Billed as “Exclusive, MI5”, the Daily Telegraph splashes with a predictable twist on an ancient theme, that Jeremy Corbyn had been under surveillance for having “ links” to the IRA. This is the flip side of the super-patriotic coin that supports army veterans in their campaign, backed by Theresa May, against prosecutions for illegal actions more…
Tag Archives | Conflict
Amnesty for soldiers and police officers appears imminent after the election. And the effect on prospects for restoring the Assembly?
The government appear to be on the brink of taking the legacy of the Troubles out of the hands of the Assembly. The only question remains if they would entertain an agreed counter proposal from the Assembly parties . You can work out for yourself the prospects of that The Times (£) are reporting that more…
No side deal for soldiers, Theresa. If you can legislate for the language, you can legislate for the legacy
It would be hard to find an issue that illustrates how little Northern Ireland matters to some Conservative MPs as the campaign to halt police investigations into cases of alleged army misconduct during the Troubles. It’s not so much calculated indifference as blimpish blindness. This was the question to Theresa May at PMQs today: 22 more…
“…it should never be forgotten that a genuinely united Ireland must be based on a free union of those living in Ireland”
The strength of positive feeling towards the economist TK Whitaker in the Irish press was extraordinary. I want to come back to that later in the week, since there may still be important lessons to draw on from the manner in which he approached matters. But, in the context of this election to nowhere we’re enduring more…
Using art to fill in gaps of our reconciliation @DFATIrl
Using art to fill in gaps of our reconciliation: DFAT Reconciliation Networking Forum by Allan LEONARD for Northern Ireland Foundation 14 December 2016 At the eleventh annual convening of a reconciliation network organised by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Ireland), an afternoon panel discussion explored the role of the arts in Northern Ireland’s more…
Jim Prior may have been doomed to fail but he had plenty of help from the locals
It’s a natural reflex to blame the Brits and indeed, there’s a good case to be made for it time and again. But the career locally of Jim Prior, the senior Conservative who was secretary of state from October 1981 to September 1984, a month before the Brighton Bomb, is stark evidence that the time more…
Shame on the politicians for allowing the PSNI to become the victims of a tabloid firestorm over army prosecutions
A tabloid storm blown up by the Sun and the Mail with the Daily Telegraph in tow has been set off to save hundreds, perhaps thousands of “our boys” – the soldiers who served in the Troubles – from the “ witch hunt” of being singled out as a class for prosecution as a result more…
Without fear or favour: 30 years of Troubled Images
Without fear or favour: 30 years of Troubled Images by Allan LEONARD for Northern Ireland Foundation 28 November 2016 The latest incarnation of the Troubled Images project — the launch of a free downloadable iBook — was cause for a reunion of sorts at the Linen Hall Library for the original team that compiled and more…
Another few words of sense about dealing with the past that the politicians refuse to face.
Chris Ryder, veteran reporter and specialist on police matters, is given space in the Irish Times to repeat the case for halting all pre- Troubles cases and leaving them to historians. Although he is known as a critical friend of the police, he makes a fair and balanced case which should be considered entirely on its more…
Time cannot silence the Voices of the Somme
At the start of July I posted on Slugger O’Toole to introduce Somme Voices, a month-long series of daily tweets in remembrance of that dreadful World War One battle. I’m returning to Slugger to bring the Somme Voices project to a close with a final poem. The reason is that I’d like to quote this more…
The time is overdue for the two governments to tell what they know about the Dublin-Monaghan and the Birmingham bombings
Consider the latest developments about two atrocities, the Dublin and Monaghan UVF bombs in May 1974 and the Birmingham IRA pub bombs of November the same year. What they have in common is knowledge of the identities of what we must call the alleged perpetrators. The deep frustration caused to individuals and states has not more…
#SluggerReport: What these post #AE16 shootings tell us about wicked problems in West Belfast
I would definitely listen back to the first half hour of the Nolan Show this morning. Some of the reaction from some callers was pretty chilling in their comments on four shootings since voting at Assembly elections finished. One suggested that within six or seven days no one but the families would care. In the more…
Do we need the “old ” IRA to contain the “new”?
Gang activity labelled “dissident republican” is spreading and is proving very difficult to check. What is the connection between the killings in Dublin and the fatal shooting taxi driver of Michael McGibbon? Perhaps the most chilling aspect of McGibbon “ punishment shooting “ was that, rather than go the the police – or even Gerry more…
1916 is still worth a fret or two
I’ve just finished reading my latest foray into an absorbing subject, Ruth Dudley Edwards’s magnificent The Seven, her biographical account of the main leaders of the Easter Rising, guardedly but critically reviewed by the historian and Irish Times columnist Diarmaid Ferriter here. While Ruth may be dismissed by some as the arch revisionist, no reader more…
Injured Prison Officer Dies After Heart Attack
Adrian Ismay, who had previously been released from hospital after sustaining serious injuries from a dissident Republican bomb attack, suffered a fatal heart attack earlier today. The First Minister lead condemnation, tweeting from the USA on an investment mission, “I’m devastated. Can’t believe the news. I was texting Adrian before we left for the US. more…
The biggest losers in failing to come clean on the past is the reputation and authority of the state and its servants.
You don’t have to be a transitional justice zealot or a Provie fellow traveller to recognise that the heat is on the British government, the police and security authorities over dealing with the past. You can be a judge like Lord Justice Weir blasting the police and indirectly the government for the inordinate delays in more…
Stakeknife: PSNI seek resources to conduct an investigation into 53 murders…
UNCOVERING STAKEKNIFE: A new investigation could cost up to £12.5m over a five year period. Interestingly the Chief Constable in interview on Newsline this evening suggested that whilst the investigation would be looking allegations against Stakeknife, it would be looking all the murders associated with the IRA’s internal security unit.
Why suffer allegations of involvement with the nutting squad? Because you’re worth it.
EXPENSIVE INJUSTICE: The whole cat’s cradle of allegation and murder is getting more expensive by the day, The DDPs’ decision to reopen the entire Scappaticci file won’t make it any cheaper. See today’s Times (£) for the latest. Stand by for the inevitable public row.
Paisley: Relic of the Past or Harbinger of the Future?
I recently chanced upon this 1987 review by Charles Townshend in the LRB of Steve Bruce’s God Save Ulster: The Religion and Politics of Paisleyism. It now reads as a fascinating period piece. Just the previous month, Paisley had performed the first of his major protests at the European Parliament, heckling Margaret Thatcher. She was more…
Nearly two decades of sectarian politics have produced increasing indifference to politics, which is progress of a kind. Age, education and income are now the great dividing lines.
The Guardian’s Henry McDonald reports an advance of the findings of a complex opinion survey carried out by Social Market Research Belfast for four universities and coordinated by a team including Professor Peter Shirlow, now at Liverpool. In common with the NI Life and Times opinion surveys the poll confirms a much more complex state more…