Turgon – Page 5 – Slugger O'Toole

NI21: McCrea investigation stalls

Turgon on June 14, 2014, 12:37 pm

| Readers 116

The soap opera which is NI21 continues. Last night the BBC reported confusion over the investigation by Carecall into the allegations against Basil McCrea. There was also the suggestion that the party had decided no further action was required. Today the Belfast Telegraph have reported that the investigation has been stopped part way through. This appears to be because Carecall require permission from the party chairperson Jane Howson for it to continue. Ms. Howson has withheld this permission. John McCallister …

D Day and Europe’s Long Peace

Turgon on June 7, 2014, 8:28 pm

| Readers 85

Yesterday was the 70th anniversary of D Day. I am always humbled to hear the stories of those men who went ashore that day. They speak of the horror, not of any glory of war, but what that generation was forced to achieve and did so was truly heroic. The first big commemoration I remember was the 40th when I remember the BBC announcer being corrected that all were in their 60s now (some were 58 or 59). Now all …

Election results 2014: Unionism’s natural internal level

Turgon on June 7, 2014, 3:25 pm

| Readers 106

The dust is beginning to settle on the election. In actual fact the dust settled fairly quickly as there was not much created. On the nationalist / republican side there seemed remarkably little though I will leave discussion of that to those better qualified. On the unionist side there was slightly more but only slightly and if the results were compared say to the mainland GB elections one would say business as usual. Diane Dodds gained a small percentage at …

Elections: a good time to bury controversial news?

Turgon on May 24, 2014, 3:21 pm

| Readers 77

Over the last few days whilst we have all been engrossed in all things electoral a couple of somewhat controversial announcements have occurred with relatively little notice. On Wednesday just before the polls opened the PPS announced it was dropping all charges against flag protest leader Willie Frazer some 15 months after his initial arrest. Meanwhile on Thursday OFMDFM announced that John Larkin had been reappointed as attorney general. Elections: a good time to bury controversial if not necessarily bad …

England’s Local Elections: UKIP’s prime Westminster target hoves into view

Turgon on May 24, 2014, 1:18 pm

| Readers 23

The GB local election results have now been decided: Using first past the post makes the counting process so much simpler. The BBC has a round up of the results here. Essentially it seems that Labour did well but not well enough; the Conservatives did badly but not so badly as to be a disaster; the Liberal Democrats did disastrously but it was not a catastrophe. UKIP on the other hand did very well but it was not an earthquake. …

US death penalty states seek alternatives to lethal injection

Turgon on May 24, 2014, 10:20 am

| Readers 69

I mentioned the debacle surrounding the execution of Clayton Lockett previously. The problem has been that lethal injection was seen as a humane way to end a condemned criminal’s life. It had the appearance of a medical procedure. Unfortuantely a combination of problems with drug choices and doses and more importantly the limited competence of the execution staff at gaining and maintaining intravenous access have led to a number of botched executions where death was not the at least outwardly …

Theresa May’s political earthquake

Turgon on May 23, 2014, 10:15 pm

| Readers 80

This week has already seen a political earthquake nothing to do with UKIP or elections. On Wednesday Theresa May addressed the Police Federation annual conference in Bournemouth. Frequently Home Secretaries have received a tough time form the Police Federation: heckling, laughter, slow hand claps and other forms of open scorn have all been inflicted on Labour Home Secretaries. May a thin, yet matronly figure (though she has no children) with a fondness for conservatively fashionable clothes and designer shoes (a …

QUB Student’s Union show signs of “Old Guard” mentality

Turgon on May 7, 2014, 9:58 am

| Readers 402

Queen’s University Students’ Union from the 1970s until at least the mid 1990s suffered from extremely divided student politics. It even reached the stage that the Northern Bank was excluded from Freshers’ Fair; whilst assorted IRA members were made honorary life members and a number of members of the executive went on after graduation to gaol for IRA terrorist offences.(one popped back up again recently as a Deputy Headteacher) Bizarrely they also voted to ban Nestle products from the Students’ …

BBC’s differential responses to racism: Jeremy Clarkson vs David Starkey

Turgon on May 5, 2014, 9:26 am

| Readers 341

Jeremy Clarkson has never been a stranger to controversy. In his latest problem the Daily Mirror obtained film (not broadcast on the BBC) of him reciting the Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe rhyme and including the ‘n’ word albeit muttered and only semi audible. Initially the Clarkson denied using the word but as now issued an apology and has claimed that the BBC has given him a final warning. The BBC has made a statement: “Jeremy Clarkson has set out the …

Red Squirrels and Pine Martens in Fermanagh

Turgon on May 3, 2014, 12:20 pm

| Readers 156

Amid all the fevered discussion of recent days I thought something much lighter and fun was called for. From the BBC: Queens academic Dr. David Tosh has been trying to gain further information about the distribution of red and grey squirrels in Fermanagh with help from the Fermanagh Red Squirrel Group and the National Trust in putting up camera traps to photograph red squirrels. This has been somewhat successful but has actually taken many more photographs of the rarer and …

Killing me softly

Turgon on April 30, 2014, 1:50 pm

| Readers 96

At the start it is only fair to state that I am opposed to the death penalty. I respect those with a different opinion but I am clear that I do not support capital punishment. No one directly connected to me has ever been murdered so maybe I am naive and could change my mind but currently I think that would be unlikely. The USA has had another problem with an execution. In this case an inmate in Oklahoma started …

Boston College tapes unlikely to lead Adams to gaol but suggest any truth process is pointless

Turgon on March 25, 2014, 10:45 pm

| Readers 79

The arrest and charging of Ivor Bell has been covered already on Slugger and below Mick has mentioned the fact that Gerry Adams has made himself available to questioning by the PSNI. Although the McConville family remain hopeful many have suggested that it is inconceivable that Adams will be prosecuted. Adams has repeatedly denied that he had anything to do with Jean McConville’s murder just as he has denied that he was ever in the IRA. He has also claimed …

Forget ethnic thematics: a straightforward response to Billy Hutchinson

Turgon on March 22, 2014, 8:10 pm

| Readers 286

Billy Hutchinson’s explanation for his sectarian murders has been covered below by David McCann. Unfortunately they degenerate into concepts like “Truth recovery”, “ethnic thematics” and such like. The News Letter have provided somewhat more direct responses. From the News Letter: Kenny Donaldson of Innocent Victims United said that Mr Hutchinson’s attempted justification of his murders “bore all the hallmarks of the same sick delusional thinking that is prevalent within the republican movement”. Referring to the UVF slogan ‘For God and …

Alliance and Anna Lo: if you are explaining, you are losing

Turgon on March 22, 2014, 4:41 pm

| Readers 182

Political party conferences and the run up to them prior to an election always seek to promote the party’s candidates. This year’s Alliance conference and its lead up has, however, gone less than wholly according to plan. Anna Lo’s revelation that she would support a united Ireland in the longer term has been a major story as have her comments likening the situation here to one of colonialism. There are of course explanations for these comments especially Lo’s support for …

Ukraine: impotent activism and the limits of US power

Turgon on March 15, 2014, 7:30 pm

| Readers 46

Tomorrow will bring the referendum on Crimea leaving Ukraine and joining Russia. Most people are aware of the sequence of events: the Ukrainian president turning down a deal with the EU in favour of one with Russia; mass protests in Kiev leading to the fall of the government; the new government being unacceptable in Crimea and then the entry of the Russian army. This sequence of events can be argued over at great length with arguments for and against each …

Vegetarian Stalinism Part 2: Ready the Gulags on the South Downs

Turgon on March 15, 2014, 10:34 am

| Readers 84

Last month I highlighted the bizarre suggestion by the Green Party that in response to the flooding all government ministers and advisors who were sceptical of climate change should be sacked. Memorably when given the opportunity to refine and tone down this suggestion the leader of the Green Party Natalie Bennett claimed that even those advisers with no connection to environmental issues should be sacked if they do not accept climate change. The BBC suggested the Chief Veterinary and Chief …

Proposal to decriminalise TV licence fee avoidance

Turgon on March 13, 2014, 10:56 pm

| Readers 98

The BBC is often accused of a liberal bias most recently by the Today programme’s own John Humphrys. Currently the BBC is paid for by the television licence fee, non payment of which can result in a fine of £1000. Up to 10% of magistrates court appearances are for non payment and if this is not paid it can even result in gaol (107 people were sent to gaol between 2011 and 2013). A cross party group of MPs has …

TUV, SDLP and UUP host victims commemoration at Stormont

Turgon on March 11, 2014, 10:47 pm

| Readers 88

Alan has a post on the Alternative Ms. Ulster event hosted by Steven Agnew at Stormont on Sunday complete with the inspiring / daring / indecent, speech/ behaviour by Ms. Park. In contrast yesterday the UUP, SDLP and TUV hosted the third annual day of remembrance for victims of terrorism. 120 people attended and three people spoke: Michelle Nixon who has been caring for her brother since he was seriously injured in 1979 by an IRA bomb in Rosslea; June …

OTR crisis begins to abate: totally inappropriately

Turgon on March 4, 2014, 9:39 pm

| Readers 77

The crisis has begun to abate, without the direct threat of Stormont collapsing in the immediate future. Despite various claims from the predictable sources in both former government and pliant media circles this was and remains a major scandal and a colossal indictment of the whole political process. The first suggestion at minimising the relevance of these events has been that the suggestion that these letters to suspected terrorists as arranged by Sinn Fein (was the old term Sinn Fein …

Hyde Park bombing suspect will not be prosecuted

Turgon on February 25, 2014, 8:49 pm

| Readers 68

The BBC are reporting that John Downey who was arrested and charged with killing four soldiers in the 1982 IRA Hyde Park bombing will not be prosecuted because he was given a guarantee he would not face trial. Downey was arrested in 2013 at Gatwick whilst en route to Greece. From the BBC: ..over the course of legal argument, he asked the Old Bailey to halt the prosecution – saying he had received a clear written assurance from the government …