Gary Kent

Gary Kent is a graduate of international relations. After spells in management in British Rail and the Co-Op he began work in parliament in 1987 where he was active for two decades on Anglo-Irish peace activity against terrorism and now as secretary of the all-party parliamentary group on the Kurdistan Region in Iraq, which he has visited 27 times since 2006. He used to be a columnist for Fortnight Magazine and writes a regular column for the Kurdish Rudaw outlet and many other publications.

An overlooked part of Irish history

Gary Kent on September 25, 2009, 5:29 pm

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The Troubles have produced a vast library but it is amazing that this is the first major history of an overlooked but influential movement: the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party. This history of the “Sticks” is a labour of love that took five years and draws on many interviews and official archives, so to speak. It convincingly and readably narrates the fascinating story of a movement that journeyed over three bloody decades from the priority of forcibly removing the …

Time to tax global currency speculation?

Gary Kent on September 5, 2009, 5:36 pm

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Some ideas are marinated for many years before they are put on the policy menu. Maybe this could happen with the Tobin Tax, originally devised by the American Nobel Laureate James Tobin in the early 1970s to rein in short-term speculative trading and “throw sand in the wheels of global finance,” as he put it.In the 1990s it was embraced by War on Want and others but was seen as marginal or utopian. It has recently received an astonishing boost …

Past, present and future at the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly in Donegal

Gary Kent on March 26, 2009, 2:42 pm

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Security will be tight in the wake of the recent murderous attacks by renegade republicans when parliamentarians in these islands convene next week in Donegal for the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly.There used to be a very heavy police profile at these events but it had been relaxed in recent years. Many long-standing members will recall the presence at a meeting in Adare of a courteous police officer called Jerry McCabe, who was murdered by republicans in 1996. The Irish and British …

British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly

Gary Kent on October 24, 2008, 9:39 pm

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The campaign by the families of the victims of the Omagh bomb urging ministers to disclose secret intelligence information on the suspected Real IRA perpetrators received a significant boost this week. The British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, meeting in Newcastle, overwhelmingly backed a cross-party motion from Labour MP Andrew Mackinlay, who described it as a “call from the grave for justice.” The Assembly instructed its Chair and former Northern Ireland Secretary, Peter Hain, to press this urgently with ministers as the families’ …

British and Irish Parliamentarians to meet in Newcastle

Gary Kent on October 14, 2008, 10:50 pm

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Pleas by lawyers for the British Prime Minister to release intelligence on the Real IRA bombers behind the Omagh bomb have been boosted by MP Andrew Mackinlay, who is to raise the issue at the meeting this weekend of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body. The attack in 1998 is biggest atrocity of the Northern Ireland Troubles and 29 people were murdered but no one has yet been convicted. Mr Mackinlay has initiated a debate at the forthcoming meeting of the British-Irish …

A city break in Baghdad

Gary Kent on May 19, 2008, 5:17 pm

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A weekend in the Green Zone as part of the Labour Friends of Iraq’s ongoing dialogue with the Islamic Dawa Party of Prime Minister Al Maliki was gruelling but politically worthwhile. Talking with the PM and his party colleagues, his bipartisan advisory group, the Sunni Defence Minister, MPs from various parties in the Parliament and others reinforced several themes. First, the massive burdens of Iraq’s history and geography. The scale of the physical and psychological destruction wreaked by Saddam should …

Murder, policing and drugs key issues at British-Irish Body in Wexford

Gary Kent on April 23, 2008, 6:37 pm

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The Paul Quinn murder, devolving police powers in Northern Ireland and drugs policy dominate next week’s meeting of the British-Irish Parliamentary Body in Wexford. Irish TDs Seymour Crawford and Rory O’Hanlon have both tabled questions on the Quinn murder, which will be answered by Martin Cullen, the Irish Minister for Social and Family Affairs. Mr Crawford asks if the authorities are receiving enough co-operation whilst Mr O’Hanlon asks for a progress report on restoring normal policing to South Armagh. SDLP …

Inside Iraqi Kurdistan

Gary Kent on February 23, 2008, 9:32 pm

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It’s impossible to spend any time in Iraqi Kurdistan without understanding the scale of the physical and psychological violence inflicted on its people. The Iraqi Kurds, who are not Arabs but who are closer to the Persians, were corralled into Iraq in the 1920s and were Saddam’s chief victims for four decades. In the 1980s, nearly 200,000 men, women and children were slaughtered in Saddam’s genocidal “Anfal” campaign. Over 4,000 villages were razed and people herded into detention camps. However, …

The future of the British-Irish Body

Gary Kent on November 27, 2007, 1:56 pm

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The British-Irish Body is still discussing its own future The former Conservative Security Minister Michael Mates has been a stalwart of the Body since its birth. He described the inaugural meeting 18 years ago as the most hostile suspicious and ill tempered meeting he had ever attended The Body is in danger of being a fairly bland talking shop which ministers ignore and which is still ridiculously boycotted by the unionists When it meets in 6 months time in Wexford …

Dublin too dangerous for UDA leader

Gary Kent on November 27, 2007, 1:54 pm

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Fianna Fail TD Charlie O’Connor amused many at the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body with his tale of a UDA leader confiding that he was somewhat fearful of visiting Dublin due to its high levels of drug dealing, violent crime and murder. Ahem, indeed Gary KentGary Kent is a graduate of international relations. After spells in management in British Rail and the Co-Op he began work in parliament in 1987 where he was active for two decades on Anglo-Irish peace activity against …

Security issues top agenda at British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body

Gary Kent on November 19, 2007, 3:03 pm

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Security in Northern Ireland is likely to dominate next week’s meeting of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body in Oxford. The Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward will be cross-examined by SDLP Deputy Leader and South Belfast MP, Dr Alasdair McDonnell, about the murder of Paul Quinn at Oram, County Monaghan. Many say that the IRA didn’t sanction the brutal slaughter of Mr Quinn but the International Monitoring Commission (IMC) says that the culprits “included people who are members or former members or …

Call for power sharing at grassroots level

Gary Kent on March 27, 2007, 1:45 am

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The Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education welcomes the historic commitments from both the DUP and Sinn Fein to move towards a power sharing government. Nationalists and Unionists sitting down in government together sends a strong signal to the electorate that there is willingness towards breaking down the sectarianism and segregation that have accumulated over decades and which deeply divide Northern Ireland. Moving forwards together is a slow and difficult journey as the integrated sector can testify to after 25 …

Analysing elections on both sides of the pond

Gary Kent on November 27, 2006, 11:58 pm

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George Bush has admitted that the Republicans received a “thumping” in the mid-term elections and many are starting to think that the Democrats could take the Presidency in two years time. If it were Hillary, the presidential roll call would be: Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton. But before we get carried away with this we could analyse the figures and analysis I have just picked up from a seminar with a “Senior Administration Official.” First, such mid-term losses are the norm, …

Home Secretary helps launch book on political riots

Gary Kent on November 8, 2006, 7:56 pm

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John Reid last night helped launch the new book by respected Lobby Correspondent Ian Hernon on civil insurrection from Peterloo to the present day. Some see Reid as a scary authoritarian but he made what even one jaded cynic saw as a very liberal speech defending detractors in the press who are doing a public service in increasing accountability of ministers. I haven’t digested the book (published by Pluto) as a whole but had a quick skim through the chapter …

The DUP charm offensive at Labour Party conference

Gary Kent on October 1, 2006, 12:35 pm

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Gary Kent reports on the DUP charm offensive at the Labour Party conference Swigging bubbly with Dr Ian Paisley was a jaw-dropping first for many astonished delegates at the Labour Party conference in Manchester this week. But a Federation of Small Businesses champagne reception was where the DUP’s charm offensive began. And this time the emphasis was on the charm rather than the offensive. Dr Paisley and his son stuck to water and later stuck to their guns but wanted …

Peter Hain backs integrated education

Gary Kent on September 28, 2006, 8:05 pm

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The Secretary of State received widespread applause from delegates when he told the Labour Party conference in Manchester today that “we want much more integrated education in Northern Ireland as well.” Gary KentGary Kent is a graduate of international relations. After spells in management in British Rail and the Co-Op he began work in parliament in 1987 where he was active for two decades on Anglo-Irish peace activity against terrorism and now as secretary of the all-party parliamentary group on …

Compass mapping new directions for a new Labour?

Gary Kent on June 20, 2006, 11:41 pm

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The Labour Party has had the luxury over the last decade of not having to worry too much about the Conservatives. Cameron is changing that. A fourth term is still possible for Labour but more and more people fear or hope that Cameron could achieve power at one go. The Prime Minister’s pre-announced departure together with fears that the party could now face defeat at the polls is fuelling something of a resurgence in debate about the party’s future policies, …

More from stormin’ Norman on N’orn Ireland

Gary Kent on May 19, 2006, 10:56 pm

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Lord Tebbit has been busy in the Lords of late. He’s also asked this of Her Majesty’s Government: what is the nature of the “partnership, north and south” which the joint statement of the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach of the Irish Republic at Armagh on 6 April envisaged would give expression to “the legitimate aspiration of nationalists and republicans for a united Ireland”. Jeff Rooker answered thus: The Prime Minister emphasised in his speech accompanying the joint statement of …

Rave from the Grave?

Gary Kent on May 19, 2006, 2:29 pm

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Norman Tebbit asks Her Majesty’s Government whether they regard celebrations of Irish republican violence during Easter 1916 as a glorification of terrorism. The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal) replies – see what you make of it: Section 1 of the Terrorism Act 2006, which came into force on 13 April 2006, creates an offence of encouragement of terrorism including glorification of the commission or preparation of acts of terrorism. Section 1 contains a number of safeguards …

Labour delegation meets Iraqi trade unions

Gary Kent on May 14, 2006, 1:31 am

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There is a Dwarfs’ Association in Iraqi Kurdistan. It seemed odd at first but Saddam’s actual use of weapons of mass destruction continues to wreak biological havoc and this Association combats the stigma. A recent article for Fortnight magazine. Nearly 200,000 people died in Saddam’s genocidal campaign to exterminate Iraqi Kurds and there’s also an increased incidence of cancer and leukaemia but no clinics to cope with it or foreign exchange to buy medicines or send people abroad for treatment. …