Europe – Page 26 – Slugger O'Toole

“Irish workers are alone in Europe..”

Pete Baker on August 31, 2009, 4:27 pm

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An odd argument from Jimmy Kelly, Unite’s regional secretary, in favour of a No vote on the Lisbon Treaty. “Irish workers are alone in Europe as having no legal right to representation by a union,” said Mr Kelly. “Irish workers are alone in Europe as having no provision for pension protection. “Irish workers are alone in Europe as the only ones whose right to fair pay and employment security are considered by their government as obstacles to economic recovery.” Doesn’t …

Murdoch blames the BBC for his incapacity to make money out of news…

Mick Fealty on August 31, 2009, 3:27 pm

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James Murdoch’s McTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival has caused a stir. Not least at the BBC. In brief, James Murdoch reckons that the BBC is responsible for the fact his company cannot make money online, because the BBC is unfairly using its licence base to dump high quality news content on the net, for free. He also quotes Orwell and warns sagely about the danger of state monopolies. The intellectual core of his pitch is pure Hayck: …we …

Lisbon: Humility is the key to a Yes victory…

Mick Fealty on August 29, 2009, 4:54 pm

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It’s hard to read how the Lisbon campaign is going. We’ve noted a general lack of confidence amongst the political class and a sense that the politicians are leaving it what’s roughly tagged as ‘civil society’, which more often reads as ‘celebrities’. And in the case of some civil society organisations, like the IFA, it’s clear that a significant number of their members may not be heeding their leadership. Below the fold, Michael McLoughlin makes an eloquent plea for a …

Caithfear amach as an Eoraip… Cén áit a bhfuil sin?

Mick Fealty on August 27, 2009, 8:52 pm

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Níl an fhianaise, na hargóintí agus na feachtais ar son Tá do reifreann Lisbon curtha ina luí ar Alan Titley insan Irish Times inniu, ar chor ar bith: Tá dualgas, dá réir sin, ar gach tráchtaire dá bhfuil, an chéad uair a nochtann duine an tuairim, go leataobhach féin, go fiú le camadh a bhéil, le nod a chinn, le hardú mala, le tuin áirithe cainte, an chéad uair a thugtar le fios go ‘gcaithfear amach as an Eoraip’ sinn, …

“You couldn’t make it up.”

Pete Baker on August 25, 2009, 6:11 pm

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Looks like [Irish] chicken could be back on the menu.. or, perhaps, [British] turkey.. The deal may not be signed yet, but with a Northern Ireland company, McCann’s of Omagh, reported to have “submitted an estimate for the job at about €40,000 lower than any tenderer in the Republic”, the Mayor of Ballyshannon, Fine Gael Cllr. Eugene Dolan, is already criticising the Irish Department of Defence for planning “to go across the Border and sign up a Northern Ireland construction …

“Lisbon is a dead duck, a goner, not a hope in hell”…

Mick Fealty on August 24, 2009, 11:59 am

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This one comes courtesy of reader Paddy Matthews in the comment zone here. Deaglán de Breadun with the bad/good news from inside Leinster House: I was told by a highly-experienced (and pro-EU) Fianna Fáil backbencher the farmers are voting against en bloc and don’t pay any attention to what their leaders are saying. (I should point out that the executive council of the Irish Farmers’ Association has voted unanimously to recommend a Yes to Lisbon.) But surely the possibility of …

Big private sector interests move into the Lisbon debate…

Mick Fealty on August 21, 2009, 1:44 pm

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Cian notes the entry of the multinationals, particularly in the person of Jim O’Hara Chief Executive of Intel in Ireland, who’s been on Morning Ireland this morning making a strong case for Ireland signing up to the Lisbon Treaty. Quid Pro Quo says Cian, given the general assumption that Libertas stood for an undisclosed set of private interests (leaving Fianna Fail out of it, for the moment). It’s also worth mentioning the powerful effect of an extremely wealthy external Eurosceptic …

Cold gazpacho with that Spoofer’s guide to Lisbon Mark 2?

Mick Fealty on August 20, 2009, 7:50 pm

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I like this. Not a lot, but I do like it. It stands out like a sore thumb amongst the utterly banal marketing and talking down of the rest of pro Lisbon noise… And Jason is unapologetically pro Lisbon. Yet it doesn’t talk to the reader as if they hadn’t got a thought of their own. This bit below the fold is the bit I like the best. It’s the bit where it says what is likely to happen if …

NTMA estimates distribution of toxic loans

Pete Baker on August 20, 2009, 5:02 pm

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The Irish Independent reports that the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has revealed the extent of Irish banks’ toxic loans for assets elsewhere which are “eligible for acquisition by NAMA”. Although the report notes that – “NAMA has yet to say how much Irish banks lent to fund developments on mainland Europe.” The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), which is seeking the valuers, still refuses to say what proportion of assets are development land, vacant properties, investments or hotels. But …

44 days to Lisbon: but politicians cut their campaign from 4 to 2 weeks…

Mick Fealty on August 19, 2009, 12:43 am

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You know what? The smart money has to be on a Yes to the Lisbon treaty. Libertas has left the field having had most of its most effective TPMs punctured by the slightly scatological fix that is the so-called legal guarantees. The climate this year is way colder than last, and there’s that tapping finger to remind voters of the one letter difference between Ireland and Iceland, with the implication that the real difference between solvency and bankruptcy is membership …

Slugger is looking for new (mostly Unionist) bloggers…

Mick Fealty on August 14, 2009, 7:25 pm

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Slugger was a one man band until the summer of 2003. The first summer we had less than 100 readers, so I left for the wilds of Donegal with nary a backward glance. The second year, when we had acquired over a thousand readers on a daily basis, it seemed we had created a demand that was worth finding a way to continue to fulfill. Not wishing to impose a demand for a substitute Mick Fealty, I put out a …

Downhill racing for the Lisbon Yes camp?

Mick Fealty on August 12, 2009, 11:24 am

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One of the big stories of the next few months should be the referendum campaign over the Lisbon Treaty. Double carpet at Political Betting includes it in his predictions for the Autumn. It’s to be a win for the Yes side: with Ireland’s economy collapsing and with concessions being made on touchstone issues to Irish voters, it looks as though Ireland will reverse 2008’s decision and vote “Yes”, opting for the perceived safety blanket of the EU in difficult times. …

How Pastor McConnell came to destroy his Church’s own orphanage in Romania..

Mick Fealty on July 30, 2009, 2:58 am

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I mentioned Will Crawley’s blog on Pastor Jim McConnell in the blogburst… Malachi put his sound segment up on his blog and the conversation has fairly taken off… Much of the piece is about how the pastor of the Whitewell Metropolitian Church‘s reveals an amazing story about how he personally destroyed a children’s home he had established in Romania last year… Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics …

Revenge of a tethered “goat”

Pete Baker on July 28, 2009, 5:11 pm

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Liberal Democrat peer, Lord Lester of Herne Hill, who resigned as unpaid adviser to Gordon Brown on constitutional affairs in November last year, has penned a scathing account of his time in Brown’s Government Of All the Talents and the constitutional reform and governance Bill which has subsequently emerged. From his Guardian article The idea of building on the Human Rights Act by creating a Great Charter of Rights and Freedoms was entirely beyond ministers. The sad reality is that …

Lithuania withdraws extradition request in Republic of Ireland

Pete Baker on July 24, 2009, 12:17 am

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Lithuanian authorities have confirmed their apparent preference for Northern Ireland courts by formally withdrawing the extradition request in the Republic of Ireland for Liam Campbell, one of the men held to be responsible for the Omagh bombing in a recent civil judgement, on weapons and terrorism charges. Campbell had been remanded on bail there with two others since his arrest in January – on a European Arrest Warrant issued in connection with an MI5 sting operation against republican groups which …

What does democracy mean to you?

Mick Fealty on July 21, 2009, 5:00 pm

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Nice choice of an almost deserted Smithfield (Dublin) for a launch video for the Darklight Democracy competition: Make a short film, one inspired by the notion of Democracy & Dialogue. Go on… It doesn’t matter if you record it on your mobile phone, a state of the art digital video camera, or create your own DIY animation – the idea’s the thing. Make it a comedy, a tragedy, a documentary, an animation – whatever takes your fancy. It’s about self-expression. …

McMillan-Scott expelled for ‘harming the reputation of the party’ over group leadership challenge…

Mick Fealty on July 15, 2009, 10:36 pm

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It took a long time for David Cameron to fulfil his leadership campaign promise to leave the centre right ‘integrationist’ European Peoples Party. But he finally managed to cobble together enough to make up a new parliamentary group. But it looks like Jim Nicholson’s election promise that there were no right wing fanatics in the new Tory grouping could be in difficulties. According to the expelled Tory MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber and a former leader of the Conservatives …

“À la Bastille!”

Pete Baker on July 14, 2009, 4:05 pm

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On Bastille Day Boing Boing’s advice still stands, although not, perhaps, in a court of law.. And with renewed unrest in France, in the Irish Times Lara Marlowe asks “Has the French Revolution ever ended?” Btw, if you missed it at the weekend there’s still time to catch the BBC’s Terror! Robespierre and the French Revolution, complete with Robespierre’s historical warnings of “dissident journalists”.. So, once again, Vive la France! Pete Baker

“That judicial authority has advised that it wishes the matter to proceed in this jurisdiction.”

Pete Baker on July 8, 2009, 5:21 pm

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Belfast Recorder Tom Burgess has ruled that extradition proceedings against Liam Campbell, one of the men held to be responsible for the Omagh bombing in a recent civil judgement, will take place in Northern Ireland. Campbell had been remanded in custody in May while Lithuania decided which jurisdiction they preferred to proceed in; here in the UK, or in the Republic of Ireland where he had been remanded on bail with two others since his arrest in January – on …

Sshh.. don’t tell anyone..

Pete Baker on June 26, 2009, 12:26 am

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Announcing the signing of a contract to build four new schools previously, the fact that it is being financed through a Public Private Partnership was relegated to the ‘Notes to Editors’ in the official statement by the Northern Ireland Edcuation Minister, Sinn Féin’s Caitríona Ruane. Yesterday the NI Education Minister “cut the first sod” on “the site of the new £3.5million accommodation” of one of those schools, St Mary’s Primary School, Portglenone. This time there’s not even a ‘note to …