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And this is ridiculous! Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Paul Murphy told the BBC: “…he had good memories about the people of Northern Ireland and the ‘determination of everybody in Northern Ireland to see the Agreement work It is very important that we secure the achievements of the Agreement for the long-term.’” But every side is likely to have equal and opposite expectations. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Brendan O’Neill on the Republic’s acceptance of the Nice Treaty last Saturday. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Maigheann Pól Ó Muirí gur “‘teach fuar‘ í an teanga d’aontachtaithe an Tuaiscirt” tar eis alt le Roy Garland an tseachtain seo caite. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

There’s an interesting discussion going on at Samizdata here. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

This guy (or girl) got the appointment bang on, even if it was only about an hour beforehand, it was probably just enough time to run round to the bookies and get a quick bet on. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Anthony McIntrye outlines the reason he believes Blair’s speech gives the IRA a way to wind-down, if not disband the organisation, in last week’s Observer. “Blair has offered them a way out. By calling not for its disbandment but for ‘the continuing existence of the IRA as an active paramilitary organisation’ to cease, he has permitted the IRA certain ‘wriggle room’.” Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

To Irish in America, for putting the Letter to Slugger O’Toole on the front of its news page. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

No, not the latest news from Stormont, but at least the good citizens of NI are getting a chance to laugh on the grand-scale soap opera that is NI politics. Co Antrim playwright Tim Loane’s lastest play is sometimes too close to reality for comfort. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

According to Ian Parsley, a specialist at the public affairs consultancy Stormont Strategy, there may other, more pressing agendas at work in this appointment: “Murphy’s past as NI security minister and (sometimes outspoken, sometimes tacit) opposition to devolution may indicate that Blair’s Government feels that dealing with the security situation takes precedence to restoring devolution. Murphy comes from a section of the Welsh Labour Party with a notable antipathy towards Welsh nationalism, so many will be interested to see how …

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David Ford, leader of the Alliance party, has just told the Letter to Slugger O’Toole: “It is surprising that the PM has seen fit to move John Reid at a time of crisis like this. However, it is clear that he feels the need for a ‘safe pair of hands’. In Paul Murphy we have an Secretary of State who had experience within the NIO at the time of the agreement and in bringing about a successful partnership government in …

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Contrary to Ian Paisley junior’s remarks earlier, Julian Glover reckons the “focus will be on getting rid of direct rule as quickly as possible. Mr Murphy’s first job will be to try to rebuild trust between the two sides before building on that to find a way of restoring the devolved administration.” Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

John Reid is to move to Labour party chairman, where his strongman credentials will, no doubt, be useful stock-in-trade. His replacement is to be Paul Murphy who was until today the secretary of state for Wales. He is no stranger to Northern Ireland having already spent some time there as a minister and as a shadow cabinet spokesman. Early reactions from local politicians are mixed, with Ian Paisley junior reading it as as sign that direct rule is settling in …

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Eammon McCann reports on events leading up to Bloody Sunday. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

John Reid tells Loyalists that their ongoing campaign of violence is muddying the waters. Speaking in the NI debate yesterday, he described it as “not only murderous in its intent, but becomes an obstacle for the republicans to reduce their level of activity”. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

The recent meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, means two things according to Brian Feeney: “…chiefly to show that Dublin and London will continue to implement the Good Friday Agreement. And later, “the governments are laying the ground for a long haul. That much was clear before the suspension on October 14 because don’t forget, Trimble was going to pull the executive down in January anyway.” But he warns: “With the collapse of the executive Blair had nothing to lose. …

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So we are back in hiatus territory yet again. John Reid took his first Northern Ireland question time in Westminster since the suspension of the devolved institutions. But all such periods in NI are risky. The essential gambit in Tony Blair’s speech last night was to take pressure off Unionists and place it on the only party in the Executive with official links to a paramilitary army. But there are signs that in the absence of the political chamber at …

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The latest outrageous copy of the Portadown News. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

So warns University of Ulster academic, Dr Paul Dixon: “At crucial times throughout the peace process, politicians have manipulated public opinion, trying to lead it towards an accommodation while at the same time maintaining their political popularity. “The fact they are saying one thing in public but doing another in private has become more apparent, particularly since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. Little attempt has been made to persuade important sections of the population to support the peace …

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Bob McCartney is an anomaly in NI politics. Having been elected with four other UKUP MLAs, he was left on his own after a row early on in the Assembly’s lifespan. He has created and broken alliances with an astounding variety of polticial figures, including the veteran Southern poltician Conor Cruise O’Brien and Ian Paisley. Norman Porter in his seminal work Rethinking Unionism, chooses McCartney as the quintessence of what he calls Liberal Unionism. Porter describes his fundamental position on …

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