Eamonn Mallie The question was raised on Slugger O Toole initially whether the coping stone which hit the young female police officer at the Ardoyne shops in North Belfast had been dropped by a rioter or had fallen as a result of water canon pressure. I was not the author of the original question but when this started to become thematic I turned my attention to this matter. A senior police officer went on the Nolan Show and spoke of “murderous intent” …
Robinson says meeting with Chief Con was constructive. Said young policewoman could have been murdered. There is a process of legislation in hand to deal with parades. We have looked at particular steps that can be taken in circumstances surrounding areas like Ardoyne.Arrests are expected according to the Chief Constable. Peter Robinson wants the community to stand behind the police. Martin Mc Guinness said this has been a setback but should be kept in context. Mr Mc Guinness spoke of …
Former Scotland Yard commander John O Connor has challenged the tactics being deployed by PSNI chiefs during rioting in Ardoyne. Speaking on the Nolan Show this morning he argued for the availability of snatch squads to grab the ringleaders to remove them. ACC Duncan Mc Causland has dismissed the remarks of Mr O Connor: He said “we would be putting our officers at greater risk.” Eamonn Mallie Eamonn Mallie
The question is now being posed ” was the heavy masonry or coping stone which hit the female PSNI officer at Ardoyne in North Belfast dropped on her or was it dislodged due to water canon pressure?The putting of this question can in no way diminish the ugliness of what was witnessed in terms of rioting and attacks on the PSNI. In the interest of accuracy however the record has to be set straight. UTV’s cameraman caught the sizeable slab of …
The late Cardinal Tomas O Fiaich argued the IRA campaign of violence was wrong because it divided communities. He used an easily understood analogy. He put forward the thesis that attacking your neighbour’s home every weekend after getting drunk was unlikely to keep you on the christmas party invitation list. This analogy may be a little simple but none the less profound. North Belfast has witnessed another splurge of rioting and destruction primarily at the shops in Ardoyne. A lot …
First Minister Peter Robinson has launched a stinging attack on ACC Alistair Finlay who challenged him and Martin Mc Guinness to show a united front against the rioting in recent days. As I noted this morning, Mr Finlay said on the Nolan Show this morning that neither the First or deputy first minister had been in touch with him in the run up to the Twelfth. This afternoon Peter Robinson and Matin Mc Guinness issued a statement. Mr Robinson roundly condemned …
Sinn Fein’s Junior Minister Gerry Kelly has hit back at the most senior police officer on duty in Belfast in the past two nights during the rioting. ACC Alistair Finlay challenged the First and deputy first ministers to say why they have not “stepped out” to jointly condemn the violence of past forty eight hours the cost of which Chief Constable Matt Baggott claims would build a hospital or a primary school. Responding to Mr Finlay’s reference to Martin Mc Guinness …
ACC Alistair Finlay has hit the nail on the head in asking where is the joint leadership when it comes to the First and deputy first ministers?It is absurd to suggest that he is implying that they involve themselves in operational matters. The dogs in the street know what Mr Finlay was saying in his interview with Stephen Nolan. He is asking why are Martin Mc Guinness and Peter Robinson not seen to be acting more, jointly ? This is a subject …
The senior police officer in charge of North Belfast in recent days has accused some rioters of “murderous intent.” ACC Alistair Finlay spoke on’Nolan’ of injuries sustained by one of his female officers when a ‘coping stone’ was dropped from a height on her from the shops at Ardoyne. Mr Finlay suggested he and his colleagues will treat this attack as ‘attempted murder.’ ACC Finlay also challenged the leadership of the First and deputy first minister during this period. He …
A female police officer was rushed to hospital tonight after being knocked to the ground by what was thought to be a breeze block. The police woman was one of hundreds of officers deployed in Ardoyne in Belfast to secure the safe return of a so called feeder Orange parade to the North of the city. Initially about 100 protesters were physically removed from the route of the marchers by police in riot gear. Nationalist residents and protesters had sat …
Following the arrest of five men in Co Louth in the Republic Garda believe the have interrupted a provocative action on the southern side of the border. Two men were arrested in Dundalk, two elsewhere in Co Louth and one in Balbriggan. There are reports that a vehicle was dumped which had been examined forensically . The Garda press office will only confirm that five men have been arrested and they believe it is linked to dissident Republican activity. Stand …
Posted a tweet earlier underscoring what I witnessed in Belfast during Troubles once first shots are fired in live situation. I had gone to Kennedy Way on Sunday morning to meet Fr Denis Faul who had just emerged from the Maze Prison (1981) where he had offered mass. I parked on the forecourt of garage. As of then, on left side of road, travelling towards Glen Road/Andersonstown Road junction, I faced front wheels of my car out onto road in anticipation …
Has your child ever come home from school declaring “I want to get into business because I want to create as many jobs as possible for poor people.” You don’t have to answer because the philosophy informing the current definition of ‘success’ in any chosen career begins with self interest. This credo of self interest is promoted for the greater part by our system educationally and politically. This self interest and its promotion ultimately fail our society. Why is it …
Apologies for posting same subject three times. I have moved technologically to posting directly and I have been having teething problems.Hopefully this is behind me now. Eamonn Mallie
Northern Ireland’s minister for Sport Nelson Mc Causland has taken umbrage with the football authorities and the Ulster Scots Agency over their handing of finances. In the case of the Football authorities he has spoken of a lack of justification for an alleged waste of £.5m. It is appropriate that Mr Mc Causland shows himself to be vigilant when it comes to how money particularly public money is spent. What is worrying however is Mr Mc Causland’s failure to challenge …
Northern Ireland’s minister for Sport Nelson Mc Causland has taken umbrage with the football authorities and the Ulster Scots Agency over their handing of finances. In the case of the Football authorities he has spoken of a lack of justification for an alleged waste of £.5m. It is appropriate that Mr Mc Causland shows himself to be vigilant when it comes to how money particularly public money is spent. What is worrying however is Mr Mc Causland’s failure to challenge …
Northern Ireland’s minister for Sport Nelson Mc Causland has taken umbrage with the football authorities and the Ulster Scots Agency over their handing of finances. In the case of the Football authorities he has spoken of a lack of justification for an alleged waste of £.5m. It is appropriate that Mr Mc Causland shows himself to be vigilant when it comes to how money particularly public money is spent. What is worrying however is Mr Mc Causland’s failure to challenge …
Northern Ireland’s minister for Sport Nelson Mc Causland has taken umbrage with the football authorities and the Ulster Scots Agency over their handing of finances. In the case of the Football authorities he has spoken of a lack of justification for an alleged waste of £.5m. It is appropriate that Mr Mc Causland shows himself to be vigilant when it comes to how money particularly public money is spent. What is worrying however is Mr Mc Causland’s failure to challenge …
Should Taoiseach Brian Cowen challenge his community and his political rivals to redefine patriotism?In the Irish Republic the notion of ‘patriotism’ was historically rooted in the politics of the past, the civil war and the fight for independence against the British. The post civil rights era in Northern Ireland continued to stymie a contemporary redefinition of ‘patriotism’ in general terms. The so called Troubles as we knew them are behind us. The current Fianna Fail government is plagued with the …
SDLP leader Margaret Ritchie says the NI assembly continues to be ‘dysfunctional.’ In a blistering attack on incomplete projects in the term just ended the South Down MP predicts the Executive’s performance will worsen under the weight of further cuts. These are the key areas of ‘failure’ highlighted by her: “The long and expensive process of local government has collapsed in chaos. Letters informing principals that their new building is long-fingered again are landing on mats in empty schools. Sinn …
