Conflict – Page 24 – Slugger O'Toole

Sinn Fein want alternative to Internment bonfire…

Mick Fealty on August 15, 2007, 12:08 am

| Readers 302

Probably one of the most under reported aspects of summer activities is the August 9th bonfire, which nominally commemorate the introduction of Internment (or Operation Demetrius) by the local Unionist administration in 1971 – though this one seems to more about anti unionism than anti internment per se. Sinn Fein’s North Antrim MLA, Daithi McKay wants an alternative found to this bonfire on what is still the relatively mixed estate of Dunclug in Ballymena. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of …

Decommissioned murals…?

Mick Fealty on August 14, 2007, 12:29 pm

| Readers 6

One of the most regular and insightful photographers on the NI Flickr group, is Moochin Photoman, who seems to have picked up a seminal moment in the wake of the end of Operation Banner. The Whiterock Road ‘Slan Abhaile’ (ie ‘safe home’) mural of the Peace Process era is being built, never mind painted, over. 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 …

“the first step is to act with good authority by telling the truth to your own tribe”

Pete Baker on August 12, 2007, 6:36 pm

| Readers 302

Interesting piece in the Sunday Independent from newly appointed senator Eoghan Harris on his appearance at West Belfast Talks Back. He takes issue with his introduction by the BBC’s Martina Purdy but the point to note, I’d suggest, whilst others march for half-truth, is something picked up briefly in Malachi O’Doherty’s audio diary on Sunday Sequence. Namely his challenge to his own tribe for some self-examination. Forty-one years ago, this weekend, I travelled to Maghera, Co Derry, with Dr Roy …

“Black armbands have a history.”

Pete Baker on August 11, 2007, 3:01 pm

| Readers 20

In the Irish Times, Susan McKay points out that tomorrow’s ‘March for Half-Truth’ by Sinn Féin is, in reality, their annual commemoration of “10 republicans who died on hunger strike in 1981, so to take part is to show solidarity with the IRA as well as with the victims of the British forces.” That places it in an area of activity identified previously by Liam Clark. Susan McKay also links in the on-again-off-again-on-again [but don’t tell anyone – Ed] deal …

“It would all be funny if it were not so tragic.”

Pete Baker on August 6, 2007, 3:27 pm

| Readers 30

Also via the indispensible Newshound, in Saturday’s Irish News Patrick Murphy handed out some awards to the winners of “an unnecessary and obscene sectarian bloodbath, often displaying excessive inhumanity and barbarity.” It was a shameful period in Irish and British history and it ended only when the main protagonists traded what they called principles for what Britain called power. It is now the winners’ prerogative to write history on their own terms. But who will write the history of those …

“this is the way the world ends…”

Mick Fealty on August 2, 2007, 8:16 pm

| Readers 1

That would be “not with a bang, but with a whimper”. Good spot by Lindy McDowell, since it’s worth reading the whole thing (if you can bear Eliot’s bleak vision). She goes on to argue that for all the contending narratives around what the last forty years meant, in the end history will decide. V Here we go round the prickly pear Prickly pear prickly pear Here we go round the prickly pear At five o’clock in the morning. Between …

Some detail on that abuse…

Mick Fealty on August 2, 2007, 2:01 pm

| Readers 9

The Irish Independent has more detail on the specific abuse that Darren Graham took in the course, primarily, of his senior playing career as the only Protestant playing GAA in Fermanagh. Darren, who works as a joiner with local firm the Clarke Group, stressed he got on well with those within his own club and with people in his local community. “It just came to a head. Something bad (was said) on the field: ‘You’re a black c***.’ Then another …

Low key is the key for our latest ‘historic’ event…

Mick Fealty on August 2, 2007, 1:22 pm

| Readers 1

Lousie Richardson, notes that at the low key end of ‘Operation Banner’ comes the quiet triumph of politics over military action and an elusion of the zero sum calculus which still holds and may continue to dominate Northern Irish discourse for some time to come. The achievement of the British military was to fight the IRA to a stalemate in order to make space for politics. This week, General Nick Parker, the head of the army in Northern Ireland, rightly …

BBC’s anti Army bias?

Mick Fealty on August 1, 2007, 7:40 pm

| Readers 10

Biased BBC notes a couple of complaints about the BBC’s coverage of the end of Operation Banner, in particular, Jeremy Vine, for playing anti British rebel song on his feature yesterday. In itself, inconclusive of bias. But it also carries a complaint a guy on AARSE (I kid you not) that: I was watching the BBC World Service this morning and was dismayed by their coverage marking the end of Op Banner which focused on the account of a Sinn …

“careful not to say anything that might upset the peace process applecart..”

Pete Baker on August 1, 2007, 7:23 pm

| Readers 13

In noting and contrasting the language used in the public statements by Sinn Féin’s Conor Murphy – “We will continue to press for the total end to the British military occupation of the Six Counties.” – with that of members of the British Army, such as Lt Gen Nick Parker – “What I believe the military have done here is make a significant contribution to the security in Northern Ireland that has allowed other people to make the difference through …

On Claudy…

Mick Fealty on August 1, 2007, 4:12 pm

| Readers 24

Mentioned by David Dunseith yesterday, another anniversary yesterday was the bombing of the Co Derry village of Claudy. He also quoted the powerful last lines of the James Simmons’ poem: And Christ little Katherine Aiken is dead, and Mrs McLaughlin is pierced through the head. Meanwhile to Dungiven the killers have gone, and they’re finding it hard to get through on the phone Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet …

Talkback on Operation Banner from Whiterock…

Mick Fealty on August 1, 2007, 3:00 pm

| Readers 19

Talkback yesterday is worth a listen (indeed the programme should be archived). It was recorded live at the Whiterock Leisure Centre. It has rich witness accounts from people who lived with the troubles at its height on their doorsteps, from newly weds to school teachers. It also has Gerry Fitt quoting James Callaghan in a phone call from a bookmaker’s shop in West Belfast, when he asked for the soldiers to be sent in. Callaghan told him, “It would be …

Leaving the China shop, quietly…

Mick Fealty on July 31, 2007, 7:40 pm

| Readers 2

Just reading back around the circumstances under which British troops landed on the streets of Northern Ireland, what strikes you is the number of tragic incidents that had happened in the run up to their arrival. Lost Lives records that of the nineteen fatalities of that year, eight of them (almost a fifth of the total fatalities attributed to the force over the following thirty years) had been killed by a tiny ‘peacetime’ RUC, you get a measure of why …

British troop levels return to peace time levels…

Mick Fealty on July 31, 2007, 1:21 pm

| Readers 33

At long last the British troop numbers here will drop to the ‘peacetime’ levels they were at before being called onto the streets of Belfast in 1969. Already the battles are beginning over what it means. It clearly means different things to different people:The DUP’s Jeffrey Donaldson: Referring to the 763 members of the forces who were killed, he said: “This is a difficult time for the families of those who were killed. This was an immense sacrifice and we …

The Falls Curfew….

Mick Fealty on July 31, 2007, 3:51 am

| Readers 556

It only lasted for a single weekend in July 1970, but it had a lasting (and catastrophic) effect on relations between the Falls Road and the British army. This five minutes of raw footage taken whilst journalists were shown around the eerily quiet streets of the Falls, is weirdly evocative of the chill that subsequently descended on the area…Here’s the CAIN archive for the week leading up to the Curfew: Friday 26 June 1970 Bernadette Devlin, Member of Parliament (MP), …

“There is no worth in a half-truth process” – redux

Pete Baker on July 31, 2007, 2:44 am

| Readers 3

As Fintan O’Toole recently argued “In the Irish experience, both nationalists and unionists have been all too adept at constructing versions of the past in which they feature only as victims, never as victimisers.” And, as noted in previous posts, for the Eames/Bradley committee to “take the bull by the horns” – which they should – it will require “a belief that truth is a value in itself”. So when a political party’s leader announces a “March for Truth” it’s …

BBC: purveyors of ‘shrink wrap’ narrative?

Mick Fealty on July 30, 2007, 2:33 pm

| Readers 3

After nearly forty years of deployment, the British Army is finally to reduced to the old garrison force of 5,000 troops in Northern Ireland. But reader Aidan reckons this BBC report is an attempt to shrink wrap a complex narrative, down to a single grabbable story. The passage he highlights is: “British troops were sent to Northern Ireland in 1969 after violent clashes between Catholics and Protestants. Catholic civil rights marchers were met by counter-protests by Protestant loyalists and the …

More fragments on that Bulgarian stuff…

Mick Fealty on July 25, 2007, 10:04 pm

| Readers 2

Here’s a few more snippets on that Bulgarian lead. It’s not clear that this was contained in the original, but it contains more detail than we were able get from Monday’s stuff… Thanks for the heads-up from commenter ‘Colin’ on the original thread… Still not yet a story, but it is certainly building into an interesting set of questions… Update below the fold: According to lawyers, the two Irishmen are clients of Bilbank, as they have for some time been …

And back to Bulgaria..?

Mick Fealty on July 23, 2007, 2:37 am

| Readers 50

There are some interesting details emerging from the Bulgarian newspaper, 24 часа (24 Hours Daily). The first of a three part report published in tomorrow’s edition claims that two Irishmen set up companies in Bulgaria last January. The first, they say, (called AM) belongs to an Aidan Murphy: the second (BM) owned by a Steven Francis Murphy. Both companies were registered in the town of Bourgas on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, near to where Aidan Murphy had bought land. …

“what if the truth is that many people died for the wrong reason or no reason at all?”

Mick Fealty on July 22, 2007, 5:01 pm

| Readers 4

Interesting consideration of Pete’s post yesterday from Misanthropy Abroad which questions the application of notions of truth to what is an agglomeration of often competing narratives. To bring something to the party, I’d note Simon Blackburn’s TLS article which noted the indispensability of semantic notions of truth to any coherent philosophical position. Other than that, read on… Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media …