wayback

It will likely take a few days for this story to resolve into any reliable shape. Even seasoned journalists like the Today programme’s James Naughtie was struggling this morning with which organisations were involved in the murder of Francisco Notarantonio back in 1987. Most speculation focuses on whether Stakeknife is actually Freddie Scappaticci named by the Sunday Herald. Some say he’s under guard in southern England, others report that the man mentioned is still at his home, and the naming …

Read more…

Today’s editorial in the Belfast Telegraph suggests that the Stakeknife controversy throws up a number of questions, the answers to which are likely not leave any of the parties concerned looking very rosy. Ultimately it pleads for democracy as the only viable way to build up substantive peacetime conditions. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events …

Read more…

Occasional Slugger guest writer Gary Kent speculates that quite a few senior members of the NI press corps may have been sucker punched into believing the Stakeknife story in all its gory detail. A golden rule in life is that if something’s too good to be true, then it probably isn’t. Opponents of the IRA must have been chuckling at recent allegations that the top British Army Agent in the IRA was the deputy head of its internal security operation. …

Read more…

With Northern Ireland facing yet another long break in democracy, James Kelly in the Irish News is highly sceptical that there is any such a thing as a moderate Unionist. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern says without the support of moderate and reasonable unionists it is very difficult to re-establish the devolved institutions and allow the Good Friday Agreement to reach its full potential. Can anyone reasonably describe Trimble as a moderate and reasonable unionist leader after his Stormont walkout antics and …

Read more…

In this introductory op ed in the Belfast Telegraph, we lay out five key qualities that Unionism will need to cultivate if it is to have a prosperous future in Northern Ireland. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty

One act of completion that seems to have gone completely unnoticed is the merger between two scout associations, creating the first all Ireland non-sectarian scouts. Previously only the Catholic Scouts of Ireland organised on a 32 county basis. The move began in response to the Belfast Agreement. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, …

Read more…

It looks like the argument over whether we have actually have a long peace is set to continue for some time. A small letter bomb addressed to David Trimble exploded at the UUP headquarters this morning. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty

There looks to be a late bid from Sinn Fein to have the elections re-scheduled for the end of June, but without the consent of Unionists it is unlikely to happen. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty

Stephen Glover in the Spectator questions the dearth of coverage of the arrest of Liam Clarke, and worries that the press is less inclined nowadays to take it role as independent public recorders seriously. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty

Assembly members are to suffer a 50% cut in their salaries since the suspension of the elections. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty

The books have arrived here at Slugger Central. So if you’d like hard copy you can order it now from [email protected]. We don’t expect everyone will agree with it’s recommendations. But we do hope it will ignite a discussion of what kind of Northern Ireland comes after the conflict resolution stage is eventually completed. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a …

Read more…

Not really sure what is happening here, but it does seem strange. Martin McGuinness has instructed his legal team not to cross-examine a witness in the Bloody Sunday Inquiry in Derry. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty

I am not quite sure I buy Brian Feeney’s logic that David Trimble’s democratic mandate is any more fraudulent than any of the other politicians whose mandates ran out last week, but he has a point here (sub needed): The reason unionists have escaped blame for this state of affairs was laid out a couple of months ago by Fianna Fail Senator Martin Mansergh when he said words to the effect that republicans were providing unionists with their only pretext …

Read more…

Steven King beleives that Unionists can be their own worst enemies. Last week Gerry Adams described unionists as “the garrison” as if they were some foreign body implanted in Ireland. He also said it was “a scary time” to be a unionist. Why when Gerry pulls the string do some unionists insist on kicking themselves in the face? He goes to echo one of the opening themes in the Slugger report on the future of Unionism (due out on Monday): …

Read more…

Top libertarian blogger Perry de Havilland believes Brendan O’Neill’s concern for the loss of democracy is misplaced, and suggests (only half jokingly) that too much is currently under the control of central government for Northern Ireland’s good. According to Perry, it’s time for a clear out! Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the …

Read more…

Tony Blair is flying into Dublin today, presumably to discuss the review process that was originally scheduled in the Belfast Agreement. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty

Well we are back to blogging here at Slugger after a long weekend break. As some of you may have picked up, I was invited to join a discussion on the future of Unionism on Fergal McKinney’s Sunday Issue programme on UTV, along with novelist Glenn Patterson, Ian Hill of the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival and Daphne Trimble, wife of the UUP leader David Trimble. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of …

Read more…

This is not the first time there has been a political vacuum going into the summer, and the precidents bode poorly for a peaceful summer in Belfast. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty

Henry Patterson speculates that Ian Paisley’s bizarre remarks on the physiognomy of Brian Cowan may have scared the horses within the British government concerning the ability of Sinn Fein and the DUP to come to any kind of accommodation were they to have topped the poll. It is believed that Sinn Fein were set to eclipse the SDLP as the leading party in Nationalism, with the contest within Unionism still too tight to call. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of …

Read more…

Tony Blair’s speech is now available on the Downing Street website. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty