Belfast Gonzo EAST Antrim Ulster Unionist MP Roy Beggs is to seek re-election at the next Westminster election. This is the fifth most marginal seat in the UK, according to Chris Thornton – and Sammy Wilson wants it badly (the seat, that is). Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
SO Martin McAleese and Jackie McDonald were down at the K Club for a round of golf the other day. “What’s your handicap at the minute?” asked Martin. “Other loyalists,” replied Jackie…Anyway, the pair head off to the 19th hole for a pint, where General de Chastelain is serving Gerry Adams. “Whaddaboutye Gerry mucker, are you getting the rounds in?” shouts Jackie across the bar. “We’ve no more rounds left – barman’s new policy,” replied Gerry, not unhappily, nodding at …
A FEW days ago I asked Suzanne Breen how she was coping with the new influx of students in South Belfast. She gives her answer today in the News Letter – and it’s not a glowing report by any means. Update: Alex Maskey wants something done before the problem spreads. A South Belfast building moratorium?But what I also want to know is, how come if students are so poor and have to pay tuition fees and so on, why is …
THE BBC has two very different reports about what lies beneath the water in Belfast and Newry… Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
BELFAST Deputy Mayor Joe O’Donnell was on Talkback just now and has vowed to do what he can to “fast track” the search for a site for a Chinese community centre. This is excellent news – Joe is, after all, a bit of an expert at this. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
IAN Pearson’s supercomputer has done its number-crunching and decided that SEVEN is the magic number of councils for NI. Assuming each has 50 members, that would mean 350 councillors – and getting rid of 200 elected representatives. Personally, as a Belfast resident, I’m really looking forward to taking on Castlereagh Council’s debt in my rates… Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
Irish language TV station TG4 is preparing to broadcast officially from Northern Ireland, according to industry sources quoted in the Tele.Ben Lowry writes: Don Anderson, a media consultant, predicted that some unionists may welcome the development. “Although immediately this will please the Irish language lobby, it could also be an opportunity for Ulster Scots as well,” Mr Anderson said. “TG4 have told me that if it got a reasonable signal in Northern Ireland, they would be quite happy to do …
AFTER recent concern about call centre jobs in NI being a bubble that would burst when all the jobs went to low-wage India, this story might come as a surprise to some – an Indian call centre company thriving in Belfast. The reason? NI’s low wage economy… Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
THE Ethnomusicology Programme at Queen’s University has just set up a website on ‘Making Music in Belfast’. It takes a look at what kind of music is found in Belfast, and has started off with profiles of Ballyclare Victoria Flute Band, the Ulster Orchestra, Andersonstown Traditional and Contemporary Music School, Um Pouquinho de Brasil and the Ulster-Scots Folk Orchestra. New, and well worth a look – and listen! Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
AFTER his meeting with Sinn Fein today, the Taoiseach admitted that changes to the Agreement would have to be made to enable process. The SF team flew to London afterwards, with everyone seemingly in agreement that changes to the GFA are possible, so long as they are not ‘fundamentals’.And with troop levels set to be slashed by Christmas (by which time decommissioning may no longer be an issue), and IRA movement expected very soon, elements of a choreographed deal appear …
THE latest edition of the magazine of the Evangelical Contribution on Northern Ireland, ‘Lion and Lamb’ has a special feature on the rise of racism here. Among the contributors are Presbyterian Moderator Ken Newell, while Anna Rankin interviews a Nigerian woman who has settled into life here. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
THE BBC has reportedly dropped plans for ‘Popetown’ – a comedy set in a fictional Vatican – because of fears that Catholics will be offended. I wonder if it came anywhere near as sacrilegious as the excellent ‘Father Ted’, which was rejected by RTE before Channel 4 broadcast this cult classic. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
IT’S a common reaction from Americans when they learn that 95 percent of pupils in Northern Ireland attend, to all intents and purposes, single-identity schools – sheer disbelief at the lack of integration. US Envoy Mitchell Reiss’s strong support for integrated education echoes his predecessor Richard Haass’s decision to put his own hand in his pocket to help out (last page) with a major donation. Barbara Stephenson, the recently-departed American Consul General, also made her support vocal for integrated education. …
Although the leadership of the DUP breaks down old barriers, at a Council level the message is somewhat different.The SF website reports: Sinn Fein Lisburn Council group leader, councillor Paul Butler has said that the refusal of DUP mayor Cecil Calvert to extend the invitation to this years mayoral banquet to Sinn Fein councillors not only breaches council protocol it also highlights the inability of the DUP to take even the first steps towards sharing power with nationalists and republicans. …
THE full text of US Envoy Mitchell Reiss’s speech to the National Committee on American Foreign Policy in New York on Thursday is copied below. Secretary of State Paul Murphy’s speech to the Labour Conference is proving a little harder to track down, as it is a Labour Party document, not an NIO one.Ambassador Mitchell B. Reiss The National Committee on U.S. Foreign Policy New York City September 30, 2004 Introduction It is a pleasure to be with you in …
READING the News Letter this morning, I was surprised to see an article (not online, as usual) in which Sinn Fein MP for West Tyrone Pat Doherty was quoted as saying: “Sinn Fein will not countenance changes to the Agreement.” I was taken aback, as this would have blown apart my analysis the other day, which argued that SF were less likely to die in a ditch over every jot and tittle in the Agreement, whereas the SDLP had simply …
UNIONISTS were cautious about Tony Blair’s suggestions at Leeds Castle that the IRA was about to end all paramilitary activity and decommission – though one DUP delegate seemed confident the latter would be dealt with by Christmas. However, it’s action, not words that was demanded, so there will be much interest in the next two IMC reports. There seems little doubt that the next one will report a hugely dramatic reduction in IRA paramilitary activity.If that trend continues and decommissioning …
TWO politicians from very different backgrounds are looking back to the past this week (although that’s a common habit in NI politics), and examining their consciences. Former civil rights leader Austin Currie reveals how he questioned whether he had done the right thing during his Caledon ‘occupation’, given the horrific yet unintended consequences of his actions. Anti-Agreement unionist Jeffrey Donaldson’s struggle with his conscience on the eve of the Agreement’s publication is today’s extract from biography ‘Not By Might’ – …
THE Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Paul Murphy, has collapsed at the Labour Party Conference. I’m sure we would all wish him a speedy recovery. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
SINN Fein’s newspaper An Phoblacht has consistently and strongly criticised Coca Cola’s human rights record, and many Sinn Fein members have supported a call by the republican paper to boycott the soft drink. But what would have happened if the boycott had been successful? Sinn Fein Councillor Michael Ferguson provides an insight below.As Coca Cola reveals that it is to rationalise operations in Ireland (that is, close one of the two plants, one of which is at Lambeg, Lisburn), Councillor …
