Uncategorized – Page 1138 – Slugger O'Toole

Challenge denied

Slugger O'Toole on July 25, 2002, 4:13 pm

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The House of Lords has rejected Peter Robinson’s challenge to the legal status of the First and Deputy First Ministers. The appeal claimed that John Reid should have called fresh assembly elections last November because a time limit of six weeks had expired before Trimble and Durkan were re-appointed. Lord Bingham in defence of the decision: “I can see no reason why, in introducing that time limit, it should have been intended to constrain the assembly’s power to elect otherwise …

Aftermath

Slugger O'Toole on July 25, 2002, 3:53 pm

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As Nigel Dodds was welcomed to the home of Gerard Lawlor, Denis Bradley called for greater protection of Catholic areas. Suzanne Breen asks if anyone cares about the fate of any of the working class of North Belfast – Catholic or Protestant. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Not Northern Ireland…

Slugger O'Toole on July 25, 2002, 11:40 am

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Phillip Murphy has a new definition of political opposites. According to his post on 13th July, we are either shaken or stirred! Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

More on the Commons statement

Slugger O'Toole on July 25, 2002, 11:16 am

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David Trimble leads the comment on the Government state with his own article in the Daily Telegraph this morning. He suggests that Reid’s words are a hint of positive action, but that it falls short of specific action to be taken against breaches of the various ceasefires. Towards the end he questions Sinn Fein’s commitment to the Belfast Agreement: “Sinn Fein has committed itself only to an abstract version of the agreement. It refuses to address the responsibilities of making …

From other Irish weblogs

Slugger O'Toole on July 24, 2002, 5:35 pm

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Thanks to fellow blogger Brendan O’Neill for featuring the Letter at the top of his short piece on Irish weblogs. Our stats software has packed up for the rest of the week apparently, so I have no idea how many are reading it just now. If you have any comments, please send them in. Terry McMenamin tries to get to grips with what is really driving the DUP‘s political agenda. In truth it is hard to get to the bottom …

Mixed reactions

Slugger O'Toole on July 24, 2002, 5:23 pm

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There is some cautious optimism that today’s statement by Tony Blair will have the desired effect, though Jeffrey Donaldson holds on to the hard bottom line: “Anything that falls short of an effective exclusion mechanism is not worth the paper it’s written on,” he insisted. “Equally, the idea that we can draw a line under Colombia, Castlereagh and the violence on the streets of Belfast is a non starter. Republicans must be held to account for what they have done, …

Focus switches to Blair

Slugger O'Toole on July 24, 2002, 12:56 pm

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Today’s expected statement from the British Prime Minister is not expected to end the on-going crisis in the political process. It looks like Blair will offer a tightening of the criteria of what constitutes a breach of the ceasefire. It is not clear whether he will commit himself to specific sanctions. Brian Walker is decidedly upbeat! Though he adds as a coda: “But what if the parties don’t play? If the UUP, with or without Trimble, and the DUP reject …

Demographic nightmare

Slugger O'Toole on July 23, 2002, 2:58 pm

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If both sides are to be believed then no one is to blame for the ongoing nightmare in North Belfast. Still there is something quite chilling in the latest statement from Loyalists with regard to recent violence. It is forthwrite, simple and completely unapologetic: The senior loyalist said that Mr Lawlor had been killed in retaliation for a gun attack on Sunday evening in which a Protestant teenager was seriously injured. He said: “We’re one bullet, one fatality away from …

Tuesday, July 23, 2002

Slugger O'Toole on July 23, 2002, 11:39 am

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There is an inevitable gloom gathering once again over North Belfast, in the wake of the killing of Gerard Lawlor early yesterday morning. Loyalists claim the killing, but insist that it was in response to “…the onslaught against the Protestant community by the republican gunmen”. Further action is threatened if there is no abatement. That gloom will not be helped as we approach Trimble’s deadline of tomorrow night. For what seems like the umpteenth time in the four years since …

From 1954…

Slugger O'Toole on July 22, 2002, 5:48 pm

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There are some great old articles to be found on the Atlantic Monthly site. In 1954, John V Kelleher in discussing partition suggested that: “The history of the problem is nearly irrelevant to its solution. Three present factors count: religious differences, the failure of either state to create within its own borders a vigorously healthy society, and the bald fact that the division between North and South aggravates with every passing year.” “Anti-Partitionist propaganda never admits any of these factors. …

What next?

Slugger O'Toole on July 22, 2002, 2:37 pm

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Trimble puts the responsibility for keeping law and order on Blair. And there are signs that Blair may go some way to back-up Trimble’s call for a tougher and more transparent approach to breaches of the ceasefires. Though it is clear a majority Unionist population at large holds Sinn Fein responsible for the current destablising violence in Belfast’s streets, there is a corresponding puzzlement amongst Nationalists. The Sunday Business Post ponders the possibility of joint authority. Slugger O'TooleA general account …

Street killing

Slugger O'Toole on July 22, 2002, 1:11 pm

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The street violence of the last week or so claimed it’s first death yesterday; he was one of several others injured. It’s difficult to gauge exactly what triggered it off this time, but the Newsletter reports that Loyalist patience is growing thin in some interface areas. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

IRA

Slugger O'Toole on July 21, 2002, 9:37 pm

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Finally, for the first time in many years, the coverage in the media seems to be looking at Ulster Unionist problems with some degree of sympathy. Henry McDonald leads the way with a short but pithy analysis of where the epicentre of the current crisis may actually lie. “Arguably the greatest paradox of the peace process is that the crisis in unionism exists only because most of its leaders and spokesmen are so blinded by bigotry that they can’t spot …

Counting costs

Slugger O'Toole on July 19, 2002, 4:32 pm

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And a last word of the week to Jack Holland, who is fed up with the endless rounds of ‘whatboutery’ that we are all inclined to locked into – and nowhere moreso than in cyberspace. For a great choice of NI news links throughout the working week Newshound is the best single source. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

End of Agreement?

Slugger O'Toole on July 19, 2002, 12:57 pm

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With little left in the game for pro-agreement Unionists except electoral humiliation next May, they will likely collapse all institutions, bin the Good Friday Agreement and throw the peace process back a stage. “Assembly elections are due to be held in May next year, but unionists have warned the body could have been dissolved and direct rule re-imposed long before them unless Mr Blair acts.” PA The rejection of the IRA apology has not gone down well with some. There …

Thursday, July 18, 2002

Slugger O'Toole on July 18, 2002, 4:34 pm

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Here’s an in-depth article giving good background to the Catholic-Protestant change in fortunes. It’s almost worth registering with the New York Times for!! Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Trimble: Biography of an enigma

Mick Fealty on July 18, 2002, 12:36 pm

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Just finished reading Henry McDonald’s biog of Trimble (US). One of those last minute impulse buys waiting for an early morning flight out of Aldergrove. And still Trimble largely remains the enigmatic creature he was before. However the book is a useful reference for some of the action we’ve had since April 1998 (though it cuts off when the end-game was still in it’s early stages). Several things leapt out at me: 1 The key influence that several Catholic/former Nationalist …

Stop, go again

Mick Fealty on July 18, 2002, 10:04 am

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The story of the peace process post Belfast Agreement seems to have been one of deadlines. Despite the apology from the IRA the UUP still intend to stick to theirs on 24th July. But, in this ‘theatre-in-the-round’, nothing is as planned and predictable as it once was in Ulster, and the main players are more interdependent that than they would sometimes like. Meanwhile, David McKittrick applauds the change in language and tone from the IRA, but goes on to point …

Census 2001: Some preliminary thoughts

Mick Fealty on July 17, 2002, 6:01 pm

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There’s only weeks to go before the results of the 2001 census are announced, we’ve not heard much in recent times about the demographic timebomb that awaits the Northern Ireland electorate. Though the proportion of the electorate voting Nationalist has risen exponentially in the last 30 years, the implications are not as clear-cut as it may seem on first sight. One Unionist politician I spoke to recently was at pains to point out that everyone is behaving as though the …

IRA apology

Slugger O'Toole on July 17, 2002, 12:14 pm

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As you might imagine the big story of the day is the latest statement from the IRA. Most punters are predictably split on what (if any significance) it has for the ‘ailing’ peace process. The Taoiseach Bertie Ahern welcomed the statement, whilst David Trimble immediately countered it with the suggestion that “the apology from the IRA tonight may have been prompted by the investigative pieces on which some journalists have been working for the anniversary of bloody Friday in a …