Belfast Gonzo

HILLARY Clinton is obviously taking this criticism of her role the peace process pretty seriously. It’s taking up a lot of newsprint and bandwidth – and today’s first video in her election website’s blog is a compilation of highlights from Christmas 1995 in front of City Hall’s Christmas tree (she spoke like a robot – I was there!) and last year’s electioneering with the two first ministers. The question seems to be: does being a frequent transatlantic flyer to women’s …

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BRIAN Feeney is questioning the ability of Sinn Fein to attract voters in the Republic of Ireland. With McGuinness busy as Deputy First Minister, Adams ineffective in the south and Ferris and Mary Lou not in the same league, is there cause for concern in SF? Southern voters are concerned about taxation levels, but SF policy is weak in this area. Feeney doubts if they care about the devolution of policing and justice. They might care about the Lisbon Treaty, …

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IT’S hard not to detect a strong element of schadenfreude in David Trimble’s assessment of DUP leader Ian Paisley’s demise. Having signed up to the legislative ‘twin’ of the Good Friday Agreement – the St Andrews Deal – the former first minister obviously feels his DUP successor has travelled a similar route to himself – but with less personal success. Accusing Paisley of having lost his credibility and the party of not having been ‘transparent’, Trimble added: “It has to …

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NO sooner did the DUP language minister answer Chris’ prayers and finally attend an Irish language event, than Sinn Fein announces the launch of its first Irish language branch in Dublin. Since Sinn Fein is keen to de-politicise the language, it, err, named the cumann after a murdered IRA member. Sweet serendipity for Poots, as the timing of the announcement gave him a good excuse to justify his lack of support for an Irish language act. Naturally, Pobal declined to …

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IT won’t matter to most of us, but it’s interesting that Barrie Grunewald, a Labour Party aide to Secretary of State Shaun Woodward has been given a police caution for forging a prospective councillor’s signature. While probably no more than the ‘admin error’ he claims it was (and done with the candidate’s permission), it makes one wonder if all is well in Woodward’s camp, him being one of the favourites to bite the dust this year. Elsewhere, the LibDem spokesman …

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THIS is a big week for Belfast. Later this morning, the new Westlink junction on the Grosvenor Road opens – a major milestone in the upgrade to Northern Ireland’s most hated section of congested road. Let us know if it helped when you finish your commute to work! Then, on Thursday, we have the opening of Victoria Square – the huge £400 million shopping development in the centre of town. Let’s hope the reality of Belfast’s second Dome of Delight …

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FORMER paramilitary prisoners are playing a positive role in maintaining peace at a grass-roots level, according to academics Pete Shirlow and Kieran McEvoy. In their new book – Beyond the Wire: Former Prisoners and Conflict Transformation in Northern Ireland – launched last week, Prof McEvoy reveals that 10 years after early releases began, of the 450 prisoners released early, just 20 have had their licences revoked, of which 16 were for terrorist related activities. This compares to a general re-offending …

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JUSTICE campaiger Raymond McCord – who son was murdered by a UVF gang that included police informers – last night became the first unionist to address a Sinn Fein ard fheis. Wearing his father’s Orange Order sash, McCord told republicans that whereas Gerry Adams had kept to his promise to raise the case of McCord’s son in Downing Street, unionist MP Jeffrey Donaldson failed to name the killers in Parliament. The News Letter reported that Mr Donaldson said he pledged …

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JUDGE Dredd fans wanting to look zarjaz this St Paddy’s Day might want to check out this new 2000AD T-shirt. Hat-tip to NI’s very own Comic Book Guy, Mark the librarian. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com

CHRIS Thornton takes a look at the long-running debate over the proposed Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. It’s been trundling along for a decade, but may be coming to a head, as the BoR Forum prepares to report its conclusions. While most would agree that a BoR is a good thing, there’s been relatively little debate about what it might entail – will some have more rights than others, for example, how will they be exercised, what consideration is …

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THE Irish News reports it “likely” that businessman Harvey Bicker is the first ever unionist to join a republican party, after the former Ulster Unionist councillor from Down District confirmed to RTE that he had joined Fianna Fail. (Of course, serial defector Lord Ballyedmond has already been associated with both parties, before joining the UK’s Conservatives – perhaps businessmen’s first loyalty is to who is seen to be best for business.) A former military man, RTE reported that Bicker ‘said …

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FOR those who remember him, Spideman is back with the return of Elemental Soup. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com

JUST been catching up on some of the analysis of the Dromore poll, and while there was clearly a tactical protest vote to keep the DUP out (as can be seen from the level of TUV transfers to the UUP), what exactly will the DUP MPs be mulling over in Lisbon, as they contemplate the results without the Paisleys around? Virtually every analysis points to the presentation of power-sharing as one, if not the main, reason for the DUP’s failure …

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THE BBC recently invited comments from people with unusual names, and I have to say I pity the poor Manchester fellow who parents named him ‘Lammasfair’. Mr Rossman explains: “At school I used to get annoyed when people made fun of my name. My parents (both sadly deceased) gave me the name because they met at the Lammas Fair in Ballycastle in Ireland. Now I think Lammasfair is a wonderful name because people always ask me about it and I …

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UUP leader Sir Reg Empey will be telling Inside Politics (Radio Ulster 12.45pm) how the Dromore by-election will have an effect on the devolution of policing and justice. While the May date always seemed another of these ‘targets’ that there was no real chance of meeting, the DUP can now do exactly what Sinn Fein used to do to good effect in negotiations – and claim that the need to ‘keep their people on board’ while hardliners or dissidents are …

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THE deputy chairman of the DUP’s youth association, Edward Hanna (25), has announced he will be joining the Ulster Unionists. The ex-DUP executive member claimed: “The centre of DUP politics has moved from its community base and people have taken to being very arrogant and not entirely out of touch but certainly politics driven by the people. The DUP completely ripped up their manifestos after the elections. There was no consultation with the people, there was no consultation anywhere.” The …

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GORDON Brown’s statement paving the way for phone-tap evidence to be used in court (subject to conditions) in England and Wales has led to criticism in Northern Ireland. Both the DUP’s Sammy Wilson and Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde have questioned why such evidence can’t be used here. Brown’s only response so far is: “This is a recommendation of the committee, in the first instance, in relation to public interest immunity certificates. That is why, for example, the use of …

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COULD the fallout from the Northern Rock fiasco lead to the demise of Northern Irish banknotes? See below the fold to find out why we might be saying goodbye to our local Sterling notes…Banks in Northern Ireland and Scotland produce their own Sterling notes, but SNP leader Alex Salmond fears they could disappear if Treasury proposals to protect customer from failing financial institutions go ahead. Apparently, banks that print Scottish notes have to lodge funds with the Bank of England …

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PETER Hain’s woes continue as the police begin to contact those who donated to his campaign for the deputy leadership of Labour. Embarrassingly, the biggest union to back the former NI Secretary – the GMB – wants its money back if the police find out that £10,000 of its donation that has gone AWOL wasn’t spent on advertising. Maybe his mum/part-time secretary knows where it is. Meanwhile, Guido‘s scalping of Hain has prompted the BBC’s David Gregory to ask if …

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