Europe – Page 6 – Slugger O'Toole

FSB Euro Election Hustings #FSBNIHustings

David McCann on April 4, 2014, 9:41 pm

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This morning the Federation of Small Businesses in Northern Ireland hosted the first debate amongst all of the European candidates (Jim Allister didn’t turn up and Basil McCrea was representing NI21.) The event was attended by around 80 people at the top floor of the Europa Hotel. The debate kicked off with each candidate setting out their pitch about what they can/are bringing to the European Union. There did seem to be a general consensus that Northern Ireland was not …

TUV European Selection Convention- Jim Allister is the candidate

David McCann on April 3, 2014, 8:39 pm

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So, I wandered over to the Park Ave Hotel in East Belfast tonight to see the TUV announce as their candidate for the European election. The party room meeting was comprised of around 170 people. The evening began with a speech by the party leader Jim Allister, followed by a Q&A were delegates got the chance to ask questions about the upcoming elections. I suppose the end result was never really in doubt but it was interesting to see how the …

EU drops Maze funding

Turgon on October 4, 2013, 1:43 pm

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The BBC are reporting that the European Union’s Special European Programmes Body has dropped its offer of £18 million to the Maze peace centre / shrine after consulting with OFMDFM. The announcement is not yet on SEUPB’s website but according to the BBC: “The SEUPB has been in discussions with the lead partner in relation to the viability of the Peace Building and Conflict Resolution Centre. “It has been agreed that the project is no longer viable at this time …

“Two European countries, Ireland and Norway, have already banned all eel fisheries.” – redux

Pete Baker on September 11, 2013, 6:46 pm

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Despite a brief flurry of activity by Sinn Féin in February this year, around the Northern Ireland Executive Minister with responsibility for regulating Eel Fisheries, Sinn Féin’s Carál Ní Chuilín’s sudden “refusal to support European proposals for a unilateral suspension of eel-fishing”, the Minister’s promised Assembly statement on the issue never materialised. That’s possibly because, at that stage, the proposal was only in a draft report [amendment 8] to the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries by rapporteur, Isabella Lövin, a Swedish MEP. As it was that …

“Adding more weapons to this volatile situation could destabilise the entire region…”

Pete Baker on June 15, 2013, 6:42 pm

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The Northern Ireland First and deputy First Ministers were in a sunny Downing Street garden yesterday, welcoming that suspect package, and extolling the virtues of demonstrating “peacefully, positively, constructively” [Is that with, or without, a Thompson sub-machine gun? – Ed] Without, probably… ANYhoo, on the same day Sinn Féin released the text of what appears to be a different speech to that delivered in Downing Street by the Mid Ulster MP Northern Ireland deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness – made at …

If Ireland north and south can commemorate the First World War together, so should the Germans alongside the wartime Allies

Brian Walker on June 12, 2013, 11:03 am

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A piece in the Indy by Matthew Norman on the UK’s plans to commemorate World War 1 has to be read quite carefully to register the satire against the (English) Culture secretary’s smiley moral equivalence approach to the vexed issue of war guilt. Were the Germans the clear aggressors or “were we all to blame?” The subject will never die. In his magisterial “The Sleepwalkers,” written last year the Cambridge historian Christopher Clarke makes the case for shared guilt after an …

Harry Fitzsimons arrested in Senegal

Pete Baker on May 26, 2013, 8:28 pm

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As the BBC reports A west Belfast man has been arrested in Senegal in west Africa. It is understood Harry Fitzsimons was detained in the capital Dakar last month. Earlier this year Italian police issued an arrest warrant for Mr Fitzsimons in connection with an alleged mafia money-laundering operation in Calabria in Italy. The report also notes that the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin has confirmed his detention and is providing consular assistance to Mr Fitzsimons. When news broke, on …

Azerbaijan Presidential Inquiry over Eurovision Vote

Pete Baker on May 20, 2013, 11:12 pm

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Denmark may have won this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, due to last year’s winner, held in Malmö, Sweden, but Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev is reported to have ordered an inquiry into why his country, apparently, failed to provide any points to their neighbour, Russia. Russia gave maximum points, 12, to the Azerbaijan entry. From the BBC report Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Russia, Polad Bulbuloglu, disclosed that President Aliyev had ordered an investigation and votes were being recounted. He said that a …

Irish Justice Minister: “a tribute to how far we have come as a society”

Pete Baker on May 7, 2013, 10:27 pm

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As promised by the Irish Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter, in June last year, legislation has been passed by Dáil and Seanad providing for the granting of an amnesty and apology for the way the Irish State treated members of its Defence Forces who left to join the Allied Forces during World War II. I’ve noted previously the historical debate in Dáil Éireann in 1945. From the Irish Times report In his closing statement on the Defence Forces (Second World War Amnesty and Immunity Bill 2012) to …

Cyprus: So what happens next?

Pete Baker on March 19, 2013, 9:01 pm

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The Guardian’s still live-blogging, for now, in the aftermath of Cyprus’ parliament’s rejection of an, albeit amended, EU/IMF cunning plan bail-out which included the public seizure levying of €5.8billion from private depositors in Cypriot banks – 36 votes against, 19 abstentions, none in favour. The paper’s economics editor, Larry Elliot, answers the title question …there are really only two plausible scenarios: somebody – be it Europe or the IMF – gives Cyprus more money, in which case there is a chance that the crisis …

How do Robinson and McGuinness explain their anti- EU stances to Brazilian and other would be overseas investors?

Brian Walker on March 11, 2013, 10:44 am

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The Financial Times (£) have another report warning of possible dire consequences if the UK voted to leave the EU in a 2017 referendum, not least for Ireland north and south. An UK exit from the EU would produce huge complications to cross border trade – you can just imagine trying to put in place bilateral arrangements,” said Steve Aitken, chief executive of the British-Irish Chamber of Commerce. “Businesses don’t recognise the national boundaries that politicians do and are extremely …

Italy: “Unless of course all polls and projections so far turn out to be wrong …”

Pete Baker on February 25, 2013, 5:13 pm

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They’re still counting the votes in Italy… But the early projections are contradicting exit polls predicting, as the Guardian reported, “strong support for alliance led by Pier Luigi Bersani’s Democratic party and bloody nose for Mario Monti”. Not contradicting the bloody nose for the Borg Mario Monti, that is. But Silvio Berlusoni’s centre-right alliance seems to be edging ahead in the Senate, at least… The Guardian is live-blogging the actual results as they come in. Here’s their latest post to date Before …

Irish Agriculture Minister: “I am seriously concerned about this development…”

Pete Baker on February 22, 2013, 8:14 pm

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I haven’t been posting on every twist and turn [Not “an isolated instance“, then? – Ed] of the still unravelling story of the Europe-wide horse meat for beef scandal. But this looks like it could be a significant development. From the RTÉ report A processing plant in Co Tipperary has been shut down after inspectors found it was exporting horse meat under a label in the Czech language which translated as beef. B&F Meats, a small-scale deboning factory in Carrick-on-Suir was selling a …

Italy: “History risks repeating itself…”

Pete Baker on February 22, 2013, 3:58 pm

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The BBC’s Europe editor, Gavin Hewitt has been looking to Italy ahead of a general election brought 2 months early after Silvio Berlusconi’s party withdrew support for Mario Monti’s technocratic government – voting begins on Sunday. The FT notes that Strong, stable government will be needed to continue the reform process put in place by Mr Monti’s technocrats, and to argue in Brussels for more growth-oriented policies and a possible relaxation of fiscal deficit targets. However, the worst-case scenario emerging from …

Giro d’Italia 2014 announcement expected tomorrow

Pete Baker on February 20, 2013, 3:53 pm

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It looks increasingly likely that confirmation of the rumoured plans to start the 2014 Giro d’Italia in Belfast, before heading to Dublin, will be made tomorrow. As Cycling Weekly reports The Giro d’Italia organiser RCS Sport has a lot on its plate this week, announcing the 2014 start from Belfast tomorrow and dealing with 19 WorldTour teams. The organiser sent an invitation on Friday for the “Official presentation of a new collaboration between RCS Sport and the Island of Ireland.” The presentation will …

“Two European countries, Ireland and Norway, have already banned all eel fisheries.”

Pete Baker on February 19, 2013, 10:11 pm

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But not in Northern Ireland. [Partitionist! – Ed] Indeed. Here the regulation of eel fisheries is the responsibility of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure – and the current Minister, Sinn Féin’s Carál Ní Chuilín. As is salmon fishing… There was a brief flurry of press statements last week as the NI DCAL Minister suddenly threatened to throw the kitchen sink in front of “potential EU proposals to suspend eel-fishing”. From the first ministerial press release [14 Feb] Responding to a request for DCAL’s position, …

Copernicus’ “Google Doodle” and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Gerry Lynch on February 19, 2013, 7:03 pm

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Sunday past was the 413th anniversary of the execution of Giordano Bruno (burned at the stake for heresies such as proposing that the Sun is a star and that the other stars in the sky are also Suns, probably accompanied by planets very much like ours). Today, more auspiciously, is the 460th anniversary of the birth of Nicolaus Copernicus. He managed to postulate that the solar system revolved around the Sun, rather than the Earth, while remaining a Chapter Canon …

Irish Agriculture Minister: “Somebody is selling rogue product and somebody knows about it and is responsible.”

Pete Baker on February 5, 2013, 9:07 pm

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Still early days in the investigation into the discovery of more beef horse meat at a number of meat processing plants – and note Mick’s update here. However, the cause of the trace amounts of pork DNA and equine DNA in some ‘beef’ products is still likely to be different. But there are a few quotes worth highlighting, starting with this one in a Guardian report which also notes that in Poland, “government veterinary inspectors say they have so far been unable …

An Irish Borgen?

Brian Walker on February 3, 2013, 11:39 am

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Dyspeptic Scots columnist Kevin McKenna (now where did that name come from?) is so right when he says Scottish politics are too boring to mount a drama like Borgen. But then, Alex might reply that Scotland is not an independent country – yet. Staying glued to Borgen though fits perfectly into Scottish culture. Manfully, I’ve been trying to lower the life expectancy of Borgen fans by preparing for the Saturday night fix thus: watching Soccer AM; grabbing a few Bacardis; …

Cameron’s Dunkirk?

Aaron&Brian on January 27, 2013, 6:45 pm

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So at last David Cameron delivered his long awaited speech on Europe. Arguably the most important speech, by a British Prime Minister, since Tony Blair’s speech proposing the case for war in Iraq. British politics, it seems, has entered the era of the referendum arguably started with the referendum on the voting system in 2011 with a vote on the Scottish Independence and an In/Out vote on the EU. Here in Northern Ireland, we have Sinn Fein calling for a …