Brian Walker – Page 58 – Slugger O'Toole

Wuz Rory really robbed of glory?

Brian Walker on December 15, 2014, 3:45 pm

| Readers 1319

Just like the politicians, outrage seems to be the default position if we don’t get our way, this time over sporting prizes, judging from the Belfast Telegraph’s reaction to Rory McIroy, the bookie’s favourite, pipped by Lewis Hamilton for BBC Sports Personality of the Year. Angry Northern Ireland sports fans last night slammed the shock result which saw World Number One golfer Rory McIlroy sensationally beaten by Formula One racer Lewis Hamilton to the title of the BBC Sports Personality …

How much leverage for Northern Ireland in murky coalition waters at Westminster?

Brian Walker on December 14, 2014, 3:16 pm

| Readers 1294

That shrewd observer (pardon the pun) Andrew Rawnsley has been among the few, the very, very few ,to have even noticed Northern Ireland’s little governmental crisis. Not out of compassionate concern for our people or even out of fear of “a return to violence” but because of what really matters to them– who might form the next UK government and who – given no one is expecting a majority government – might support it. One option would raise a few …

The time approaches for Westminster to impose a settlement

Brian Walker on December 12, 2014, 4:36 pm

| Readers 2699

The time has come to put cards on the table. The British government should publish its funding proposals and refuse point blank to entertain a return to direct rule or even a suspension of the Assembly. If necessary it should impose a financial settlement. This would reverse the natural rhythm of devolution whereby the centre responds to the region’s proposals. The local administration it turns out, hasn’t got any. There is no reason whatever why the British government should remain semi-detached. …

Is the arrival of Cameron and Kenny more than part of a tired old ritual?

Brian Walker on December 11, 2014, 11:21 am

| Readers 964

The credibility and effectiveness of the devolved institutions is on the line, writes David Cameron. Sinn Féin MP Conor Murphy warned if a deal isn’t done then the Northern Executive will “crash”. “The implications are that the Executive can’t continue to function. You go into a crash and you go back to an election and let the public decide how the issues are resolved, Peter Robinson said last week. SDLP negotiator Alban Maginness, reflecting some expectations of a limited deal, …

RIP Fred Catherwood

Brian Walker on December 5, 2014, 5:05 pm

| Readers 899

All of forty years ago I sought the views of Sir Fred Catherwood who has died aged 85, about Northern Ireland – I can’t remember what aspect exactly. I interviewed him in his a large and rather bleak East Anglian house – a house rather like his religion I thought at the time ( rather unfairly). A big figure in the 1960s and 70s he was yesterday’s man in two senses. First, he was the sort of man of prosperous Ulster …

Jack Kyle RIP ” Irish sport has revolved around a debate on the right way and wrong ways of conducting yourself”.

Brian Walker on November 29, 2014, 6:50 pm

| Readers 957

A selection of tributes to the late great Jack Kyle, fixed in the minds of my generation as the ideal sportsman. It was in a way fortunate that in the days of the amateur game, a man’s character could be expressed in other fields. From the Irish Times Out-half on the Grand Slam-winning Irish rugby team of 1948, the Belfast surgeon played 46 times for Ireland and another six with the British and …

New powers for Scotland threaten constitutional crisis for the UK

Brian Walker on November 29, 2014, 11:37 am

| Readers 921

David Cameron’s claim that the Smith report will create “a stronger Union “ rings hollow when set against his insistence that the case for English votes on English laws is “ unanswerable,” If it means that English MPs should have a veto on any measure they don’t like that a future Labour government proposes, it will create a constitutional crisis . Equally hollow sounding is Scottish Labour’s praise for a good deal from Smith on the transfer of income tax powers …

Adams and Campbell.. the essence of sectarian politics

Brian Walker on November 27, 2014, 3:23 pm

| Readers 1267

Eamonn McCann’s analysis of the “war of words “ between Gerry Adams’ “Unionist bastards” and Gregory “toilet paper” Campbell reminds me an insight about political behaviour from the former Irish Times journalist and ex Unionist politician Frank Millar, whose regular acute observations are sorely missed. Gained by close observation in the hot house of the GFA negotiations, Frank noted that people pay far more attention to the bad behaviour of their opponents than they do to anything their own side …

Devo Max with corporate tax cut ” disastrous” for NI

Brian Walker on November 21, 2014, 1:54 pm

| Readers 622

This powerful case against the SNP’s Devo Max plans including a 3% cut in corporation tax is made in the academic website The Conversation by Arthur Midwinter Associate Professor, Institute of Public Sector Accounting Research at University of Edinburgh and a former adviser to the former Labour leader in the Scottish Parliament Johann Lamont. It is difficult to see how “devo max” could be workable in the UK system. The aim should be to achieve maximum devolution and accountability while …

Corporation tax powers huge test for Stormont

Brian Walker on November 20, 2014, 9:01 pm

| Readers 701

The word is out that the government will grant Stormont control over corporation tax when the Chancellor makes his Autumn Statement on 3 December. Peter Robinson is talking with the confidence of a done deal. David Cameron gave a broad hint this morning as he was grilled by all the select committees chairs in the Commons Liaison Committee this morning on his current thinking on more devolution powers. Laurence Robertson, the Conservative chair of the Northern Ireland committee. Q: What …

Barnett formula bonus won’t last

Brian Walker on November 18, 2014, 12:13 pm

| Readers 502

The present and future cuts may seem tough – and they are – but here I belatedly post the good news from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), s that they could be much worse, were it not for a” flaw “ in the Barnett formula for allocating the block grant. The calculations presented in this paper suggest that these flaws have resulted in Scotland receiving around £400 million more and Northern Ireland around £130 million more in funding this …

Breakthrough idea of a judge-led inquiry system to break the logjam of The Past

Brian Walker on November 17, 2014, 2:18 pm

| Readers 486

At last the judiciary has come forward with a creative approach to dealing with the past. A debate should begin urgently on how to adopt it in the Hart talks and beyond. The Lord Chef Justice sir Declan Morgan has suggested that legacy cases should be taken out of the inquest system” to be dealt with in “a time-bound inquiry“. It would be similar to the powers and procedures of the Historical Abuses Inquiry . He made his suggestions when …

Assembly reform needed but to enable rather than to block

Brian Walker on November 17, 2014, 12:04 pm

| Readers 392

Rick Wilford the recently retired professor of Politics at Queens, provides an analysis in the Belfast Telegraph of the deadlock in power sharing that is as bleak as it is authoritative. “That there is a case for reforming the Assembly and the Executive is irrefutable”… This was recognised by all parties at St Andrews, where they agreed to create an “institutional review committee” charged to examine the operational aspects of the Strand One institutions. This became the Assembly and Executive …

A strategy for the SDLP in the Assembly

Brian Walker on November 15, 2014, 10:57 am

| Readers 1282

With 14 seats in a 108 multi-party Assembly elected by STV, the SDLP still has a viable future. THE POLITICAL CONTEXT The cliché goes that the SDLP’s mission is over, now that equality and power sharing have been achieved. It has also been argued that Trimble and Mallon let down the new consensus in the early 2000s when they failed to come together to call for the suspension of Sinn Fein from the Executive over the IRA’s failure to disarm …

Could the UK quitting the EU undermine the Good Friday Agreement?

Brian Walker on November 13, 2014, 6:51 pm

| Readers 1770

In an Irish Times piece subtitled “If the UK leaves the EU, the North’s status will change, perhaps disastrously” veteran commentator Dennis Kennedy gets bogged down in in his own “fantasy.” He’s right in one respect, that any bid by a Conservative- led government to quit the EU by referendum would undoubtedly shake a union that is already exposed as fragile. And true enough, we surely know that the last thing on the minds of Cameron and the massed ranks of …

Hugh Orde attacks Matt Baggott and police inspectorate over the fate of the Historical Enquiries Team

Brian Walker on November 13, 2014, 12:10 pm

| Readers 549

The investigative journalist John Ware has laid bare a furious disagreement between senior police officers over the record and fate of the Historical Enquiries Team, which was finally and suddenly scrapped in September. The HET’s demise combined with cuts to the Police Ombudsman’s budget means that for the first time ever, there is effectively no official agency investigating the legacy of the Troubles, at a time when new attempts are being made to address the entire agenda. It remains to …

The phoney crisis over the Budget is an indictment of our politics

Brian Walker on November 5, 2014, 10:22 am

| Readers 569

The brinkmanship over the budget is over. The emptiness of a threat to return to Direct Rule has been exposed. Martin McGuinness’s attempts to create a late Hallowe’en scare over the prospects of what Direct Rule might mean in reality amounted to the agenda for future Executive action that still awaits – including water charges and perhaps some hike in university tuition charges for the many who can afford them. The parties belatedly bowed to the inevitable at a cost of an unnecessary …

New GCHQ head takes on Google over the terrorist threat

Brian Walker on November 4, 2014, 5:20 pm

| Readers 307

In the FT today, (£) Robert Hannigan now the new head of GCHQ whom I knew well as the NIO director of communications, has opened a new chapter in the debate over privacy versus security in the digital world. He accuses the technology giants of being in denial about the internet as a command and control system for terrorists. Taking a bold initiative in a debate which is bogged down over where to draw the line between privacy and security, he …

Johann Lamont: a necessary defenestration

Brian Walker on October 25, 2014, 10:49 am

| Readers 699

Poor Johann Lamont, the leader of Scottish Labour leader who was always out of her depth and no time more so than during the referendum campaign when the Tory leader Ruth Davidson clearly outshone her. The BBC headline writer’s verdict is cruel but accurate: Johann Lamont resignation: A leader without influence The post referendum message couldn’t be clearer. A Panelbase poll on 2 October showed: SNP: 34%, Labour: 32%, Conservative: 18%, Liberal Democrat: 5%, UKIP: 6%, Other: 5%. From the …

The Lords held the wrong debate

Brian Walker on October 24, 2014, 12:56 am

| Readers 488

There was quite a lot of noble handwringing in that Lords debate that needs unpicking. Dealing with the past was confused with dealing with the present impasse. There is of course a link but they are really two clean different things. It was odd to hear Paul Bew, a historian who has dedicated much of his life’s work to creating credible accounts of the past out of opposing positions, to dismiss so dogmatically the prospects of dealing with our most …