John Ó Néill – Page 5 – Slugger O'Toole

Book Review: The McGurk’s Bar Bombing

John Ó Néill on October 11, 2012, 3:23 pm

| Readers 150

The McGurk’s Bar Bombing: Collusion, Cover-Up and a Campaign for Truth with a foreword by Colin Wallace, just published by Frontline Noir, is the first book by Ciarán MacAirt, grandson of one of those killed in the bombing and the most visible campaigner on behalf of the victims and their families. The book pulls together the results of Ciarán’s searches in various archives, responses to FOI requests and dealings with the Chief Constable of the PSNI and the Policing Ombudsman on behalf of …

An outbreak of sectarian tit-for-tat on #Twitter?

John Ó Néill on October 10, 2012, 4:43 pm

| Readers 178

Offending people on Twitter seems to be the new thing. The BelTel is reporting that long-time Slugger blogger, and now occasional Pensive Quill contributor, Mark McGregor has been the subject of a complaint to the PSNI by Ulster Unionist Policing Board member Ross Hussey following comments Mark made on his Twitter account about the European team’s Ryder Cup win and local golfers Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy: The subsequent celebrations involving the pair prompted the ex-Sinn Fein member to tweet: “There you go. …

Respect?

John Ó Néill on October 1, 2012, 10:05 am

| Readers 121

[click here if image doesn’t show] From today’s Irish News (h/t to @Short_Strand). Doesn’t really need much more comment. Sorry to rain on anyone’s parade, but you know what us Fenian bastards are like. At least in the case of the bandsman urinating on the church gates, the Grand Secretary of the Orange Order was quick out of the blocks this morning to the BBC: Mr Nelson said the incident was “outrageous and unacceptable”. He apologised unreservedly to the priest and parishioners of …

Orange Order: No one will have veto over our Ulster Covenant parade

John Ó Néill on September 21, 2012, 11:30 am

| Readers 77

“No one will have a veto over our Ulster Covenant parade”, says Mervyn Gibson, county grand chaplain of the Orange Order in Belfast (as reported in the Tele): Mr Gibson said that the organisation had consulted with clergy and parishioners from St Patrick’s but that it did not feel compelled to consult with residents regarding the parade. “The reason we are not speaking to residents at this stage is that the issue was respect for St Patrick’s Church,” he added. “That was …

PSNI told Asda bosses: Don’t remove tributes to sectarian killer

John Ó Néill on September 12, 2012, 5:37 pm

| Readers 884

In today’s Irish News*, Connla Young reports that it was the PSNI that advised Asda not to remove tributes to UVF man Billy Hunter from outside their Shore Road store: Seaneen McErlane, a daughter of John’s, says her family have no objections to ordinary tributes and cards left in memory of Hunter. She said she had a “major issue” with Asda and police facilitating “a UVF poppy wreath to remain on their premises for a period of a week”. “This was the …

Viewing platform, Orange Hall, Clifton St

John Ó Néill on September 3, 2012, 4:34 pm

| Readers 157

The above photo is taken from the New Lodge Facebook page galleries which includes a photo gallery of the build-up to yesterdays Republican Network for Unity’s Henry Joy McCracken commemoration at the cemetery in Henry Place. Whilst the RNU event had been processed via an application to the Parades Commission (and not classified as sensitive), the loyalist protest that developed outside the Orange Orders Clifton Street building was not. The gallery includes some shots of the crowd beginning to gather outside …

We are letting the community manage these [i.e. tributes to UVF man]

John Ó Néill on September 1, 2012, 4:34 pm

| Readers 134

I suspect it is embedded in the psyche on the eve of the Covenant commemorations at the end of this month, but loyalist North Belfast, having bared the religious intolerance in it’s soul at St Patrick’s, still appears to be bristling with hostility and animosity. Now the unlikely focus is a supermarket. A former UVF member, William Hunter, who killed two Catholic brothers was at the centre of a 2010 protest over his sacking for telling a Catholic delivery man to …

A referendum on pairing magpies: superstition and economic policy

John Ó Néill on August 24, 2012, 1:38 pm

| Readers 48

The Irish Independent is reporting that the: Government is to bring in a new licence-plate system next year amid fears that a ’13’ registration number would hit car sales. Cars registered between January and the end of June will have a ‘131’ registration. Those from July 1 to the end of the year will have ‘132’ on the plate. The decision is based partly on fears that superstition about a ’13’ reg would affect sales and partly in response to the …

#London2012: What did it mean to you, then?

John Ó Néill on August 15, 2012, 9:01 am

| Readers 62

With barely enough time to catch breath after all those golds, there has been a glut of reflections on how the London Olympics have either redefined or exhibited a new Britishness. Over at the Daily Mail, Dominic Sandbrook is unequivocal, calling it a rebirth of Britishness: Coming so soon after the triumph of the Diamond Jubilee, which reaffirmed the deep bond between the British people and our Royal Family, the Games have been a valuable reminder of everything that most of …

Orders find solution to #Twelfth restrictions at #Ardoyne

John Ó Néill on July 12, 2012, 2:11 pm

| Readers 52

The optics of this are pretty ridiculous. The BBC are reporting the solution to the restriction on passing Ardoyne by 4 pm as: Members of three Orange lodges will be ferried across Belfast by bus to meet a 16:00 BST deadline for passing the flashpoint Catholic area of Ardoyne. Orangemen say it’s a peaceful solution to allow them to complete their return parade from the main celebrations to their Orange halls in north Belfast. Details have not yet been announced …

Platform proceedings: the Orders in their own words

John Ó Néill on July 11, 2012, 11:57 am

| Readers 60

With the County Grand Lodge considering a judicial review of the Parades Commission ruling, a spokesman for the County Grand Lodge of Belfast has said: In addition to the normal denials of rights and freedoms that the Parades Commission regularly impose, this impossible demand would deny these brethren the opportunity to attend the platform proceedings, including the religious service at Barnett Demesne… A recurring contradiction in the Orders’ position is in selectively citing examples of quiet country parades while demanding …

#GiantsCauseway: Fenians lose out to Bible.

John Ó Néill on July 5, 2012, 12:01 am

| Readers 67

*sigh* According to UTV, the Giant’s Causeway Visitor Centre now includes exhibits that acknowlegde the young-earth Creationist view of how the world-famous stones are formed. Pete has detailed the backstory to this before and others have picked up the creationist lobbying trail around the Ulster Museum. UTV report that The National Trust said it wanted to “reflect and respect” the fact that some people contest the views of mainstream science. With that, the National Trust have now neatly denigrated and rejected centuries …

10th July 1972: Decisions D and J

John Ó Néill on July 2, 2012, 5:11 pm

| Readers 178

This month’s An Phoblacht has also ran with the Relatives for Justice story about the 10 July 1972 memo of a security meeting chaired by NI Secretary of State William Whitelaw that has already been discussed on here and elsewhere. Close scrutiny of the details of the memo suggests that this is an even more significant document than was first noted. Much of the coverage of the memo focussed on the statement that: “The Army should not be inhibited in its …

A well performing adjustment programme?

John Ó Néill on June 29, 2012, 3:08 pm

| Readers 57

As Mick has noted, the news coming from the latest in a long line of EU economic crisis summits appears to be good for the Irish government. The rather terse statement issued at 4 am this morning is being pored over by economists as if it were some Joycean text, but it is pretty light on detail. Despite the limited information available, RTE are taking the throaty enthusiasm of An Taoiseach at face value and are fairly happy that the state …

Do the govt need a No vote in #euref…

John Ó Néill on May 30, 2012, 1:06 am

| Readers 48

..and, to provide similar political cover, does the No side need a Yes vote? The only thing that is clear from the lead-up to the referendum on Thursday is that neither the changing political and economic context of the Austerity/Stabilitytreaty nor it’s relatively bland content has really generated much energy, despite the ramifications of ratification. The value of referenda has been disputed on here before. Indeed, Minister of State Leo Varadkar suggested that referenda were not democratic at the start of the campaign, as he: …

Household Charge, Promissory Note, Ard Fheis: the day before April Fools’ Day

John Ó Néill on March 27, 2012, 11:57 am

| Readers 54

While everyone is conveniently busy not paying the Household Charge by the 31st March, the clocks are ticking towards the same deadline for payment of a €3.06 billion promissory note for Anglo-Irish Bank. Fortunately, as reported by the Journal.ie, Finance Minister Michael Noonan told the Dáil last week that: The discussions with the European authorities on the general issue continue but we are now negotiating with the EU authorities, and principally with the ECB, on the basis that the €3.06 billion …

Media bias? Or interdicting the #Mahon report?

John Ó Néill on March 22, 2012, 12:21 am

| Readers 554

Word is that the Mahon report is now definitely expected tomorrow and will make uncomfortable reading for Fianna Fáil, particularly for some of the elephants in the room at their recent Ard fheis. The elephant that didn’t arrive in the room in time for the Ard fheis was the actual report from the Mahon Tribunal that, one way or another, Fianna Fáil are going to have to deal with. Michael Martin’s leaders speech included what was presented as an apology: We were in government …

Shamrocks have a great St Patricks Day.

John Ó Néill on March 21, 2012, 10:38 am

| Readers 500

There are few enough red-letter days for Ulster hurling to let one pass-by unremarked. For those blissfully unaware of the travails of hurling in the north, no Ulster county has ever won a senior, Under-21 or minor All-Ireland or National League title. Nor has Ulster ever won the [inter-provincial] Railway Cup in hurling. The only senior hurling title came nearly 30 years ago, to Loughiel Shamrocks in the 1983 All-Ireland senior club hurling championship. [I feel obliged to also note …

Is a Yes vote in #euref absurd?

John Ó Néill on March 7, 2012, 12:30 am

| Readers 47

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has already signed the European fiscal compact treaty along with 24 other European Union leaders at a ceremony in Brussels, although it still has to go to a referendum in the republic (at an as yet unknown date). The text of the treaty is provided here and is relatively short. A couple of extracts from Article 3 (below) give the real substance of this. ARTICLE 3 1. The Contracting Parties shall apply the rules set out in this paragraph …

#af12 “No. No interest, feck ’em.”

John Ó Néill on March 5, 2012, 2:56 pm

| Readers 46

It appears that the truth is very slow to dawn on some people. The gates had to be closed as early as 2.25 pm and there were huge queues outside the RDS on the day, but The Examiner gets pretty close to the actual optics of the Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis: The queues on Saturday were not for the ard fheis but for the nearby Working Abroad Expo. It goes on to do some vox pops on what those attending …