In a letter to the Newsletter,David Vance lays out his objections to any negotiation involving Sinn Fein, and wonders if the DUP are showing signs of forgetting lessons of the recent past. 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
This summer I have mostly been reading fiction. Despite a huge backlog of histories and commentaries on current affairs, I struck out into the unfamiliar territory of the historical novel. It was very rewarding. I started with Joseph O’Connor’s Star of the Sea, went on to Roddy Doyle’s A Star Called Henry, and latterly Sam Hanna Bell’s 1973 classic of the aftermath of 1798 rebellion set in Belfast and around Killinchey, Co Down A Man Flourishing. All gave the best …
The BBC’s Northern Ireland Political Editor, Mark Devenport, has pointed out that the standard response of our elected representatives is, frequently, ”Deny Everything”, or to put it more bluntly, to lie through their teeth. The ambiguities are not, as you might first imagine, in the language used (that is unusually clear in most cases) but in the relationship between the questions asked, the answers given, and the reality of the events. Cynicism about politics and politicians is not new, and …
Danny Morrison writes on Seanna Walsh’s encounter with Jeffrey Donaldson at the West Belfast Feile , how all the decommissioning in the world can’t remove the knowledge of one man able to create a bomb with a few hundred pounds and how a commitment to peace, politics and building trust is more important. An Issue of Trust By Danny Morrison In 1973, sixteen-year-old IRA Volunteer Seanna Walsh and his comrades were surrounded while robbing a bank. Seanna was arrested and …
Alex Kane argues in last week’s column in the Newsletter that too many in his own party (UUP) are disregarding the wood for the trees, particularly with regard to attacks on Jeffrey Donaldson, who he beleives has been consistent in his positions both before and after his move to the DUP. This column is no particular admirer of Jeffrey Donaldson, but nor is it a believer in attacking him just for the sake of it. I worry, therefore, that there …
Chris Stalford also writing in last week’s Newsletter relates his own personal experience on the Feile an Phobal debate in St Louisa’s on the Falls Road the week before last. It’s particularly striking that this was Chris’s first foray into West Belfast. This week I had the peculiar pleasure of attending the West Belfast Community Festival “Talk Back” event which took place on Wednesday in St. Louise’s Comprehensive School on the Falls Road. If the truth be told, other than …
According to blogger and Cambridge academic Bill Thompson, blogs attract the already politically active but will hardly revolutionise political debate. Thompson is largely refering to the recent speculation that blogs might enhance public engagement with parliamentary politics and argues that it can greatly enhance a politician’s ability to communicate with key constituents – it is unlikely to bring in many of those currently unengaged with the political process. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on …
The Irish News today has a disturbing special report focusing on domestic violence. In it a Police Officer reveals that research shows that on average a woman is assaulted 35 times before she calls the police. In total in NI there were 4,726 incidents of domestic abuse reported in the first 6 months of 2004 – but in less than 1 in 10 can action be taken as the majority of victims don’t want to press charges. Approximately 10% domestic …
Gregory Campbell brings together a series of concerns that many even within the liberal Trimblite end of the UUP undoubtedly share about how realistic the Republican movement is about how unionists see it from the outside. By Gregory Campbell MP ARE REPUBLICANS SERIOUS ABOUT MAKING POLITICS WORK? Recently Republicans have been trying to increase the pressure on the Government particularly in relation to parades in North Belfast and Lurgan. They have tried to portray themselves as victims and have turned …
The BBC are still looking for political websites they can link to. To keep the pot boiling they’ve come up with a shortlist of satirical sites which ar worth going through in detail – among them Northern Ireland’s original and best – the Portadown News! You can vote for Slugger here. 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 …
The Irish Independent weighs in with an editorial, and an article by their Motoring Correspondent Eddie Cunningham, on the “plague” of “potential killers” who drink and drive. The editorial points out that “Gardai are arresting motorists for drink-driving at a rate of 900 a month”. Eddie Cunningham also quotes the same figure, “The statistics are shocking: 11,000-a-year are arrested on suspicion of driving while under the influence of drink”, before discussing the options and identifying that the figures are unchanged …
THE latest CD release of Ian Paisley’s sermons has proved so popular with Irish Catholic priests, that the Free Presbyterian Church has ordered more to meet demand, according to the Irish Independent. However, a Catholic Church spokesman said the mass mail shot was a common selling technique used for commercial initiatives. “In effect, this is unsolicited mail, and will be treated as such.” Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
MALACHI O’Doherty believes the IRA has become no more than a Sinn Fein bargaining card for the September negotiations, while Fergus Finlay sees Gerry Adams’ statement on the IRA as an invitation to the DUP to engage. It may be the start of a long awkward dance, he argues, and with both the DUP and Sinn Fein’s determined to avoid a split (at all costs?), while success is far from guaranteed. Finlay writes: The IRA will not disband for ever: …
ONE I missed while away: Newton Emerson bemoans the fact that a few underage Village idiots can hold Belfast to ransom, that everyone is to blame for the problems faced by the ‘underclass’ except the underclass, and that there are no role models for spides. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
Are the proposed changes to the Water Service simply part of a “process of making the system more efficient” as John Spellar claims? Or is the threat of privatization of water, via a Government Company (GoCo), that the union representative Bumper Graham has highlighted – “Under government rules a GoCo can only be established as a stopgap measure ahead of full privatization. We also know of extensive plans to go for yet more contracting out and Public Private Partnerships in …
Two reports have been released by the NISRA today. One giving population estimates for June 2003 the other population projections to 2017. Continuing trends seem to be for a growing but older population and a drift outwards from Belfast. Stat lovers knock yourselves out. Blank
Last week’s promotional material for Atlantis from a Geographer’s Perspective by Ulf Erlingsson Ph.D made its way around the world’s press – San Diego Union-Tribune report – with a, mostly, straight face… until the satirical website The Spoof dug up their own ‘reliable’ source. Not ones to leave well alone, The Spoof has taken the opportunity to follow up this story with a potentially ground-breaking analysis of another mythical tale – Revelation – Adam and Eve were Irish Pete Baker
Like it or loathe it, The Blanket presents alternative points of view that challenge orthodox Unionist and Nationalist thinking. Sean Fleming looks at language issues, starting from Tom Paulin’s 1983 Field Day pamphlet entitled, ‘A New Look at the Language Question’, in “the North of Ireland” in this well-written and informative article A Living Tapestry of Tongues Ambrose Uprichard
Sinn Féin’s Alex Maskey is demanding that the DUP ‘must clarify’ position on their response to the comments by his party’s president, Gerry Adams, on the possibility that the IRA might be persuaded to be removed from the equation in the ‘right’ context of “an ongoing process of sustainable change”. While the BBC, optimistically, claims that there was a “clear signal” in what Adams had to say, other commentators (including David McKittrick, The Independent Ireland Correspondent – RealOne player required) …
Just in time for the Olympics, University of Cambridge historian Nigel Spivey previewed his new tome The Ancient Olympics in last week’s Guardian, while in the New York Times Bernard Knox takes the opportunity to look at The Ancient Greeks and How They Played the Games. (subs may be needed for NYT). Making the case for Milo of Croton, winner of 6 consecutive Olympic wrestling titles before 500BC, to be named as “greatest Olympic champion of all time” Spivey asks …
