Conflict – Page 39 – Slugger O'Toole

Phil Flynn tells his story…

Mick Fealty on March 24, 2006, 6:45 pm

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Given the giddy way stories emerge and then seem to disappear from view in Northern Ireland, the Village has a useful interview with one of the public figures who popped out of the media scrum around early police investigations into the follow-up to the Northern Bank robbery. Phil Flynn tells his side of the story. Though, presumably for ‘legal reasons’ he won’t be drawn on any of the potentially interesting detail surrounding Ted Cunningham and the Bulgarian brothers who featured …

Repartition: Northern Ireland’s final solution?

Mick Fealty on March 24, 2006, 3:19 pm

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Eric Waugh asks that given the starkly divergent electoral choices made by Nationalists to the West and Unionists to the East, why not plump for re-partition? One avenue to a settlement could be formal re-partition or the creation of self-governing cantons, Swiss style, each run by the equivalent of one of the new councils. Local plebiscites would be a first step. One study, by Liam Kennedy, the Queen’s University economic and social historian, concluded that 90% of the unionist population …

Drawing a line under the past…

Mick Fealty on March 23, 2006, 9:44 pm

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A small informal group of Ulster Unionists have released a short document called Drawing a line under the past. It arises from several years of meeting with a range of Republican, Nationalist and Loyalist groups and focuses very narrowly on the legacy of thirty of low level but often nasty conflict. It emphasises the need for continuing contact between all parts of Northern Irish society, and warns against plumping for some kind of all purpose ‘silver bullet’ reconciliation process. It …

The two way problem with collusion…

Mick Fealty on March 21, 2006, 12:16 am

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One of the most impressive aspects of the Sinn Fein political project has been their determination to resolutely fight on ground set by their own terms of reference, and not their enemies and certainly not the medias. The most potent line to have survive from war to peace has been the call for British Government forces to brought to book at the highest level for what it alleges has been systematic collusion with ruthless gangs of Loyalist paramilitaries. However, on …

Shadow Assembly a necessary bitter pill?

Mick Fealty on March 14, 2006, 3:32 pm

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Gearóid ó Cairealláin in the Andersonstown News has some interesting thoughts on future progress. He foresees Sinn Fein being pulled into a shadow Assembly even if it doesn’t want to be. He then suggests that the party’s supporters should keep their eye on the longer term gameplan – ie to draw the Northern and Southern polities closer together by consolidating its substantial support in Northern Ireland and moving beyond its currently marginal status in the Republic: Sinn Féin have already …

Seminar on Church of Ireland Rebels

Mick Fealty on March 11, 2006, 10:27 pm

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It seems the powers that be in the Dublin Diocese of the Church of Ireland are commemorating some of the main Protestant figures from the “national movement”, including playwright Sean O’Casey. If you’re in the vincinity of Christ Church Cathedral over the next few weeks, it looks like it might throw up some interesting perspectives. Thanks for the heads up Nathan! Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics …

Church Watch: yes, another sectarian attack..

Mick Fealty on March 10, 2006, 5:53 pm

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Thanks to TalkBack for covering a story which is so common it’s not making the news. St Columcille’s in East Belfast has suffered yet another attack – this time with some racist undertones. It’s one of those Catholic Churches, like St Bernard’s in Glengormley which get attacked so often, it never makes it to the news pages. St Columcille’s in East Belfast has suffered yet another attack – this time with some racist undertones. It’s one of those Catholic Churches, …

Major underground laundering facilities in Armagh/Louth

Mick Fealty on March 10, 2006, 5:05 pm

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Here’s a brief update on the story Pete picked up yesterday morning. Owen Bowcott’s report hints heavily that the raid on Slab Murphy’s farm, which straddles the border has taken place in the context of the decommissioning of IRA weapons, and that organisations assertion that it is no longer involved in criminal activity. He has previously been the subject of an ARA probe. The Irish Times has more details: Yesterday’s searches of multiple sites and premises, named Operation Achilles, involved …

Leaking, whistleblowing or spying?

Mick Fealty on March 10, 2006, 12:58 am

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There’s a storm brewing in Derry over alleged leaks to the SDLP, according to the front page of today’s Derry News: An investigation has been launched after confidential documents submitted to local council were leaked to the SDLP. The probe began after an extract from a funding application was published in a SDLP position paper. The application was rejected and appeared….. as an example of alternative policing. Derry City Council confirmed yesterday that an extract of the supposedly confidential funding …

9th IMC report published

Pete Baker on March 8, 2006, 4:43 pm

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The Ninth Independent Monitoring Commission report has been published online here – as the accompanying press release notes, “This report gives an assessment of progress in the implementation of the British Government’s normalisation programme which was published on 1 August 2005 by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. The period covered in this Report is from 1 August 2005 to 31 January 2006.”However the report also states – 3.9 So far as security normalisation is concerned, we draw the …

Recovery of assets key to community stability?

Mick Fealty on March 7, 2006, 7:28 pm

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The Northern Ireland Office today published the Research and Statistical Bulletin (PDF) 1/2006 ‘Public Attitudes Towards Crime and Recovery of Assets by the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) in Northern Ireland: Findings from the July 2005 Northern Ireland Omnibus Survey’. The following based on an analysis of 14 questions that were included in the July 2005 Northern Ireland Omnibus Survey, a personal interview survey of 1,148 adults living in private households throughout Northern Ireland. 60% of respondents thought recovery of significant …

UDA will never go away you know!!

Mick Fealty on March 7, 2006, 6:06 pm

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The UDA also made a statement in court this morning. Although it says it must now take its struggle into the political arena, it nowhere unambiguously suggests it is pulling out of criminal activity. And in an echo of Gerry Adams words, it signs off with “We’ll never go away you know!!”. Emmm…Here’s the UDA’s statement in full: In the summer of 1972 when the IRA threatened our very existence young Protestant men flocked in their thousands to join vigilante …

UDA meeting preparation to ‘stand down’?

Mick Fealty on March 7, 2006, 5:20 pm

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Ihab Shoukri‘s solicitor in court this morning: “It’s somewhat ironic that the plea had been advanced by police that the individuals in the upstairs bar were involved in some sort of show of strength. In fact they were attending a meeting, the result of which was to announce the end of all criminal activities by the UDA. Police have documents to prove that“. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet …

Thanks but no thanks…

Mick Fealty on March 7, 2006, 1:58 pm

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Ulster Unionist Michael Copeland has declined the offer from Bertie Ahern to attend the 90th Anniversary celebrations of the 1916 Easter Rising. He told the Irish Times (subs needed):”It is up to people of the Republic to celebrate their own past in whatever way they think appropriate. We have no problem with that, but their version of history would not be our version of history.” “The Easter insurgency which took place during the Great War led to the death of …

Dermot Ahern: towards a non sectarian politics?

Mick Fealty on March 6, 2006, 5:45 pm

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Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs has made an interesting speech this morning, which suggests that political parties in NI could usefully consider signing up for an anti racist protocol, in pursuit of a non sectarian politics. Trouble is, (particularly if you read the points we’ve bulleted) if all the parties in NI genuinely snapped to these conditions, the policy cupboard whilst not bare exactly, would look decidedly thin. Since all parties, have majored on the divisive and largely sectarian aspects …

Facing the truth?

Mick Fealty on March 6, 2006, 4:51 pm

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THe BBC screened the second of a three part series called Facing the Truth. The last part is screened tonight. It is definately worth watching, precisely because it raises important questions about the telling of stories and the degree to which ‘reconciliation’ can actually be said to take place through such events. Jane Bell explores a number of angles in considering the effectiveness of the programme.My own brief thoughts: – It underlines the power of simple story telling. The stories …

Shoot out at the Alexandra Bar

Mick Fealty on March 4, 2006, 6:48 pm

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Bizarre events in North Belfast on Thursday, when there seems to have been some kind of shoot out between the UFF (an organisation supposedly on ceasefire) and the PSNI. 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

Tribunal into allegations of garda� collusion begins in Dublin

Pete Baker on March 3, 2006, 7:19 pm

| Readers 43

While the wrangling over the terms of the inquiries recommended by retired Canadian Judge, Peter Cory, continues here, another of his recommended inquiries opened in Dublin today as a tribunal began into the murders of Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Robert Buchanan, ambushed and killed by members of the Provisional IRA as they returned north after an informal meeting with senior garda� in Dundalk on 20 March, 1989. As the RT� report notes, “The tribunal is investigating the possibility …

Not real people. Just Orange B*******

Mick Fealty on March 3, 2006, 3:34 pm

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Lindy McDowell: “Welcome aboard, Chas. How does it feel to be a Hun?” Despite some heavy personal media targeting of some of the more colourful members of the march, she points out this was

Riots have revoked licence to stereotype

Mick Fealty on March 3, 2006, 3:09 pm

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David Adams in the Irish Times with an important perspective on the Dublin riots. All, he argues, is not lost! (subs Needed). He doesn’t use the word ‘historical” once, but he may well have nailed the long term significance of last Saturday, for Northerners and Southerners alike. “To date, the organisers of the riots in Dublin, and others, have had free rein to stereotype unionists as they like. But all is far from lost, for by their actions of last …