Orde says no to Provo Police…
CHIEF Constable Hugh Orde and Policing Board chairman Des Rea both insisted yesterday that people with terrorist convictions will not be allowed to join the police. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
Belfast Gonzo
Amnesty proposals questioned…
THE Government is to allow suspected IRA fugitives ‘on the run’ back into the UK. However, Alliance’s David Ford isn’t convinced that the IRA will afford people on the run from the IRA the same courtesy. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
Another statement Ruaned…
SINN Fein has called for eBay to stop selling DVDs of Irish Travellers’ bare-knuckle fights. Without a trace of irony, Catriona Ruane stated: “We are against the exploitation of violence in any way… They shouldn’t be selling racist incitement to hatred.” She obviously hasn’t visited Sinn Fein’s online shop in a while… Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
Clarke’s a Tory rogue..!
KEN Clarke is to make another bid for the leadership of the Conservative Party. Do you find him appealing? Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
Oh brother, where art thou..?
A COLERAINE couple made medical history today by cryogenically freezing some stem cells from the umbilical tube of their second child in South Africa – genetic insurance policy. They did it in order to treat possible future illnesses or diseases the boy might suffer from. The idea isn’t new for ‘saviour siblings’ (as another NI couple illustrated very recently), but as Marie Foy reports: “What is groundbreaking is the concept of storing stem cells in a perfectly healthy baby in …
Words deployed in new phase of war…
THE launch of the ‘Love Ulster’ unionist campaign against a United Ireland yesterday was steeped in symbolism. Echoing the arrival of the Clyde Valley arms shipment for the UVF at Larne in 1914, Shankill Mirror newspapers were unloaded from a boat at the port yesterday. The aim was – I think – to illustrate that the unionist side of the argument against republicanism was capable of being made through democratic means. Wullie Wilkinson’s statement that one of the aims of …
The price of policing..?
ALLIANCE leader David Ford has acknowledged that members of the IRA could end up in the police on Inside Politics. Meanwhile, the SDLP appeared even more perturbed than Sammy Wilson over talk of people with terrorist convictions joining the PSNI. Perhaps Sammy – like others – thinks it’s a non-starter. Mind you, there must be some republican who watched events unfold in Garnerville recently, and wondered if signing up to policing wasn’t such a bad thing after all. Community policing …
What did Mo stand for..?
WRITING in Spiked, Brendan O’Neill casts a critical eye over Mo Mowlam’s tenure as Northern Ireland Secretary. Drawing parallels with Robin Cook, who also died recently, he argues that they were figureheads for the ‘politics of disgruntlement’, “fallen Blairites kicking against the party” after they fell out of favour. He also downplays Mowlam’s perceived crucial role in the negotiation of the Good Friday Agreement, where even Mowlam said she felt more like the tea lady than a serious player.O’Neill writes: …
A place apart, judicially…
AFTER the fiasco of loyalist “foot soldiers” escaping jail after they attacked an ice cream van that the UDA wanted protection money from, you might like to compare and contrast court action against similar crimes in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. Local rioters rarely (ever?) get more than six months these days, but even after the sentences of some of the Bradford rioters were reduced a couple of years ago, they were still all longer than the …
Suicide bombs and ballot boxes…
THE Hamas militant at the top of Israel’s ‘Most Wanted’ list has released a video in which he issues a statement that bears a striking similarity to another famous soundbite from Danny Morrison in 1981.The BBC reports that Mohammed Deif warned Palestinian officials against ending what he calls the armed struggle, but urges them to resolve internal differences through dialogue. And to the Palestinian Authority he suggests: “We should keep the arms of resistance raised side by side with the …
Mixed messages…
DEBORAH McAleese reports that four men under UDA orders who attacked an ice cream vendor who refused to pay ‘protection money’ escaped custodial sentences. According to Mickey Donnelly, the judge was apparently bound by the constraints of the law (which absolves him to an extent). However, while the four loyalist monkeys are still free, questions must be raised about why the two UDA organ grinders were not facing charges, with Judge Neil McKay stating that “it is most regrettable, for …
What’s in a name…
NO-ONE seems to know who is responsible for parades, and the Parades Commission and the police appear to have received conflicting legal advice. I rather suspect that, legally, the Pardes Commission has been suckered on this one…The Tele report: The Government has since said there is confusion over the laws and that its legal advice has suggested forms may be legally completed even if the names of individuals were not submitted. However, at a public meeting of the east Belfast …
Regional rivalry…
LORD (Neil) Kinnock, the former Labour Party leader, has warned that tensions between nations are being fostered by fears of a break-up of the United Kingdom. It was reported that he said the devolution of powers at different paces across Britain would lead to misunderstandings and enmity between the nations and the regions. In the debate over whether the Welsh Assembly should get more powers, the double-jobbing Welsh and Northern Ireland Secretary is against a referendum on the issue. Of …
Flagging up another problem…
A SENIOR cop lays into a government department for refusing to help remove flags in Limavady. Once again, the Department of Regional Development takes the ‘play safe, do nothing’ approach that even a more pro-active PSNI seems to be slowly moving away from these days.The Tele reported: The DRD said that they had arranged a meeting with the Limavady police chief for next week. A spokeswoman said: “Roads Service policy is where complaints are received and there is no danger …
Ultimate chav gets screwed by millie…
ENGLISH uberspide, lottery winner and UDA supporter Michael Carroll gets the full ‘kiss and tell’ treatment from his 17-year-old ex-girlfriend in today’s Sun. The King of Chavs’ wife is now keeping herself to herself in Belfast, and won’t let him see his daughter. It’s a sordid tale of sex, drugs and ASBOs, but you can only read it all if you bought the paper today. Bah! Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
The new “us’uns”…
REPUBLICANS have been exploring the possibility of tapping into the growing foreign worker vote in order to strengthen their political position, the News Letter has reported. Sinn Fein MLA for Newry and Armagh, Davy Hyland, said: “There certainly are large numbers of them here in Newry. I passed a house recently where about 50 were having a party and, as they are mostly Catholic, they are more sympathetic to the nationalist outlook.” Who says republicans can’t be prejudiced?! Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
Our Scots-Irish Presbyterian heritage celebrated…
IT’S been a good week for rednecks, even if some of us lost the plot. There was the premiere of the Dukes of Hazzard last night, peace in Lagan Valley with Alabama 3 last Friday and the spectacular finale to mark the end of Hunter S Thompson’s life – as his suicidal ashes were scattered over Aspen, Colorado by a fist sculpture/cannon paid for by Johnny Depp at the weekend. Will Bloggers inherit the Gonzo? Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
Holiday advice for undercover twitchers…
IT’S not just the Colombian government that wants IRA members extradited – now the Germans are getting in on the act too. PA reported that Scotland Yard was involved in the arrest of alleged Osnabruck bomber Leonard ‘Bap’ Hardy in Spain. Helpfully, Sinn Fein have informed us that the suspect had been living openly in Ireland for years (tut tut, Bertie). So no more overseas birdwatching trips for the C3 then – but perhaps the Hardy case presents an unforeseen …
One to watch…
THE final of the Northern Ireland Trophy – the first major (if non-ranking) tournament here for 18 years is just starting on Eurosport. It was certainly a memorable tournament for world amateur champion, 19-year-old Mark Allen from Antrim, who IIRC won his first seven frames as a professional last week, defeating two former world champions, John Higgins and Steve Davis, who he whitewashed. Pity BBC NI or UTV didn’t see the potential in televising a local rising star in his …
Sunday reading…
THE loyalist threat to newsagents selling the Sunday World – a tabloid newspaper famous for exposing and ridiculing paramilitary groups – is an attack on freedom of speech. Yet the response from the Government to this situation today is in marked contrast to the way in which Mo Mowlam showed her solidarity with the paper when its offices were firebombed a few years ago. Sadly, all the NIO tea and sympathy in the world won’t change the fact that no-one …