Slugger O'Toole

The BBC engages in some interpretation of the Conservative Party leader’s comments for its headline on David Cameron’s visit today – as the report points out he actually said he would prefer if “the IRA went away”, but that an old boys association “would be acceptable” based on Ian Paisley’s previous comments, while he did state that Sinn Féin “must work fully with the PSNI”. Meanwhile, in the Irish Times Gerry Moriarty focuses on the supposed “standoff between the DUP …

Read more…

Angela Eagle tells the BBC that they did not tell her about the job losses at Bombardier when she visited last week on a trade mission to Canada. However, it seems, there were strong intimations of this as early as 8th August. The jobs are not being cut so much as being shifted to Mexico. It is a pattern we might expect to see repeated, as lower end functions get pushed out to take advantage of the cheaper labour costs …

Read more…

That discussion on Doughty Street TV the other night on Trimble and the peace process is now online. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Not that he had much choice in the matter, since RTÉ had already obtained documents dating from 2003, under the US Freedom of Information Act, from the US State Department revealing that “up to six Islamist groups have had cells operating in Ireland.” and that the information was based on intelligence gathered by gardaí.The Irish Times also had these details[subs req] Asked if any “foreign terrorist groups” had a presence in Ireland, the embassy named the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Al-Gama’at …

Read more…

According to the BBC The findings of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry [which opened in April 1998] will not be published until the end of 2008 2007 at the earliest By which time Tony Blair will, almost definitely, no longer be Prime Minister.. Updated Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

The recent outages [hopefully soon to be resolved – Ed] have resulted in a few missed posts. On Tuesday Secretary of State for Wales etc, Peter Hain met the Irish Minister for foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern and issued another statement on the timetable, as reported by the BBC. “We are awaiting the results of the parties’ consultations and we expect them to come back and say they support the St Andrews Agreement by the 10 November.[added emphasis] “If the answer …

Read more…

Vincent Browne raises his old bete noir (subs needed): why does no major Irish media outlet not support “a radical restructuring of Irish society to achieve a far greater level of equality than exists”? But is it true that the fourth estate always leads the political agenda? Aside from a tiny Sinn Fein rump of TDs, in the Republic there is no political mainstream party that is credibly pushing the line that Vincent outlines. So my point is not that …

Read more…

I’m slightly disadvantaged in my attempts to get Slugger back up and working in that I’m in London today, primarily to give a talk about blogging and Web 2.0 to an international NGO. I have had a few generous offers of help, and am confident we can get back fairly quickly. Thanks to both Joe (a very regular donor to Slugger) and John for their kind help. It is much appreciated. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads …

Read more…

You can catch David Liddington, Donal Blaney, myself, and Iain Dale on Doughty Street TV tonight at 10pm Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Sorry for the outage today. We have another episode of the mysteriously missing template(s). I’m trying beg borrow and steal enough tech wisdom to get us back online. But it may take some time. You can help by throwing something in tip jar. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

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

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

When I saw this report at the weekend I had my doubts about its veracity. But there are direct quotes and it seems to be genuine. Although, the story is probably more revealing than was intended. Looking closely it seems the curator of an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Trisha Ziff, submitted a provisional list of invitees to the official opening of the exhibition of the Argentine-born Ernesto Guevara de la Serna – Che Guevara: Revolutionary and Icon. …

Read more…

Donegal man Mark Tighe has been finding out what Unionist public representatives in the west of Northern Ireland think of the vast improvement in the roads infrastructure just over the border in the Republic. “When we started our service 25 years ago the only good road was in the north from Lifford to Aughnacloy,” said James McGinley, who operates daily coach services from Donegal to Dublin. “It’s the total opposite now. Lifford to Aughnacloy is the worst bit.” Slugger O'TooleA …

Read more…

What the rest of the island have long suspected of Dubliners: they have the cushiest jobs in the country. They are: …putting in just over 34 hours a week, or six hours 52 minutes a day — the lowest in Ireland, according to a new survey. This is almost one-and-a-half hours less than those living in Munster, and Connacht and Ulster, who are clocking up almost 36 hours a week, or seven hours 10 minutes a day, at work. Leinster …

Read more…

I really like this piece from Alan McBride from yesterday’s Sunday Life. There are so many people, myself included, who feel they have a right to pontificate on the whys and wherefores of Northern Ireland. Alan McBride is in a completely different category. Having lost his wife and father in law in the Shankill bombing, he has set out changing the world he lives in. Although he would be happy enough with ‘one small step’, he has the courage to …

Read more…

Several of todays papers are making the claim that Martin McGuinness has been a British Agent within Sinn Fein and the IRA. The Sunday World story is front page news and declares that “McGuinness was Brit Spy.” According to the Sunday World, Martin Igram, the former handler from the Force Research Unit supports his claim with documentary evidence. The Sunday World claims to have obtained a transcript of a conversation that Ingram claims is between McGuiness and his handler. Again, …

Read more…

The Sunday Business Post/Red C tracking poll results for May have been published and as Pat Leahy points out– The electorate are clearly open to persuasion, but they haven’t been persuaded yet. The major moves in this poll are all in threes: Fianna Fail drops three points since the last tracking poll four weeks ago;Fine Gael adds three pointsLabour adds three points. All the changes in support for the other parties are one-point movements, so it’s the three point jumps …

Read more…

Spiked online has a leaked EU memo defining the social costs of drinking alcohol as “passive drinking”. The document is expected to shape an EU Commission document on alcohol later this year. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

http://www.goodbeachguide.co.uk/ The Good Beach Guide, published by the Marine Conservation Society came out on Friday. I’ve pasted the link, as its quite an interesting and informative site. The good news is: 8 beaches have been recommended, an increase on 6 beaches in 2005. The bad news is: Newcastle in County Down was issued with a warning, and its water quality was judged to be poor as a result of the discharge of raw sewage. The MCS said “Northern Ireland Water …

Read more…