Belfast Gonzo – Page 3 – Slugger O'Toole

At last – it’s a deal..!

Belfast Gonzo on February 5, 2010, 6:03 am

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THE DUP’s Assembly members have backed the proposed deal on the devolution of policing and justice. Peter Robinson says the decision was “unanimous”. The deal now goes to the party executive for ratification. The proposal extends to powers that the Executive already has, Robinson added. The British and Irish premiers seem likely to be back in Belfast very soon. Robinson said: We have had a very constructive meeting of our assembly group and I had the opportunity to put to …

Kane resignation letter, and Trimble’s emails…

Belfast Gonzo on February 2, 2010, 11:38 am

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WHAT is being billed as Alex Kane’s resignation letter as UUP director of communication has been published online, as well as email correspondence from November between him and David Trimble, who is reportedly smarting from his appearance in the Mo Mowlam film the other night. On the assumption that the published resignation letter copied to the comments of Jeff Peel’s blog is genuine, Kane writes: I have chatted to the three of them [UUP Leader, Chairman and Treasurer] since then …

Unionist difficulties…

Belfast Gonzo on January 30, 2010, 11:49 pm

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THIS is more of an update to Pete’s post than anything – a report of Lady Hermon’s address last night to the SDLP North Down Constituency Association (via Jeff Peel). Hermon reportedly confirms she will stand as an independent, and – after the UUP talks with the DUP organised by the Orange Order – admits she doesn’t know which way Sir Reg Empey is leading his party. The depth of ill-feeling is self-evident, although even Sir Reg might now be …

They think it’s all over, it’s not quite…

Belfast Gonzo on January 23, 2010, 9:08 pm

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JUST watched Gerry Adams’ presser after Sinn Fein’s ard chomairle on News 24, in which the SF leader said Martin McGuinness and Peter Robinson should meet urgently. Martin, he said, would have a “very specific brief”, suggesting things won’t be allowed to drag out much longer. “It will be a critical and defining engagement,” he said. However, his call for the British and Irish governments to act as guarantors, rather than referees, suggests that even failure at this meeting won’t …

Will DUP quit F-ST and South Belfast for UUP backing P&J deal..?

Belfast Gonzo on January 22, 2010, 3:52 pm

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COULD the price of UUP support for a deal on devolved policing and justice powers – providing the DUP with both political cover and ‘community confidence’ – be a free run in Fermanagh-South Tyrone and South Belfast? Such a deal might well be in both parties’ interests – the UCUNFs get to stand in every NI constituency, as promised, while DUP withdrawal from the two key areas would help disguise a mauling at the polls. There’s also the possibility of …

UCUNF-DUP: Nothing to see here, says Polley…

Belfast Gonzo on January 21, 2010, 3:56 pm

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IF Chief Wiggum was standing guard outside Owen Paterson’s office, he’d be played by Owen Polley. There’s only one line to learn: move along folks, nothing to see here. Or maybe we’re all looking for something that isn’t there, and the simplest theory really does explain the UCUNF-DUP meeting at the weekend. Whether Polley’s explanation is more plausible is open to question, and I doubt he’s seen the agenda. Anyway, he argues: Negotiations over the devolution of policing and justice …

Finding the balance between security and privacy…

Belfast Gonzo on January 21, 2010, 1:31 pm

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BBC Radio Ulster’s second story on the bulletins this morning was about the Policing Board’s Human Rights Report saying that nearly 10,000 people were stopped and searched in 2008/9 – three times that of 2007/8. This is not new; that most recent figure was revealed in the Report of the Independent Reviewer of the Justice and Security Act published on January 4, which the Beeb didn’t appear to notice. However, Pete’s note from the time reported the massive increase of …

Sex, texts and cheques scandal: Wells breaks cover to defend Robbo…

Belfast Gonzo on January 11, 2010, 10:58 am

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JIM Wells is first to break cover and come out with an unequivocal and stout defence of Peter Robinson on Nolan’s 5 Live show earlier (starts about 1hr 5mins in). There are people who do support Peter… My analysis of the facts, as they stand at the moment, would indicate to me that Peter Robinson, the First Minister of Northern Ireland, has done nothing wrong which would warrant his resignation or removal as First Minister and I will be supporting …

Gregory Campbell: Peter has a week to clear his name…

Belfast Gonzo on January 9, 2010, 4:51 am

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ACCORDING to Gregory Campbell on Stephen Nolan’s Radio 5 Live show, Peter Robinson has a week to clear his name. Campbell, who didn’t actually attend tonight’s meeting of DUP officers, refused to give his unequivocal backing to Robinson, adding that the DUP leader’s neck was on the line. Meanwhile, names are being mentioned about who might take over if Robinson resigns. Deputy Dodds appears uninterested, which leaves figures like Arlene Foster and Sammy Wilson in the frame, although whether an …

Iris – the statement…

Belfast Gonzo on January 7, 2010, 1:54 am

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IRIS Robinson’s statement in full… AFTER Christmas I announced that I did not intend to seek re-election for any public office. I did this to allow the party and my colleagues to make preparations and move forward. However, I also indicated that I would want later to explain what lay behind my decision.“I have had physical health problems for most of my life but very few were aware that over recent years those medical problems were both physical and mental. …

Is Robinson feeling the pressure..?

Belfast Gonzo on January 4, 2010, 10:23 am

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THE DUP finally released a statement yesterday from Peter Robinson on the death of Cardinal Daly – about two-and-a-half days after the former Primate’s death. It’s carried in full below the fold. Those who remember the Robinson email published on Slugger some time ago will be aware of how badly he takes criticism, and will spot the similarities; again Robbo feels he must respond to criticism in massive detail, and blames everyone else (particularly the Press) for his lack of …

Does First Minister’s silence on Daly suggest lack of leadership..?

Belfast Gonzo on January 3, 2010, 9:44 am

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DESPITE Cardinal Cahal Daly’s opposition to IRA violence and the tributes paid by unionist politicians and Protestant church leaders, at the time of writing, First Minister Peter Robinson has said nothing about the Catholic leader’s death on Thursday. Perhaps Robinson will speak soon – although by then his sympathies are not likely to be seen as particularly heartfelt. Maybe he has his reasons, what with his wife’s woes, but not to issue a simple statement seems unbelievably petty on the …

Dissident republican group’s uninspiring new year message…

Belfast Gonzo on January 2, 2010, 4:01 am

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READING like a dreary hardline missive from 1970 rather than 2010, here’s the rather longwinded new year greeting from the republican wing of the Real IRA, the 32 County Sovereign Movement. After praising the “political action” of 2009 that represents “the way forward for Irish republicanism”, the statement goes on (and on and on…) to recognise the need for dissident republicanism to reach out to and gain the support of “communities” this year. It is, at least, a recognition of …

Ireland and US handbagged after Mountbatten assassination…

Belfast Gonzo on December 30, 2009, 12:38 pm

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THERE are many interesting disclosures flowing from the UK and Irish archives after the IRA assassination of Mountbatten in 1979. The Times reports that a “telegram from Robin Haydon, the British Ambassador in Dublin, to Lord Carrington, the Foreign Secretary, revealed that Lord Mountbatten’s daughter, Lady Pamela Hicks, had told him that 1979 had been the first year that the boat was not under guard or searched for devices before the family went aboard”. Haydon wrote: In the absence of …

Major embarrassment for SDLP in Irish archives…

Belfast Gonzo on December 30, 2009, 11:24 am

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EXPENSES rows are not new. The Irish archives reveal that Dublin was prepared to hand out payments to the SDLP after the collapse of Northern Ireland’s power-sharing executive in 1974. Rather embarrassingly for John Hume and co, an official said details of the claims “do not tally” with records and advised further investigation to ensure “the SDLP aren’t claiming for something they aren’t entitled to”. Even more worryingly, one senior Irish government official believed Hume wanted internment brought back to …

Guid Laird, that’s an awful lot of money…

Belfast Gonzo on December 11, 2009, 8:14 pm

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LORD Laird tends to get a fairly easy ride in the media; he gives good quotes, occasionally stumbles onto a half-decent story and is a colourful character who thinks he understands PR. None of which excuses the fact that this bumbling buffoon costs you and me more than anyone else in the House of Lords – despite only having spoken seven times in the upper house last year. What is particularly galling is that while the one-man Ulster-Scots cross-border taxi …

Should Monica resign..?

Belfast Gonzo on December 1, 2009, 2:21 am

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PETE’S already noted the launch of the consultation paper on a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland, in which it becomes quickly apparent that the Government has basically thrown out most of the advice from the NI Human Rights Consortium for straying beyond its remit, lack of regard to the national and international contexts (ie, stuff already in place or about to be), unrealistic expectations, and so on. The NIHRC says it “will now carefully consider the Government?s proposals before …

Suffering in silence…

Belfast Gonzo on November 27, 2009, 9:27 am

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BY now most of us will be familiar with the tragic tale of Bill Barbour and his wife, Alzheimers victim Ann. It appears Mr Barbour, who was Ann’s primary carer, suffocated his long-suffering wife before drowning himself. In this heartbreaking interview, the couple’s son tries to explain the family’s predicament and asks if “society should look at ways of relaxing controls on people choosing the time of the endings of their lives”. If that was attended to, perhaps in the …

UKIP and TUV exchange admiring glances…

Belfast Gonzo on November 24, 2009, 8:32 am

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THE Tories and UUP are still enjoying their honeymoon, but UKIP and the TUV seem to be making eyes at each other across the dancefloor in this News Letter article from a few days ago. Will the relationship progress from flirty to dirty… or is Jim just too shirty to jump into bed with the first GB party to look lovingly at his EU policies? Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com

The BBC soundbite from the DUP conference…

Belfast Gonzo on November 21, 2009, 7:23 pm

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JUST caught Peter Robinson on News 24. The section of the speech that attracted the BBC’s attention most was this: I cannot guarantee the future of the Assembly but I can guarantee that it will not be the DUP that will walk away. I can also guarantee that in whatever circumstances we find ourselves, the DUP will act in the best interests of the people of Northern Ireland. This is the DUP message that has been distilled down for the …