Turgon It being Sunday and all that I thought I should note this. Balrog is one of web sites I would periodically look up: it is always worth looking at what one’s enemies think. Chris Gaskin has now decided to set up a separate site for his religious musings called The Flame of Truth. I suspect I am unlikely to agree with that much more of his religious than his political views. Still I think the site might be worth a …
The Culture Minister Gregory Campbell hosted the victorious Tyrone GAA team at a reception at Stormont yesterday. Whilst he congratulated the team on winning the All Ireland Championship, he also in characteristic fashion did not avoid controversy. Campbell told the audience: “Progress has been made and leadership has been demonstrated,” – a reference to the dropping of the GAA’s controversial Section 21 rule, barring British security force members from its clubs. “However, my views and the views of many are …
From the start of the nineteenth century until the end of the First World War Prussia was one of the major powers in Europe. After uniting Germany she managed to defeat the Austrians and the French. Prussia’s problem, however, was that she was always confronted by powerful enemies on both sides: the Russians to the East and the French (later joined by the British) to the West. The German high command produced a very well organised plan called the Schlieffen …
Last Thursday Secretary of State Shaun Woodward explained his latest (so called) final position on loyalist decommissioning on Good Morning Ulster (here 1 hour 4mins in). The SoS has suggested that he is giving “one last chance for the loyalists to decommission. Of course the problem is that the loyalists have had a number of “last chances.” Currently he is trying to suggest that “Given the specific advice I’m being given, they are currently engaged in meaningful dialogue.” He added …
The DUP has confirmed Diane Dodds as its candidate to fight the European election. As is traditional for the DUP they are proclaiming that only their candidate can prevent Sinn Fein topping the poll. That as ever is the only important matter at this election: some things never change. TurgonThis author has not written a biography and will not be writing one.
I suggested a couple of weeks ago that the Presbyterian Church should use its own resources to help the investors in the Presbyterian Mutual Society. David McNarry has now suggested something which might be a little similar. He said that the Presbyterian Church has a “moral responsibility” to the savers in the Presbyterian Mutual Society who lost money. He said “…it seems to me quite clear, and I am saying this as a Presbyterian, that the church has a moral …
The assembly are to debate the Eames Bradley report today. There is little doubt that sparks will fly. As I have already mentioned, Jim Allister (and our own fair_deal) have called on Jarleth Burns to “name and shame” the unionists who Mr. Burns claims were “a bit dishonest and almost duplicitous“ in their responses to the report. The News Letter is reporting that David Simpson of the DUP has denied that the DUP were the ones being “duplicitous” saying: “The …
One of the members of the Eames Bradley group has accused unionist leaders of being “dishonest” and “almost duplicitous” in their reactions to the Eames Bradley report. The BBC are quoting Jarlath Burns as saying: “A lot of our politicians came up with a lot of the ideas which we had but felt that they couldn’t really present them publically or couldn’t support us publically,” “One or two politicians said ‘I know and I understand what you are doing in …
In the midst of the arguments during the Eames Bradley launch there was an episode where Cedric Wilson was told by Bob Morrow the DUP chaplain of Upper Bann “Cedric we were all victims.” The TUV have made an issue of this which is entirely reasonable. I am slightly unsure what Mr. Morrow means by this: if he was a victim, I am truly sorry for him. If, however, he means everyone here was a victim: there is a significant …
An enormous amount has already been said about the Eames Bradley report. I have now tried to read the report. Many will have their own opinions on it and I am sure more reaction will come as it is more completely digested. However, I though a few observations and comments might be interesting. I will start with a quote from the report which seems in many ways to sum up the position adopted by Eames Bradley: “The Past should be …
There will be plenty of time to pick over the detail of the Eames Bradley report. At its launch, however, there was little sign of any reconciliation with the meeting being disrupted by protestors. The one thing that seems to unite almost everyone is the unacceptability of the £12,000 which makes one wonder why two supposedly sensible, empathetic men in charge of the commission allowed this to happen: naivety or an attempt to deflect attention away from other parts of …
The BBC are reporting that Sir Paul Stephenson is to become the new Metropolitan Police Commissioner. He and Hugh Orde were the final two names on the short list to replace Sir Ian Blair who resigned saying he did not have the support of Boris Johnson the new London mayor. TurgonThis author has not written a biography and will not be writing one.
Martin McGuinness has explained that “There are a number of tremendous evils in society. One is racism, the other is sectarianism, and I think an evil also is partitionism.” He was speaking at a meeting of the First and Deputy First Ministers with Taoiseach Brian Cowen, Irish Foreign Affairs minister Michael Martin and other cabinet members at the University of Ulster in Londonderry. They were discussing the current financial crisis. Unsurprisingly Mr. McGuinness has drawn some criticism from across unionism. …
My mother being a regular attender at her local Presbyterian Church had the opportunity today to sign a petition to the Prime Minister; the same petition is available online. The Presbyterian moderator Dr. Donald Patton has also issued an open letter which was printed in the News Letter and is available (here) on the Presbyterian Church website. The moderator is undoubtedly correct to appeal to local politicians and the Prime Minister about the plight of the savers in the Presbyterian …
The BBC are reporting that the heroic figure to be bought out to fight the TUV dragon (in the shape of Jim Allister) is likely to be Diane Dodds. I suppose that would make her a female St. George in my analogy. Of course the myth and reality of what happened to St. George differ. TurgonThis author has not written a biography and will not be writing one.
Robin Eames and Dennis Bradley (who were controversially appointed co-chairs of the Consultative Group on the Past) have shown the report of their group to the Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The BBC are reporting that Eames Bradley “has met more than 100 individuals and groups in the last 18 months. It has also received more than 250 written submissions.” It appears that the 2061 letters opposing an amnesty for terrorists may have been conveniently ignored by Eames Bradley: they were …
I have always been a fan of Alex Kane’s writing but his latest opinion piece in the News Letter (reviewing Frank Millar’s book) is amongst his best. The whole article is here but this part caught especially caught my eye:To me, therefore, what we have now it isn’t about the triumph of politics. We have, rather, agreed to a two-peoples-one-state solution in which, I fear, we will continue to live apart and, consequently, grow further apart. It is turning into …
I was asked at the slugger awards ceremony in October to do a blog on the differences between the different Protestant denominations and the idea stuck in my head. This is my rather belated attempt at it. I will not try to explain the theological differences in any great detail since this is not a religious web site (and I am not a theologian) but instead will concentrate on the social and cultural differences. It is of course important to …
Ogra Sinn Fein have not yet told us about their exciting weekend but seemingly they were not alone when the went to the scene of the Narrow Water ambush. The Newsletter reports that the 30 OSF members were met by a group of protesters including Willie Frazer and Jim Wells. Mr. Wells said “I was actually quite surprised and shocked they (the members of Sinn Fein Youth) went ahead with the tour. They were commemorating and gloating over the biggest …
Mary McAleese’s latest comments and the inevitable reaction interested me. I have done a number of blogs on McAleese (clearly from one side of the debate) and they frequently generate substantial comment. McAleese’s problem is that she divides opinion very markedly yet she does (whether genuinely or not) try to reach out to both communities. In that very reaching out, perversely, however, she manages to divide opinion further.McAleese is clearly a very talented individual. Her biography demonstrates an impressive record …
