Uncategorized

Though the summer has been accompanied with its share of tragedy, Kevin Connelly sees real change coming in the longer term. It’s the silly season in NI. Many politicians are away on holiday taking stock of the summers activities, and the uncertainty surrounding the ‘peace process’, or grabbing a bit of sane ‘downtime’. Sinn Fein speculate on early election strategy by the UUP. Among Unionists there seems little space for compromisers, as Duncan Shipley Dalton prepares himself for an early …

Read more…

From Monday I will be in Ireland for three weeks. Though posting may be less regular, I hope to bring you more direct accounts of political and cultural life in Northern Ireland. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Tim Butcher reports that the First Minister may be blocked from representing Northern Ireland at the World Summit for Sustainable Development. Earlier this year Dermot Nebitt’s private secretary laid out the measures the Minister was taking in preparation for the conference. Northern Ireland Friends of the Earth were taken by surprise: “The local Executive has responsibility for things like trade and environment. It is going to important that all the devolved authorities have their voices heard at the Summit, without …

Read more…

Brian Walker quotes from an essay by Arthur Aughy from a collection called Aspects of the Belfast Agreement, suggesting that unionists need to break out of what Aughy calls “an orgy of self-pity and culture of fatalism”. Meanwhile, despite numerous protests against sectarianism, trouble continues on the ground in North Belfast. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Several reports by BBC, RTE and Irish Times. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Veteran journalist from the BBC and now the Belfast Telegraph Eric Waugh examines the relationship between the Secretary of State and the erstwhile (well this is Northern Ireland) First Minister. He comments on the difficulties of d’Hondt mechanism for deciding cabinet positions: “In a normal Cabinet, Ministers are riven by jealousies and may hate the sight of each other: they usually do. …but they are obliged to present a united front to the public eye in the over-riding interest of …

Read more…

Ni fhaca me an leithid!! If you want to shortcut years of study and great summers in the Gaeltacht, just to take your neighbour down a peg or two in the ould tongue, try this. Looks like hours of fun! Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Ian Paisley Senior had a reasonably polite exchange with John Reid today over figures he’d pulled together on the rise of violence since 1999, the year after the Belfast Agreement was signed which demonstrated some substantial increases. Tom Maguire of the Fire Brigade Union spoke yesterday: “We have an anti-authority ethos in some areas,’’ he said. ‘‘Part of that anti-authority ethos has been created by the 30-plus years of the Troubles. The attacks on the Fire Service occur in the …

Read more…

Sammy Wilson drops his usual penchant for the one-liner and uses a recent IoD report to argue that the NI economy needs a strong vocational element within its educational system, and will suffer, if Martin McGuinness’s educational reforms go through. The four page summary makes no specific mention of Northern Ireland, but warns against the one-size fits all approach that some have accused the Minister of adopting. The issue has divided opinion down traditional lines, ever since the publication of …

Read more…

Regarding my piece of the 23rd July, political scientist Michael Hodkinson comments: “The Belfast Agreement is a consociational model. Basically, it requires political elites to reach a consensus about objectives in the hope that the followers will adopt more consensual attitudes from the lead given by their representatives. The model was developed from the Dutch experience after 1945 where the society was deeply divided between Protestants, Catholics and Secularists. It worked for Holland thru big coalition governments but is hardly …

Read more…

Malachy O’Doherty, looks at a new ‘leading player’ in the North Belfast Loyalism and highlights several key differences in the political profile and prospects of Republican and Loyalist paramilitaries. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Trimble is by several accounts preparing for a serious split with John Reid: “Mr Trimble’s confidence in Dr Reid is believed to have fallen sharply after the MP for Upper Bann suggested a security initiative after a break-in at Castlereagh police station in March, for which the Provisional IRA has been blamed. Mr Trimble’s advisers said that he expected Dr Reid to relay the information to Tony Blair but, they say, he was surprised several weeks later to discover that …

Read more…

After years of isolation, the City of Derry seems to coming back to economic life again. However the much hoped for boost in the tourist trade is not materialising. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

The link from the Guardian news weblogs describes the Letter as an “Excellent, balanced weblog on Northern Ireland.” Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

There have been street disturbances for two nights in Sandy Row. Roy Hattersley suggests that the hard line action against paramilitaries that the Unionists are looking for, will necessarily lead to an unraveling of the peace process. Reg Empey outlines a key dilemma facing pro-agreement Unionists over remaining in government with Sinn Féin and its links to an armed paramilitary organisation. The Gerry Adams responds by throwing the focus back onto Loyalist killings. There has been several mentions in the …

Read more…

The First Minister was the subject of some forceful journalism this weekend. Áine O’Neill wonders if: “The penny might just have dropped with the UUP this week that loyalist violence, and their own perceived ambivalence towards it, is pushing another generation of young Catholics into the waiting arms of Sinn Féin. You could sense that as you stood among the silent young people on the Floral Road at Tuesday night’s vigil, the wind sighing through the fir trees where UDA …

Read more…

I don’t normally post on a Saturday, but as the Belfast Telegraph doesn’t generally update it’s Friday stories till late in the day, I thought I’d just have to post Gerry Anderson‘s column to lighten the atmosphere round here. Elsewhere: After the failure of the DUP’s long running campaign to have the appointments of First and Deputy First Ministers rescinded, questions are being asked about how much it has cost the public purse. With the talk of collapsing institutions, some …

Read more…

Interesting overview of the history and position of Ulster Scots, by Lord John Laird arguing that Ireland is nowhere less an island than in the North East, where there is only 13 miles of open sea between it and Scotland. There are several useful Ulster Scots sites: educational; information and mailing list; and the statutary language bodies. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

The funeral of Gerard Lawlor took place yesterday. Meanwhile the pressure on Trimble is palpably coming from all sides of the UUP, thought it is clear no final action will be taken until the Party meets in September. The Belfast Telegraph tries to add a longer term perspective on the security situation at least: “Nerves are still on edge, heightened by the weekend’s shooting spree, but the government has provided some much-needed guidelines for the future, which the paramilitaries will …

Read more…