Dealing with the Past – Page 17 – Slugger O'Toole

Protestant Alienation 2011

Turgon on June 8, 2011, 7:14 pm

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Almost 20 years ago now the academic community in Northern Ireland first began looking at the concept of Protestant Alienation. Amongst the factors they identified were the feeling that the Hume Adams talks were creating a blueprint for the defeat of unionism which the British government might acquiesce to. That feeling of alienation increased with events such as the IRA ceasefire. Looking back it is now easy to read the IRA ceasefire as a victory for unionism: the IRA had …

“It has obviously had a neuralgic effect on Ann Travers”

Mick Fealty on June 6, 2011, 2:36 pm

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Neuralgia: severe spasmodic pain caused by damage to or malfunctioning of a nerve and often following the course of the nerve. It is well worth listening to Mark Devenport’s interview with Martin McGuinness in yesterday’s Inside Politics on Radio Ulster… Not least for his line that “one of the big failures of the peace process has been the inability to find agreement on how we deal with the past”. Quite. Although from Mr McGuinness’ choice of wording it is clear …

Thoughts on Victims, the past and the future of the past

Turgon on June 3, 2011, 11:34 am

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The furore over Mary McArdle’s appointment as special advisor to the new Culture Minister Caral Ni Chuilin is showing no sign of going away. As Pete mentioned below McArdle has made a comment in the Andersonstown News expressing regret that Mary Travers was killed: regret but no apology and certainly no repentance which would as Jim Allister and others have pointed out, have to mean naming the other members of her murder gang: something her oath to the overall murder …

Some unionist attempts at Kremlinology

Turgon on May 31, 2011, 7:22 pm

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Unionists are often correctly accused of having little insight into the political thinking of nationalists and republicans: it is a Northern Ireland version of Kremlinology. Two unionist commentators have, however, made an attempt at analysing the current position of republicans in the News Letter. Alex Kane looks at the position of republicans within government: Michelle O’Neill, their new minister of agriculture said: “We’re not career politicians. We’re republicans, we’re republican activists. That’s what we are about here. We’re not interested …

A calculated insult to victims

Turgon on May 25, 2011, 10:50 pm

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Anne Travers the sister of Mary Travers who was murdered by the IRA outside St. Bridget’s Church on Derryvolgie made a telling intervention in April this year. On that occasion she demolished Pat Cusick of Sinn Fein on RTE’s Liveline (covered by Mick here). Then she was polite, controlled and brilliant as an advocate for victims. Today she has again made her point in the same quiet, powerful and eloquent fashion. This time it was following the news that one …

Truth recovery would benefit from Adams and McGuinness disclosures

Gregory Campbell on January 31, 2011, 10:02 pm

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What was supposed to be the last ‘Bloody Sunday’ march was held at the weekend in Londonderry. It was an occasion when families of those who died will have a particular outlook and the original event was a tragedy for those who lost their lives but the wider community must never forget the comprehensive attempts being made by many others to re -write the history of the context for the original march. Thankfully no -one was murdered and the deed virtually forgotten before the final bloody …

Spain is the current model for dealing with the past

Brian Walker on November 25, 2010, 9:46 pm

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Liam Clarke has been made aware that post Franco Spain rather than South Africa is the current model for dealing with the past. He seems to be the only MSM journalist to pick up Owen Paterson’s interesting Steinberg lecture which I drew attention to last week. Spain passed an Act of Oblivion for all the atrocities committed during a civil war and aftermath that cost a million lives. Are we up for something similar? See Michael Portillo’s essay on his …

PSNI failed injunction against the BBC over new Claudy investigation shows uncertain touch

Brian Walker on November 4, 2010, 12:41 pm

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What was Chief Constable Baggot thinking of when he sought an injunction to try to halt the airing of this week’s BBC Spotlight on the state of a new PSNI investigation into the Claudy bombings? The move has revealed a dramatic revival of police interest in the case after the post-Saville furore that Claudy was one of many atrocities that had been forgotten, a view underscored by DUP MPs in the Commons debate on the Saville report only yesterday. I …

Finucane result “soon” as Woodward attacks coalition for slow progress on legacy

Brian Walker on November 3, 2010, 9:31 pm

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This a full report of the Saville debate and replaces Woodward’s bombshell The unlikely figure of Shaun Woodward has torn open the smooth surface of Westminster consensus by launching an attack on his successor for dilatoriness in tackling the legacy of the Troubles. Despite his criticisms and and government protestations they were moving as fast as posible, the debate yielded few clues about what should replace public inquries in complex controversial cases beyond a suggestion to look again at Eames/Bradley’s legacy commission. There was no …

Gerry Adams, memory man

Brian Walker on September 28, 2010, 10:38 pm

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Danny Morrison dilates on failing memories and sportingly includes his old mucker. Can the sharp witted Danny have forgotten the elephant in the room? Don’t all shout at once.. “I have known Gerry for almost forty years and there is no way would I ever enter him for a ‘Memory Man’ competition Adams said: “It isn’t a sin, a crime or an offence to forget about something”, and he reminded unionists that they had done a lot of forgetting about …

Claudy has exposed a drifting system that is increasing victims’ pain

Brian Walker on August 27, 2010, 12:02 pm

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So now the Historical Enquiries Team are planning another review into the Claudy bombing. This follows the Police Ombudsman’s report based on their review of old police files – presumably also reviewed by the HET earlier when they were dealing with the 1972 files as a whole . The process seems to be going round and round and growing ever more complex. Small wonder that the Police Ombudsman the Canadian Al Hutchinson protests to Barney Rowan that the whole business is …

“Most people don’t realise how comprehensive this is.”

Pete Baker on July 23, 2010, 12:27 pm

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In the Belfast Telegraph Liam Clarke has a suggestion for dealing with the past. It involves the extensive archive the Historical Enquiries Team has gathered together. From the Belfast Telegraph article All available evidence on the 3,268 Troubles’ deaths has been assembled in a repository the size of the largest B&Q store near Lisburn. Besides police, Army and MI5 files, the HET has collated Press cuttings, the claims of paramilitary groups, the files of official investigations and more than 3,000 books …

“an important contribution to the debate about the past…”

Pete Baker on July 20, 2010, 4:22 pm

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For what it’s worth… As the BBC reported, yesterday the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Owen Paterson, published “a summary of responses to the previous Government’s consultation on the Consultative Group on the Past Report” [pdf file]. But not the current Government’s response… Apparently they’ll be considering the four three Victims Commissioners’ recent “constructive advice” “in detail over the coming weeks”. Pete Baker

“I’ve decided not to formally publish the report until I’ve heard their concerns…”

Pete Baker on July 9, 2010, 3:42 pm

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According to the BBC report Police Ombudsman Al Hutchinson has withdrawn his report into the 1971 McGurk’s bar bomb. But the quotes in the BBC report from Al Hutchinson point to it being only a delay in publication. Mr Hutchinson said he was aware of the criticisim and had decided not to publish the report until he heard relatives’ concerns “in detail”. “I think it’s appropriate to acknowledge we didn’t deal with the families very well and I need to listen to …

Delay no longer: face up to the Past

Brian Walker on July 2, 2010, 11:51 am

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While unsurprisingly more tentative, it is some kind of vindication that the Victims Commissioners’ report isn’t so very different from the rejected efforts of Eames- Bradley. True, it drops the wretched recognition payments in favour of victims’ needs assessments and suggests a timetable for what it quaintly calls a ” design process” to be completed by autumn of next year. The Executive parties mustn’t be let near the process they say. This is a task for the two governments consulting civil society …

“We must deal with the past without living in it.”

Pete Baker on July 1, 2010, 3:55 pm

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The four three Victims Commissioners have published their “Advice to Government” on “Dealing with the Past” [pdf file]. From the document The Commission for Victims and Survivors has concluded that there is a need for the British Government, acting with the support of the Irish Government, to press the political and civic leaders of Northern Ireland to agree structures to deal with the past, beyond the current arrangements of the Historical Enquiries Team and the Police Ombudsman. An Irish Times …

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 …

A nod and wink is not accountable democracy

Pete Baker on October 19, 2004, 5:02 pm

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In the Irish Times, Fintan O’Toole dissects the hypocrisy of the IRA’s private, and secretive, ‘investigation’ into their murder of 15-year-old Bernard Teggart 30 years ago. He contrasts Sinn Fein’s calls for public inquiries on other murders with their silence on this and concludes that, despite the spinning by the two Aherns: The sickness that allowed the IRA to murder a mentally handicapped child in the name of Irish freedom won’t be cured until the so-called republican movement is willing …