Northern Ireland
“Sinn Féin in my opinion has been slowly sedated…”
In light of Mick’s post, and now Brian’s follow-up, it’s worth noting an Irish News report today of Ballymoney Councillor Anita Cavlan’s resignation from Sinn Féin ”over concerns it is failing prisoners”. From the Irish News report The Ballymoney councillor said she believed Sinn Féin had “lost direction” and “should be doing more to represent the prisoners”. “Sinn Féin [...] more »
L’ (middle-aged) enfant terrible of the UUP given his cards by new party captain…
So the Joey Barton of Ulster politics has been shown a permanent Red Card by Captain Nesbitt, and David McNarry makes his way to the dressing room where (to mix my sporting metaphors for those of you who remember Mike Yarwood or Ed Waring) he’ll take an early bath. It’s ironic, that this most ill-disciplined [...] more »
Containment: Northern Ireland’s major purpose and raison d’être?
Some really interesting ideas in this lecture at the University of Ulster, with Duncan Morrow. It kicks off with a potted history of the origins of the conflict. He describes the public policy response firstly, via the original devolution of parliament to Stormont and latterly in its response to the civil unrest of 1969-1970, under [...] more »
SDLP needs a story that makes its opponents more uncomfortable than it does themselves..
Now here’s an interesting one. Almost as interesting for where it comes from as to what it suggests… Nigel Dodds is having a go at the SDLP for taking up a number of cases concerning the fate of dissident Republicans, in particular that of Gerry McGeough… The News Letter reports: The DUP deputy leader questioned [...] more »
Masterplan for Girdwood: “back to the sectarian drawing board…”
The Northern Ireland First and deputy First Minsters recently announced the second round of funding, £1.5million, available from the Executive and Atlantic Philanthropies’ ‘Contested Spaces’ Programme, although I’m still not entirely clear where the other £2.5million went… The announcement, in the absence of a “Cohesion, Sharing and Integration” strategy, rebranded, and “watered down” to the “lowest commmon denominator“, [...] more »
Fisk reminisces.
From the Independent: You can check in any time you want – but you can never leave.: On the Europa Hotel’s message pads, my handwriting records “2 sold VSI RVH” (two soldiers very seriously ill Royal Victoria Hospital), “bomb in SR and VS St” (Sandy Row and Great Victoria Street railway station), “son of judge [...] more »
Grammar schools and social mobility: a Northern Ireland contribution to the debate
Here’s something that won’t make relations between the Education and Finance ministers any easier.. An approving poll for a UK wide campaign to revive grammar schools has received a gushing review from Independent columnist Mary Anne Sieghart. It’s pegged to the general angst about stalled – even reversed – social mobility which all UK political [...] more »
Belfast Black Taxi Tour – political insight or Troubles tourism?
A black taxi tour of Belfast? Chris Jenkins raised questions about the morality of troubles tourism in a recent Guardian Unlimited article. Matthew Symington followed up with an extended interview on Eamonnmallie.com in which Chris again challenged the trend of “money being made from human tragedy” and the DUP’s switch from opposing a “shrine” at [...] more »
Education Minister refuses to provide colleagues with a breakdown of £2 Billion of funding for schools…
So there’s been a little addendum to the sudden, and last minute, reappearance of £72 million in funding in the Department of Education just before the minister was expected to explain his spending patterns to the Finance Minister. It seems the Finance Minister is not best pleased [Ahem, well we did suggest he mightn't be [...] more »
Sectarianism in Northern Ireland is common (and popular) across all classes…
Alex Kane has a marvellous take on the Golf Club issue that blew up last week… He argues that Jonathan Bell’s only mistake was to single out golf clubs as singular offenders, and that the DUP should not have backed down… But then he gives the argument a gentle twist: If you’re looking for evidence [...] more »
Stormont not so keen on transparency or the FOI Act…
I think the significance of this News Letter story is the Stormont administration’s attitude to transparency and openness, especially, but not solely, with regard to ‘awkward questions’ from the public. The information being sought was the details of Sinn Fein appointed ministerial drivers. But, for me, this is core of the issue: DFP claimed in [...] more »
The Hain contempt case: a warning to England from Northern Ireland
It’s worth taking a closer look at the Peter Hain contempt case before it’s written off as a straightforward free speech victory for the metropolitan Mr Punch over the paddywhackery of Northern Ireland’s appointed and politically independent Attorney General. John Larkin QC brought the case against the former Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain on the admittedly [...] more »
New media, Libya and the shift in politics now civilians have “rushed the field”…
There was an interesting conversation between Noel Thompson and Jonathan Chavez on Hearts and Minds last night, regarding how new media is changing politics… Well earlier in the week, I’d been conducting my own series of interviews with John Pollock who is contributing editor to MIT’s Technology Review… His latest work looks for a feel [...] more »
“The link between taxing and spending is basic to democracy…”
Newton Emerson hitting several nails on the head and perhaps begins to explain why all our parties have turned (by default) in “tight little Tories”… more »
The withering of Irish Catholicism sees Sunday attendance plummet in the cities…
It seems that Catholicism is on the wane in what were once urban strongholds. Maeve Connolly has a big front page splash on the front of the Irish News today on regular Mass attendances of just 4% in Poleglass. Holy Family in north Belfast is just bringing 17% of the local Catholic population. Dublin Archdiocese [...] more »
Lost and Found: In Search of Owen Roe O’Neill
Maybe you can help me with a little piece of research? Recently an authentic image of Hugh O’Neill, the great earl of Tyrone, was discovered in a fresco in the Vatican but one of his nephew Owen Roe remains elusive. His story, dying in Castle Oughter County Cavan in command of an intact Ulster army [...] more »
Aurora Borealis over Europe
Another wondrous view of the Aurora Borealis as captured by the crew of the International Space Station. This time as a backdrop to the equally wondrous sight of Ireland and the United Kingdom under night-time conditions [0-18s]. Video via NasaCrewEarthObs. This video was taken by the crew of Expedition 30 on board the International Space Station. The [...] more »
Normality and rugby
In the review of the up-and-coming Heineken Cup final, I made the observation that the sports media have been unused to writing about Ulster given the lack of success in recent times. Player profiles by sports journalists seem to fall into 3 topics; the faith of the players, the foreign players, and the faith of [...] more »
Leinster would probably win 9 times out of 10, but…
The first ever all-Irish Heineken Cup final kicks off at 5pm, Saturday 19 May in front of a capacity 81,000 Twickenham crowd: Leinster v Ulster. Ulster? Well, yes, Ulster. The absence of Munster at the most significant game ever between two Irish provinces has left some journalists struggling for content, unaccustomed as they are writing [...] more »
Hain ‘clarifies’ comments in contempt of court case
Sort of… After the bluster from various political and media sources over, the “statutorily independent” NI Attorney General, John Larkin’s decision to charge former Secretary of State for Wales, etc, Peter Hain, MP, and his publisher, with contempt of court over remarks in Mr Hain’s autobiography, the BBC has news from the High Court. Former NI [...] more »
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Total Politics: Top 20 NI Blogs…
Fair play to Iain, he managed to get over 2,200 people voting in his poll for the top Northern Irish blogs this year… We (just, I imagine) retained our top spot, with Splintered coming straight in at number 2, no doubt his pet subject du jour will have garnered him a lot of fans… I’ve [...] read our review »
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Debating the Churches’ Role in the Peace in Northern Ireland
This morning’s Sunday Sequence featured a substantial debate (about 35 minutes into the recorded programme) on a new book,Religion, Civil Society and Peace in Northern Ireland (Oxford University Press 2011), written by sociologists John Brewer, Gareth Higgins and Francis Teeney. The debate was framed in an opening vignette by presenter William Crawley in uncompromising terms, [...] read our review » -
“It was a trivial problem that… occurs every year”
Just your average family gathering at Christmas, with a bit of an argument about the seating cleaning arrangements… Scuffles have broken out between rival groups of Greek Orthodox and Armenian clerics over a turf war in Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity. Bemused tourists looked on as about 100 priests fought with brooms while cleaning the [...] read our review »
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