“A new date for the hearing has not yet been set..”

The trial of Terence Davison, who is charged with the murder of Robert McCartney in January 2005, along with two other men charged with affray in connection to the murder, was postponed yesterday when a defence barrister was “unavoidably delayed at another trial.” Today it was postponed indefinitely “due to legal reasons.” From the Irish Times report

Terence Malachy Davison, 51, was due to face the charge of killing the father-of-two outside a Belfast bar more than 3 years ago.

After an initial 24-hour delay, the trial was scheduled to begin at Belfast Crime Court on Tuesday. However, trial judge Lord Justice Higgins said it would no longer proceed as planned.  A new date for the hearing has not yet been set.

Which would seem to be an appropriate time for a reminder of a previous post - “Justice is the glue that holds society together.”

Pete Baker @ 03:36 PM | Comments (3)

House prices down 5-10% this year

Aren’t cameras getting good these days?  For whatever reason the BBC don’t offer a readable version of the photo, but Guido does.

Michael Shilliday @ 01:14 PM | Comments (3)

“There is a difference between being friendly and being open..”

In the Irish Times, Quentin Fottrell, has some thoughts on the verbal innuendo and private sparring at the recent US investment conference..[subs req] and those questions and answers at the press conference in particular.

And what about Paisley, who said that he’ll miss “the rough and tumble” of government? Paisley said he and McGuinness try ironing out their differences in private, and that the political situation wasn’t perfect or entirely democratic. I guess that’s what happens when you have no opposition and work in a circular parliamentary chamber.

Looking back, Paisley said he had negotiated the best deal for government that he could for his party. With reference to McGuinness, he added, “I suppose it is the best my friend here thinks that he has got.” People laughed, but it made me uneasy. McGuinness smiled - a tight, choreographed smile - and his face reddened, perhaps glad he will no longer have to play Laurel to Paisley’s Hardy.

Later, McGuinness added: “We friends have to leave for Hillsborough Castle.” Given recent behind-the-scenes mallarky, both “friend” remarks seemed loaded with sarcasm. With good reason. Sinn Féin and the DUP are like two magnets, bouncing off each other if they get too close: there will forever be a space between them.

Pete Baker @ 11:11 AM | Comments (4)

“These are exceptional times”

On 10 May éirígí held its second Ard Fheis. In a mere two years it has grown greatly beyond the original six members based in Dublin.

For those interested in following developments, you can read and view the new rúnaí ginearálta Rab Jackson’s address to the Ard Fheis here.

Tommy McKearney’s and Brian Lesson’s orations at the Connolly commemoration are also available.

Photos

Mark McGregor @ 10:53 AM | Comments (10)

Fantasy Footie Season Ends

Slugger’s second Fantasy Football Season has ended, and congrats are due to Richard Anderson, who pipped Gareth Murray at the post to win with a total of 2274 points (a very impressive 1,189th position out of more than 1.7 million teams worldwide.)
Our league performed extremely well, ending up rated as the 228th best league overall amongst more than 113,000 leagues organised through the site.
Well done again to all who participated- the final league table is below the fold.

Chris Donnelly @ 10:23 PM | Comments (2)

“explosion in the Castlederg area of County Tyrone”

According to a BBC report[new BBC NI link]

Reports are coming in of an explosion in the Castlederg area of County Tyrone. There are no further details at present.

I’ll update when details emerge.  There was an earlier hoax alert in south Belfast. More from the BBC report - “It is thought that one person may have been injured.  It is also believed a vehicle is being examined in relation to the incident.” Update from the BBC report, “It is understood that an off-duty police officer has been injured in the under-car booby trap explosion. It is believed he suffered serious leg injuries, but they are not thought to be life-threatening.”

Pete Baker @ 10:21 PM | Comments (41)

The Place of the JBR In Modern Ireland

It’s now many years since my father-in-law first made me aware of the place of the Jumbo Breakfast Roll in modern Ireland- south of the border. As one who travels the length and breadth of the country in his job, he has been availing of the JBR for a long time now, with the expanding waistline to prove it (isn’t it as well my wife doesn’t read this site...) Now, it appears academic research has identified the JBR as a truly iconic image of Celtic Tigerland. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry....

Chris Donnelly @ 09:55 PM | Comments (6)

Breaking down the border

In the aftermath of last week’s Investment Conference, Tom McGurk’s been examining just what the North has to offer potential investors and taking a longer look at how the new political and economic realities are likely to impact on traditional unionist attitudes to the border.

Chris Donnelly @ 09:34 PM | Comments (9)

“In a climate of growing secularism..”

The pastoral letter from the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference [pdf file] should probably be seen as an opening gambit in a conversation with all their partners in education - including the State.  There’s an early reference in the letter to Pope Benedict XVI’s Spe Salvi, and the attempt, through an appeal to a “still greater form of reason”, to re-entwine faith and reason - aka The Un-Enlightenment - although the reports have focused on other elements.  RTÉ picks up on the intention to establish “a national Catholic Education Service for the whole of Ireland” and that “the country has got more Catholic schools than it actually needs”, whilst the Irish Times reports the comments by Bishop Leo O’Reilly, Chair of the Education Commission of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference

He said the Vision 08 document clearly states “that all pupils whether they profess a religious belief or not are important and schools exist to care for and facilitate their growth as individuals and members of society”.

“As Ireland changes from a homogeneous country to a multi-cultural society, diversity in schools increases. We are conscious of this dynamic and we will play our part in assisting our schools in continuing to be places of welcome, respect and tolerance,” he said.

Although it isn’t clear how they’ll reconcile that objective with the commitment given in the conclusion of the letter - “we will ensure the structures, and the schools themselves, remain effective, relevant and true to an authentic vision of the Catholic school, such as we have tried to set it out in this brief letter.”

Pete Baker @ 08:51 PM | Comments (3)

“I’m hoping the Minister’s answer will help me understand the question…”

Anyone who knows Francie Brolly, also knows he is his own man. Was he gently poking fun at the party machine which had provided him with a near unintelligible question to ask his own party’s Minster of Agriculture? Some of his colleagues at the front clearly got the joke (including the Minister herself), the back bench boys (including Francie Molloy, just out of shot) remained fairly stoney-faced throughout. Which raises another question: are our MLAs being allowed by their parties to be independent legislators? It’s a question of particular concern regarding Sinn Fein MLAs, who alone are paid ‘an industrial wage’ by their party rather than the state. As a footnote, I’ve played the clip several times, and I’m still none the wiser. I hope Francie fared better!

Mick Fealty @ 08:30 PM | Comments (26)

Problems of our times

Responding to Michael Bloomberg’s call, First Minister Ian Paisley said today:

“Outsiders pulling down walls will accomplish nothing but when those on both sides of the wall mutually come to agreement and say we are taking down these walls, then we will have won a great victory and I look forward to that victory being sealed over and over again in these areas where there has been great trouble in the past days.”

How can such local agreements be achieved?

Fair Deal @ 04:37 PM | Comments (11)

Labour facing a sticky future…

Iain Martin in Sunday Telegraph suggests that “the downfall of this government is a historical wonder”.Indeed. Even the British PM’s stoicism seems to drawing him to full stretch. But Labour to survive next general election (widely touted to be mid 2010) in a credible numbers, the party’s survival might rest on getting in new blood whilst there is time. Comparisons have ranged with illfated PMs from Eden to Major. But is the real problem the need to transition from an Iain Duncan Smith to a Michael Howard, if only to limit the damage. More at Brassneck.

Mick Fealty @ 04:32 PM | Comments (9)

Maze credibility

The credibility of the Maze report is in question after it was revealed that the DCAL Permanent Secretary Paul Sweeney would not sign off on the final report.  The size and associated costs seems to be a major stumbling block to economic viability:

“To spend at least double the revenue just to insert an extra 8,500 seats in the plan doesn’t make financial sense”

Fair Deal @ 03:14 PM | Comments (12)

“NIO will provide some additional resources..”

The Northern Ireland Policing and Justice Minister’s announcement of the formation of a West Belfast Community Safety Forum was pre-empted by Sinn Féin’s Gerry Adams, MP, MLA, statement in which he seems to prefer to call it a Community Confidence Forum - a title also used in the BBC report. Whatever it’s called, whether it will be more effective than “volunteers patrolling” west Belfast remains to be seen.. From Paul Goggins’ statement

“Through the Community Safety Partnership, we will create a co-ordinated approach; identifying the issues of greatest concern and then delivering practical solutions.  The Northern Ireland Office will provide some additional resources to get this initiative off the ground, although the key to success will be the extent to which existing resources are targeted in a more effective way. We will also want to see how this approach might be applied to other parts of Northern Ireland”.

Adds Interestingly, the BBC report no longer refers to a “Community Confidence Forum”.  And In the comments zone Nevin points to the two versions of the BBC report side by side.  Update Tuesday 13th May, Sinn Féin released an updated statement, dated 12th May, without reference to a “Community Confidence Forum”.

Pete Baker @ 11:19 AM | Comments (3)

Harassing the soul

“A street preacher in my constituency was told by the police that he could preach the Gospel but that it was harassment to warn people that they might go to hell if they did not repent!”

(Hat Tip Anthony Barrett OK Blog)

Fair Deal @ 02:59 PM | Comments (30)

Cross-bench support

In an unprecendented move, a joint letter has been sent to all MP’s from the party leaders of the four largest NI parties opposing the Lib Dems proposal to extend abortion to Northern Ireland.

Fair Deal @ 12:21 PM | Comments (138)

“There are no clean wars and no intelligent deaths”

For those who may have forgotten our past, this guy has some intelligent narration of Beirut’s troubles at the moment… ”There are no clean wars and no intelligent deaths, but civil strife certainly takes the prize for dirtiest and dumbest. Anything -anything- is better than civil strife.” His latest examines how the competing sides seem to be living in different tenses. Sound familiar?

Mick Fealty @ 08:31 AM | Comments (11)

“We had no idea this was coming..”

The Irish Times’ Dan Keenan, naturally enough, was at the Belfast launch of Deaglan de Bréadún’s book ‘The Far Side of Revenge’ and he managed to get NI Executive Junior Minister Jeffrey Donaldson’s response to the Prime Minister’s ‘pressie’. I’ve put that quote below the fold because, more importantly, the NI Department of Finance also issued a statement to the Irish Times. [subs req]

A statement issued by Peter Robinson’s finance department said: “The executive has already set an extremely ambitious target to generate and retain £1.1 billion of asset disposals. Delivering this £1.1 billion figure is going to be a considerable challenge for the executive – more so in today’s environment of depreciating land and property values.

“Moving the limit from £1.1 billion to £2.2 billion is a quantum increase that challenges the boundaries of reasonable expectations. Thus this should not be perceived as a £1 billion cash injection into Northern Ireland.”

Pete Baker @ 09:00 PM | Comments (8)

“the motion hasn’t gone away you know!..”

Apparently, now that we are in May and with the deputy First Minister pointing at “Ian junior”, Sinn Féin member, and blogger, Chris Gaskin wants to know what ‘Plan B’ is too. I wouldn’t necessarily hold my breath if I was him.  ANYhoo.. As Chris says here

“Now I bring this up because the 8th of May has come to pass and I have yet to see a public statement on this matter from Sinn Féin.  I’m sure that Republican’s and others are waiting for a response from the Ard Chomhairle, an Ard Chomharle that has been mandated to do so by the supreme governing body of Sinn Féin.  Let’s hope we get an answer soon; the motion hasn’t gone away you know!”

Pete Baker @ 11:12 PM | Comments (21)

Quick.. Look busy!

There was an interesting piece of information included at the start of UTV Live’s report [5min 50s in] on the final day of the US Investment Conference - the scheduled press conference this morning was cancelled.  Apparently, after yesterday’s media blitz, they had nothing left to say. Just as well Gordon Brown, Brian Cowen and Michael Bloomberg were all here yesterday then..

Pete Baker @ 08:15 PM | Comments (3)

Un-Enlightenment - redux

BBC NI’s Will Crawley is having somewhat of a Creation Weekend [to atone for past sins? - Ed].  On Sunday Sequence, 9am Radio Ulster, he will be discussing this “dramatic serialisation” of the Book of Genesis.. and before that he’s visiting the Waterfront Hall where the founder of Answers in Genesis USA, Ken Ham - previously mentioned here - is hosting an 2-day event.  Do tell us if you spot any NI Executive Ministers there, Will.  Some of us like to keep an eye on what they’re up to with the Giants Causeway.. What with The Un-Enlightenment already being promoted elsewhere.. Adds pauljames, in the comment zone, points to this additional piece of information - “Also, please remember all the speakers in your prayers--particularly as Ken will be meeting with members of the Northern Ireland Assembly Government.  He will also be doing interviews with the BBC.”

Pete Baker @ 05:17 PM | Comments (52)

Brassneck: 10th most influential blog in Britain…

So says a recent poll by Editorial Intelligence. For those of you who have not yet tumbled, Brassneck is a blog I have been writing for the Daily Telegraph for the last six months or so. The poll was amongst ‘a self selecting group of individuals from politics, business, media, public life, and academia’ and is detailed within a report jointly commissioned by the Reuters’ Institute and Editorial Intelligence. The report, written by John Lloyd and Julia Hobsbawm is well worth reading, and is available here. Sadly I missed the launch event for unavoidable reasons, but Guido was scathing about the comments aimed at bloggers by some on the platform. 

Mick Fealty @ 03:15 PM | Comments (28)

“Lamh marbh SF ag tachtadh na Gaeilge ó thuaidh…”

Níl áthas mór ag Concubhar Ó Liatháin. Tá sé ag argóint gur “Sinn Féin, an páirtí is glórtha ar son na teanga ó thuaidh ar feadh na mblianta, go fóill ag labhairt go poiblí ar son na Gaeilge.  Ach ní fios céard atá ionadaithe an pháirtí timpeall bord an Rialtais ag rá.” Cuireann sé ceist, cad ar dhein SF. Agus tagann an freagra go soiléir, “faic éifeachtach”! Nó mar a cuir Máirtin i bhfocail é, “ignored by the powers-that-be”.

Mick Fealty @ 12:30 PM | Comments (33)

Devolution and the partial democratic deficit…

According to one senior journalist the former Iron Chancellor looked like a ghost in Belfast yesterday. Such are the dangers of full blown democracy. Gordon Brown got a good old fashioned kicking at the polls last week. A kicking that has put his adminstration on a two year notice. Despite its critics, our half blown version has certainly tied our political parties to some useful work. Despite the rush to judgement in some parts of the media it is likely to take another two years before we find out whether this year’s work is up to scratch… Whatever happens, mandatory coalition means we can’t deprive any of the main parties of their ministerial salaries… More over at Comment is Free...

Mick Fealty @ 09:38 AM | Comments (18)

Slugger talks to Deaglan de Bréadún

In the run up to the Belfast launch of his book ‘The Far Side of Revenge’, we’ll be talking to Deaglan de Bréadún about the peace process, the last year of (finally) settled devolution, and the prospects for Northern Ireland in the future. Tune in at 10.30 when we kick off a half hour of informal chat.

Mick Fealty @ 09:22 AM | Comments (24)