Belfast Gonzo ANOTHER McGimpsey has entered the poliltical fray. Gareth, son of Michael, has fended off senior Ulster Unionist Dermott Nesbitt’s bid to stand for the Strangford Westminster seat to challenge the DUP’s Iris Robinson. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
FORMER Force Research Unit officer ‘Martin Ingram’ has agreed to take questions from Slugger readers. Ingram needs no introduction to regulars here. He was co-author of ‘Stakeknife’, the whistleblowing account of British agents in the IRA and their nefarious activities. He now lives in the Republic of Ireland with his wife. Despite once being in an undercover British army intelligence unit that ran agents and informers inside the IRA, Ingram has expressed sympathy with the nationalist aim of a united …
HENRY McDonald and Liam Clarke take a look at the growing trauma industry in post-conflict in Northern Ireland. Henry wonders if the psyhciatrist’s couch has replaced the stiff upper lip, but seems to agree with Liam that what many victims need is simply to know the truth about what happened, in order to deal with it.But then shrinks are cheaper than legal inquiries and lawyers, so lie down and tell me, in single words, only the good thngs that come …
I wonder if the Omagh bomb victims’ relatives will ever find out what really happened in the run-up to that fateful day. Now questions are being raised about why a Garda informer’s information wasn’t passed on to the PSNI, and why he wasn’t stopped for questioning when customs officials caught up with him in Wales. Answers have not been forthcoming.The last sentence in Norman Baxter’s letter in the last link also appears to suggest that the PSNI had largely ‘translated’ …
A Belfast-based letting agency – which can be revealed first on Slugger as Homefinders on Botanic Avenue – advertised accommodation earlier this year in which ads suggest that some rental properties are vetted on the basis of race and ethnicity, according to the Irish News. Will Scholes and Suzanne McGonigle wrote that “adverts list conditions such as “no DHSS, no Chinese”, “not suitable for people from ethnic backgrounds” and “not suitable for Chinese or Black community”.” Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
PETER Robinson is in quite a tizzy about this story appearing in today’s Belfast Telegraph. Mr Robinson is very proud of his efforts on behalf of Castlereagh ratepayers, but I wonder what the taxpayers think about both he and his wife claiming almost £20,000 in expenses EACH for a London apartment?The Robinsons are perfectly entitled to the quarter of a million or so of taxpayers’ money they receive (not including their Assembly and council expenses) from Westminster, and it is …
ACCORDING to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern: “We can`t go on indefinitely but we`re not at the stage of calling it just yet. We made a lot of progress in a lot of weeks but not enough. Where we are at, it`s ongoing work, and it`s quite difficult, we`re trying to make progress and it`s true to say we are in some difficult areas.” How sadly predictable. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
THE DUP and Sinn Fein are in London, as efforts continue to restore the political institutions. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
SIR Reg Empey wraps himself in the Union flag and announces his intention to challenge Peter Robinson for the East Belfast seat in the next general election. The UUP reckons it has a chance of taking the seat, although Robinson has already dismissed his opponent’s chances. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
AS a PSNI officer cops flak *groan* for using CS gas spray in a Derry disturbance, Dublin hosts a conference on less-lethal weapons. Gerry Kelly has called for an end to plastic bullets ahead of the conference, but then the IRA always did prefer the more-lethal alternative. Dublin’s left seems equally outraged at the Jane’s Defence-sponsored event. Pick up a brochure here, but if you’re protesting outside, remember to duck if staff decide to demonstrate products in the field.Since the …
A YEAR after the ‘choreographed sequence’ spectacularly fell apart, Brian Rowan sounds out the chances of movement from the IRA. Rowan recounts a question Gerry Adams asked in the Irish Voice recently: “If the governments are satisfied with what they have proclaimed the IRA is going to do, then who are they waiting on?” Adams then answers his question that it is “obviously the DUP”. Well, the DUP are also waiting on the Government’s paper as much as anyone (after …
AN Irish-born aid worker, with dual British and Iraqi nationality, has been kidnapped on her way to Baghdad to head up Care International’s operations. UPDATE: Al Jazeera has shown a video of Mrs Hassan being held by an Iraqi group. (Link does not connect to the video, just the story by Al Jazeera, also on BBC.) Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
DID anyone hear former District Policing Partnership member and Ulster Unionist MLA Michael Copeland on BBC Newsline? After a PSNI raid to seize counterfeit goods in East Belfast, he accused the police of being heavy-handed. NEVER have I heard anyone in the UUP sound so like a member of Sinn Fein after any raid in the West of the city. DUP councillor Harry Toan minimised the impact of the alleged crime too (click ‘More’). What fantastic leadership!Copeland said: “We had …
BOTH the SDLP and Sinn Fein are questioning the DUP’s commitment to power sharing, given their previous experience of the DUP in district councils. The DUP response points out that it hasn’t held the top post in Belfast during this term – although that hardly justifies the decades of exclusion where the DUP blocked nationalists from holding senior positions. The DUP has much convincing to do on this one. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
TORY MP Patrick Mercer has denied he was a member of FRU, although he “had plenty to do with them in the past, as with all the intelligence agencies in Northern Ireland”. Disappointingly, there was no comment about the ‘ceasefire committee’ Mr Mercer founded in 1992 in either of the two Sundays that ran with the story. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
‘THE Sash’, the most famous loyalist song, is not sectarian, according to a Scottish court. Context and intent, it would appear, is everything. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
AS more women join the male-dominated bastion of the police service, one top female cop launches a scheme to combat sexism and strengthen female representation in the PSNI. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
A NEW Human Rights Commission report into jail conditions for women in Northern Ireland makes for depressing reading. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
DAVY Adams , the former UDP politician, recently broke his silence over the intimidation he and his family have been subjected to by the UDA over the past 18 months. After the murder of Marty O’Hagan and by the LVF the bullying of Anthony McIntyre by ‘mainstream’ republicans, it would seem that paramilitaries are not always going to take criticism from journalists lying down. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
THE rather less than impressive former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, Richard Egan, has warned Irish America magazine that they had better “think twice” before daring to comment on the 2004 presidential election. Ohhh… scary(!) The Irish Echo also copped flak from Egan – one of Bush’s biggest financial donors – when it published a story on Karl Rove’s comparison of Al Qaeda to the IRA. One almost wonders what appointment Mr Egan would prefer after this election. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
