Chris Donnelly

A number of sure signs that the football eligibility row has been permanently resolved could be detected in recent weeks. Firstly, there was the news that Northern Ireland manager, Nigel Worthington, was actively pursuing former Republic of Ireland international, Alex Bruce, as a prospective Northern Ireland international for the future. Bruce’s Republic caps were earned in friendly matches, making him still eligible to represent another international side.  This news has been apparently confirmed by the BBC tonight, indicating that Nigel …

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A number of interesting features in the media regarding the East Belfast violence this weekend. Brian Rowan on BBC Radio Ulster’s Sunday Sequence provided an uncomfortable analysis for those who assumed the only major paramilitary threat to the new dispensation came from dissident republican factions. In a frank contribution in which he didn’t hit and miss the wall, the experienced analyst of republican and loyalist groupings said that the UVF Leader was a “law unto himself” in East Belfast. Rowan …

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There is little doubt but that the UVF leaders in East Belfast who plotted the sectarian violence which engulfed the catholic community of the Short Strand and subsequently that of neighbouring protestant residents will be very contented with the course of events this week. Hindsight has enabled us to connect the transparently obvious dots which clearly were preliminary manoeuvres ahead of this act, as I have pointed out on an earlier thread. The hotch-potch of excuses provided for the violence …

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The rationale behind the loyalist attacks in East Belfast- now into their second night– would appear rather perplexing at surface level, but as Moochin and others have been pointing out (often in the face of unwarranted jibes on Slugger), there’s been rumblings regarding loyalist activity in the East for quite some time now.  The proliferation of loyalist flags across East Belfast and the painting of aggressive murals amidst sabre-rattling articulating loyalist anger at the rerouting of parades have all indicated loyalism …

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Following on from the loyalist rioting in North Belfast last Friday, there has been a sustained attack tonight on catholic homes in the Short Strand area of East Belfast by what the BBC are reporting Sinn Fein Mayor of Belfast, Niall O’Donnghaile, to be claiming are between 60 and 100 “masked and camouflaged men.”  Perhaps more attention should be paid to the motive behind the new murals being painted across East Belfast…. Chris Donnelly

Michael D Higgins has secured Labour’s nomination for the Presidential election, seeing off Fergus Finlay and Kathleen O’Meara in the process. Meanwhile, as Eamonn Mallie tweets that the Irish Voice’s Niall O’Dowd has been in Dublin to check out potential support from Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein, former special advisor to Michael McDowell, Cormac Lucey, has penned a piece in the Irish Daily Mail outlining why O’Dowd could be the dark horse in this campaign. Chris Donnelly

At the halfway mark of his third round, Rory McIlroy is a very healthy eight shots clear of the field in the US Open. Just to put the figures in context: Golf has four Major tournaments contested on an annual basis. A McIlroy victory in the US Open on Sunday will mean that five of the last eighteen Majors have been won by Irishmen (Harrington’s treble and McDowell’s US Open triumph.) The other titles were won by 5 Americans (Tiger …

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The week that saw the 10th anniversary of the loyalist protest at catholic school girls walking to school in the area has now witnessed the first sustained violence surrounding a contentious loyalist parade this year. That’s not surprising, as the sectarian geography of north Belfast has meant (and will mean) that political/community tensions will come to the boil on a more frequent basis than perhaps anywhere else in the north of Ireland. Yesterday’s loyalist violence followed a predictable pattern. Parade determination …

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The Irish News reported statistics earlier in the week illustrating how the decline in the number of male primary school teachers has continued in spite of initiatives aimed at increasing males into the profession (though the paper does not outline the nature of these employer-led efforts.) In the current academic year, just 1,307 of the 8,473 primary school teachers were male, representing just 15% of the profession. Of these, some 60% of the males were aged 40 or older. In …

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Lansdowne Road’s Aviva Stadium was the venue for the Clash of the Irelands, which (thankfully) seems to have gone off without any trouble- as had been feared by local residents and others. But the 5-0 result, even in the context of an end of season friendly-competition fixture played mostly by lower ranking squad members, will provide bragging rights in many workplaces tomorrow. The woodwork was also struck twice in an overwhelmingly one-sided clash. Another double for Robbie Keane has moved him …

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Moves by all shades of unionism to form a single political grouping has failed to have the desired effect in Belfast City Council as Sinn Fein, the SDLP and Alliance combined to close the loophole which would have allowed the somewhat cynical gesture to alter the numbers of elected representatives for each party ahead of the running of d’hondt on Thursday evening. Of course, the option is still there for the UUP, PUP and former UDP- now Independent- Frank McCoubrey …

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First it was Castlereagh. Now it’s Belfast. The tribal call of pan-unionist unity has led to all shades of unionism, from the PUP and former UDA-aligned Frank McCoubrey to the DUP and UUP, joining forces to form a single unionist group on Council to avoid D’hondt being run on the basis of the strength of each political party, which would have led to more posts being distributed to the non-unionist parties on council. So much for that post-conflict politics….. Chris …

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Mark has hit on something with his illegal parade post earlier today. The DUP have a very recent track record of lobbying the PSNI for charges to be brought against individuals involved in illegal parades, as I will outline below. Logically, then, should we be expecting support from these quarters for prosecutions against those involved in today’s illegal loyalist parade? Here’s the DUP MLA Jimmy Spratt following a meeting with PSNI Chief Constable, Matt Baggott concerning illegal republican parades (27th January …

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One of the sure signs of the imminence of the approaching summer holidays is the beginning of the All-Ireland provincial championships in both hurling and football. Ulster’s preliminary round game has already seen Antrim dumped from the Ulster Senior Football Championship last Sunday, but games across all four provinces today signal that Championship season is well and truly upon us. In Ulster, Derry play host to Fermanagh, whilst both Cork and Kerry are in action in Munster against the minnows …

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The only word coming close to describing Leinster’s second half performance in today’s Heineken Cup Final, which I’m still enjoying. Already being described by the Sky commentators as one of the greatest finals in this competition, the Leinstermen have erased a 16 point half-time deficit which seemed to have swung the tie firmly in favour of the Saints. One of those sporting moments that will live long in the memory. Update: Final Score: Leinster 33- 22 Northampton. Leinster champions for …

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RG Cuan has picked up in this thread on one of the interesting features of  Queen Elizabeth II’s visit to the south of Ireland to date, namely, how her usage of Irish sits uncomfortably with the petulant comments and acts attributed to unionist politicians regarding the Irish language. But in this piece carried in the Belfast Telegraph earlier in the week, I focused on how the Queen’s more substantive gesture of remembering those who fell in the cause of striving to …

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 Pictures can reportedly say a thousand words. Not often true, but certainly so in this case. Your thoughts? PS I have plenty of thoughts of my own, but I’ll be coming back on that later…..(Picture courtesy of RTE.) Chris Donnelly

Now that the election is over, the new fun game for us political anoraks is guessing the names of the new ministers set to take office in the Executive next week. Whilst I’ve an idea that Mick has a thread in the pipeline to facilitate those seeking to anticipate the order of ministerial pickings, both the BBC and UTV carried speculation today that Sinn Fein is set to introduce a new panel of its elected representatives to the Executive, moving …

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The words of then First Minister, Ian Paisley, following the decision of Sinn Fein to agree with the nomination of Willie Hay as Speaker in the last term of the assembly. It is now believed that Sinn Fein want payback, and it is likely they will insist upon Francie Molloy as Speaker in the new assembly term. Of course, whether or not Peter Robinson feels obliged to honour his predecessors commitment is another thing, not least since his immediate post-election antics would suggest …

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