“The parties were told not to bring in any phones or other communication devices, nor to leave with any copies of the draft.”

Richard Haass’ attempt to ensure confidentiality during the on-going talks between the five Northern Ireland Executive parties – on the past, parades, and flags – failed to survive first contact with Sinn Féin.  Today the Haass team presented their first, complete, draft proposals to the parties.  The BBC report notes his latest attempt at ensuring confidentiality. While the parties examined the proposals at Stormont, talks chairman Dr Haass had travelled to London to meet the Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers and …

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Interview with Loyalists Against Democracy – will @LADFLEG’s second year in existence be their difficult second album?

Like them or loathe them, Loyalists Against Democracy will have been around for a year on Tuesday 10 December. They’ve become a local online phenomenon with their mix of parody, banter and acerbic attacks. It started out as one man trolling “ridiculous” loyalist flag protesters online. Early daft parody protest ideas like complaining about Aer Lingus flying over East Belfast have grown into a collective producing sophisticated graphics, videos, music, a musical for the Edinburgh fringe as well as caustic …

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McCann meets….Arlene Foster MLA #dup13

I took a trip up to the DUP Conference yesterday to interview some of the key figures within the party. I spoke with several Ministers namely Simon Hamilton, Edwin Poots and Arlene Foster. Just after her conference speech I spoke with the Enterprise Minister and possible future leader, Arlene Foster. We spoke about a variety of issues from the European elections to her feud with Phil Flanagan MLA and her shift from the UUP to the DUP. Below are some …

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Where have all the moderates gone?

Well he’s back; Jamie Bryson made his first appearance on Nolan this morning since his restrictions on public speaking were lifted. I listened to Jamie talk about the need for more protests (he did say they should be peaceful in fairness) and how he believed the last round of protests had actually achieved a lot. Last time I checked their number one goal of punishing the city council into submission hadn’t worked as the flag is still not up and …

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McCann meets….Chris Lyttle MLA

 Last Friday I interviewed the East Belfast Alliance MLA, Chris Lyttle. Below are some excerpts of the interview but I would recommend listening to the entire thing as it is only 16 minutes long. On Naomi Long retaining East Belfast at the next election I think we have as always worked extremely hard in the community in East Belfast. We have shown leadership on some of the key issues, taken a stand on what we believe is best for local …

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Nesbitt recommends politics over further street protests; McCallister disses talk of “culture wars” in speech to Ulster GAA

In other non-SDLP news, the Belfast Telegraph report that Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt has told party colleagues via an internal bulletin that the tactic of flag protests should cease. The tactics used to protest over the flag have alienated many who instinctively supported the cause … He warned against disrupting Belfast city centre and its traders for a second Christmas. I hear talk of rallies, parades and protests. As ever, I understand and support the right for lawful and …

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Lord Empey attacks Alliance Party for flags, participation in Irish Constitutional Convention and issues warning to Dublin government

Listening back to Lord Empey’s opening statement at today’s UUP conference, his comments seemed worthy of a post on their own. In his nine minute address he predictably attacked the Alliance Party’s role in the Belfast City Council Union flag vote, explained why they shouldn’t be viewed as Unionist, and questioned their role in the Irish Constitutional Convention. He also laid down a white line over allowing Northerners to vote in Irish elections that the Irish Government shouldn’t cross if …

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#Onthisday 1964-The UK General Election

On this day 49 years ago, the United Kingdom went to the polls to choose a new government. The result was a narrow Labour win of just 4 seats making Harold Wilson the Prime Minister. Meanwhile in Northern Ireland, the election of Wilson provoked fears among some Unionists in Northern Ireland that he would be much more interventionist in the affairs of the province than some of his predecessors. A letter he had written before the election to the Campaign …

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DUP call on parade protests to be “peaceful and legal” and “within the law”

Ten months on from the beginning of the flag protests, it looks like DUP is finally applying foresight and making its position clear in advance of potential trouble. Addressing the Orange Order’s plans to “up-scale [protests] right up to civil disobedience if that’s what it takes”, Arlene Foster told BBC NI’s Sunday Politics show: We very much defend the right of people to protest on any issue. But what must happen, and I do make this very clear, is that …

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McCann meets…..Michael Copeland MLA

Last week, I sat down with East Belfast UUP MLA, Michael Copeland. We talked about his entry into politics, the flags protests and the performance of the PSNI. I want to apologise first for the audio but here are some quotes that I thought were interesting On the Executive’s performance in tackling underachievement; Thus far in my view they’ve failed and they will quote figures of many millions of pounds invested in things like the Skainos project. To the average …

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PUP-Is there anyway back in from the cold?

The PUP has not had a very happy post-Good Friday Agreement existence. Since 1998, they have suffered an electoral decline that would make David Trimble blush. Yes, Northern Ireland’s voice of Loyalism has been out of sorts and out of political influence since it lost its last remaining assembly seat in 2010 when Dawn Purvis left the party. In addition to this, the party has lost a staggering 88% of its vote over the last 15 years. The party now …

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NI21 call for ministers to pledge a flag commitment & for councils to regulate. But flags aren’t the only issue?

Tonight, NI21 have launched an intervention into the debate around flags. You can read their statement and find the link to their video on an earlier post. It’s notable that the video is very careful to balance shots of Union flags and Irish tricolours. The messaging is not aimed at just one community – though perhaps one community is where the strongest reaction and criticism will come from. Over on the NI21 website I also spotted a longer position paper …

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Time to show flags proper respect

Does the Union flag represent the United Kingdom or is it a marker in a sectarian battlefield? When the flag of the country hangs tattered from a lamppost, so does our society. When it is wrapped around someone during a riot or used to attack the police, it is defiled. In no other country would this be allowed. The Union flag and the flags of all states should be treated with respect by Governments, politicians and individuals within society – …

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Matt Baggott on flag protests, Boston tapes, G8 summit, drones & social media

It’s all looking a bit fraught. We need a recovery plan. The words of the Chief Constable Matt Baggott describing the fortunes of his football club rather than the PSNI’s response to the flags crisis. Though the words must echo what went through the PSNI senior officers’ minds when the flags crisis didn’t abate before Christmas. Monday’s post covered PSNI transformation, regulation and vocation. Remember that blogs aren’t newspapers, so not every post has to try to make a news …

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What does the Irish flag mean to you?

So, this is an experiment. I’m going to introduce a special rule for commenting on the thread below. There’ll be no sanctions for those breaking them (unless you’re really bad!!), but I will take those comments off when I get back into Slugger Central later on today. The rule is you can only say what you honestly think/feel about the flag above. I want you to stick to its personal meaning for you, in the here and now. So, please, …

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Flags – Can we now have a sensible debate?

Last night at Platform for Change‘s Flags – Can we now have a sensible conversation? event, 120 or more people crammed into a room in the Holiday Inn to hear from nine local political representatives and to pose their questions. The two hour event, chaired by Robin Wilson, started with each panellist being given the opportunity to outline their position on the flag debate. listen to ‘Part 1/5 Flags – can we now have a serious debate? @platform4change’ on Audioboo …

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Basil McCrea: we are increasingly looking at a policing response that does more than just contain the situation

Lagan Valley MLA Basil McCrea was interviewed on his local community radio station Lisburn’s 98FM today. Presenters of the weekly On The Record politics show – David McCann and Kerri Dunn – quizzed the whip-less politician about his previous statements on flag, the state of his party and his political future. listen to ‘Lagan Valley MLA @BasilMcCrea speaking to @dmcbfs & @KerriDunn on @lisburns98 radio’ on Audioboo You can listen to the entire 23 minute interview – with permission from …

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Caption Competition

Your captions please! Brian SpencerBrian is a writer, artist, political cartoonist and legal blogger. Actively tweeting from @brianjohnspencr. More information here: http://www.brianjohnspencer.com/ www.brianjohnspencer.com/

Basil McCrea: “I have stayed with the party through thick and thin, and I will continue do so …”

Basil McCrea, UUP

A long-standing family committment meant that Basil McCrea was unavailable for today’s scheduled UUP disciplinary hearing. But while his party have been relatively quiet over the past 24-48 hours as flag protests have resurged, the Lagan Valley MLA has issued a statement tonight. When I joined the UUP in late 2004 some were surprised by my decision. I had no particular ties to the party, no political connections at all in fact and the UUP were a party under pressure. …

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“it is a straight-forward politically motivated attempt to undermine the DUP as the voice of unionism”

cropped DUP logo

And there’s more … Sadly, more violence around tonight’s “peaceful protests” in East Belfast, another trip out for the PSNI water cannons, and a further statement from the constituency’s MLA and DUP leader Peter Robinson. The tone has changed, the motives of the protest organisers are being attacked, and clear water is being put between protests and politics. While people are entitled to lawfully and peacefully protest there can be absolutely no justification for issuing threats, acts of violence and …

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