Turgon

The situation in Zimbabwe has become no less dreadful. I previously suggested that ZANU-PF’s strategy might be simply to keep the election result secret. I never really contemplated that they would actually do so for over a month. The Zimbabwe electoral commission has now announced that it has started to verify the results (whatever that means). It is unclear how long this process will take. As I suggested previously this delay may have been a ploy to make people less …

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The IMC report has now been published and already discussed in several other blogs below. The IMC has stated that members of the IRA were involved but that the IRA leadership did not sanction this act and as such it was not an IRA crime.This may (and only may) be correct. It does; however, appear to ignore many of the things which are widely accepted about the IRA. The IRA was known to have a decentralised command structure and always …

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Scorched Earth is a military tactic which involves destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while withdrawing from an area. The current tactics of both Catriona Ruane and Edwin Poots have certain similarities. Ruane is unable to truly realise her vision of ending academic selection and as such, having ensured the destruction of the 11 plus itself, seems intent on placing as many road blocks in front of the grammar schools and any others who still wish to …

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I am in blood Stepped in so far that should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o’er. (Macbeth III iv) Before Dundela Avenue’s finest start, it is rather unfair to compare their new leader with Macbeth. He may have helped in the slaying of his leader to accede to the throne but I do not think Iris is Lady Macbeth (though I always imagine Lady Macbeth with red hair). However, Macbeth is often suggested as a …

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Raymond McCord senior has announced that he is setting up a victims group along with other relatives including the aunt of Gerard Devlin (murdered in 2006) and Paul McIlwaine whose son David was murdered in 2000. From the BBC report: Mr McCord said the Victims Commission set up by the assembly was a “sham” and a new cross-community group would be established this week. “We are going to set up our own victims’ group.” “We will help people the way …

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Brian Rowan has an article in the Belfast Telegraph today discussing the IMC, the IRA Army Council and the UDA.I have recently mentioned the IRA army council and there is no need to spend vast amounts of time on it, save to mention Rowan’s comment that “time has passed since the Northern Bank robbery and other IRA linked actions.” This is interesting and seems to imply that there is some form of ultra short statute of limitations on terrorist activities. …

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It was World Malaria Day on the 25th of April. The statistics on the frequency of infection are absolutely staggering with 300 to 500 million new cases per year and 1.5 to 2.7 million deaths, mostly amongst children in Sub Saharan Africa. This is a major impediment to development in the region as well as a tragic loss of human life and a cause of indescribable distress to families.The traditional treatment was chloroquine, which was fairly effective until the 1960s, …

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The charity seeking to provide air ambulance services in Northern Ireland and neighbouring parts of the RoI seems to be confident that it can get up and running with its service by June 2009. The service they envisage seems quite impressive with a doctor and paramedic in addition to the helicopter crew. This seems to be a similar level of provision to that offered by the London air ambulance. Exactly how such a system would operate here remains to be …

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This is a blog aimed at stimulating debate and does not really even reflect my own views on this subject which are quite fluid. In addition these views do not in any way reflect TUV policy. By the way, I am not so deluded to presume to be in a policy making role: I am sometimes consulted on the policy for the evening meal and that is about the limit of my policy making. However, the Irish Language is something …

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The Army Council of the IRA appears to be at the pinnacle of that organisation. It has acquired a strange almost mythical status for all sides in Northern Ireland, whatever one’s views of it. Stripping away the mythology, however, the actual status and importance of the Army Council is difficult for outsiders to judge. It could be now irrelevant and a relic from the days of “armed struggle”. Alternatively it could still be the “Only legitimate Government of Ireland”; or, …

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Peter Taylor’s programme on the Eskund and Enniskillen has just been aired on the BBC. I will not go over the events in detail save to say that it made this grown man, who is not unacquainted with death, cry. What I found interesting and disgusting in equal measure is the way in which this programme propagated the revisionist narrative which is now prominent regarding the IRA and the Troubles.Taylor, an experienced journalist regarding Northern Ireland made some claims which …

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Sinn Fein seems well under way with its latest round of “town hall meetings.” These meetings have attracted a considerable amount of derision in the past. In this mutli media age the idea of a meeting in a provincial town does seem quaint and indeed slightly foolish. In addition from an organisation like Sinn Fein which seems to brook no internal dissent the idea of meetings seems silly. The presumption is that they will be completely stage managed and indeed …

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There are many people who divide opinion in Northern Ireland. Amongst those who divide it most and sometimes not in the usual way is the one of whom the above comment was made by John Milton. The man in question is of course Oliver Cromwell. Billy Leonard of Sinn Fein and Samuel Cole of the DUP have been debating his historical legacy. (I would recommend Antiona Fraser’s biography to the interested). Here in Northern Ireland, Cromwell is seen as the …

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I see that Peter Robinson has been anointed as DUP leader. Robinson has been seen as the obvious choice for leader since Dr. Paisley announced his decision to step down; indeed one could argue that apart from occassional suggestions about Dodds (or even for a time Jim Allister), Robinson has been the likely successor for a very long time now.This is not the time to go over Robinson’s career from the current highs as Finance Minister to the low of …

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I recently did a blog regarding what I felt unionists should do regarding the oft repeated suggestion that a united Ireland is inevitable. Mick has a serious blog on the subject of a united Ireland below. In this rather less serious blog, I will examine what strategies might be adopted by unionists if confronted by the dread reality of waking up in a united Ireland; as an alternative they could just pull the covers over their heads. Actually as I …

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Using the term secret ballot is a good way to describe Zimbabwe’s election; the difference from usual is that the result seems to be a secret. It is now almost two weeks since the elections yet no answer. Of course annulling elections has a fairly long and dishonourable history throughout the world. In a way this has been a particularly clever ploy by Mugabe. Violence might be incited allowing a state of emergency and dismissing the elections. Alternatively as time …

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The Belfast Agreement is now 10 years old. Jim Allister has produced a press release contrasting the positions of the DUP 10 years ago with the position now. Even those who fully support the DUP position might care to look at the change in language which has occurred. Just a few choice parts of Allister’s message: “The unholy alliance is now exposed – Trimble, Ahern, Hume and Adams – partners in the campaign seeking support for the all-Ireland deal. Perhaps …

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The tradition of the Olympic Flame apparently symbolises the theft of fire from Zeus by Prometheus. The torch relay seems to have been started by Joseph Goebbels for the Olympic Games in Germany in 1936. Traditionally the torch has been conveyed from Mount Olympus to the city where the games are to be held. For the 2004 Olympics in Athens, there was a change with the torch went on a bit of an odyssey around the world. This time around …

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The A+E department at the mid Ulster Hospital in Magherafelt normally remians open until 11pm; it has however, been forced to start closing at 5pm. The Northern Trust says that this is a short term problem due to staffing issues. The SDLP MLA Patsy McGlone has expressed outrage and demanded a meeting with the Health minister.The reality is that Trusts find staffing smaller hospitals very difficult; this is a UK wide problem. As I have frequently argued on this site …

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A spokesman for the Heston family has announced that Charlton Heston died yesterday: he was aged 84. His seems to have been an absolutely fascinating life, being an acting student, a radio operator in B-25 bombers, a struggling actor and then one of the most recognised actors in a series of massive roles, later returning largely to stage acting. He also supported an eclectic series of causes, from civil rights, supporting Martin Luther King and picketing a screening of one …

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