Good blog again Peter. My instincts are the same.

"Either the original re-arrest was politically motivated, or the release is, or both."

Succinctly put Pete.

The position should become clearer over the next few days. Either way, Peter Hain comes out of it all smelling of pig-shit.

Disgusting.

The so called "rule of law" in the six counties has always been a rather fuzzy notion for the British Government.

Shoot to kill policies, state torture, state murder, collusion, state cover ups and miscarriages of justice have often taken precedence over the "rule of law".

The peace process provides the only prospect, currently on the table, of providing the normalised and democratic society we all want. Why do we not all join together in trying to build this new society, instead of sniping from the sidelines, and begrudging equal rights for all, and equal status for all traditions on the Island.

If the rule of law applied then nobody would be held on the say-so of a politician but on the basis of a trial and conviction.

The rule of law has been abused in this state through internment supergrass trial torture Diplock courts and security force collusion in the murder of lawyers for most of our lifetimes.

"Either the original re-arrest was politically motivated, or the release is, or both."

both were

makes Troy look good and shows Dodds up for the charlie he is

What you fail to realise is that, in the sense that law is meant to secure justice (a problematic notion at best) the peace process is as close as it gets to the rule of law in NI. I'd rather have a peace process which the Shinners can influence dictating the treatment of nationalists in this place, than the current cabal that operates our "justice" system.

Peter Hain will come out of this with "the NI secretary on whose watch the IRA went out of business" on his CV. If that equals "smelling of pig-sh1t" to you Bored, then you are more than a little, shall we say, eccentric.

The Process is still taking precedence over the rule of law - and that's no basis for any democratic society.
Yes, but what else can be expected with the kind of society Northern Ireland is right now. Everyone must pull together.
The frustrating this is that the kind of society the majority want to live in, is achievable!

Henry

Why do you always say what I mean to say better than I say it?

Although, I think you misunderstand pete baker. When he talks about "rule of law" I think he means whatever a partisan English parliament, a politically-slanted NIO and a laughable police service think is best for republicans. It it's available on HMSO, then it must be the rule of law.

BTW can I just say I admire the moral rectitude of Peter Hain in being prepared to look a bit of a dingus over doing the right thing here.

The Process is still taking precedence over the rule of law - and that's no basis for any democratic society.
Yes, but what else can be expected with the kind of society Northern Ireland is right now. Everyone must pull together.
The frustrating thing is that the kind of society the majority want to live in, is achievable!

''Shoot to kill policies, state torture, state murder, collusion, state cover ups and miscarriages of justice have often taken precedence over the "rule of law".''

Lest we forget -- the Provos had no problems implementing shoot to kill policies, torture, murder, collusion with foreign terrorists, cover ups of the disappeared and denial of justice of any kind to the hundreds they shot in the back and blew to pieces without warning or conscience.
Now these psychopaths demand an 'Ireland of equals' -- forgive me if I'm sceptical.

Looks like they're getting an Ireland of equals though - the government is now equally bad.

Peter Hain is not and has never been a friend of the Catholic people in the six counties. But, then again, what northern secretary has?

The position ,as a matter of fact, is a sham and a fraud.

That simply isn't true. Peter Hain has been a consistent and vocal advocate of British withdrawal for decades.
Why do you lie with your lying lies?

Fanny wrote:

"Looks like they're getting an Ireland of equals though - the government is now equally bad."

:0)

Fanny, could you please post one comment from Peter Hain in which he advocated British reliquishment of authority in the six counties?

I would appreciate it.

Fanny, could you please post one comment from Peter Hain in which he advocated British relinquishment of authority in the six counties?

I would appreciate it.

Well according to a quick Google trawl, he told an audience in New Dehli in 2000 that partition was "an unsustainable settlement".

Will that do?

*snigger*

Why is ANYONE surprised that N Labour elevates political expediency above the normal application of the rule of law? (Note the phrase)

The only positive aspect about this is that the corollary from the Provos has to be even more politically satisfactory to the GOvernment to out-balance the inevitable rage from the DUP...