Courtesy of Ma Bear, we have this piece on blogging by Dublin emigre blogger Henry Farrell, which does as well as any mainstream article on the subject in explaining some of the significances of the blogging phenomenon. 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 BBC scopes out the measures that would be required to postpone the elections, if there were to be a decision by Monday. 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
Gerry Moriarty carries the IRA’s response to Blairs three questions from yestersday’s Downing Street statement on the state of the process. 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 Irish Echo have had a man in Bogata for the fitful trial of the Colombian three. Stephen McKinley throws another light on context within which the trial is taking place. 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
Thomas Harding reports that the IRA had planned a major act of decommissioning for Monday, but that the British government had refused to accept the wording of the offered statement. Sinn Fein has been at the centre of two opposite and competing demands. From IRA volunteers on the ground, who are said to be reluctant to give up on their current active status in their home areas. And from pro Agreement Unionists, who see disbandment as the only act of …
Sometime today, Tony Blair is to give the British government’s view on the breakdown of the six month long negotiations to restart local democracy in Northern Ireland. If the elections are to be cancelled, it will have to be announced then. Update: Well, from the Radio 5 broadcast no mention of the elections yet. Reuters report it as a passing of the ball back to Sinn Fein. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the …
Simon McGarr, editor of Tuppenceworth website, points us to one his latest articles in which he looks at the unification question from the other side. I have been to Belfast three times in my life. That’s less than I’ve been to Cork or Galway, but more than I’ve been to Limerick or Sligo. The difference between going to Belfast and going to any of the other cities was the sense of visiting somewhere foreign. An excellent, thoughtful piece. Mick FealtyMick …
Just when you thought it was all over. Gerry Adams hints at a possible last minute move to save the process. Last minute at this stage may mean tomorrow as most parties will have to get the final versions of their manefestoes to the printers by then to make it in time for their election schedules. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and …
The object of everyone’s attention before the holidays seems to have all but disappeared now. On the BBC news site Mark Devenport gives a broad outline of the dilemmas thrown up by the IRA’s no show before Easter. 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
Another entry in the spreadsheet of acts of completion by the British government is to the gradual reduction of the three home battalions of the UDR. 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
Malachi O’Doherty puts Sinn Fein’s own dilemma more graphically: Had the Provos given Blair and Ahern what they demanded, it would still have gone before a meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council – albeit endorsed by David Trimble – and it may not then have proven possible for the party to fight an election in support of a lifting of suspension. Even then, if the Ulster Unionists had agreed, by the usual slender majority, that the move warranted a return …
Two opposing views of the process of the talks. Both bullish, both comprehensive in their condemnation of the other side. The first from Danny Morrison expresses the belief that David Trimble will simply never be satisfied with any offer from the IRA short of a note of surrender. The second from Kit Kildare, asserts that in fact surrender has already taken place at the acceptance of the terms of the Belfast Agreement. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He …
John O’Sullivan suggests that if the Stevens report is to be acted upon in full, there should be a quid pro quo on the non state side of the conflict: …if soldiers are to be tried for the handful of murders they committed, as they should, then they must be joined in the dock by Adams, his IRA accomplices, the thugs of the UDA, and the rest of the loyalist paramilitaries for the hecatombs of deaths they engineered and carried …
In the absence of any substantive change since we left on Thursday, Gerry Adams has probably correctly identified the real democratic battleground in the years to come – winning Unionists over to a United Ireland: There will be a united Ireland. And our task, and that of all sensible Irish political leaders, should be to prepare for reunification. We have to be prepared to give assurances and guarantees and to commit to protecting the rights of every citizen, without exception. …
Blogger Paul Dunne has used his holidays to good effect. You may not agree with his commentary, but no where else has such comprehensive coverage of the Steven’s report. 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
Like him or loathe him, it looks like Brian Feeney may have got something here with his poker game analogy: It was just like the end of a hand of stud poker last Wednesday. A couple of players are still in the game. Some cards are face up and each player has a few cards close to his chest. It�s the turn of the British, to show their cards or up the ante. The British showed a full house. To …
A slimmed down version of the Stevens report has been released, though government lawyers have red-penned large sections of it, in case there are legal actions arising. However not everyone is happy with that, particularly the family of murdered solicitor, Pat Finucane. Chris Thornton with more in the Belfast Telegraph. 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 …
The talks about a deal is off until after Easter, though again the elections are being clearly signposted as going ahead. 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 IRA’s Easter statement, gives little away, and ups the tension as the holidays approach. The latest word is that the elections are to go ahead, but there is some concern that the continuing hiatus will leave pro-Agreement Unionists with little to show from the last five years. Though it is still possible that the IRA could promise the right kind of move to allow Trimble to face his electorate, it is hard to resist coming to the conclusion that …
The decision on the Blueprint documents will be announced later on today, but without Unionist or IRA backing they will be of extremely limited value. 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
