Conflict – Page 25 – Slugger O'Toole

“it requires a belief that truth is a value in itself”

Pete Baker on July 21, 2007, 6:23 pm

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A well-argued CommentisFree contribution from Fintan O’Toole on the need for the Eames/Bradley committee [and everyone else – Ed] to take the bull by the horns – which they should. Because conflict has been underpinned by selective remembering in which grief becomes grievance, it is foolish to believe that if we ignore the recent past it will go away. In the Irish experience, both nationalists and unionists have been all too adept at constructing versions of the past in which …

Fifty Orange Halls attacked in three weeks…

Mick Fealty on July 19, 2007, 12:48 pm

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Willie McCrea may have declared himself satisfied that the IRA is finally defeated, and this may have the quietest Twelfth since the beginning of the Troubles but one aspect of a low level sectarian conflict seems to be on the increase. There have been an extraordinary fifty attacks on Orange Halls since the beginning of July, sometimes running to as many as two or three in one night. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on …

Political settlement making a fool out past stereotypes…

Mick Fealty on July 17, 2007, 4:57 pm

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Tom McGurk takes one of his occasional peeks over the Black Pig’s Dyke, and sees a challenging landscape to those mired in the tram-line thinking of the sectarian stereotype. For one thing, Martin McGuinness seems to have dropped any reference to the Free Presbyterian Church as The Taliban, since pledging his party’s democratic troth to the DUP leader, Ian Paisley. Nevertheless, McGurk thinks the major challenge remains in the Unionist court. The power-sharing experiment between the DUP and Sinn Fein …

Rumours from Monaghan and the execution of Billy Fox?

Mick Fealty on July 13, 2007, 6:57 pm

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I was cleaning up my hard disk on the way to London one day last week when I came across a number of RTE documentaries I’d downloaded, intending to listen to them when I had the time. Rumours from Monaghan stood head and shoulders above the rest. It is, as Our Friend in the North remarks, “a poignant documentary about a remarkable individual and one of the several thousand people who have now sadly been forgotten about”. It is also …

Robinson and McGuinness and our lessons for others

Mick Fealty on July 9, 2007, 4:07 am

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Here’s a short snippet of an interview Radio Ulster carried of Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness in Washington last week. Martin seems keener on the ‘official’ message of how they are all now on the same side. But nevertheless, the permafrost seems to have all but disappeared. It’s not yet not the end of history in some places. Will it be productive? Retiring US Consul Dean Pittman seems to think so. As McGuinness points out there is a huge curiosity …

“if our new democratic institutions aren’t strong enough to withstand the truth..”

Pete Baker on July 8, 2007, 6:30 pm

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Brian Rowan, writing in the Sunday Life, has a suggestion for the Eames/Bradley consultation group should they want to “take the bull by the horns” – which they should. Interesting to note that the Deputy First Minister, Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness, presumably with his party political hat on, had distanced both himself and the First Minister, the DUP’s Ian Paisley, from what he described as Peter Hain’s “unilateral decision” by denying that either of them had been consulted before the …

Enough evidence for a Crown Court trial…

Mick Fealty on July 2, 2007, 8:41 pm

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BBC reports that, there is enough evidence against a man accused of murdering Robert McCartney for a crown court trial, a Belfast magistrate has ruled. 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

Are we more or less at risk?

Mick Fealty on July 2, 2007, 5:16 pm

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Mark Devenport with some interesting thoughts in the wake of the firebombing at Glasgow airport. Is Northern Ireland at greater or lesser risk in a future bombing campaign. The Secretary of State says “no more or no less” than Britain, the passengers at City Airport say less. In general terms I agree more with the passengers in transit than the Cabinet minister. There are more high profile targets in Great Britain than here, so if you are an international terrorist …

“the beginning of a long learning curve”

Pete Baker on July 2, 2007, 2:36 pm

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Thanks to Newshound we have this Sunday Times article by Liam Clark which looks at how elements of the long-running Process™ are being used elsewhere – and he points to the 1972 meeting between the British Government and an IRA delegation, including Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, as a pivotal moment. It’s an article that should be read in connection with previous comments from Malachi O’Doherty – “If you want leaders to be able to control the whole movement underneath …

Dealing with the Troubles…

Mick Fealty on June 27, 2007, 8:33 pm

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Henry Patterson notes that the issue is dominated by a politics of ‘competitive victimhood’, inevitably overdetermined by politics. However it is unlikely we are going to get a truthful history of the Troubles: – Neither Army Council of the Irish nor former members are likely to talk about their role as perpetrators. – Two governments would have to open their archives as the British did for Saville. – Yet many victims/survivors want an opportunity to act as witnesses. Patterson noted …

Open Source Radio

Pete Baker on June 26, 2007, 8:53 pm

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Mick’s just reminded me that he’s appearing on Open Source Radio with Christopher Lydon tonight at 7pm local time to discuss what lessons, if any, the local processing has for wider afield [make sure you screw the lid on tightly? – Ed]. Malachi O’Doherty will also be on the show and he’s pre-empted the discussion somewhat with a Comment is Free contribution. Adds As Malachi points out in the comments zone, he’s tackled the subject on CiF before. Pete Baker

Closure on the past – redux

Pete Baker on June 26, 2007, 1:18 am

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Today’s announcement by the PPS – PPS press notice [pdf file] and statement by the DPP [pdf file] – also noted here, and the reports that the Secretary of State for Wales, etc, Peter Hain [Goodbye Peter – Ed] has denied there had been any political interference in the decision reminded me of a previous statement of the government’s position by the same Secretary of State – “Closure on the past cannot be one-sided”. Not that I’m suggesting that there …

Looking back, and moving on?

Mick Fealty on June 22, 2007, 10:41 pm

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As Pete noted earlier today, Peter Hain has announced the foundation of a group looking at possible practical ways in which the past can be dealt with. Since burying the truth about the past has been continuing on an almost industrial scale, it is going to be a tall order to come up with something that realistically does just that and can get approval from the new joint political establishment at Stormont. Here’s my own take, just published over at …

Paisley on old enemies/new friends…

Mick Fealty on June 17, 2007, 12:28 pm

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Sue Denham notes in today’s Sunday Times: The Independent Orange Order is hoping Ian Paisley will address its parade as usual this year. The first minister gave a rousing speech in 2006, saying: “No unionist who is a unionist will go into partnership with IRA-Sinn Fein. They are not fit to be in the government . . . and it will be over our dead bodies that they ever get there.” Perhaps he could bring his deputy, Martin McGuinness, along …

Ballymurphy feud racked up policing costs of £1 million…

Mick Fealty on June 15, 2007, 2:31 pm

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The Andersonstown News has some facts and figures on the long running feud that has seen a single family systematically targeted in hundreds of minor attacks, including a bizarre attack on an already fire-damaged house. The killing of Gerald Devlin heralded a witchhunt against the wider family of his alleged killers. This a local crisis has been ongoing for nearly 18 months, has barely registered in the wider media, despite the intervention of at least on English MP to resolve …

Slugger Q&A at Spotline Online…

Mick Fealty on June 10, 2007, 3:06 pm

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Last week I was asked a series of questions by Munich based website Spotlight Online, on where Northern Ireland (and to a lesser extent Slugger) is left by the resumption of democratic politics in Northern Ireland. 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

“Files about Wright’s murder now appear to have gone missing from every security agency”

Mick Fealty on June 7, 2007, 3:23 pm

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Chris Thornton on the Billy Wright Inquiry, notes that it is not the gaps in ten year old Police files that raise suspicions of state collusion in the killing, but that those gaps are replicated in exactly the same places across supposedly independent agencies: Gaps in the files can be covered by material from another department, indeed some familiar with the material available to the inquiry say that has already been the case. But some gaps remain notable. Some of …

Bypassing the 20th Century – redux

Pete Baker on June 7, 2007, 2:50 pm

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In contrast to those of us who want to see with greater clarity what has gone on here some, in this case the Sinn Féin MLA, and member of the Policing Board, Martina Anderson [and SF’s Director of Unionist Outreach – Ed] would prefer us to not just ignore what we already know.. but to, in effect, forget it ever happened. As I said before – The 20th Century risks being a closed, and sealed, book with only précises of …

“if the state won’t do that, others must”

Pete Baker on June 5, 2007, 6:11 pm

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Not sure how long this will stay online[RealPlayer file], but it’s worth listening to. In his Talkback Commentary Malachi O’Doherty paraphrases Maurice Hayes’ broader point into the question – “Do you really want to know everything that some of your Ministers have done even if it awakens old hatreds, revives disgust?” And he gives his answer – “Yes.”And he ends with a point that I’m in total agreement with “I would not bury the past. I can see why pragmatic …

The proper architecture?

Pete Baker on June 4, 2007, 5:15 pm

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The Policing Oversight Commissioner Al Hutchison talked of the need “to find the proper architecture to deal with the past, and learn from it” in his final report last week, and in an Irish Times interview today Kit Chivers, the criminal justice inspector for Northern Ireland, has indicated his preferred architecture [subs req] Mr Chivers particularly favours one of five proposals by the Healing Through Remembering group: British security services and paramilitaries – without fear of prosecution – and victims …