Pete Baker – Page 12 – Slugger O'Toole

Northern Ireland Water charges to rise…

Pete Baker on April 1, 2015, 12:44 am

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As the BBC reported on 27 March Northern Ireland Water is putting up charges to its 80,000 non-domestic customers from April – the first price rise in three years. The company said the increase would average out at 2.4%. The main factor “dictating this increase” is a £14m rise, or doubling, of its rates bill, following a revaluation carried out of all local businesses last year. In the previous two financial years, Northern Ireland Water cut its tariffs. Businesses and …

Lord Carlile: “Peace is in no small way the result of these efforts by PSNI and MI5 personnel.”

Pete Baker on March 26, 2015, 7:33 pm

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On 20th March the Order in Council extending the operations of the UK National Crime Agency to Northern Ireland came into power – despite the challenge that presents to the Speaker of the NI Assembly – bringing us into line with the rest of the UK in the process. On the same date the NI Secretary of State of State, Theresa Villiers, made a written statement to the House of Commons on the report by Lord Carlile, the independent reviewer of national security …

“Granted, that reality wears tinfoil but that’s an essential protective measure these days.”

Pete Baker on March 25, 2015, 8:07 pm

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[But the tinfoil works? Doesn’t it?! – Ed] That’s what they say… In the Spectator, Alex Massie takes a look at the state of Scottish politics in the aftermath of the referendum for Scottish independence – and the resulting ‘No’ vote. One of the most notable features of Alex Salmond’s account of the closing stages of last year’s referendum campaign is his hatred of the press and, indeed, the media more generally. Newspapers which run inconvenient stories are ‘anti-Scottish’ and journalists who …

Assembly’s ‘consent’ for National Crime Agency Order is a challenge to the Speaker

Pete Baker on March 23, 2015, 4:22 pm

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In a Parliamentary written answer last week (16 March), the Secretary of State gave an update on the progress of the Draft Order in Council which will extend the operation of the National Crime Agency to Northern Ireland. Here’s what Teresa Villiers said. The Northern Ireland Assembly recently agreed to the making of an Order which will enable the National Crime Agency (NCA) to be fully operational in Northern Ireland. That Order has been considered by Committees in both the …

In case you missed the eclipse…

Pete Baker on March 20, 2015, 6:54 pm

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Or, like me, cloud cover obscured the solar eclipse of 20 March 2015. Here’s probably the best view of this morning’s event, from ESA’s Sun-watching Proba-2 mini-satellite. [Image credit: ESA/ROB] And via ESA on YouTube. As Europe enjoyed a partial solar eclipse on the morning of Friday 20 March 2015, ESA’s Sun-watching Proba-2 minisatellite had a ringside seat from space. Orbiting Earth once approximately every 100 minutes, Proba-2 caught two eclipses over the course of the morning. Proba-2 used its SWAP imager …

Stargazing the 20 March 2015 Solar Eclipse

Pete Baker on March 18, 2015, 8:10 pm

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The BBC’s Stargazing Live returns tonight, 8pm BBC 2, with three consecutive nights of live programmes to coincide with the total solar eclipse on Friday 20 March 2015. [It is an annual series! – Ed]. Stargazing Live is, yes. Not necessarily total solar eclipses, though. And this solar eclipse is the only one, total or otherwise, to be visible from Europe for the next few years. ESA’s mini-satellites will have a better view. But not as good a view as this… The BBC …

Gerry Adams: “It is no skin off my nose not to meet the [US] State Department.”

Pete Baker on March 16, 2015, 4:58 pm

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Did the US State Department cancel a planned meeting by a “high-level US state department official” with the Sinn Féin President, Gerry Adams, TD, after Sinn Féin withdrew support for the welfare reform bill, as the BBC, and others, have been reporting? Gerry Adams’ latest statement would tend to suggest that they did. Here’s what the Sinn Féin press release says [Gerry Adams]: “The State Department’s handling of the issue of a meeting with me is bizarre. It serves no purpose other than …

ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Ireland v Pakistan

Pete Baker on March 14, 2015, 6:51 pm

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With just two games left in the group stages of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, and two places still available in the next phase, Ireland’s cricketers have their fate in their own hands. They play Pakistan at the Adelaide Oval early tomorrow morning [3.30am (GMT)] with the winner guaranteed a place in the knock-out stage. As I may have mentioned… Cricket Ireland reports on captain, William Porterfield, at the press conference Talking about his teams approach to the game and the biggest challenges …

“Now it seems that Sinn Fein is realising how badly exposed its negotiators left it to accusations of a sell-out.”

Pete Baker on March 10, 2015, 2:55 pm

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In today’s Irish News John Manley does everyone a favour by identifying Sinn Fein’s problem with the agreement they signed up to in December. The nub of the problem appears to lie in the figures contained in the Stormont Castle Agreement, an agreement within an agreement negotiated between the five parties days before the final accord was signed off on December 23. In annex A of this sub-agreement, the figures for the planned welfare safety net are outlined. It earmarks …

ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Ireland v India

Pete Baker on March 9, 2015, 5:31 pm

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England, with a game still to play, have failed to qualify for the quarter-final stage of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 after a 15 run loss to Bangladesh this morning in Adelaide. Ireland’s cricketers can still secure a place in the quarter-finals with a win from either of their two remaining games. First up, tonight in Hamilton, New Zealand, are the unbeaten defending champions India – who are already through to the knock-out stage. Don’t expect them to take it easy …

Dawn over Ceres

Pete Baker on March 8, 2015, 7:16 pm

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On Friday afternoon [GMT], ahead of Ireland cricketers’ epic encounter with Zimbabwe, Nasa’s Dawn spacecraft became the first man-made object to go into orbit around a dwarf planet – Ceres, at 950km across, the largest object in the main asteroid belt. [Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA] From the associated text The slim crescent of Ceres smiles back as the dwarf planet awaits the arrival of an emissary from Earth. This image was taken by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft on March 1, 2015, just a few …

“it looks like they were repeatedly blocked from accessing vital pieces of evidence or pursuing certain suspects…”

Pete Baker on March 7, 2015, 4:54 pm

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The Guardian and Observer’s Berlin correspondent, Kate Connolly, reports on the campaign for justice by the family of Heidi Hazell, the 26-year-old German wife of a British army sergeant, murdered by the Provisional IRA outside her married quarters in Unna-Massen, a Dortmund suburb, on 7 September 1989. From the Guardian report The following day the IRA claimed responsibility for what was its first and only murder in West Germany of a British soldier’s wife. In a statement the organisation said she had …

ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Ireland v Zimbabwe

Pete Baker on March 6, 2015, 9:21 pm

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It’s a busy, and potentially significant, night/day for the Group B teams at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. At around 3.30am [GMT] on Saturday Ireland will look to put the heavy defeat to South Africa behind them when they face Zimbabwe, in a rare ODI match-up, at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart, Australia. And with India having done both teams a favour by, just, holding off the West Indies challenge last night to seal qualification for the quarter-finals, it’s all to play for. Ireland’s cricketers …

Jean-Claude Juncker: “[Tsipras] must explain that some of the promises upon which he was elected will not be honoured…”

Pete Baker on March 4, 2015, 6:42 pm

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As Mick has noted, at the weekend the under-pressure new Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras took undiplomatic aim at the governments of Spain and Portugal [But not Ireland! – Ed] in an attempt to explain the outcome of European negotiations to his Syriza party coalition. The European Commission has been quick to step in to act as a “mediator” after receiving complaints from the Spanish and Portuguese authorities, but not before those governments had responded in kind. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy hit back …

ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Ireland v South Africa

Pete Baker on March 2, 2015, 7:40 pm

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Ireland, and Surrey, wicketkeeper Gary Wilson sounds positive ahead of tonight’s/tomorrow’s match against South Africa in Canberra in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. Given the Proteas’ comprehensive tonking of the West Indies, courtesy of captain AB de Villiers’ supreme batting prowess, that optimism may be misplaced… Meanwhile, CricketIreland talked to Ireland captain William Porterfield, John Mooney, and coach Phil Simmons ahead of the game. When asked about the prospect of facing a player in such great form, John Mooney was keen …

#UCIHourRecord Live

Pete Baker on February 28, 2015, 3:19 pm

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Join celebrity cycling fan Stephen Fry [loving the on screen metrics! – Ed], and others, watching paralympian Sarah Storey attempt the UCI Hour Record live on the UCI YouTube channel. The current record stands at 46.065km, set by Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel of the Netherlands in October 2003 in Mexico City. Storey is in London’s Olympic velodrome, at sea-level. Update Sadly not a UCI Hour Record for Sarah Storey. Distance covered in the hour – 45.502km. A consolation prize of a new British …

ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Ireland v UAE

Pete Baker on February 25, 2015, 10:24 am

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After a great team performance to overhaul the West Indies in their opening game, earlier this morning Ireland faced fellow associates United Arab Emirates in a confident mood. Winning the toss, Ireland put UAE into bat. That confidence took a knock when UAE set a total of 278 for 9 from their 50 overs, with Shaiman Anwar hitting 106 runs from 83 balls. Ireland needing 279 to win. Worse was to come when Paul Stirling’s wicket fell for 3 runs from 9 balls. Ireland …

“…the platform on which Syriza won the recent general election has been significantly reconstructed.”

Pete Baker on February 24, 2015, 3:53 pm

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What now for “the Syriza experiment“? The Irish Times reports that the Eurogroup of finance ministers have deemed the Greek government’s list of proposed reforms to be “sufficiently comprehensive” for a four-month extension of the Greek bailout programme which was due to expire on Saturday. In an official statement released after today’s conference call between euro zone finance ministers, the euro group said that the proposal was “sufficiently comprehensive” to be a valid starting point for a successful conclusion of …

Sinn Féin Cllr Anne Brolly: “I thought the British Army had all gone home.”

Pete Baker on February 22, 2015, 5:02 pm

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The six-foot sculpture of supposed Celtic sea-god, Manannán Mac Lir, that was ‘stolen’ from Binevenagh Mountain, near Limavady, in County Londonderry, has been found – some 300 metres from its original location… [Good initial search, Batman! – Ed]. The sculpture was apparently discovered by local ramblers, who “advised members of A company 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Regiment soldiers who helped police recover the statue”. The soldiers were in the area having been deployed by helicopter to the north Antrim Coast on a …

ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Ireland v West Indies

Pete Baker on February 15, 2015, 11:58 pm

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Ireland’s cricketers are opening their account in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 in Nelson, New Zealand, against the West Indies tonight. There were optimistic noises from the Ireland camp in advance of the game. And they might not be misplaced. At time of writing, having won the toss and deciding to field, Ireland have restricted the West Indies to 120 for 5 from 32 overs. Spinner George Dockrell has already snaffled the key wickets of Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels. You can follow the match via the BBC …