Belfast Gonzo MILLIONAIRE minister Sean Woodward is selling one of his homes, according to a column in the Sun. According to The Whip, Sarsden House in Oxfordshire is on the market for a cool £25 million. It comes with a 459 acre estate, features a lake, clocl tower, stables and 11 farmhouses and cottages. Perhaps he’s considering buying a house more locally – which would be unusual for an NIO minister, as they usually spend less time here than they do on …
“We are the best-behaved supporters in the land.” – a Linfield supporter who either has a mischievous sense of humour or missed this recent game/riot. “There was no great panic because we had an Ann Summers night on for the women and some of them thought it was part of the craic.” – A spokesman for Jackie Mullin’s bar in Derry, following a suspected Real IRA shooting incident in the pub on Sunday. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
IRISH Northern Aid is circulating an email suggesting that Rita O’Hare may have been denied a Visa by the US State Department. O’Hare has visited the US on many occasions in the past and is a lynchpin in Sinn Fein’s relationship to America in her capacity as the official SF representative. Is US pressure mounting on Sinn Fein?From: Gerry Coleman Re: Rita’s Visa Denial ACTION ALERT I got a heads up from Rita that her visa was just denied as …
THE glorious inter-unionist punch-up on this thread has made the pages of the Belfast Telegraph. It’s all getting very bitter lads – keep it up!Noel McAdam wrote: A senior party official also publicly clashed with a veteran member, speech writer and commentator on the Slugger O’Toole bloggers website. Press officer Alex Benjamin asked regular media pundit Alex Kane: “Do you not have a problem slagging the party that you profess to be a member of? “Would it be possible for …
WILL the DUP meet the challenge that the father of UVF murder victim Raymond McCord has issued to them? In his call for equality, Mr McCord seems to imply that the DUP has done more for a republican family that fell victim to IRA members, than Protestant victims of the loyalist UVF. Maybe, given that police informers are alleged to have killed Mr McCord’s son and Andrew Robb, there just isn’t enough political capital for them to make.A new team …
FRESH from being named as European of the Year, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has threatened legal action against the British Government for not releasing files on the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings.The Taoiseach said he believes that MI5 and MI6 are refusing to hand over information to Tony Blair, which is better than making it up, I suppose, but a huge embarrassment nonetheless. One suspects that the Prime Minister is in no real position to put his security services under the …
I THOUGHT it was a touch ironic when I discovered the ‘bomb squad’ in Northern Ireland was called 321 EOD Squadron, given the number of timing devices Ammunitiion Technical Officers saw counting down at the height of the Troubles. Today, Tony Blair paid tribute to the bravery of the men and woman who took the Long Walk and saved countless lives – losing many of their own along the way.A new book by Chris Ryder tells their story. The unit …
THE former police chief who led the inquiry into the Stephen Lawrence murder investigation is to head the probe into the Rosemary Nelson murder investigation. The work done by Robert Ayling, who was appointed by the Inquiry into Mrs Nelson’s assassination, formed a large part of the evidence to the Macpherson Public Inquiry, which uncovered “institutional racism” in the Metropolitan Police. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
POLICE have told the sisters of republcan murder victim Robert McCartney that there is a threat to burn them out of their homes and business. The PSNI said the threat came from “criminal elements”, although it is not yet clear if this is a reference to the expelled IRA members alleged to have carried out the murder.Catherine McCartney said on the BBC “For the past three months, we have been asking the republican movement to stop protecting the criminals who …
IF the IRA isn’t going to go away completely, but is prepared to adhere to “purely political and democratic means”, “it could transform into something as demonstrably militarily innocuous as the GAA”, suggests Anthony McIntyre.In such circumstances, argues the the two governments could take the responsibility out of unionist hands, make the call on whether the IRA has ended all paramilitary and related criminal activity, and legalise it. Since a legislative loophole means it’s no longer illegal to be an …
A COLOMBIAN general has said recent attacks by Marxist guerrillas displayed IRA training and technology.The BBC reported that Gen Carlos Ospina said Farc guerrillas were employing new technology in the home-made mortars they had recently used to bomb towns in the south-western province of Cauca. Security forces had seized rebel grenades that were copies of those manufactured by the Provisional IRA, Gen Ospina added. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
DESPITE being the sole UUP voice at Westminster these days, Lady Sylvia Hermon hasn’t decided yet if she’s going to stand for the party leadership. She told the BBC she wanted to see UUP moving in a “more liberal direction”, putting clear water between itself and the DUP, and wasn’t impressed by the idea of a corporate leadership. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
NOW that James Cooper is likely to resign as UUP chairman, is recently-ousted MP David Burnside jockeying for the position? He told the Mirror (offline) that “[t]here has to be a fundamental re-examination of the officer tean, the management of the party, our finances and policy”.Burnside continued: “The problems will not be sorted out by any clever little scheme. We have had enough of advertising campaigns about decent people and fish and chips. The UUP have had presentational and organisational …
MARK Durkan can afford to allow himself a little dig at the critics, after defying the pundits with the general election performance of the SDLP (I had them on two seats, so humble pie for me on that count). He also finds himself strengthened enough within his party to dismiss all notions of a merger with any party in the Irish Republic, particularly Fianna Fail.Curiously, Durkan says that he wants to get the North South Interparliamentary Forum and the North …
IF anyone knows who the UUP defectors to the DUP are, feel free to post names below… It will be interesting to see if there are any newly-elected UUP councillors who leave – a tactic that could possibly backfire…So far, the trick has worked, but I am curious to see if there will be many voters who feel conned this time, so soon after giving their vote to another party. On the other hand, the reaction may be positive – …
ON Spotlight earlier, former unionist leader and ex-MP David Trimble told the BBC that the Government had contributed to a shift in public opinion by failing to hold republican to account. Other problems were the “failure to get the Agreement properly implemented and, in particular, the failure of the republican movement to do their side of the bargain, and that was decommissioning and disbandment”.And why isn’t Spotlight on the BBC website?! Argh! Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
THREE new ministers have been appointed to the Northern Ireland Office by Prime Minister Blair. The BBC got the scoop.The Ministers are: David Hanson and Lord Rooker have been made ministers, taking over from Barry Gardiner and Ian Pearson. Shaun Woodward, a millionaire who defected from the Conservative Party to Labour, was made a junior NIO minister. Angela Smith remains at the NIO but there is no confirmation of John Spellar’s fate. David Hanson is the MP for Delyn in …
JUST homing in on Ballymena for a second, and things should be interesting in the Ardeevin council chambers when the new council meets. The DUP has regained control in Paisley’s adopted hometown – but for the first time ever, the Democratic Unionists will have to deal with a Sinn Fein member in their midst.But with loudmouth bigot Robin Stirling of the DUP back in, expect little of value to be properly discussed in the town for four years. How he …
WRITING in the Times today, Trimble biographer Dean Godson notes a number of issues that led to the UUP leader’s downfall. He believes Trimble was taken for granted, by both the British and Irish Governments, and by nationalists. But perhaps Godson needs to ask why so many nationalists who shored up Trimble’s vote (and others) in the past felt they couldn’t do so again this week.Hat tip to slug9987, who linked to this on the New Gig for Trimble? thread. …
SOMEONE once said that, ultimately, all political careers end in failure. And so David Trimble officially announces his resignation as UUP leader. It’s been a remarkable journey, from Vanguard and jigging down the Garvaghy Road with Paisley, to a Nobel peace prize and power-sharing with republicans.Trimble said: “At a private meeting with the President and Chairman of the Ulster Unionist Party this morning I indicated to them that I do not wish to continue as leader. “There have been difficult …
