Peter Robinson, Minister for Regional Development and his party colleague Nigel Dodds Minister for Social Development have finally started the rolling ball we all knew was coming and resigned their posts. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Anthony McIntyre, a dissident Republican who does not support the Belfast Agreement, nevertheless provides a biting analysis of Sinn Fein’s position after this most trubulent of weeks. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
The crisis has been covered by a number of other bloggers. The Shamrockshire Eagle frequently runs a sceptical eye over developments. Hawk Girl is, um, something of an iconoclast on Ulster and many other things besides. Fenian Ramblings is a both and American and Irish Republican, and Badger’s Radio provides a steady stream of interesting material from the fringes of the Republican movement. In addition, Perry de Haviland at Samizdata takes a (largely hostile) English libertarian stance on the role …
First off, suspension does not mean collapse. Effectively the democratic institutions are being ‘moth-balled’, for an indefinate period to allow for renegotiation between the main Northern Ireland parties. All powers decentralised from the Westminster government will be taken back. Even so, the Assembly members will continue in office on shadow salaries (around two-thirds of current pay), though there will be no debates or committee meetings. In fact no official duties will be carried out at Stormont. These come under ‘Strand …
Many commentators have been in a state of mild shock, since the crisis began last Friday. Tim Pat Coogan, whose most famous work has been a large modern history (US) of the IRA, is anything but sanguine. At times like this, it may be best not to get too carried away in the hyperbole of the dramatic moment. But this morning it is hard to find many who are not suffering serious disappointment. Thanks to the ever excellent Newshound for …
We Irish have an annoying habit of claiming everything and everyone that moves. So it continues with the big secret of the American presidency now out in the open! And here may be the reason GWB is not always understood by his peers: “Recently, George W. Bush, commenting on his rather confusing oratorical style, compared himself to the inscrutable Irish writer, James Joyce: I must be Irish myself. Every time I speak in public I end up sounding like James …
For new visitors, and those too bewildered to have taken it all in, here’s a quick recap on recent events in Belfast, according to Letter to Slugger O’Toole. The current crisis broke less than a week ago, with an early morning raid on the Sinn Fein offices in Northern Ireland Assembly Building. The PSNI quickly released details of what was captured in the raid to members of the Sunday press and by Monday, the Nationalist Irish News was calling for …
The BBC reports that the Assembly is indeed to be suspended on Monday. They also provide a handy Q&A routine covering the main issues of the past week and the glowering future. Here’s another one at the Belfast Telegraph. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Courtesy of Newshound, a report in last Sunday’s People newspaper. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Neill Lochery writing in the Jeruselem Post, frames the primary conflict within the state as a tension between those who follow Hobbes’ thinking: “…humans were basically selfish creatures who would do anything to better their position. Left to themselves, he thought, people would act on their evil impulses. According to Hobbes, people therefore should not be trusted to make decisions on their own. In addition, Hobbes felt that nations, like people, were selfishly motivated. To Hobbes, each country was in …
David Ervine says exclusion is the key problem. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Alison Hardie produces an excellent portrait of the Scottish Catholic ‘unionist’ Secretary of State, who with a firm knowledge of the complex detail of Scotland’s parallel sectarian daily life, has at times joyfully confounded the expectations of both sides of the divide in Northern Ireland. It goes on to compare him to previous Labour incumbents in the post. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
“When a corpse turned up in the classic detective story, the wise detective always asked Who had a motive who stood to gain by this foul deed?” Jude Collins investigates. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
It seems that whatever happens to the Assembly, suspension will not disrupt the Policing Boards, according to the subscription only Irish News: “A surprising outcome of the almost certain suspension will force the 19-member board to dissolve. However, in a technical move, Secretary of State John Reid is expected to immediately re-appoint the same board. The British government is now expected to suspend the assembly on Monday with Prime Minister Tony Blair outlining his views at Westminster during the week.” …
Though Unionist writer Steven King candidly admits, “regardless of who instigates the street violence in Belfast there is a vicious campaign to create ‘Taig-free’ areas of Counties Antrim and Down which attracts far less attention”, he also says that the price for re-entry into government for Sinn Fein has to be the disbanding of the IRA. Tony Blair, appears to echo this thinking: “It is an obligation in particular for everyone to realise that there can only be one democratic …
One of the most remarkable things about the last week is the way in which a series of murders and attempted murders have been totally backgrounded by the political goings on at Stormont. Gemma Murray reports: “A UDA source predicted the bloodletting could surpass the shooting war between the UDA and the UVF in the summer of 2000 which left seven men dead. ‘This is a major upsurge and it could be even worse than what happened on the Shankill …
I know most readers will not be able access this, but it’s too good a piece of writing to miss out of the Letter. Suzanne Breen creates a vivid picture of what it was like at Stormont on Tuesday when the two DUP ministers announced they would be resigning, on Friday. “It all started in a corridor at Stormont with the alleged photo-copying of confidential documents and it was the beginning of the end in another corridor there yesterday when …
Frank Millar reported yesterday, in the subscription only Irish Times, that David Trimble has given the British government until next Monday to expel Sinn Fein. He notes: “…while the British government grasped this apparent breathing space, some Whitehall sources accepted its only likely effect would be to force the British government to suspend the Executive and other institutions of government established under the Belfast Agreement either side of the weekend.” Speaking to sources within the Unionist Party, he says that …
Perhaps Brian Feeney’s speculations on the adoption of Strand 3 of the Agreement were not entirely misplaced. Bernard Purcell reports: “Irish ministers already have a say in the running of Northern Ireland through the cross-border bodies. In the event of suspension, portfolios currently devolved to ministers in the Stormont Executive will revert back to British ministers who will, in turn, deal with Irish ministers on the cross-border bodies.” Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
One of the most apparent consequences of the democratic stasis that pertained in NI under direct rule, has been the lack of any decisive change in the Education system. With some slight changes, the system there remains in the same shape as it was when set up in its current form in 1947. Yesterday Northern Ireland began the first step in the road to wholesale reform; the scrapping of rigourous entrance exams into the provinces Grammar School and the re-structuring …
