Miss Fitz The Irish News (subs reqd) is reporting today that there are 2 people in the final contest for the post of permanent Victims Commissioner. Mike Nesbitt is a former UTV news anchor who left the station early last year in what was described as a surprising move at the time. The other contender is Dr Marie Breen Smith, reader in International politics at the University of Wales. Marie was the co-author of the COTTS report. She is also the former …
There was a delightful article in the Sunday Times Culture supplement a couple of weeks ago. I’m sorry I cannot link to it, but it described Rostrevor and the annual Fiddler’s Green Festival in pastoral and most attractive terms. A village Joyce is said to have called ‘tip top’, and a festival called the ‘hidden gem in Ireland’s festival circuit’. But all is not what it seems.Just past midnight, I walked my dog through the village, and was met by …
Having read Fair Deal’s ‘brief’ account of his 12th day, I was prompted to counter with mine. One of the true values of Slugger is this ability to allow contrasting views, so I shall be as honest and forthright as he was. I was out at bonfires last night, and went to bed about 2 o’clock this morning. When the alarm rang at 7am, I was very inclined to remain in bed or at the very least plead death. But …
Its a little late for composing commentary, but a few photos from 2 of the bonfires this evening. I drove home through Belfast, and it is quite awesome to see the dozens of fires lit over the city. More from me tomorrow, I hope! By the way, the photos from Stoneyford represent a new departure: the use of the beacon instead of the more familiar bonfire. It was a lot more impressive than I expected, and the fireworks set it …
The campaign to save the historic artefacts in the Tara Skryne Valley continues unabated. I met the Director of the National Museum of Ireland, Pat Wallace at the weekend and he looks like a man who hasn’t had to seek his sorrows. He embodies the kind of fulcrum that Ireland faces today, how to proceed yet how much to preserve. I had no intention of engaging him on the subject of Tara, although when we parted, I left him with …
The High Court in Dublin today allowed Miss D, the young lady in the care of the HSE, to travel to England for an abortion. As noted here previously, Miss D’s baby is anacephalic, and has no chance of survival. Despite this, the State appointed a Barrister to represent the foetus’s rights, as it has a ‘right to life’ under the Irish constitution, even though it has no prospect of life. Alliance for Choice spokeswoman Dr Mary Muldowney said: “Alliance …
It all started last week when a prisoner phoned the Joe Duffy show on RTE to complain about conditions in Portlaoise prison. Nothing too strange there, until you realise the prisoner was on a mobile and they happened to be banned in prison. A search was duly ordered and conducted. Among the contraband in the prison was a budgie which has been confiscated. They also found a total of 17 mobile phones, three SIM cards, 11 chargers and eight batteries, …
There is no doubt whatsoever that the events of yesterday have placed us into a new era, an unprecendented acceptance of several hertofore unacceptable precepts. Northern Ireland is no longer a protestant state solely in existence for a protestant people. The catholic, nationalist people of Northern Ireland have fully accepted and moved forward into this devolved separatist state. Many lives have been lost in the process of the creation of this state, and not just from the 1960’s. This is …
For those of you not living in Northern Ireland, the past few weeks have seemed surreal. Up until today our weather was mediterranean almost mediterranean in quality, with bright sunshine every day and even a little considerate dew in the morning to keep the plants happy. All the news was good, and there’s still hardly a cloud in sight. Little update below the foldHaving grown up partly in Ireland and having been very involved with the politics of the place, …
The Historical Enquiries Team has amassed a database as ‘big as a B&Q’ according to Liam Clarke at the Sunday Times today. The data is held in the “most advanced central store in the UK”, according to Dave Cox, climate-controlled and its access managed by computer. The information on the 3,268 killings is linked by a specially designed analytical database that groups the deaths – paramilitary murders and security force killings – into 2,516 separate incidents. The material for this …
Fionola Meredith has a very good piece in this month’s edition of Village magazine. Her first couple of paragraphs looks at the reaction on Slugger to the appointment of Kelly Andrews to the Parades Commission, replacing Don McKay. She rightly points out that the very first comment here had nothing to do with this woman’s political position, intellectual capacity or experience in conflict management. Yokel described her as ‘a bit of a looker’. She says that ‘Yokel and his ilk …
I guess I am at best a ‘passive blogger’, and mostly just respond to really important events, or guilt trips from Mick. So, here I was thinking….. Bank Holiday weekend…. bit of sun and bikini time in Rostrevor and nothing much to blog for Slugger. Then I get this e-mail from Jim Fitzpatrick and the Politics Show, and I felt duty bound to share it. It comes as a great disappointment to me and my colleagues that we will no …
It’s a little tongue in cheek, but I felt the urge to post this cartoon that was sent to me when the IRA first started the process of decommissioning. I don’t know who originally drew it, but I can take credit for the alteration! Although there has been a broadly positive political response , there is also a lot of noises off about the lack of completion with the moves the UVF made. If nothing else, this should remind us …
As of midnight tonight, the UVF will cease to exist as a terrorist group. From the BBC report: The paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force has declared that it is renouncing violence and will cease to exist as a terrorist organisation from midnight. It also said it will keep its weapons, but has put them “beyond reach”. This means they will be stored in a number of arms dumps “under the control of the UVF leadership, but not accessible for use by …
With the election underway down South, I’ve heard a couple of uncomfortable references recently to the 1977 election spectre. While it may be embarrassing looking back on it, it was great fun at the time. The picture shows a copy of the much maligned Manifesto. It never fails to provide me with either a laugh or a salutory reminder of how far we have travelled and progressed. There is a wonderful innocence and naievity about this document, even down to …
With election mania about to take hold in the Republic, news of 17 year old Miss D, who is 4 months pregnant and seeking an abortion is very possibly the worst kind of news for any politician versed in the art of equivocation. With the facts of the case so simple, and yet so stark it will be very difficult not to be able to take a definite stand. This is possibly the reason that the case is streaking through …
I highlighted some of Damien Okado-Gough’s Flickr pictures a couple of days ago, and found two more of interest today that have just been posted. Although the shot of Bairbre de Brún is from 2004, I love the contrast it provides and feel the message is very appropriate today. We have the well-heeled, well-dressed candidate rushing past the discontented and certainly sartorially less well-disciplined family of Republicans. The other shot is of DUP councillor Davy McAllister posing with former UPRG …
The BBC are reporting that David Ervine suffered a heart attack, then a stroke and brain haemmorhage. He remains in a critical condition with his family at his bedside. The links will also take you to some further information on Mr Ervine and his contribution to the Northern Ireland political scene. Miss Fitz
It’s always amazing when we are obsessing over ourselves, that the rest of the world manages to trundle on regardless. The big news in the USA was the installation of Nancy Pelosi as the first woman Speaker of the House of Representatives. However, in the name of lightening things up just a tad, I thought I’d bring you the story of CNN and it’s inability to differentiate between a US Senator and an reasonably well known terrorist. Nice to see …
I dont’ know the answer to that question, but perhaps it lies in a train timetable somewhere. Controversy is beginning to bubble over the ‘departure’ of Keith Moffett from NIR, and cheers to NIRsucks for the tip. From the Belfast Telegraph: Enquiries over whether he received a final pay-out are now being met with a wall of silence. Translink’s parent body, the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHC), declined to comment, other than to say that all relevant matters will …
