This essay appears in this month’s edition of Prospect magazine. In it I’ve tried to chart the lengthy political career of Ian Paisley, Northern Ireland’s single most enduring political figure whose career spans the period before during and after the Troubles.
“Cheeky” Piers Morgan’s acerbic interviewing style misses only one of the qualities recommended by Ken Tynan (and lauded in the leader page of the Guardian on Monday). It was light, certainly. Stinging yes. Insolent, without a doubt. But the part he left out of his interrogation of that paper’s editor, Alan Rusbridger, was melancholy. I have to admit that when I first read Tynan’s recipe for good review writing (in Monday’s leader, as it happens), it was that word which …
Frank Millar has a useful end of week wash up on the lead up to this deal. It’s easy to forget that when the so-called “comprehensive agreement” collapsed, just before the Northern Bank robbery, there was little sign of any momentum. For all the moral (and legal) compromises in getting to where we now are, Hain may have played a crucial role in bringing at least one aspect of the Irish question to a close: …it would be disingenuous for …
On our last Slugger Radio outing Sammy noted that Sinn Fein’s electioneering techniques were miles ahead of the field. Unfairly so, say several senior SDLP MLAs. Here’s Dolores Kelly: “We were getting reports of Sinn Fein going twice to the same doors on the day of the election asking if people had voted,” she said. “People were complaining to us that there were up to 10 men standing outside the voting station and that they found it quite intimidating.” She …
Name’s Morse, Sammy Morse… and today he looks at what has to be Belfast’s most intriguing constituency: South. He is certain that sitting UUP MLA will lose his seat to Chris Stalford. On the Nationalist/Centrist side of the house, it is a little more complex, particularly if Anna Lo can produce a beefy challenge.If, and only if, Lo can take back some of a highly fluctuating Alliance/Women’s Coalition base 6% and 15%, then it might produce problems for Sinn Fein …
So, that Irish Times Poll. The core vote for the parties when the undecided voters are included is: Fianna Fáil 35 per cent (down three points); Fine Gael 19 per cent (down one point); Labour 8 per cent (no change); Sinn Féin 7 per cent (up two points); Green Party 6 per cent (up three points); PDs 1 per cent (down one point); Independents/others 6 per cent (down one point); undecided 18 per cent (up one point). From a Sinn …
So it looks like Northern Ireland is going to get a conditional green light for an early election. Conditional because although Sinn Fein appeared to take a giant step towards agreeing to normal policing, the motion passed by the party’s extraordinary conference was heavily conditional on the DUP keeping to the St Andrews timetable. Of course since the DUP gave its overall approval, that should leave the Secretary of State for Wales, etc. free to fire a belated starting pistol …
Jim Allister has some very plain words on the kinds of policing tests he wants to see imposed before his party gives any committements on the devolution of policing and justice powers to Stormont: – Encouragement to join the PSNI, which can be tested by seeing an upturn in Roman Catholic applications in future recruitment competitions, the next of which does not open until March. – Publicly promoted direct co-operation with the police, demonstrated by a sustained increase in the …
ONE of my favourite stories (as yet unconfirmed!) from 2006 was about the Chief Constable almost having a ringside seat of the Northern Bank robbery. According to a normally-reliable source, while the £26.5 million raid was being carried out, Hugh Orde (and other senior cops and ARA types) were at a Christmas bash in the Apartment bar, less than 100 feet away. Like I said, unconfirmed, but mildly amusing… and strangely plausible! Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
Well, it’ll be two years on Wednesday since the Northern Bank heist. In the Sunday Tribune, Suzanne Breen gives a very detailed and explicit account of the robbers, the robbery and the divvying up of the dosh. There probably isn’t much new in what she writes, but I was a bit surprised at how confident she feels in alluding to the alleged bank robber. The Irish Examiner throws a little something new into the mix. They quote Justice Minister Michael …
Despite all the hype around blogging, not everyone should blog. If you are a politician or a member of a large organisation, make sure there is something you want to tell us first. Cut and pasting press releases won’t do. We have official websites not to go for that. Think of blogging as an opportunity to express those thoughts, explanations, or kites you’ve always wanted to fly, but could never get a journalist to listen. Just remember, you don’t need …
Although broadcast methods are still the biggest focus for any political party, they are steadily losing ground to online audiences along with their advertising revenues…. Glossy presentation works on TV because it is a one way medium. It general fails badly on the net where send and receive is the most effective. Even top-most bloggers in the US and the UK eschew the glossy look, even when they can afford it. In the blogosphere, even mistakes can be a virtue …
What can Unionism do about loyalist paramilitarism? Unionism has preferred to avoid this issue rather than attempt to resolve it. Nevertheless, it is a problem, which must be addressed as it is barrier to a normal society and harm is being caused to working class communities by its continuing existence. In Part 1, I will examine how Unionism has dealt with this issue during the peace process and argue that the two basic options of engagement on the one hand …
At Balrog, November Rain gives his/her view on the demise of Daily Ireland. As I told the SBP this weekend, the paper’s management believed it could do to the Irish News what SF had done to the SDLP. But product for product, it never matched it’s own lofty ambitions. In the end, as is apparent from NR’s comment, it struggled to get even hard core Republicans to buy it. It also didn’t help that it launched in the turbulent wake …
And here’s another thing. UTube. I first clocked this around the time of the Dublin Riots, but that Google video sent me back to look again. The most fascinating thing that came up was this Mitchell and Kenyon clip from May 1901, of a horse drawn tram ride down Royal Avenue in Belfast, eventually ending up somewhere that looks like the Albert Clock. The most fascinating detail are the eight blokes parading slowly by the side of the road advertising …
As the BBC have reported, the Secretary of State for Wales and Northern Ireland, Peter Hain, has made his “the future of Northern Ireland” statement to the House of Commons. Announcing his intention to bring forward an emergency Bill on 20 April, with only a half a dozen clauses, to recall the Assembly on 15 May, as previously announced. He repeatedly references devolution in Scotland and Wales as role-models, but there’s not a great deal of detail so far except …
Given the giddy way stories emerge and then seem to disappear from view in Northern Ireland, the Village has a useful interview with one of the public figures who popped out of the media scrum around early police investigations into the follow-up to the Northern Bank robbery. Phil Flynn tells his side of the story. Though, presumably for ‘legal reasons’ he won’t be drawn on any of the potentially interesting detail surrounding Ted Cunningham and the Bulgarian brothers who featured …
One of the most impressive aspects of the Sinn Fein political project has been their determination to resolutely fight on ground set by their own terms of reference, and not their enemies and certainly not the medias. The most potent line to have survive from war to peace has been the call for British Government forces to brought to book at the highest level for what it alleges has been systematic collusion with ruthless gangs of Loyalist paramilitaries. However, on …
That, in paraphrase, was the first comment posted in response to something we blogged from Minister McDowell some months back. I’ve just removed and banned someone posting here for the first time, for a nasty personal attack on the Blanket, which had nothing to do with the subject in hand. Whilst Slugger is neither Republican or Unionist, it does seek to create a space where all can put their views forward and have the reasonable expectation that they will be …
Thanks to TalkBack for covering a story which is so common it’s not making the news. St Columcille’s in East Belfast has suffered yet another attack – this time with some racist undertones. It’s one of those Catholic Churches, like St Bernard’s in Glengormley which get attacked so often, it never makes it to the news pages. St Columcille’s in East Belfast has suffered yet another attack – this time with some racist undertones. It’s one of those Catholic Churches, …
