Dealing with the Past – Page 7 – Slugger O'Toole

Left to themselves, the parties won’t agree. The time has come for the governments to bring forward solutions which involve the people directly

Brian Walker on April 9, 2017, 11:11 am

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Observed from London, the political atmosphere at home is surreal. The volume of comment on the talks is in inverse proportion to hard information. Expectations of agreement by Good Friday are so low that the local media can barely be roused from torpor. Emergency action for feeding the Stormont cats occupied more space in the Belfast Telegraph the other day. Further emergency action to fund the regional government must be taken within a week followed by the crunch decision to …

Gerry Adams dons the mantle of McGuinness and holds out his hand to unionists

Brian Walker on April 3, 2017, 12:58 am

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In an interview with Sky News on the eve of the resumed interparty talks, Gerry Adams addresses familiar charges levelled against him by more than unionists. In a move clearly designed to win greater trust, the Sinn Fein president is at pains to deny that he is raising the bar so high as to guarantee that the talks will fail, with the ulterior motive of abandoning the Assembly and exploiting Brexit to pursue a strategy of Irish unity based …

At last! The British and Irish governments have produced an agreed plan to put to the Assembly parties from Monday 3 April

Brian Walker on April 2, 2017, 2:47 pm

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Not before time, a detailed talks plan agreed between the two governments has been presented to the Assembly parties and will form the basis of talks over a 10 day period beginning tomorrow. Brian Rowan, former security correspondent and Assembly candidate, has got sight of it and has summarised it in EamonnMallie.com As I’ve been arguing for weeks this is the essential move if the talks are to stand any chance of success. At worst it shifts part of any …

We Are The Legacy: The inheritance of millennials living in the post-McGuinness/Paisley age

Soapbox on March 30, 2017, 2:48 pm

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I awoke last Tuesday morning to the unexpected news that shocked us all and experienced the odd emotions that accompany comprehending an earthly existence ending. Unsurprisingly what followed was a mixed bag of media commentary and public opinion, that spanned from the praising of a Republican freedom fighter to the condemning of a terrorist warlord. Of course between these extremes was the telling of a life of two halves and the impact that Martin McGuinness made in the establishment of …

Gerry Adams has been allowed to fill the vacuum at the heart of the talks

Brian Walker on March 27, 2017, 1:53 am

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Only the most basic information has emerged so far out of the set piece statements from the parties. Arlene Foster’s offer of a return to the Executive “without pre-conditions” and do sensible things like passing the budget was never going to be enough to draw in Sinn Fein, whose whole position was all about setting conditions. If she was ever going to give satisfaction on matching Sinn Fein’s unmanageably long list of demands, why not give some specific declarations of …

Gerry Adams invokes the fresh memory of Martin McGuinness and issues an ultimatum on the talks

Brian Walker on March 23, 2017, 1:04 am

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“Sinn Fein opposed to any extension of Stormont talks ahead of Monday’s deadline – ‘We will bury our friend tomorrow and move directly from his graveside to do our utmost to get Assembly restored’ Speaking in Newry on the eve of Martin McGuinness’s funeral, the Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has been talking the talk of ultimatums. Lest anyone thinks Sinn Fein has been distracted this week, he disabuses them of the idea that the immediate period of mourning for …

“there are folk struggling with loss tonight and others having the memory of their loss stirred up…”

Mick Fealty on March 23, 2017, 12:24 am

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Harrowing, restrained interview on @BBCgmu with widow of Patsy Gillespie, turned into an involuntary suicide bomber by McGuinness's IRA men — Sam McBride (@SJAMcBride) March 22, 2017 As one good friend noted on Facebook this evening “there are folk struggling with loss tonight and others struggling with having the memory of their loss being stirred up” in Northern Ireland, in London and in other parts of the world. This interview from Good Morning Ulster is just one of many with …

No side deal for soldiers, Theresa. If you can legislate for the language, you can legislate for the legacy

Brian Walker on February 22, 2017, 4:40 pm

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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 February 2017 Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con) Q9. If she will take steps to introduce legislative proposals to provide legal protection to …

Pressure for special treatment for soldiers would kill any chance of agreement on the past. Obviously.

Brian Walker on February 3, 2017, 11:26 am

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Flaws in the system of investigation into charges of British army misconduct “on the battlefield “ have been dramatically exposed in the disgrace of the solicitor Phil Shiner. In the Commons and in the press, it has reinforced calls for Theresa May to speed up the promised reform of how human rights law applies to ex-soldiers who served not only in Iraq but in Northern Ireland. The Shiner case will no doubt boost her well established scepticism about how human …

What on earth is James Brokenshire up to? Does he even realise he’s attacking the judiciary?

Brian Walker on February 1, 2017, 11:47 am

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The recently retired and very steady SDLP veteran MLA Alban Maginness who is also a qualified barrister has been given space to mount a measured criticism against secretary of state James Brokenshire in the Belfast Telegraph for his disastrous article in the Sunday Telegraph complaining that an apparent “imbalance” that has led to a “disproportionate” focus on criminal inquiries involving former soldiers.“I am clear the current system is not working and we are in danger of seeing the past rewritten,” …

DPP takes heat over decision to prosecute ex soldiers…

Mick Fealty on January 26, 2017, 8:02 am

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Interesting response from the DPP Barra McGrory, who’s been coming under pressure for his decision to prosecute British soldiers for Troubles era crimes. Vincent Kearney reports: I asked Mr McGrory if he viewed the criticism as an attempt to influence his decision making and to put pressure on him not to prosecute former soldiers. “If they are not trying to influence me then they are certainly being personally insulting, and they are questioning my integrity,” he says. “But what concerns …

In dealing with the past, favoured treatment for soldiers can only end in tears

Brian Walker on January 25, 2017, 10:51 am

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The Times (£) reports that a decision by the British government to review the potential caseload against soldiers for actions during the Troubles includes a proposal to set a time limit on the investigations. The move is a response to a campaign by Conservative MPs and peers already angered by what they regard as over-zealous prosecutions after the Iraq war. It is understood that the new legislation, which is due to be drafted by the Northern Ireland Office and the …

Prosecution of soldiers gives the lie to the idea that anyone has immunity for Troubles era killings…

Mick Fealty on December 16, 2016, 8:35 pm

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So two soldiers now face prosecution for the killing of then unarmed IRA man Joe McCann near his home near the edge of the Markets on 15 April 1972…. The defendants, known as Soldier A and Soldier C, are the surviving members of the Army patrol which shot Joe McCann. They are aged 65 and 67, and were in the Parachute Regiment. They are from England, but are expected to appear in court in Northern Ireland in the next few …

What could outsiders do to end the tragic farce over dealing with the past?

Brian Walker on December 15, 2016, 1:12 pm

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“A big push” on legacy issues is being promised by secretary of State James Brokenshire as the Belfast Telegraph reports, following the failure to meet the deadline to implement the legacy part of Fresh Start. Whether it will mean anything more than UN attempts to end the horrors of Syria remains to be seen. Brokenshire presents himself as an honest broker but in truth whether he realises it or not, he is as much a party to deadlock as the …

The HIU (if it is allowed to go operational) is the only chance NI has of prosecuting terrorists

Mick Fealty on December 14, 2016, 2:48 pm

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Interesting snippet via Mark Devenport on the one-sided investigation of the past. He quotes Kris Hopkins from NIO in a Westminster Hall debate yesterday… “The almost exclusive focus on the actions of the state is disproportionate and must be challenged and redressed if we are to deal with the past in a way that is fair and balanced and allows victims and survivors to see better outcomes than the current piecemeal approach.” The Northern Ireland Office minister argued that the …

“Adams’s dud email list of possible suspects make his honeyed words seem very hollow…”

Mick Fealty on December 12, 2016, 6:50 am

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Two good pieces well worth noting over the weekend on the big southern story of last week, Gerry Adams and that list he sent to the Guards. Both put their finger on something important. First Miriam Lord in the Irish Times: Perish the thought that this inconsequential email was sent with the express intention of further burnishing Gerry’s halo. Withhold information? Sure didn’t he contact the commissioner herself, with names and all? The reimagining of Adams continues. It is infinitely …

Shame on the politicians for allowing the PSNI to become the victims of a tabloid firestorm over army prosecutions

Brian Walker on December 9, 2016, 12:20 pm

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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 of Army action in the Troubles. The surge probably owes more to the establishment campaign against prosecutions over Iraq – one case now being the …

Adams’ tactical management of his secret past keeps coming back to bite…

Mick Fealty on December 8, 2016, 3:39 pm

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Interesting development at a press conference in Dublin this morning, when Austin Stack accused Gerry Adams of lying to Dail Eireann when he made his statement. That’s a serious accusation since Parliament operates on the basis that all elected members are acting in good faith. Nor is it surprising, since the clear and direct implication of Adams’ rather strident account in the Dail yesterday is that Stack is lying. For party loyalists (who have been through a deal worse at the hands …

“…but I withheld the names. Adams said ‘that’s not the way we operate.’”

Mick Fealty on November 30, 2016, 5:42 pm

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I’m in complete admiration for the way Sinn Fein continues to believe in their leader, no matter how implausible the scenario. This week’s implausible scenario features an email Mr A sent to An Garda Siochana just days before February’s general election. Gareth McKeown in the Irish News explains: Mr Adams named a number of senior Sinn Féin figures suspected of the 1983 murder of Brian Stack in an email sent to Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan back in February. Three of …

Another few words of sense about dealing with the past that the politicians refuse to face.

Brian Walker on November 14, 2016, 12:32 pm

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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 merits. This was an approach I ran with to support Arkiv, a group of historians who wanted to take it on, initially encouraged by the …