Slugger O'Toole One of the concerns most frequently expressed in the Republic about the provisional movement has been the possible corrosive effect of the importation to the south of the tactics adopted by them in the North. Noel Dempsey’s initiative aimed at ending the dispute over Shell’s Corrib gas pipeline, appears to have failed to convince the protestors. The response has a certain wearily familiar ring to it. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
There almost seems to be a concerted effort to play down the extent of the violence in Ardoyne on 12th July.. and other attempts at causing destruction over the past week.. possibly for an obvious reason. So, from Thursday’s Irish Times, Gerry Moriarty’s eye-witness account of the riot in Ardoyne is worth noting.. as is his comment – “Sure, there is global terror and suicide bombers on our London doorstep but that must not interfere with our ancient hatreds.” Riots …
BELFAST City Council is coming under fire for sponsoring two loyalist bonfires which have been lambasted by nationalists. At one, loyalist gunmen fired a volley of shots in the air and there was an obvious paramilitary presence. At the other, Daily Ireland reported: “But there is something rotten there, too, when on a bonfire in north Belfast a placard can be hoisted rejoicing in the suicide epidemic that has claimed the lives of so many young Catholic men in that …
THE UVF ceasefire has, once again, been called into question by all sides after the murder of Craig McCausland. And once again, it is innocent people with no connection to the feud or paramilitarism who are paying with their lives. Four days after McCausland’s horrific murder (his mother had also been murdered by the UDA aged 23), the family had yet to see a unionist politician darken their doorstep or phone to offer sympathy – their excuses rang pitifully hollow …
CHRIS Thornton continues to track the heated argument within Orangism concerning the recent parade negotiations in Derry involving Orangemen and republican community representatives. Rev Brian Kennaway has said members of Grand Lodge, the Order’s central leadership, “had already approved of and encouraged” the talks with residents’ groups in Londonderry and Belfast – even though the talks were later criticised by the Order’s Grand Master. The Tele reported: In their July 1 statement, Mr [Robert] Saulters [the Orange Grand Master] and …
The Irish Times has an excellent article by Dennis Tourish, co-author of On the Edge: Political Cults Right and Left, in which he, [perhaps] ostensibly, asks, “How could such [seemingly ordinary] people have callously bombed dozens of their fellow citizens into oblivion?”.. and his answer – “The surprise, really, is that we can be so easily surprised.” He, firstly, addresses the impression that psychological disorder might be a factor [all emphasis is added] – In truth, throughout history ordinary people …
AFTER 80 PSNI officers were injured at the intense Ardoyne riot on the 12th, (best pic by AFP?!) the Police Federation said officers’ lives were being placed in danger because they could not fire plastic bullets soon enough. Red tape has been blamed for the delay in obtaining permission to fire. Continuity IRA later admitted to the blast bomb attacks on the police that prompted the first plastic bullets to be fired in three years. But despite two SDLP politicians …
The virtual bookstore [and the rest] – an online store that, personally, I find invaluable – is hosting and live-streaming a virtual concert later today.. well, early tomorrow.. to celebrate its 10th Anniversary. Starting at 5pm US Pacific time – which converts to 1am GMT.. and headlined by Bob Dylan. Happy Birthday Amazon. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
In the Belfast Telegraph, journalists David Gordon and Jonathan McCambridge neatly tie together the calls on NI [and Wales] Secretary of State Peter Hain to review the Government’s recognition of the UVF ceasefire. Not before time, given recent activities and the IMC’s repeatedly stated view that “the UVF remained active and violent and that it continued to be involved in organised crime.”.. Hmm.. Time to update the list of specified organisations used by Sentence Review Commissioners? Slugger O'TooleA general account …
Northern Ireland’s electricity consumers are to pay over 1 billion pounds more for their electricity than Great Britain by 2010 thanks to a deal struck during privatisation in the late 1990s. It means providers are prevented from selling cheaper electricity even if they want to. Poor negotiating skills are apparently to blame although nobody seems interested in finding out more. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Thankfully our technical troubles seem to have been resolved.. I’ll let Mick fill you in on that.. should he wish to *ahem*.. and we’ll be back to our usual noting of events as soon as possible. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
I noted Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s comments on Al Qaeda sympathisers in Ireland previously. But the Irish Eagle had more background to those comments – pointing to an Sunday Independent report on 3 July that quotes a US Department of Justice statement to US broadcaster NBC’s Dateline programme. The Irish Examiner has the latest – “Gardaí and the military have confirmed they passed on the files of at least 40 al-Qaida sympathisers in Ireland to the British police” .. and the …
Despite the rumours of his imminent demise.. Malachi O’Doherty, in today’s Belfast Telegraph, on the “Riots billed in advance like country ceilidhs” – “The apprehension of what is to come will excite the testosterone-charged young men on both sides but it will hang like a stale cloud over the heads of everyone else who is either stuck in one of those areas or committed by principle to being there. And behind them will be the political manipulators working out what …
In today’s Guardian ex nun and Islamic specialist, Karen Armstrong, argues that using blanket terms such as ‘Muslim terrorists’ is not only inacccurate but counterproductive and urges a more informed opinion/analysis of islamic religion which is not a monolithic entity as we would like to believe. The label of Catholic terror was never used about the IRA Fundamentalism is often a form of nationalism in religious disguise Karen Armstrong Monday July 11, 2005 The Guardian Last year I attended a …
Perhaps in response to another report in the same paper – “The IRA will not disband but will have no role other than to pursue the goal of a united Ireland by purely peaceful means, in the scenario now being considered by republican leaders.”, the Irish Times leader today [just] manages to avoid the Godot reference.. but the connection seems to be there – Waiting for the IRA to go away From the Irish Times leader column – Thousands of …
Nosemonkey, along with a few other Brit Bloggers did a great job keeping readers up to date on Thurday and after. Now, after an approach by a US reader who wanted to do something directly for the people involved in the clear up and rescue operations, he’s offered to buy several pints for some of the police who were on duty that day on behalf of his remote readers. He also has details of the official appeal funds. Slugger O'TooleA …
The Newsletter (no link) reports today that Sir Reg Empey has made his second round of appointments. Following from the appointment of Danny Kennedy as Deputy Leader he has created the portfolio of Parades, and has appointed a team of four to take it on. The four who are all members of the Orange Institution and other Loyal Orders are Michael Copeland MLA, Olive Whitten, Cllr Trevor Wilson and Young Unionist Alan Barr. The report also reveals that the Party …
We are hearing that one of the main lines of inquiries on the London bombers is that the bombers may have been a team from Algeria, who entered Britain through France. It is further rumoured that the French police have a presence in Britain to help track the surviving bombers down – they’re thought to be part of a cell that the French busted a couple of weeks ago. NB This remains a rumour at present, but we recommend you …
Once again, the Guardian Review section has another wonderful article.. this time Colm Tóibín on the Genius of John Millington Synge – to coincide with the publication by Carysfort Press of Synge: A Celebration edited by Tóibín, out on Monday.. wish they had an easier ordering system though.. The Druid Theatre Company are performing the Synge Plays in Galway and elsewhere. You can read Maire Nic Shiubhlaigh’s eye-witness account of the Playboy Riots, and more, in this great Synge birthday …
I WANDERED lonely as a spide That floats on glue and makes a fuss, When all at once I got on board, A new and spacious Metrobus; Near City Hall, beside the bank, Huffing and puffing, but very pink. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.