Republics need to think outside the box on the past…

The challenge for our politicians must be ‘do the big thing.’ The raison d’etre for this approach is to convey hope and above all to convince your former political enemy that you are genuinely part of ‘ a new dispensation.’ To state the obvious- Loyalists did their fair share of killing during the Troubles just as did the IRA. This week-end Nigel Dodds and Jeffrey Donaldson are in Libya seeking compensation for victims of the IRA’s campaign of violence. They …

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Big thinking is in short supply in Parliament Buildings…

There are two main themes exercising me right now. These are bigotry and sectarianism in our politics and political self interest which is, in a sense, linked to the first matter of concern. I will return to bigotry and sectarianism in the coming days and weeks. It would be naieve to expect the SDLP to be ever concerned with the well-being of the DUP as a political party, and vice versa. This truism is applicable in parliaments in London, Washington …

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Woodward plans to hand parading disputes to local councils…

Has Peter Robinson ambushed Sinn Fein on parading? Shaun Woodward sent two confidential letters to the Executive review committee on policing and justice more or less telling them the government is planning to buy into Paddy Ashdown’s plans to stand down the Parades’ Commission. This critical matter may now end up in the hands of local councils which, we are told, will facilitate dialogue with the Orders and local people. In the event of failure it is proposed the First …

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Greysteel mass killer sent back to gaol for Coleraine assault…

Convicted UFF man Torrens Knight was on his way back to gaol last night. Knight was given twelve life sentences for the killing of eight people in the Rising Sun Bar in Greysteel in 1993 and he was also sentenced for the killings of four others. He was released early under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. He was convicted earlier this month of an assault on two women in a Coleraine premises in 2008. Northern Ireland Secretary of …

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No reprieve for full time reserve PSNI officers.

Chief Constable Matt Baggot told the policing board last week he has no intention of retaining the full time reserves. The remaining three hundred plus reserves are being phased out under the Patten recommendations. Only about 100 of these are on the ground involved in security duties according to a PSNI source. Mr Baggot is not of the opinion that any appreciable expertise will be lost in the event of the reserves going. The police federation is legally active claiming …

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