made their situation worse. However, the report suggests that “many businesses do not see local politicians as being adequately supportive of local businesses”. “The absence of the Assembly was significant in making prospects worse for the farming businesses (28%) and construction (23%). All the other sectors …
As John O’Sullivan points out in his Chicago Sun-Times, it’s not all over for Sinn Fein either. The violence has continued after previous IRA acts of decommissioning. But he also believes that Unionism’s case for holding the higher moral ground was severely damaged by their acquience to the Loyalist rioting and intimidation campaign of the late summer and early September: Strong rumors suggest that what the IRA destroyed is the heavy stuff it no longer needs against the British Army. …
Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Government, according to Prime Minister Tony Blair, is a bit like learning to unicycle.. No, really! The admission came during a Question and Answer session with party delegates in Brighton.. chaired by Eddie Izzard.. whose presence may, or may not, have had something to do with the somewhat surreal flights of fancy between more scripted serious questions. From the transcript – Eddie Izzard[EI]: Okay. Thank you very much to the ladies and gentlemen of the media. Well just wait a …
SO where do we go from here? Read on, for a compilation of rambling late night thoughts , mainly about unionism and loyalism but with a fair bit on republicanism. Bet thats got you hooked… ITS the wrong question, but since you asked – has the IRA completely disarmed? Well, no-one ever can really know, whether youre John de Chastelain or Brian Keenan. The offensive materiel will have gone, with heavy weaponry no longer of any real practical military use …
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and Wales, Peter Hain’s speech to the Labour Party conference hasn’t exactly generated a lot of coverage beyond a niche market. The Belfast Telegraph reported before the speech was delivered.. and there’s not much more beyond what he has said previously – apart from the comparison with Wales.. but the BBC reports Hain’s somewhat bizarre claim, made after the speech, that releasing the inventory of decommissioned PIRA weapons would “risk the security of Northern …
ANOTHER deliberate slip? :o) Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
The Irish Times leads with Danny Kennedy’s criticism of the DUP’s attack on the IRA appointed clergyman witnesses. As apparently does today’s Daily Ireland front page – but it doesn’t normally go on line until 3.30. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Chris Thornton has been ruminating on the fast moving events of Monday pm, and traces what details that actually did emerge despite the General’s concern to maintain a degree of secrecy. It included a flame thrower. I can’t remember that one ever reported being used! Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
DAVID Gordon goes back to his old stomping ground to find out what sparked the recent loyalist rioting in Newtownabbey. Excuses or reasons..? Part one of this series is here. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.