Brian Walker

Sir Jack Hermon who died suffering from Alzheimer’s for many years was the longest serving and the first modern professional native-born chief of the RUC of the Troubles, as successor to the Met policeman Sir Kenneth Newman, later to be Met Commissioner. Earlier old school Ulster-born chiefs were clearly subordinate to the army’s GOC of the day, even though the policy of “primacy of the police” nominally began in the mid seventies. No doubt Sir Jack’s critics have other descriptions …

Read more…

Update Brown bullies the banks. Good news for the 10% on standard variable rates and existing trackers. But all trackers are withdrawn for new borrowers. New higher rates linked not to base rate but to the LIBOR (London inter-bank lending rate) from Monday. Now here’s quite a contrast. From Finfacts Ireland’s weekly press review. The Irish Independent reports that homeowners will enjoy a reduction of up to €400 a month on their mortgage repayments by the middle of next year, …

Read more…

Just an obvious corrective with facts and figures, to all the excitement. His story could be that of any president of Scots/Irish descent, rising through law school to emerge as the smoothly intellectual liberal derided by the Clintons during the campaign. Constant references to his colour obscure his real strengths and possible weaknesses. The world wept with joy on Tuesday night. Probably more such tears were shed than in all history. The reason was not that a Democrat had beaten …

Read more…

“The SNP were unable to explain how an independent Scotland would be better able to combat recession going it alone.” This was the high road interpretation of Labour’s huge psychological victory at Glenrothes from Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy. It was the first time ever that a government was able to fight another government as an opposition and that opposition/government to general amazement lost the game when the music stopped. The London-based unionist press led by the Times and the Telegraph …

Read more…

Back in the real world UK Interest rates were slashed by 1.5 % to 3% at noon and the European Central Bank by 0. 5% to 3.25%. Further cuts to 1% or less may be expected by the spring. Stand by for a furious political reaction if the banks fail to lower their lending rates soon. The banks themselves almost always fail to put someone up for public comment but will be making statements during the day. Instant NI comment …

Read more…

The shadow of Obama stretches even to Glenrothes, where they vote in the by-election on Thursday. Reports the Scotsman: “In the last few days, the SNP will deploy the positive, upbeat, optimistic election slogan that we first devised in 1997 – ‘Yes we can’. (So that Obama pinched our best line, see). Politics can be so peculiar. Gordon Brown have been campaigning there in his own backyard, in between jaunts to save the world from slump. He wouldn’t have dared …

Read more…

In the wake of Brand/Ross affair David Cameron has hit the front page of the Sun with a piece basically supporting the BBC but calling for eventual cuts in the £139 licence fee and an end to excrescences like Jonathan Ross’s £16 million three year contract. He also takes a punt at top BBC salaries. “ While we are at it — on the kudos of the BBC — why on earth is the director-general paid over £800,000 a year? …

Read more…

From Rod Liddle’s column in the Sunday Times. “Great news: it is perfectly legal to call an Irish person a “f****** leprechaun.” Do all types of Irish people need the protection of race hate laws any more? After all we’re our own worst enemies, little help from outside is necessary. In these days of the ( slightly mottled) Celtic tiger, the Irish image has been transformed – see Roy Foster’s Luck and the Irish, witty but not universally admired. Yet …

Read more…

Well, no hints of a breakthrough in the Executive deadlock that I could pick up in the main speeches at the DUP conference this morning, despite the reported hopes of progress under the surface. Perhaps it was too much to expect for such an occasion. Still, overall Peter Robinson rationed his quota of partisan applause lines in his first leader’s speech to his party conference, at least by the traditional Paisley standards of the day before yesterday. But he had …

Read more…

Sticking my oar in with a few thoughts from afar on the shadow crisis that could become a real one tomorrow, I’d say that the DUP conference is worth monitoring for hints of a possible breakthrough on the substantive issues. “..the BBC NI News website will be webcasting the DUP conference in Armagh from 11am until 4.30pm. The coverage, including the new leader’s speech, will be carried on BBC2 from 11.45am until 1.10pm (though that’s BBC2NI only , exiles). This …

Read more…

Making a complete break from Brand/Ross, why is it that our writers dwell so much and so successfully on the Greek classics? Thirty to forty years ago the poets took refuge in lyricism, in the personal and in the deep roots of pre-history. More recently writers have been delving into the fundamental themes of epic tragedy to find more public resonance and depth. They’re all different but their personal background is very relevant. Much of the original inspirations have Yeats …

Read more…

Following up on Andrew’s post yesterday, it has always frustrated me that the Life and Times survey has consistently produced more benign and consensual results than are translated into politics. If behaviour reflected the results, NI tensions would have eased much faster – just think of this week – and Sluggerees would all be competing for the Nobel Peace Prize. Is society still in the grip of an wholly unrepresentative minority, certainly much less than 30% hardliners on both sides? …

Read more…

Muted cheers for University College Cork’s decision to allow limited stem cell research – but….. It has blocked the harvesting of stem cells directly from embryos created for the purpose or from surplus embryos arising as a result of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatments Isn’t it hypocritical only to allow research on ” lines from abroad?” Yet even this is remarkable given the absence of rational debate beyond the odd piece in the Irish Times. Ireland still lags far behind …

Read more…

Here’s one from George Monbiot for the Slugger true believers. Quotes “How did politics in the US come to be dominated by people who make a virtue out of ignorance? Was it charity that has permitted mankind’s closest living relative to spend two terms as president? How did Sarah Palin, Dan Quayle and other such gibbering numbskulls get to where they are? In the most powerful nation on earth, one adult in five believes the sun revolves round the earth; …

Read more…

Gordon Brown strongly backs the RIR parade and the devolution of policing and justice. This suggests it won’t be scaled down – just in case anybody thought it might be. Mr. Peter Robinson (Belfast, East) (DUP): Will the Prime Minister join me in welcoming the decision by the Army to organise a homecoming parade in the city of Belfast? ŅWill he urge everyone to do nothing to drag us back to the bad old days? The Prime Minister: I want …

Read more…

It costs a penny or two but might we take a leaf out of the Scottish book? The Independent reports: “BBC Alba is proving to be an unexpected success, pulling in more than 600,000 viewers in its first week of broadcasting, more than double the projected audience of 250,000.” The essential is to make it inclusive, for instance as argued for by Lindy McDowell.It was a neat idea for Alba to launch with a comedy drama about Elvis rather than …

Read more…

Update 2 Brand Quits, more apologies, what next for Ross? Update No Friday Night with Jonathan Ross this week! It didn’t take long for the politicians to hop on board the trail blazed by the outraged tabloids. Old Labour publicity hog the Beast of Bolsover, to David Hanson, Justice Minister ( former charismatic NI minister) in the Commons this afternoon: Mr. Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab): Will the system that my right hon. Friend is outlining be comprehensive enough to find …

Read more…

Peston has gone stratospheric. He actually dismisses the Bank of England’s estimate for credit crunch losses at £1,800bn – rather bigger than the annual economic output of the UK. “it’s peanuts compared with the losses suffered over just the past month by pension funds, insurance companies, banks and all of us from the slump of more than 25% in the average value of shares listed on global stock markets (just this morning Aviva, our biggest insurer, announced that its capital …

Read more…

Guardian correspondent Owen Boycott reports that the Historic Enquiries Team has uncovered evidence of another two collusion cases from the early 70s. It isn’t revealed what these relate to but Phil James deputy director of the HET says it will take to 2013 before every case has been reviewed, two years later than the target date. The HET have certainly made an impact, for instance uncovering more about loyalist terrorism than before. Controversy over the “Glenanne gang “continues but “first …

Read more…

Dropping “