Europe – Page 21 – Slugger O'Toole

No pope here, nor in Wales

Pete Baker on March 17, 2010, 4:29 pm

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Details have been announced of Emperor Constantine Pope Benedict XVI’s official state visit to the UK Scotland and England. Apparently, it’s got something to do with the way his Empire is administrated… According to the BBC report – “The theme of the visit will be relations between the Christian Churches and the major faiths.” But, obviously, not those who “cannot, according to Catholic doctrine, be called ‘Churches’ in the proper sense.” And, according to Scottish Secretary of State, Jim Murphy, …

“I will only resign if asked by the Holy Father.”

Pete Baker on March 16, 2010, 3:23 am

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Cardinal Séan Brady is resisting calls for his resignation over his involvement in a 1975 canonical inquiry into allegations of sex abuse by Fr Brendan Smyth, during which the complainants, aged 10 and 14, “signed undertakings, on oath, to respect the confidentiality of the information-gathering process.” Brendan Smyth was convicted of 17 counts of sexual abuse 20 years later – and brought down an Irish government in the process. From an iol report Asked why he did not see it …

“this failure to communicate the seriousness of the situation…”

Pete Baker on March 15, 2010, 9:56 pm

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At the time of the recall of Irish pork over a dioxin contamination Sinn Féin’s Pat Doherty sought to blame the UK’s Food Standards Agency for the delay in a Ministerial response in Northern Ireland. And, as RTÉ reported in January, the Irish government’s Inter-Agency Review Group [pdf file] concluded that “Communications between agencies, industry and consumers were both timely and informative.” But the NI Assembly’s Agriculture Committee has just published their own Dioxin Inquiry report. And they have concluded …

“Venezuelan government’s co-operation in the illicit collaboration” between Eta and Farc”

Pete Baker on March 4, 2010, 5:59 am

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With a number of convicted, and suspected, former ETA terrorists washing up on these shores there’s a notable report of interest from the Irish Times. Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez denied the allegations. Typically, he blamed an “international Yankee plot”, describing it as “a sad remnant of Spain’s colonial past”. It is not the first time Mr Chavez has had strong words for Spain. His repeated interruptions of Mr Zapatero at the Ibero-American summit in Chile two years ago caused King …

McFarlane takes Ireland to European Court of Human Rights

Pete Baker on March 3, 2010, 6:41 pm

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The Irish Times informs us that “Ireland makes a rare appearance before the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg today to face allegations of violating the rights of Maze escapee Brendan McFarlane.” The complaint followed the collapse of the trial of the prominent Provisional IRA member on charges relating to the kidnapping of businessman Don Tidey in 1983. From the Irish Times report In this case, Mr McFarlane is asking the court for a ruling …

“They can slaughter pigs for fun, but making pretty shapes with the bladder is a bit of a mystery.”

Pete Baker on March 2, 2010, 2:45 am

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At the Telegraph’s sports blog, Kiwi Eric Janssen has a question about the weekend Six Nations rugby Will Greenwood wrote on Saturday that he believed Brian O’Driscoll was Ireland’s defensive weak link. Did Paul O’Connell agree and therefore kick his captain in the head? We demand to know! Heh.And from the always consistent Eddie Butler at the Guardian England and Wales need some therapy, but Scotland must be on the verge of being sectioned. Andy Robinson, their coach, is obsessive …

Belfast Court orders extradition of de Juana Chaos to Spain

Pete Baker on March 1, 2010, 10:27 pm

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I mentioned recently that convicted ETA killer José Ignacio (Iñaki) de Juana Chaos was still fighting extradition proceedings on charges of glorifying terrorism in Spain. Today the BBC reports that Belfast Recorder Tom Burgess has ordered that the extradition of de Juana Chaos should proceed. Judge Burgess said there was no evidence that he would not receive a fair trial, and he could seek bail from the courts in Spain. He recognised the potential impact if he were to be …

“blatant attempt to mislead”

Pete Baker on February 18, 2010, 2:04 am

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Still fighting extradition proceedings on charges of glorifying terrorism in Spain, lawyers for convicted ETA killer José Ignacio (Iñaki) de Juana Chaos have been back in court in Belfast. This time they were losing a legal battle for a licence for de Juana Chaos to work as a taxi driver for the West Belfast Taxi Association. From the BBC report His barrister told the court Mr de Juana Chaos, 54, should be treated as an exception to the rule where …

“they have waived the rules on what was designed to be an impenetrable fortress”

Pete Baker on February 12, 2010, 5:17 pm

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The BBC report on yesterday’s announcement that EU leaders are ready to take “determined and co-ordinated action, if needed, to safeguard financial stability in the euro area as a whole”, as the Greek government attempts to tackle its debts and budget deficit, is as good a starting point as any – linking as it does a lengthy post by the BBC’s own Stephanie Flanders. In turn Flanders quotes Martin Wolf in the Financial Times “So long as the European Central …

“Don’t forget that we are talking about the Eurovision”

Pete Baker on February 11, 2010, 10:36 pm

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I mostly managed to avoid last year’s Eurovision, when Graham Norton took over Sir Terry Wogan’s duties with the mic and Ireland’s RTÉ’s entry failed to progress to the finals. Not that the BBC entry did much better. Still, at least they weren’t actual turkeys. Or even stuffed ones. But since it’s a quiet news day, so far… RTÉ have announced the five Eurosong 2010 finalists, as selected by the RTÉ panel. From the list the official Eurovision site leads …

“Lord Carlile, the official reviewer of terrorism laws, said today a change in the law was needed”

Pete Baker on January 13, 2010, 10:54 pm

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The Guardian reports on a “ruling today by the European court of human rights against the unlawful police use of counter-terrorism stop and search powers” under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 The sheer scale of the stop and searches has made clear that these counter-terrorism powers – under which police are supposed to be searching for “articles that could be used in connection with terrorism” – have become another tactic in daily police encounters with the public, regardless …

French seek Dublin man’s extradition on alleged terrorism and weapons trafficking charges

Pete Baker on January 13, 2010, 1:36 am

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An iol report notes that French authorities are seeking the extradiction of a Dublin man in connection with alleged terrorism and weapons trafficking offences. In a European arrest warrant seeking Mr Doran’s surrender, it is claimed the Dublin man was involved in a Real IRA-led attempt to develop a weapon and ammunition supply through France in late 2003. It is alleged the 31-year-old arrived in France by ferry on August 10, 2003 as part of this operation. Mr Doran was …

“We would like to know what happened”

Pete Baker on January 8, 2010, 9:17 pm

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According to an Irish Times report the European Commission want a word in Slovakia’s shell-like about that explosives incident earlier this week. And in a separate report Daniel McLaughlin, in Budapest, notes further discrepancies in the Interior Ministry’s version of events One of the key questions surrounds how and why the pilot of the Dublin-bound flight was allowed to take off with some 96g of high-grade plastic explosives on board. The Slovak interior ministry insists the explosives were not a …

“an absolutely phenomenal 26 days”

Pete Baker on December 30, 2009, 11:56 pm

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From CernTV. A short end of term report from the scientists at the world’s highest-energy particle accelerator, including Belfast-born director of accelerators, Steve Myers – interview with Robin McKie noted here. It’s still the experiment most likely to find more than a pair of WIMPy socks. If they’re really there… Pete Baker

“I’m hoping they will do it and I’m hoping they won’t renege.”

Pete Baker on December 29, 2009, 5:12 pm

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The Belfast Telegraph follows up yesterday’s report on the mood music from within loyalist paramilitary groups with a prediction from an anonymous “well-placed source” that – “The UDA is expected to fully disarm before the February deadline set by the Secretary of State, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal.” [Is that the “good” and “bad” UDA? – Ed]. Whether it’s dependent on the success of Martin McAleese’s lobbying isn’t made clear but the title quote, from “a government source”, suggests some …

“community development is a matter for the devolved administration and not the NIO”

Pete Baker on December 18, 2009, 1:02 am

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BBC NI’s Vincent Kearney reports that Martin McAleese, husband of Irish President Mary McAleese, “approached the British and Irish Governments and the NI Executive for millions of pounds of funding for UDA controlled areas. It is understood decommissioning stalled because of a perceived failure to deliver the money promised.” Mr McAleese has a well known relationship with senior UDA figures. He is understood to have held a series of meetings with Jackie McDonald and other UDA leaders to discuss their …

Gilmore: Fianna Fail the new Celtic Tories…

Mick Fealty on December 11, 2009, 5:06 pm

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Hmmm… I see where he’s coming from… “Twice in a generation, Fianna Fáil has brought this country to ruin. It is never the wealthy or the greedy who are forced to carry the can. For Fianna Fáil now to describe itself as a republican party is almost grotesque.” But you can see the stick the more socialist Brown is getting from the markets over his PBR: “The PBR seeks to create a fiscal fiction that the deficit can be resolved …

“It may very possibly be that Ireland is in the worst of both worlds..”

Pete Baker on December 10, 2009, 10:05 pm

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Crooked Timber’s Henry Farrell with a quick overview of the Irish budget announced yesterday. As a small open economy, Ireland would probably have devalued to help cushion the shock, if it had not been an EMU member with no effective control over its currency. Given EMU membership, devaluation (and exit from the system) would probably have been a very bad idea. Ireland is hoping to make the best of a bad job, adding levies, increasing taxes and making swingeing cuts …

“The following UK MEPs will attend..”

Pete Baker on December 5, 2009, 12:13 am

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As Mark Devenport notes, the UK MEPs heading to the Copenhagen Climate Conference as part of the official European Parliament delegation look to be a representative interesting bunch. The following UK MEPs will attend the UN Climate Change Conference as part of the official European Parliament delegation: Linda McAvan MEP (Lab, Yorks & Humber); Bairbre de Brún MEP (Sinn Fein, Northern Ireland); Nick Griffin MEP (BNP, North West). Pete Baker

Cameron’s LIsbon U Turn underlies his downturn in the polls…

Mick Fealty on December 2, 2009, 4:13 am

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Another reason for the DUP to be cheerful? The Cameron effect is weakening. Or rather his U turn over the Lisbon referendum is cooling the ardour of some of his supporters. How will that affect the typically Eurosceptic hearts and minds of the unionist voter (if at all)? 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 …