Discussing Trimble’s seemingly rash words on the Irish Republic, Ruth Dudley Edwards says, “it is a universal truth that Irish nationalists can dish it out but can’t take it.” In general she echoes the Newsletter’s sentiments, that this may be a stimulus to an important debate. But she ends with an acute observation: “If he wants nationalists anywhere to listen to him, now that he has more time on his hands, it would help if he explained his views on …
Or drag queen terrorism! One of the leading members of the UDA appears to lead a somewhat bizarre double life. Jack Holland takes up the story. Thanks to reader Walt for this one. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Beirut hostage speaks in support of the ‘IRA spy’ Denis Donaldson. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
The subscription-only Irish Times, carries a story about British government papers that have emerged that may throw light on the Dublin and Monaghan car bombings in May 1974. 33 people were killed and 200 wounded. It was the worst single atrocity of the Troubles. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
The Republic’s sports minister outlines how Croke Park is crucial to the success of the joint Ireland-Scotland bid for the European Football Championship. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Another subscription-locked Irish News story. James Stinson interviews Graham Gudgin on the once much heralded ‘peace dividend’: If peace has made a difference we should expect our share of UK employment and GDP to rise. Northern Irelands share of the UK total in terms of employment and GDP was fairly flat until about 1990. From 1990 to 1994, Northern Irelands share of UK GDP and UK employment surged. After 1994, when the first ceasefire occurred that new level was maintained. …
According to the subscription only Irish News, things in the Lower Shankill are on the move again: “Former UDA brigadier William Winkie Dodds was among six families who left Belfasts lower Shankill estate yesterday under armed police guard. Adair and Dodds, who was the UDAs west Belfast brigadier until he suffered a stroke two years ago, fell out after Adair expelled the UDA leaders brother-in-law William Mugsy Mullan over a row about money. Among the 50 loyalists who helped move …
Highlighting Northern Irelands dependence on the public sector and its risk-averse business culture, Dr Pauric McGowan of Nicent extolled the virtues of entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurs are individuals who calculate their risk. Their decision to establish an entrepreneurial new venture must be seen as a career choice. Universities in Northern Ireland have a responsibility to support those ambitions and, in doing so, to encourage the emergence of an increasingly widespread culture of entrepreneurship and innovation. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the …
Robin Wilson, director of Northern Ireland’s first think tank Democratic Dialogue, argues in Fortnight magazine that the Belfast Agreement has set conditions for government and political discourse that have led to the equivalent of a Cold War. One of the practical outcomes, he suggests, is that: “… thinking is suffused, ironically, with the group rights of apartheid, recruiting individual Catholics, Protestants and other- or non- believers to the nationalist or the unionist community” Importantly, at a time when the talks …
An upbeat assessment from the BBC. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Interesting reaction to David Trimble from Sean McCann, a northerner, now living the South. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
There’s a row brewing over the name of the Maiden City, in the Oak Leaf county. Confused? The BBC has more on this long running story. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Though little of any sustance has emerged, there has been a plethora of comment by various papers and individuals. Marina Purdy reports on the seemingly irreconcilable agendas. Ian Paisley is angry at the presence of Sinn Fein and Brian Cowan, the Republic’s Minister for Foreign Affairs. The Andersonstown News takes the view that Nationalists should continue to back the process. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
According to figures released by the Equality Commission shows that Catholic employment is in an upward trend: “The overall rate of catholics being employed in Ulster currently stands at 39.5%. However, the Equality Commission said this was set to improve with new figures showing that 45% of people appointed to new jobs in 2001 were Catholic.” Update: Belfast Telegraph welcomes the figures as a sign of positive change. And previous figures from 1997 on CAIN. Slugger O'TooleA general account used …
David Trimble’s remarks to the Chicago Sun-Times have been seized upon by many nationalists as proof that despite the apparent changes brought on by the Peace Process, little of substance has changed in Unionist thinking. Not everyone agrees. Eric Waugh in last night’s Belfast Telegraph believes that Trimble is wrong only insofaras he is walking away from an important debate that needs to take place. For example: “…the state defines itself overwhelmingly in terms of what it is against, not …
Most of the Assembly parties are going back into talks. But Mark Simpson thinks it’s yet another Groundhog Day. Other views from Blair and Ervine and again. With Bertie Ahern insisting that this cannot be a renegotiation of the original agreement, it is hard to see where the DUP, who want precisely that, can be brought into the process. Update: the focus of the talks is to be the impasse. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and …
Ulster poet, and latterly rough-house polemicist, Tom Paulin was re-issued with the invitation that he lost a week ago to deliver the annual Morris Gray Lecture at Harvard. The issue has sent a number of academic institutions into chaos: “The University of Vermont originally scheduled a talk by Paulin on its campus for today, but canceled it some time after the lecture at Harvard was canceled, according to a receptionist for the University of Vermonts English department.” Update: John Flemming …
In playful response to yesterday’s piece, reader Donald Matheson writes: “The Bond worlds have a curious number of connections with Irishness. There’s Brosnan (and Connery’s from not so far away across the water), Sidney Reilly, the pseudonym of the man reputedly the origin of the bond character, Kevin McClory, the Irish Bond film screenwriter, then there’s your Q reference, then (according to Google) in From Russia with Love, there’s a half-Irish psychotic out to kill Bond.” “What it probably means …
Apparently 85% of Northern Ireland’s prison officers have called in sick. Police are going in to man the prisons. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
A interesting description of the weblog phenomenon, from the Sydney Morning Herald. Thanks to the main subject of the piece Instapundit. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
