Belfast Gonzo AN independent military watchdog has said that the reinstatement of Scots Guardsmen Fisher and Wright – who served six years for the murder of Peter McBride – into the British Army should not have happened. The assessor said it was wrong, damaged the Army’s reputation and – when a soldier can be expelled from the army for something as minor as smoking cannabis – undermined its credibility. Minister of State Ian Pearson has just told the Commons in response to …
AMERICAN Kirk Weixel thinks the Irish anti-Bush, rather than anti-American. Irishman David Quinn disagrees and thinks we are just plain anti-American. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
AFTER her soft-focus image makeover for the recent election, the normally private Sinn Fein MEP Bairbre de Brun opens up and reveals her more human side to Gail Walker. Although she appears independent by nature, de Brun appears to have felt somewhat isolated or rootless after the early deaths of her parents in a car crash, throwing herself into her work and eventually finding a new ‘family’ in Sinn Fein. Walker quotes de Brun as saying: “I was close to …
AFTER finishing with Trimble, Slugger irregular David Vance is now asking if Peter Robinson is actually the greatest threat to the Union (Sunday, June 27, 2004 entry). Vance writes: It seems to me that Unionism is in a bind. The DUP seems destined to follow it’s fatal desire to get back into a devolved Government. It lusts to exercise executive power and all local political commentators seem to agree on this central point. Achieving this political goal requires doing SOME …
THE Community Relations Council has said that integrated social housing should be more easily available, as demand grows for shared space instead of divided ghettoes. The comment was in response to David Trimble’s comments in the Commons last week that people should not be forced to integrate – an apparently wilful misinterpretation of what the Housing Executive actually said, since they went out of their way to say this would not be the case. Mr Trimble clearly supports people having …
THERE has been much disquiet recently over the minimum terms being set for those convicted for murder. Life now apparently means about 10 or 11 years, assuming the charges aren’t lowered. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
FORMER Force Research Unit agent and ‘Stakeknife’ co-author ‘Martin Ingram’ is posting on the Republican Bulletin Board. Two sources have confirmed his identity, plus Liam Clarke referred to it on Sunday. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
BBC Security Editor Brian Rowan examines the potential for an autumn deal between the DUP and Sinn Fein. Rowan writes: “The when and how are the unanswered questions, but if all of the ingredients are right, sources close to the DUP leadership are making clear that a deal does not have to wait until after the next Westminster election. “There is a sense that the DUP are serious about it this side of the election if it’s big enough,” another …
ACCORDING to the Sunday Times, the DUP requires Sinn Fein go through a six-month ‘quarantine’ to prove their democratic credentials before sharing power with them again. It was, however, expected that the DUP would try and drag things out until the next elections. If the real talks are to start in September, and the Government is anxious to get the institutions going before the next Westminster election, that would point towards a possible restoration in February or March – although …
AS concern grows over the Whiterock parade this weekend, a new loyalist lobby group has emerged and claims it will talk directly to nationalists, who oppose the parade going past nationalist homes on the Springfield Road. It would appear that the Orange Order’s unsuccessful policy of not talking to residents’ groups is under pressure, as the presence of Orangemen on the new parades forum would seem to indicate a different approach. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
AS one Maze closes, another one opens – the biggest in the world apparently. Wonder who would be the first to escape from our new attraction…? And if anyone’s looking for inspiration about what to do with the old Maze, BBC Online looks at how infamous prisons from around the world have been changed with the times. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
SECURITY will be massive for the Bush visit tomorrow, and buses are expected to run from Belfast to the Dublin protest tomorrow afternoon. Eric Waugh takes a look at how the circus comes to town. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
MAURICE Hayes pontificates on whether the Taoiseach and Prime Minister’s skills at successfully negotiating their way around the EU Constitution can be brought to bear at Lancaster House tomorrow. Like most, he sees their involvement tomorrow as a kind of staging post. Hayes writes: “The talks this week are unlikely to produce dramatic results. The involvement of Taoiseach and Prime Minister is probably no more at this stage than a sign of continuing commitment, a signal of goodwill to the …
IS this for real? According to the Indo, the political wing of the Continuity IRA yesterday issued a warning to the public about the dangers of transporting explosives! Bizarre… “There is a danger associated with moving explosives through a city and indeed through towns and villages,” said Sean O’Neill, community affairs spokesman for Republican Sinn Fein. “It is a tragedy waiting to happen and we are now calling for all explosives to be moved during the night or indeed a …
NATIONAL Review contributor David Frum notes some of the lessons for peace processes he has learned from the new Trimble biography. In part one, Frum writes: “British politicians who entered the process intending to protect the union between northern Ireland and mainland Britain–a union cherished by a large majority of the population of northern Ireland–ended by inventing a new kind of multinational structure in which northern Ireland would somehow be jointly governed by Britain and the Republic of Ireland together. …
AS unionists take the top positions in Lisburn City Council, the Irish Government fails to appear at the AGM, as predicted by Sinn Fein. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
ONE of our favourite gripes in Northern Ireland is the high cost of insurance, especially when compared to the cost in the rest of the UK. However, many GB companies refuse to deal with NI customers, blaming the security situation, the ‘claims culture’ and a hundred other things. Here’s another explanation – and an honest, if coded, admission – they simply can’t be bothered with NI. Incredible! It’s something the Federation of Small Business is trying to change. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
THE Pope could be on his way to Northern Ireland. May God have mercy on this thread. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
FORMER paramilitary prisoners – many of whom have difficulty obtaining employment due to their criminal record – may be given greater legal protection under the forthcoming Single Equality Bill. Out for consultation. Again. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
THE flying of the St George’s Cross in England in support of the national football team has been “greeted with delight and dismay in equal measures”, according to Neil Davenport of Spiked online. Are the English reluctant patriots? Are manifestations of ‘Englishness’ tempered by political correctness, or exacerbated by a growing sense of English ‘identity’ in the wake of devolution to the regions? Davenport writes: “The sea of St George’s flags is not something to worry about, in that it …
