Shankill satire…
IN the absence of the Portadown News, here’s this week’s Shankill Moaner. Not for the easily offended, which here, probably means everyone, but hell… Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
Belfast Gonzo
SDLP man accepts gong…
PROMINENT nationalist commentator and SDLP member Tom Kelly has accepted an OBE from the Queen. Naturally, Sinn Fein has leapt on this apparent breach of SDLP policy, which the Deputy Leader has defended, to attack the party. The Irish News notes the “SDLP’s attitude to members receiving honours from the Queen appears to have softened”.Will Scholes provided some background, for those without subs to the Irish News: A party spokesman said it was a matter of conscience whether members accepted …
New Year Sale: Policing and Justice, going cheap…
THE New Year message from Teach Basil hit the right target (peacefully and democratically, of course) when it identified policing as the key issue for 2006. It’s the Americans’ favourite subject too, so I expect quite a bit of US involvement this year. The Irelandclick editorial makes much of the republican desire for political-free policing and makes much of the Northern Bank case. The big question the Government must be asking is if Sinn Fein looks like signing up to …
Blair running away from ‘On-The-Runs’ bill as it, err, stands…
THE Government looks set to back down on some of its ham-fisted proposals for an amnesty for ‘Troubles’ fugitives, whether republican, loyalist or State. The concessions appear to be that those benefiting from the scheme should appear before a special tribunal, and a time limit also seems likely. But the DUP seems happier about other limits to the legislation which could benefit IRA victims – and it might even open doors for republicans too. No wonder frosty relations between Peter …
Decision time for new Orange PC…
THE McNarry/Kennaway row rumbles on with another letter to the Belfast Telegraph. This time, internal Orange critic Rev Brian Kennaway writes that Parades Commission critic and Orangeman David McNarry MLA “failed to specifically clarify whether or not he applied for and was interviewed for the post of chairman of the Parades Commission in the previous competition in 1999/2000”. It might not seem such a crucial issue right now, but by as soon as next week, it could be pretty useful …
No-one comes out smelling of roses…
THE most likely explanation for Denis Donaldson’s exposure as a British agent inside Sinn Fein could have come about – quite possibly inadvertantly – as a result of probing by his solicitors, Madden & Finucane, into the ‘Stormontgate’ case. But perhaps it was only confirming conclusions Sinn Fein has been coming to over the past week…The Sunday Times reported that the police had handled evidence that theoretically could have been tampered with, such as the laptop said to contain the …
One good turn…
FRANK McCoubrey, an independent councillor for the Shankill area, yesterday said he felt let down by Lord Justice Nicholson’s decision not to allow John Main out on bail, despite the loyalist politician’s offer to remain with him throughout. Mr Main is charged with attempting to murder police officers and soldiers, possessing a gun and pipe bomb with intent to endanger life, and riotous assembly. Could this be the same John Main who was an assentor for Councillor McCoubrey when he …
Low turnout for SF’s remembrance day…
SINN Fein’s attempt in Fermanagh to commemorate all victims of the Troubles appears to have been a bit of a damp squib, with only 15 people turning up for the Day of Reflection there. The event is now to be “evaluated”. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
CIRA – making even Willie Frazer look good…
DAILY Ireland reports that Continuity IRA is planning to disrupt a rally organised by loyalist Love Ulster campaigners in Dublin. Just as some loyalists adopt typically republican tactics, other republicans plump for the usual loyalist response. So could loyalism finally win its first public relations victory? Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
Anger over Sharma killer’s sentence…
DESPITE describing Brij Sharma as “a Paki bastard”, Stephen Darren McGlone was not judged to have been racially motivated when he killed the popular shopkeeper. Sharma’s family are distraught at this news, as well as the 17-month sentence handed out to McGlone for manslaughter. It has prompted Suneil Sharma (no relation) – a former Commissioner for Racial Equality and current Policing Board member – to question if the courts and police are pushing the issue of racially motivated crime. Belfast …
McNarry finally denies going PC…
“I WOULD point out that I have not applied to be a member of the Parades Commission nor its chairman,” writes UUP Assembly member and Parades Commission critic David McNarry in the Belfast Telegraph’s letters page today. Glad to clarify matters. I guess the Sunday Times report of January 30, 2000 must be completely wrong. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
SDLP set out stall on justice scheme plan…
THE SDLP has refined its concerns with proposals for Government-sponsored restorative justice schemes in Northern Ireland.Alex Attwood said: Mr Attwood identified a number of shortcomings in the Government`s plan. He noted: “There is still no independent complaints system. “The protocol does not cover what restorative justice claims is 95% of their work – what they define as `non-criminal` and `anti-social` work. “Screening of volunteers, training and human rights requirements are inadequate. “The proposed relationship with the PSNI is arms-length, ambiguous …
Ingram on the run…
ARMED Forces Minister Adam Ingram was “not very comfortable” with sensitive legislation which would allow so-called on-the-runs to return to Northern Ireland, according to Tory MP Sir Patrick Cormack in the House of Commons yesterday. If he’s right – and Ingram said it was “painful and difficult” – it almost makes you wonder how Ingram might have reacted to the proposals for an amnesty at Weston Park, if he hadn’t been reshuffled a month beforehand. Ingram comes close to admitting …
‘Oil could have funded Scottish independence’…
THE Independent recently reported how a report on the potential of Scottish oil in the 1970s was buried by the British Government, which feared – probably rightly – that it would fuel demands for Scottish independence. Gavin McCrone’s study revealed how North Sea oil could have made an independent Scotland as prosperous as Switzerland (though others disagree). Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
Documents reveal BBC chaos…
MediaGuardian has published (at the bottom of this story) documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act that reveal the “turmoil” inside the BBC in 1985 over a ‘Real Lives’ interview (later broadcast in edited form) with Martin McGuinness, which the Government believed sanitised IRA violence – and tried to stop. Political interference in the BBC’s an issue that is relevant today too… Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
City Council to revamp website…
BELFAST City Council’s website is pretty rubbish, as I noted last week, but it looks like they’re going to do something about it. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
UK’s Vatican ambassador is first Catholic in post…
HE’S Britain’s first Catholic Ambassador to the Vatican’s Holy See since the Reformation and the first Irish Catholic to become a British ambassador since the Republic of Ireland was granted independence in 1921. Francis Campbell confesses (ho, ho) to The Tablet to feeling apprehensive… possibly about getting his ceremonial sword on to a Ryanair jet! Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
Does Simms’ treatment point way to vCJD cure..?
JONATHAN Simms from Northern Ireland is the longest survivor of killer disease vCJD. Real Story on BBC1 tonight follows his breakthrough treatment, which is still not easily available to others. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
US views on Irish violence…
THE events of 9-11 are causing some Americans with Irish republican links to agonise over what constitutes a terrorist and what defines a freedom fighter with a legitimate cause. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
Union flags in Dublin…
WITH Lansdowne Road facing redevelopment, the GAA has granted permission for rugby and football fixtures to be played at Croke Park. With Ireland and England to meet in 2007, it brings the curious proposition of an English flag being hoisted (for the first time?) in the Dublin grounds. But will there be Union flags in Dublin before that, when loyalist pressure group Love Ulster takes its campaign to O’Connell Street? And will the Irish capital prove more tolerant of the …