UDA complete break with Shoukris…
THE UDA has appointed a new leadership in north Belfast, prompting the usual warnings of tension. Time for the NIO to get the chequebook out then. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
Belfast Gonzo
PUP barks at “snake” & helps dinosaur…
The DUP has criticised NI Secretary Peter Hain’s assertion that the IRA has completely ended all paramilitary and criminal activity. Meanwhile, the PUP has criticised the DUP’s assertion that it was never involved in paramilitary activity. Which the UUP might benefit from…From the Irish News interview with PUP chairwoman Dawn Purvis, who set a precedent recently by becoming the first member of a party with paramilitary links to sit on the Policing Board: “Former paramilitaries came up to me, told …
Good loyalist cop, bad loyalist cop…
YESTERDAY’S Irish News was unusually balanced in its opinion pieces on restorative justice – unionist Roy Garland listed how Northern Ireland Alternatives schemes involving “a few ex-prisoners” had benefited loyalist areas and provided role models, while Tom Kelly argued that as “some loyalists are not even on officially recognised ceasefires, the thought of going to a CRJ scheme in a loyalist area must carry more risks than visiting Beirut on an Israeli passport”. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
‘It was themmuns that started it’…
IN today’s New York Times, Daniel Gilbert, a professor of psychology at Harvard, examines the psychology of the blame game, whether it be in the Middle East or Northern Ireland. He notes that “people on one side claim that they are merely responding to provocation and dismiss the other side’s identical claim as disingenuous spin. But research suggests that these claims reflect genuinely different perceptions of the same bloody conversation”. He goes on to point out that while proportionate retaliation …
On the buses, again…
IT was mentioned on one of the threads earlier, but I think this public transport forum – Transtink – deserves a wider audience. Remember Translink’s boast last year about Metro buses every 10 minutes on most routes? Well, it doesn’t apply over the summer (at least not on the route I live on!), thanks to the holiday timetable, which runs all July and August. So I’ve decided to take my life in my hands and started cycling to work again …
Setting up the ‘North Antrim Question’…?
SOME nice manoeuvring in the Lords has brought about the potential end of the unamendable and undemocratic Order in Council, should the Nov 24 deadline not be met. If it isn’t, it means that Westminster laws for Northern Ireland can be amended – rather than accepted wholesale or completely rejected – to take account of local circumstances. It also reduces the ability of the Government to threaten parties here with laws they don’t want – a situation that the DUP …
‘Learn from us: jaw-jaw is better than war-war’…
LESSONS learned in Northern Ireland need to be learned in the Middle East, Tony Blair said the other day. He told the Commons: “It’s interesting to think ten years ago it looked like the Palestinian peace process was in better shape than that in Northern Ireland. I think the lesson of the last ten years is that unless people are put into a process which ensures continual dialogue then the danger is that the extremes take over because there is …
Police, censorship and other blogging news…
LOTS of blogging stories in the news over the last day or two. A new report suggests that a quarter of British internet users keep a blog and more than half of that number share their online musings with the public… PC Pro acknowledges the growth, but reckons the mainstream media are well ahead in terms of authority… North Wales Police Chief Richard Brunstrom has launched a blog, becoming the UK’s first blogging Chief Constable… Internet giants Yahoo, Microsoft and …
Was bishop bashed or praised..?
THE reforming bishop who spoke at the Orange Order Twelfth demonstration in Maguiresbridge, Co Fermanagh last week is a special advisor to a group which wants the Church to ordain and marry gay people, the Irish News and others report. The Right Reverend Henry Richmond has recently also urged an end to derogatory anti-Catholic language. Now that he’s off back to England, did his message resonate with any Orangemen? Or is he forever the outsider who just doesn’t understand the …
Build-up of high pressure…
ANYONE still up? I think the dry spell just ended… hopefully only temporarily. Lots of thunder and lightning; maybe it‘ll clear the air on Slugger too! Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
Recycling the news…
THE wheels of justice turn slowly, so perhaps it wasn’t surprising that it took over a year for the Court Service to get around to publishing the result of Paschal Mulholland’s successful appeal against a wrongful conviction in the 1970s. Reported as an exclusive on Daily Ireland’s front page yesterday, the story was covered contemporaneously in the Tele last June… Ah, well, it’s the silly season… (although I was guilty of a similar blunder a few years ago meself!) Belfast …
The reign of Hain – more calls, mainly on Sinn Fein…
IN his keynote speech last night, the Secretary of State told Northern Ireland’s politicians that they don’t live in the centre of the universe, and argued that a shared future is an economic necessity. Peter Hain pointed towards more north-south co-operation for mutual benefit and indicated Sinn Fein should continue engaging with the police on practical issues (‘practical’ is used five times, co-operation a central theme) until they could actually back them, acknowledging that this wouldn’t happen until policing and …
DUP in waiting game…?
LOOKS like my speculation (second post) about what might be happening in Westminster could have some foundation. The Observer reports that after the next general election: “The combined unionist bloc vote of 10 would be the Tories’ most likely allies if they needed votes to form a minority government. The DUP expects to pick up more seats in the next general election. DUP strategists are urging Ian Paisley not to jump into devolved government with Sinn Fein this side of …
Txt yr m8s in Irish…
MOBILE phone users may soon be able to text in Irish. The SBP and UTV report that Vodafone is considering adding Gaeilge into their predictive text dictionary. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
Rearguard action against Westminster ‘blackmail’…
OPPONENTS of ‘orders in council’ – laws forced on Northern Ireland by Westminster without any changes permitted – have won a small victory in the House of Lords. It could mean the Government will wield less legislative leverage in future negotiations, and could find it harder to use the threat of imposing unpopular laws here to move the NI process forward, such as the Education Bill, which unionists are deeply opposed to and regard as blackmail. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
Town centres to be protected…
A NEW ‘draft’ planning policy which is designed to revitalise town centres by placing greater controls on out-of-town developments in Northern Ireland has been published for consultation. Will John Lewis get the go-ahead for a Sprucefield store now? It seems to have been made an ‘exception’ to the plans. Obviously a “no brainer”. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
Sinn Fein unveil ‘good’ collusion…
GERRY Kelly is on speaking terms with the police. Gerry Adams said so. Baby steps… Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
UPRG miss Paisley’s Twelfth speech, head to Dublin instead…
PETE flagged up what the loyalist delegation to Bertie Ahern would say, and it was accurate – concern over the increasing likelihood of the November 24 deadline for devolution being missed and current moves towards facilitating ‘joint stewardship’. Bertie, the old smoothie, has told them what they want to hear, and the UDA UPRG boys seemed happy enough with his statement. In fact, they sounded positively pro-Agreement, which might make a few DUP members take note, as it creates an …
Loyalist mural deconstructed…
HERE’S a dummy’s guide to the symbolism behind one loyalist mural on the Shankill (pdf). Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
Blair backs all-British Olympic football team…
TONY Blair would like to see an all-UK football team at the London Olympic games (although it’s referred to as a ‘Great Britain’ team, as is the tradition of the Olympics). The Times reported that of the four British football federations, “England and Northern Ireland have given their backing to a united team, but Wales and Scotland have not”. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com