Conall There are no McDevitt’s on Menin Gate (Belgium) but there are thousands of other Irish names amongst the 58,000 for whom there is no grave. The Irish Peace tower stands on a hill over the final battleground where the 16th and 36th divisions pushed the German lines back in June 1917. There are some wonderful inscriptions as you walk in. They say different things but have a single message best summed up in the words of Tom Kettle: To dice …
Often, the most poignant and potent moment of a culture is its dying gasp. Before the end, as a world implodes, there is a last great gathering of its energies. A shaman has a vision in the forest and arrives back with a millennial vision of salvation in which the ancient spirits are revived. A writer emerges to chronicle a way of life with a steely clarity forged from the urgent knowledge that it must be recorded before it dies. …
This is Anti-Homophobia week. The Rainbow Project, Cara Friend and Lesbian Advocacy Service Initiative, in partnership with The Equality Commission NI, have developed a travelling billboard which will be making its way across Northern Ireland to raise awareness of the prejudice non-straight people still face in this region. Things have changed greatly over the past 15 years. The introduction of key legislation to protect people who are lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) within their jobs, homes and in accessing goods, …
The SDLP’s Carmel Hanna today brought a motion to the Assembly on clerical child abuse in Northern Ireland. The motion urged the assembly to agree that the abuse detailed in the report should be subject to criminal law. It also called on the executive to commission an assessment of the extent of the abuse in Northern Ireland, fund counselling services and liaise with authorities in the Republic of Ireland on matters related to the report. By way of the new …
David Ford has told the BBC a £1bn package to pay for devolution of policing and justice could be lost if agreement is not reached before the next general election. There is probably some truth in this but as Fionnuala O’Connor pointed out on Inside Politics yesterday it is a very strange arrangement when a party (Alliance) with no mandate to sit around the Executive table will end up in government as a result of a deal to set aside …
With parading the new manufactured crisis on the hill you could be forgiven for believing the big two parties have the big issues of the day in hand. It doesn’t seem to be the size of the public finance deficit or the crisis in education but the smallness of partisan bickering which is dominating our regional government. Partisanship is the order of the day as narrow sectional interest is always put ahead of the shared regional one. Whilst The DUP …
Alasdair McDonnell formally entered the race to succeed Mark Durkan today at an event with party members in Belfast. He is up against Margaret Ritchie. Both sides are claiming strong support from within the Assembly team. McDonnell was joined by Mid Ulster MLA Patsy McGlone at his event this morning. Margaret announced her intention to stand flanked by several party MLAs just over a week ago. The final say goes to delegates at party conference in February. All public representatives …
It seems the UUP – Conservative link up is proving more better then worse for all concerned. That is of course as long as you are not a Labour minded UUP member. As Mark Devenport notes on his blog, Sylvia Hermon stayed away from conference for the second year running. Fred Cobain, a long time leftie departed early to go see his beloved Crusaders. There has long been a significant Labour – Unionist tradition in the North. Is it large …
Ian McCrea MLA (DUP) is one of 47 members of the ‘No Pope Here’ group on Facebook which is campaigning against the possibility of papal feet ever touching UK soil. Checkov has some early reaction from a unionist perspective. Hard to believe , but true. Conallwww.oconallstreet.com
SDLP and UUP minsiters, Reg Empey and Margaret Ritchie, have a joint article in today’s Belfast Telegraph calling for action on the education crisis. (Full text below the fold) We are now proposing a range of actions to end the chaos in our schools. Both the UUP and the SDLP are committing themselves to working with the other parties involved in the ongoing cross-party talks. The failure of Sinn Fein to engage in these talks is a disappointing abdication of …
The Irish News reports today that major job losses are expected at the BBC in Northern Ireland. Over on O’Conall St I ask whether it is time for a serious debate about devolving broadcasting policy to the North? NOTE. Very sorry for the inaccurate headline earlier. Conallwww.oconallstreet.com
The Fine Gael Leader, Enda Kenny TD, has told a party function tonight that he will abolish the Irish Senate and reduce the number of TDs by 20 if he wins the next general election. He claims this would save the tax payer €150 million in a Dail term. The move would require a constitutional amendment. Seanad reform is long overdue but this strikes me as a populist move which could lead to the baby being thrown out with the …
Margaret Ritchie has announced her intention to stand for leader of the SDLP. Speaking in Parliament Buildings flanked by Carmel Hanna MLA (South Belfast), Dolores Kelly MLA (Upper Bann), Mary Bradley MLA (Foyle), Thomas Burns (South Antrim), Tommy Gallagher (Fermanagh South Tyrone) and Alex Attwood MLA (West Belfast), Ms Ritchie said: I have a comprehensive plan for the renewal of the party and an exciting vision for the way forward, I will be setting out that vision to the broad …
Eamonn Mallie tackles one of the big debate in Northern politics these days, asking whether the joint co-equal office of the First and Deputy First Minister is in fact dead. Referring to the ongoing row over the devolution of policing and justice and the DUP’s requirement for community consultation – by which he reads unionist community consultation – Mallie writes: Peter Robinson is one of the finest parliamentarians of his generation. He is ‘too big’ to be ‘so petty’ in …
“The vast majority of parents are happy with Transfer 2010 and know exactly where their children will go” Education Minister Caitriona Ruane in today’s Irish News. Simple question. Are these parents in Northern Ireland or parents on Mars? Conallwww.oconallstreet.com
Slugger’s very own eye on the hill, Eamonn Mallie, brings us news of an awful stink at Parliament Buildings. One hell of a stink is being investigated in the basement of Parliament Buildings. Needless to say the powers that be would not like such a pong hanging around the building so close to the visit of a former First Lady…. …. Hilary Clinton would be well advised to stay clear of the Press area of Parliament Buildings. Apart from mice …
Couple of things stand out from yesterday on the Hill. First was the umpteenth defeat of the Minister for Education on the 11plus. It’s a bad situation when a Minister is continuously defeated, has lost the confidence of the house (on both sides) and is still able to continue on regardless. Second was the language directed at Martin McGuinness by the DUP during question time – he was described As ‘the Deputy’. Is it right that members should be allowed …
Not Peter, Mary! A Facebook campaign has just been launched to make Mary Robinson the first post Lisbon President of the European Council. After hugely successful terms of office in both the positions of President of Ireland and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, this group believes that Mary Robinson has proven that she would make an excellent President of the European Council. Conallwww.oconallstreet.com
Eamonn Mallie is pondering on the purpose of the PM’s visit to the North tomorrow over on his own blog today. The question is : Is Mr Brown coming because of the stance taken by Martin Mc Guinness or is there some cunning plot afoot whereby Peter Robinson privately needs to get the Prime Minister here to help him to bring his dissidents on side. Conallwww.oconallstreet.com
David Cameron’s last hope of a referendum in the UK now rests with a belligerent Czech President who is defying his own parliament by refusing to sign the Lisbon Treaty. This is so because the Tory leader has said he will only call a referendum if the Treaty has still not been ratified by all member states if and when he becomes Prime Minister. Gavin Hewitt on his blog says the Tories may have left it too late; But the …
