Turgon – Page 6 – Slugger O'Toole

Green Party propose sacking climate deniers: Vegetarian Stalinism?

Turgon on February 15, 2014, 9:04 pm | Readers 510

Northern Ireland may have been spared the absolute worst of the weather this year (though the last couple of days have been bad) but the South West of England and South Wales have been extremely badly affected with the Somerset Levels heavily flooded. Then more recently the Thames Valley has been affected. Whether this flooding is actually worse than previous years has been disputed and the suggestion (made on Question Time on Thursday night) that the media only started to …

Terrorist play park breached equality guidelines

Turgon on February 14, 2014, 6:57 pm | Readers 128

The Equality Commission has produced its draft report on Newry and Mourne Council’s decision to name a children’s play park after IRA terrorist and hunger striker Raymond McCreesh. The play park had initially been called the Patrick Street Play Park but in 2001 its name was changed to honour McCreesh who was captured in 1977 in possession of one of the guns used in the Kingsmills massacre the preceding year. In 2012 the Sinn Fein and SDLP majority on the …

Policing board’s Epaphroditos to Ford’s Nero

Turgon on February 6, 2014, 7:38 pm | Readers 57

Nero is said to have been killed (albeit at his own request – or he may have committed suicide) by his private secretary Epaphroditos. David Ford’s (aka little Nero) solo run to change the rules for appointing the new Chief Constable has been slapped down by the Policing Board. From the BBC: At a meeting on Thursday, board members agreed to formally reject the justice minister’s proposal and told Mr Ford it intends to use the existing rules to recruit …

Talking without listening and victory without annihilation

Turgon on February 2, 2014, 3:40 pm | Readers 74

Mick has covered the criminalisation of users of prostitution debate and the spat between Dr. Graham Ellison and Jim Wells ain the Stormont committee below. I thought there might be some merit in looking at what this shows about the DUP’s view of itself, others views of it and how the DUP deals with these sorts of issues. This episode seems to be a case of two sides talking without listening. I am not going to enter into the merits …

Road Traffic Accidents: Accidents not crimes

Turgon on February 1, 2014, 3:03 pm | Readers 410

A few weeks ago I noted the slight rise in road deaths in NI during 2013. I also noted the worrying tendency to regard all accidents as someone’s fault: often criminally someone’s fault. Hence the inappropriate change in routine terminology from Road Traffic Accident to Road Traffic Collision. A couple of tragic cases have recently pointed to the overenthusiasm of the authorities to prosecute those involved in accidents and in one case the good sense of the general public (and …

Paisley’s religious legacy

Turgon on January 26, 2014, 7:06 pm | Readers 1002

Watching the two hours of the BBC’s documentary on Dr. Paisley brought to mind my blog from six years ago of Paisley and Prospero where at the end of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Prospero turns to the audience and says “Now my charms are all o’erthrown And what strength I have’s mine own.” At times it felt a bit like Mallie was interviewing a slightly more quick witted version of Leonid Brezhnev in his latter years. I had intended doing a …

Lord Rennard and Pontius Clegg

Turgon on January 23, 2014, 6:59 pm | Readers 71

The saga of Lord Rennard has been enjoyed in many political quarters. Rennard was a man who until these allegations surfaced was unknown even to most politically interested people. He is, however, a significant figure in the Liberal democrats and their recent rise – a rise severely curtailed when they got their snouts to the truffles of power. There is good reason for many outside the Liberal Democrats to hate Rennard. He evolved an extremely effective campaigning strategy based on …

Slight rise in road deaths in 2013

Turgon on January 4, 2014, 4:49 pm | Readers 54

One of the grimmer statistics which is complied at the end of a year is the number of road deaths each year. In 2013 it was 56, which is an increase of 8 as compared to 2012. In 2011 it was 59 and 2010 55. These results still represent an approximately 7 fold decrease in road deaths over the last 40 years. The BBC are reporting Mark Durkin stating: “It only takes one bad choice to ruin a life. We …

Haass Talks: three shrugs

Turgon on January 1, 2014, 9:44 pm | Readers 60

As David McCann has noted below the Haass document has been published. I had begun to think of a blog on this subject before I read the draft but had to revise the idea completely, due essentially to the lack of concrete proposals in the final draft. Looking at the document and the number of times it says they were unable to get agreement on things such as the definition of a victim, almost any concrete finding on flags etc. …

Conviction of John Proctor’s murderer eloquent riposte to John Larkin’s proposals

Turgon on November 30, 2013, 11:31 pm | Readers 530

Two weeks ago to almost universal revulsion Attorney General John Larkin proposed an effective amnesty for the crimes of the Troubles. Now the legal process has provided the most eloquent rebuttal to his suggestions. The facts of the murder of RUC reservist John Proctor were as loathsome as so many of the Troubles. Mr. Proctor had just left visiting his wife and newborn son in the Mid Ulster Hospital when he was murdered with an assault rifle by Seamus Martin …

Local authority control of schools: not such a bad idea?

Turgon on November 23, 2013, 8:39 pm | Readers 69

We are used to rows about education in Northern Ireland. England, however, has been having its own rows over Michael Gove’s Free Schools. Free schools are free to attend and also free from the control of the local authority. This is presented as a good idea freeing schools from political control – usually the implication being of control from “loony left” councils (if there are any of them left). Gove’s plans recently suffered a minor set back when a Muslim …

Zero sum narratives

Turgon on November 23, 2013, 8:03 pm | Readers 64

The recent BBC documentary on The Disappeared has been picked over in detail. It is, however an example of the continuing “War of the Past” we have been having recently in Northern Ireland. Frequently this has been described as an attempt to create a “Narrative of the Past” in which case we seem to have a Zero Sum Narrative developing. The battles over these narratives seem analogous to trench warfare with attacks on the other side’s position being variously repulsed …

EU drops Maze funding

Turgon on October 4, 2013, 1:43 pm | Readers 69

The BBC are reporting that the European Union’s Special European Programmes Body has dropped its offer of £18 million to the Maze peace centre / shrine after consulting with OFMDFM. The announcement is not yet on SEUPB’s website but according to the BBC: “The SEUPB has been in discussions with the lead partner in relation to the viability of the Peace Building and Conflict Resolution Centre. “It has been agreed that the project is no longer viable at this time …

Victims’ Commissioner sets herself against victims

Turgon on October 3, 2013, 1:38 pm | Readers 98

Sam McBride from the News Letter has a series of articles interviewing Kathyrn Stone the relatively new victims’ commissioner in which she has expressed views likely to undermine her role as a spokesperson for victims. Stone’s problems seem to come from refusing to state an opinion on some of the most basic of issues relating to victims. Ms Stone declined to say whether the IRA, which killed 1,706 people, or the UVF, which killed 430, were terrorists. When asked whether, …

The Robinson Allister spat in the context of the Hass talks

Turgon on September 29, 2013, 7:43 pm | Readers 72

Last week’s spat between Peter Robinson and Jim Allister has been analysed in some detail. One of the best contributions has been by Sam McBride pointing to how it demonstrates the difference that it makes allowing ministers to be questioned without knowing the questions in advance. Prior to that as McBride says: “For years, question time at Stormont has been a fairly turgid affair, with questions submitted weeks in advance so that civil servants could draft vast replies for ministers …

Zero Sum and Differential Gain in Northern Ireland

Turgon on September 15, 2013, 10:21 pm | Readers 70

It appears that the idea that ending the DUP’s support for the Maze shrine spelt the end of Robinson’s leadership has itself finally ended: with even the least well informed members of the commentariat who so recently predicted his demise now accepting that Robinson is staying put. This episode is, however, interesting in that it raises again the issues of the zero sum game that so often affects Northern Ireland’s politics. For any uninitiated the zero sum game theory states …

Loyalist terrorists and this summer’s mayhem

Turgon on August 20, 2013, 10:05 pm | Readers 370

Summer in Northern Ireland has for a very long time been associated with heightening of sectarian problems and criminality. This year has been as bad as many for some time. Throughout this summer the media and others have held a number of organisations and individuals to account over this. Whether someone agrees or disagrees with this holding to account tends to depend on one’s social / political / sectarian position. So far we have had Ruth Patterson repeatedly criticised for …

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose

Turgon on August 16, 2013, 10:04 pm | Readers 107

A long time ago on the 20th June 1968 Austin Currie began a sit in protest because Dungannon Rural District Council had allocated a council house to Emily Beattie a 19 year old woman who was the secretary of a local unionist politician. Miss Beattie was given the house ahead of others in greater need. Today a High Court judgement found that St. Matthew’s Housing Association acted unlawfully over the allocation of housing in Short Strand. Mr Justice Horner said: …

The demise of the shrine

Turgon on August 16, 2013, 11:25 am | Readers 83

So Peter Robinson has now effectively vetoed the Maze “shrine.” Amid all the complaints regarding this from republicans the real question might be Why did he take so long to do it? The reality is that very few unionists have ever supported the concept. A few loyalist terrorist ex prisoners might have had an interest due to their self interest in reinventing their sectarian murder campaign as one by “the fighting men” to quote Gusty Spence. Very few unionists, however, …

Belfast Telegraph: Strabane Fermanagh

Turgon on August 2, 2013, 12:05 pm | Readers 202

Belfast Telegraph headline: Strabane gets shirty over patriotic top American company thinks Fermanagh town’s in Scotland The Belfast Telegraph has an article poking fun at an American company producing a t shirt with a Union Flag and the name Strabane on it. The company told the Belfast Telegraph it was Strabane Scotland which according to the Bel Tel’s research does not exist. Unfortunately on its front page the Belfast Telegraph also has a non existent town: Strabane, Fermanagh. Update: They …