Rusty Nail

According to today’s Sunday Independent, “TEN years ago, Freedom of Information was introduced to end Ireland’s culture of secrecy and to promote “open government”. However, since then, as a result of sneaky amendments and last-minute law changes, the system has been largely sabotaged, to the point where it’s not working…the system of Freedom of Information (FoI) is not only failing but failing badly. Applying for records under the Government’s much-vaunted commitment to transparency and accountability has proved expensive and frustrating, …

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RTE carries some (brief, video) coverage of one of Sinn Fein’s public meetings today, held in Tyrone. Gerry McGeough posed questions from the floor. Discussion of the meeting in Toome is taking place on this thread, from people who were there. Breaking News gives an overview of the Toome debate, including a quip from Laurence O’Neill and quotes from Adams’ speech. Rusty Nail

The IRSP response to Adams’ invitation to a private meeting: “Adams is just playing politics with this public statement because he knows the back channels for meetings. The back channels to set up meetings between the groups are well established and on his going public with this I would question his sincerity.” Makes a bit of a contrast between the brouhaha over the alleged DUP back channel. Meanwhile, some families of fallen volunteers are not happy with Sinn Fein’s upcoming …

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The NIO is currently recommending that the PSNI be reduced to a force of around 6,000 officers. This would be down from a high 13,500 during the worst of times; it is also less than the 7,500 recommended by the Patten Report. This reflects the ‘normalisation’ agenda. Ironically enough, this move has been approved by none other than former RUC Chief Constable, Ronnie Flanagan. The Police Federation is not too happy about this, using the spectre of dissident republicans to …

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Adams is now saying he doesn’t expect a “quick response” from republican armed groups to his offer of this morning. Well, if he wanted a quick response he could have went to the Tower Hotel in Derry last night and he would have been given a spot on the platform, where he might not have been speaking to the leadership of armed groups but he would have been engaging with a lot of disillusioned republicans. (Ruairí Ó Brádaigh has issued …

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UPDATE: Early reports are that the meeting is packed, standing room only with people trailing out the door. Gerry McGeough, Tony Catney, Eddie McGarrigle, Francie Mackey and Tony McPhillips are on the platform with John Kelly acting as chair. Sinn Fein, who were invited, did not show up. Concerned Republicans will be hosting a public meeting to discuss and debate the issue of Sinn Fein’s support for the PSNI. The meeting will take place in the Tower Hotel, Derry City, …

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Andersonstown News Group Managing Director, Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, writing on his blog, admits knowing of Sinn Fein voter fraud: “I know a guy (to whom I remain very close) who voted 13 times in the 1983 election when Gerry Adams took the West Belfast seat from Gerry Fitt, one of the most important milestones passed in this revolution. Wish I was that guy on Sunday week at the Sinn Féin special ard fheis.” Sinn Fein has consistently denied allegations of …

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Sinn Fein has an Extraordinary Ard Fheis website and has announced dates for their public meetings on the motion. When & Where after the jump.Saturday 20th – Arby’s, Toome, at 2pm Saturday 20th – Galbally, County Tyrone at 6pm Sunday 21st – Newcastle Centre at 6.30pm Monday 22nd – Canal Court Hotel, Newry at 7pm Tuesday 23rd – Slieve Russell, Ballyconnell at 7.00pm Wednesday 24th – Devinish Complex, Belfast at 8pm Thursday 25th – Millennium Centre, Derry at 7pm They …

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UPDATE: Some craic on Talkback today – Gerry McGeough (Ind Rep) vs John O’Dowd (SF). Now online here (opens player).

Paul McGlinchey, who will be standing against Martin McGuinness in Mid-Ulster, has given an interview to the Ulster Herald. His nephew, Dominic Og McGlinchey, has not ruled out standing as a candidate in West Tyrone. Gerry McGeough is standing against Sinn Fein in Fermanagh/South Tyrone. And the IRSP is set to endorse a candidate from Strabane at their Ard Comhairle this weekend. Willie Gallagher spoke to the Strabane Chronicle about the upcoming election and Concerned Republicans. Both interviews follow the …

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The PSNI are seeking to be able to seize documents and files without “having an explicit reason to suspect that a crime may have been committed.” BBC NI says “It is understood similar laws are not planned for the rest of the UK.” This move comes as “normalisation” is supposed to be the keyword. While it is likely this is being introduced in order to give the Assets Recovery Agency and the PSNI the ability to clamp harder on the …

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That’s 6 MLAs down for SF now, Philip McGuigan will not be standing this time round. In an interesting twist, he will remain on the Ballymoney District Council and will “take up a full-time position within Sinn Fein’s six county organisation”. His actions, he says, have nothing to do with policing. Meanwhile, Paul McGlinchey, a former blanketman and brother to murdered INLA man Dominic McGlinchey, will stand in as an independent in Mid Ulster. The Irish News reports: “Paul McGlinchey, …

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Earlier today, Martin McGuinness spoke in Limerick at the Sean South commemoration. Sinn Fein headlines the text of his speech: Martin McGuinness calls on DUP to meet power sharing challenge. The Belfast Telegraph has this, presumably in response, from Nigel Dodds: Dodds tells SF not to expect any more from DUP.McGuinness: “If DUP members are to hold Ministerial office it will be within the power sharing and all-Ireland arrangements set out in the Good Friday Agreement. But while the DUP …

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Broadcaster and former RAF fighter Cathal O’Shannon has put together a 2 hour documentary to air this week on RTE, looking at Ireland’s sheltering of Nazi war criminals. “Notorious Nazi war criminals were given safety in Ireland after the war and lived here under assumed names sanctioned by Eamon de Valera’s government. The killers, responsible for some of the worst ethnic cleansing atrocities of the Second World War, were told that Ireland would welcome them as they fled from the …

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Rumours of the Sinn Fein leadership bottling it and backtracking on policing are abound. How true they are, we won’t know until later. But a sense of panic is in the air for sure. This is a moment that was always going to come for Sinn Fein; to do the business or get off the pot. The question is, how prepared for it are they? Did they plan for managing this day of reckoning, or did they get so lulled …

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Last week, Newton Emerson took the PSNI to task for what he described as an “appalling, farcical and totally unacceptable” conviction rate for murders. “Either the PSNI is not capable of doing its job or the PSNI has been told not to do its job,” he wrote. Assistant Chief Constable Peter Sheridan has written a response in today’s Irish News:”The police service will always accept and take on board criticism when it is justified but will not accept sweeping, inaccurate …

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Says Gregory Campbell, in today’s Derry Journal. From the report: “Mr. Campbell suggested that Sinn Fein work with the police to stamp out any remaining republican paramilitary threat. When asked if he would call on Sinn Fein to report dissident activity to the police, he replied: “That will be a part of our test for them after the Ard Fheis, we have a series of things to put into practice to test them to see if their support for policing …

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The IRA has issued their New Year’s statement.The following is the text of a New Year’s message supplied to An Phoblacht this week by the leadership of Óglaigh na hÉireann: “The leadership of Óglaigh na hÉireann sends New Year greetings to our friends and supporters at home and abroad. We send best wishes, especially to republican prisoners and their families. We commend all those working for the early release of those prisoners and urge them to continue in their efforts. …

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