EU – Page 60 – Slugger O'Toole

“The causes of these two problems are therefore likely to be different…”

Pete Baker on January 17, 2013, 8:41 pm

| Readers 41

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland is conducting further tests at two Irish meat processing factories following the recent identification of pig and horse DNA in a range of beef-based products. The UK’s Food Standards Agency is also investigating further. And there’s been a statement from the Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister, Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill. Commenting on the Food Safety Authority of Ireland findings of horse DNA which been found in a range of meat products, Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill said: “I support …

Labour’s chance to be both the national party and natural party of government?

Mick Fealty on January 17, 2013, 10:45 am

| Readers 62

What keeps politicos awake in Dublin about Britain these days? Well, here’s a clue, despite Micheal Martin’s interventions on northern politics, it’s not Northern Ireland. Rather its the future trajectory of the UK in relation to Europe. Even Ed Milliband is getting wrapped up in the big parade. As ever, there’s some sage advice to the Labour party from Martin Kettle. It’s 2015 (or sooner) and the Labour Party are back in Number Ten. What’s the first thing Ed Milliband …

Belfast Court refuses to order Liam Campbell extradition to Lithuania

Pete Baker on January 16, 2013, 11:08 pm

| Readers 122

Lithuanian authorities may be regretting their apparent preference for dealing with the Northern Ireland Courts in the attempt to extradite Liam Campbell, one of the men held to be responsible for the Omagh bombing, on weapons and terrorism charges. As the BBC reports, Mr Justice Burgess has refused to order Liam Campbell’s extradition to Lithuania on the grounds that he was likely to be held in inhuman and degrading conditions. [Liam Campbell’s] lawyers resisted extradition proceedings by arguing that it would …

Catalunya – Some elections are important…

Dewi on November 20, 2012, 6:32 am

| Readers 46

There’s a huge election in Catalunya on Sunday: Jon Henley’s there for the Guardian. Here’s his succinct summary: Catalonia is preparing to vote in an election that could determine not just its future, but the shape of Spain and, perhaps, even the European Union. The Generalitat, or autonomous government, polls – which have been called early after the Spanish prime minister refused even to discuss Catalonia’s demands to collect its taxes – will in effect be a plebiscite on whether …

“I think it is somewhat contemptuous.”

Pete Baker on November 8, 2012, 8:44 pm

| Readers 61

It’s difficult to argue with Jeffrey Dudgeon’s comments on the Office of the Northern Ireland First and Deputy First Minister last minute compliance with an FoI request – 320 days after the application was made, and one day before a judicial review hearing into the delay was due to begin. From the BBC report Jeffrey Dudgeon had brought legal action over the delay. A judicial review hearing was due on 8 November but the outstanding material was sent to him on 7 …

#SocialInnovation: Just how Innovative is Northern Ireland?

Mick Fealty on November 8, 2012, 10:20 am

| Readers 67

Well, probably not as bad you might have feared. But then again, we’re probably not as good as you might have hoped. This chart looks at European regions in terms of their capacity to generate innovate. It’s NOT about social innovation per se, but I wondered if it give us clues as to the cultural preparedness of NI to innovate? London and SE England is a Medium Leader. But NOTE, only Germany, Sweden Switzerland, Austria and Finland are in the …

Roddy Doyle’s Two Pints: An epic tale of modern Ireland in less than 90 pages..

Mick Fealty on October 29, 2012, 11:50 am

| Readers 176

Less than 90 pages long, Roddy Doyle’s latest book sounds like a must have… I must admit I have never heard three reviewers so obviously break down in laughter over just one book as on Saturday Review (12.02 in) this weekend. This extract from the Irish Times Review section is all I have to say on the matter, till I have a copy in my hand: – Have yeh made your mind up yet? – A pint – same as …

The sad tale of tolerating torture that hangs over us today

Brian Walker on October 29, 2012, 10:05 am

| Readers 112

Ian Cobain a senior reporter on the Guardian is on Radio 4’s Start the Week ( listen on BBCiPlayer or RadioPlayer after 10 a.m. or the repeat at 2100 live tonight). I strongly recommend a listen. The author of Cruel Britannia: a secret history of British torture, he gives a calm and convincing account of how torture techniques were introduced in the colonies after WW2 and applied at the beginning of internment in Northern Ireland in 1971. . Cobain is …

“For the first time, Alex Salmond has been made to look ridiculous”

Brian Walker on October 25, 2012, 9:29 am

| Readers 72

Alex Salmond has had his worst week in years. The SNP annual conference revealed a split over continuing membership of Nato. Then he was exposed for, shall we say, stretching a point to its limits by claiming he had legal approval for insisting that an independent Scotland would smoothly inherit EU membership from the former UK. Small wonder that David Cameron, no mean connoisseur of omnishambles himself, crowed at PMQs yesterday. Iain McWhirter in the Herald, explains why Salmond’s spinning …

Stalling on abortion law reform North and South

Brian Walker on October 22, 2012, 2:21 pm

| Readers 43

Let me try to offer some context on abortion law, with the health warning that I’m not a lawyer. The law on abortion in both parts of Ireland is in question because of a judgment of the European Court of Human Rights almost two years ago which I among others drew attention to at the time. Does that ruling compel the Republic and the North to legalise abortion on demand up to 24 weeks or anything like it ? No …

Corporation tax: put us out of our misery

Brian Walker on October 15, 2012, 2:18 pm

| Readers 40

The Financial Times (£) carries a blunt warning from Bombardier, Northern Ireland’s largest employer, that it will lose its ability to invest in the province unless the end of regional aid at the behest of the EU is offset by a cut in corporation tax. This gets down to the bottom line after years of teasing on the subject. (Incidentally has any other news organisation bothered to report this? I can find nothing on line). The FT also reports: Long …

Nobel Peace Prize 2012: “What next? An Oscar for Van Rompuy…”

Pete Baker on October 12, 2012, 8:12 pm

| Readers 55

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has done it again… This time they have decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2012 is to be awarded to the European Union (EU). *shakes head* As a sceptical Ambrose Evans-Pritchard notes at the Telegraph blog The EU’s high priests draw on a caricature version of history that must be challenged. The post-war national democracies – nurtured by the Marshall Plan, Nato, and benign American influence, nota bene – are not the problem, they are the …

Britain’s divergence from Europe does not necessarily benefit traditional unionists

Brian Walker on October 8, 2012, 11:12 am

| Readers 47

Ed Curran’s column comparing the Ulster Covenant era with today’s is full of good sense. His message is that no State, least of all the Republic, is fully independent in the era of globalisation and bailout. But the state of flux in Europe is beginning slowly to form into a new political landscape. Budgetary and fiscal union combined with closer political relationships seems inevitable for the Eurozone. Britain, historically on the edge of Europe, is sworn never (“never, never, never?”) …

And the German Constitutional Court backs the Bailout Fund…

Mick Fealty on September 12, 2012, 9:53 am

| Readers 51

Which leaves just Deputy Thomas Pringle in the running to overturn the ESM in the European Court of Justice on the 23rd October… where he has put down two questions: Is the ESM Treaty compatible with the EU Treaties?   Is the related decision by heads of government to amend the EU Treaties legally valid?   Can the ESM come into operation before the EU Treaty amendment comes into force (1st January 2013 at earliest)? But the German court decision does not …

In this technology-oriented society, why are women still at the back of the bus?

Fabienne Joseph on August 24, 2012, 10:46 am

| Readers 69

In this technology-oriented society, IT workers are now comparable to builders, plumbers and other technicians of traditional society. These are the individuals upon which 22 million UK employees who use IT in their daily work rely on to get their jobs done. T workers have become the functional backbone of companies across the UK and Ireland. Unfortunately, in these days of equality, the IT sector is dominated by men. Although not a “physically” demanding sector, IT is generally seen to …

Assange and Wikileaks, the Walmart of whistleblowing?

Mick Fealty on August 20, 2012, 8:34 am

| Readers 70

Sometimes it useful to go back to when a story first broke to get some perspective on where it is now. This snapshot is from the BBC’s Newsnight edition from the day after it ‘escaped’ to the Ecudorian Embassy earlier in the summer: Julian Assange is not worried so much about going to Sweden as being inducted into a legal process that could see him end up in the US to face trial for espionage, or worse. Fair enough, I …

Nuance or dissent? The SNP, NATO and internal party management…

Better Together on August 8, 2012, 7:39 pm

| Readers 38

David Torrance has written in the Scotsman about the upcoming SNP Conference debate on potential membership of NATO in an independent Scotland. Torrance notes that a quiet U-turn, initially planned for a June meeting of the National Council of the party, has been pushed up to Conference level after an apparent mis-reading the temperature of the party: “…to have at least seven SNP MSPs prepared to oppose the leadership’s position at conference constitutes a significant rebellion, certainly the biggest since Alex …

Euro crisis: “This time it’s really, really serious…”

Pete Baker on July 26, 2012, 2:55 pm

| Readers 65

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso is off to Greece for “a regular meeting” with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. His first visit to Athens since June 2009. Meanwhile, the rising cost of Spanish and Italian Government borrowing has prompted a declaration of intent from European Central Bank president Mario Draghi. “To the extent that the size of these sovereign premia hamper the functioning of the monetary policy transmission channel, they come within our mandate,” Mr Draghi said in a speech at the Global …

Laois counterfeiting trial collapses

Pete Baker on July 19, 2012, 6:33 pm

| Readers 103

The Dublin Special Criminal Court trial of four men arrested at the scene of an underground bunker in County Laois in 2010, after what Europol described as “a major investigation into one of the most sophisticated money counterfeiting set-ups uncovered in Europe to date”, has collapsed after the prosecution counsel entered a nolle prosequi – a decision to no longer prosecute the case. From the BBC report At the Special Criminal Court, the prosecution counsel entered a nolle prosequi – a decision …

Bovine TB and badgers: “This approach has not been tried anywhere else…”

Pete Baker on July 15, 2012, 3:26 pm

| Readers 65

The different approaches of the various administrations in the UK and Ireland to attempting to eradicate bovine tuberculosis [TB] in wild animals, specifically badgers, are worth noting. They are all in response to the EU Directive 64/432/EEC which, as the Welsh adminstration’s website notes, “requires Member States to provide plans showing how they will eradicate bovine TB in cattle.” In England, the UK government is pressing ahead with badger culling, despite the opposition of animal welfare groups like the RSPCA. In Wales, the Welsh …