wayback

I went to an interesting seminar at UCD a few weeks ago, which looked at the nature of Republicanism in Ireland as compared with France, but with references to the United States. Margaret O’Callaghan argued that because the initial revolution in 1798 failed and went underground there is a paucity of reliable academic research on the subject. One potential track between the protestant revolutionaries of ’98 and current Unionist thought is in the writings of French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville …

Read more…

As we approach the front end of the summer long silly season, here’s some (borrowed) thoughts the subject of history and the general inability of any of us to implement whatever lessons it may have for us: Marx: “Hegel remarks somewhere that all great, world-historical facts and personages occur, so to speak, twice. He has forgotten to add: the first time as tragedy, the second as farce.” Hegel’s original reference has never been found, but this is probably the closest …

Read more…

There’s more money and resources on its way for BBC NI. If I thought we wouldn’t be too hidebound by the BBC’s editorial guidelines and the rigours promised by the Neil report, I wouldn’t be averse to a buyout of Slugger by the said public service broadcasting corporation. Thanks to the ever vigilent Emily Jones! 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 …

Read more…

INCREDIBLE – Greece is in the Euro 2004 final. Last night’s game wasn’t the best of the tournament, with plenty of chances missed, but the final – against home side Portugal – should be a good one. It’s also a repeat, for the first time, of the opening match of the tournament. The stand-offish Greek side won, but with Figo back on form, who knows what could happen? Can’t wait. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com

NORTHERN Ireland’s biggest Christian festival for young people – Summer Madness – is kicking off at the King’s Hall. Seminars at the event will look at such controversial topics such as homosexuality and the church, pornography, racism, eating disorders and the future of the church. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com

AN Orange Order parade which went past a nationalist area passed off peacefully in East Belfast last night, despite clearly breaching the Parades Commission’s conditions for marching, as loyalist paramilitary flags were on display. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com

EOIN McNamee’s latest book – The Ultras – is a heady mix of fact and fiction, exploring the shadowy world of security force and loyalist collusion, in a stylised attempt to fill in some of the gaps of the dirty war. The Ultras features some familiar names, such as the enigmatic Robert Nairac and the ruthless Robin ‘The Jackal’ Jackson, and centres round events like the Miama Showband Massacre. The text has a certain flow and rhythm to it that …

Read more…

THE News Letter has gone all Daily Mail and is running a spurious splash about the Vacuum magazine promoting Satan worship! Thanks to councillors Jim Rodgers and Eric Smyth for providing the Vacuum – an arts mag whose offices were destroyed in the North Street Arcade fire – with more advertising than it could ever have hoped for. They obviously haven’t actually read the magazine on an ongoing basis, as each has a different theme. Having written an article on …

Read more…

DEAN Godson, author of Trimble biography ‘Himself Alone’, gets the Gail Walker treatment in today’s Belfast Telegraph. Walker quotes Godson as saying: “At one point he [Trimble] said to me that when he was teaching law at Queen’s University he had never liked lectures but preferred tutorials and seminars. I really think that’s because he is so convinced of the rightness of his own views that he believes that any reasonable person subjected to that view would over the course …

Read more…

Jeffrey Donaldson’s targeting the seat of his former bete noir, David Trimble. 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

TODAY’S Tele reports that DUP MEP Jim Allister is being courted to join the new Eurosceptic Independence and Democracy bloc in the European Parliament, which includes the UK Independence Party. Meanwhile, the two Sinn Fein MEPs are being strongly tipped to join the United European Left bloc. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com

Brian Appleyard reviews what looks like it could be an important new book, The Wisdom of Crowds. He looks at why people consulted in numbers often get things more accurately than individual experts. Appleyard argues: “Representative democracy is a further acknowledgement that crowds may not be wise. We elect delegates whom we require to make detailed and specialised decisions. What we don’t do is demand referendums on everything, not just because that would be unwieldy, but also because public opinion …

Read more…

SO it was the Real IRA who attempted to stop me getting to the office this morning by causing traffic disruption with hoax bomb alerts. Ha! I foiled you with my secret weapon – the bicycle. Yes, it is a very quiet news day. Roll on the footie… Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com

A recent article in the Orange Torch, Scotlands Orange Newspaper, has called for an end to bands carrying paramilitary flags LET’S HONOUR THEM ALL! Why So Selective with “Battle Honours”? At the March sessions of Grand Lodge, the MW Grand Master related a true story from the 1916 Battle of the Somme. In response to requests, and as the Somme anniversary approaches, the following is based upon his remarks … I’m going to tell you a story. It’s a true …

Read more…

According to Gerry Adams the DUP is on its holidays (ie a senior delegation is currently having a round of high level meetings with opinion formers in the US). He hints that when they return they will have to deal with Sinn Fein in its rather than their own terms. He argues: “I have made it very clear that the terms as we know it that the DUP have publicly expressed are not acceptable. These ideas of being decontaminated or …

Read more…

We’ve been in holding pattern since October 2002. Brian Feeney believes that it’s a result of an old British disease, inconsistency and indecision from Number 10. 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

Suzanne Breen with a typically insightful view of the fading of the significance of Drumcree, where the protest continues but only sedately. 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

Yet more reviews of Telegraph leader writer Dean Godson’s biography of Trimble: Alan Judd on the injection of intellectualism that may yet prove key to a longer term Unionist revival and the BBC’s Andrew Marr for a more personal reading of the book. 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. …

Read more…

PRESBYTERIAN Minister Rev Brian Kennaway often ploughed a lonely furrow as a commonsense voice on the education committee of the Orange Order. As we watch the Order’s policy of ‘not talking’ to those with a say in or who oppose certain loyalist parades fall apart before our eyes, Kennaway points out the ludicrous contradiction of the Order’s leadership potentially sanctioning Portadown District for talking to the Parades Commission while other Orangemen in Belfast appear to have its blessing to join …

Read more…

THE Court of Appeal has ruled that the Real IRA is an illegal organisation. It follows Mr Justice Girvan’s bizarre ruling in a trial that finished yesterday that it wasn’t. I bet he saw what was coming… Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com