“Bellwether interface” kicking off with multiple petrol bomb attacks…

This is the front page of the Irish News this morning. It makes the legitimate point that whilst David Cameron was telling the world Northern Ireland has changed, a four year old girls received minor burn injuries from a petrol bomb thrown into Bryson Street in the Short Strand. The incident brought substantive comment from Belfast’s former Lord Mayor Niall O Donnghaile: “I visited the young girl who was injured today and her family and spoke with the PSNI following …

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“We need you to get this right.”

“We need you to get this right.” – Barack Obama, Belfast Waterfront Hall, Monday 17 June 2013 Thought this deserved a special illustrated note. Perhaps we can carry this alongside us. 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/

#G8, transparency, tax and “the soft bigotry of low expectations…”

On tax, and transparency, here’s the final communique from Lough Erne. Ten “shoulds”, all of them ‘good things’, based on self reporting. Ah, “the soft bigotry of low expectations” says Joseph Cotteril. No imminent world government then? As The Economist noted last week: …offshore centres such as the Cayman Islands and Jersey, corporate service providers have had to collect ownership information since they first came under international pressure a decade ago, though they are sometimes slow or unwilling to turn it over …

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#G8: Taxation should remain focused on capital and employees not where sales are generated…

Sammy Wilson’s negative comments re the Republic’s tax regime at the weekend, just before the G8 convened, was clearly jumping on board mumbling from the US Congress, and Westminster PAC… …the British government does have some leverage on the Irish Government there, because they have a £7.5 billion loan, that is a lot of leverage. They should be saying to the government in the Republic, you cannot steal tax revenue from us in this way and that is in fact …

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Obama’s Speech in Belfast…

Obama’s just arriving at the Waterfront Hall… I’ll try and note the main highlights of the speech here (when he gets to the podium)… We're about to go LIVE!! UTV with full #Obama coverage at 9.25am. And don't forget the live online blog http://t.co/2o7j6pC8P9 — Marc Mallett (@MarcMallett_UTV) June 17, 2013 And US people, this is Belfast HUMOUR… Obama in East Belfast. Someone take him to The Oval and lock him in until he agrees to get the club money. …

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G8 Youth Summit looks beyond Trade, Tax and Transparency to focus on Equality, Poverty, Health and Peace

Around a hundred 16-25 year olds from across Ireland converged on the G8 summit site a month early to put together a shared vision of the top four issues they wanted the G8 leaders to address. Before they left, the young people attending the G8 Youth Summit presented their ideas to the British Secretary of State, US Consul General, as well as representatives of the NI Assembly, Irish government, the EU and other civic and church leaders. While the G8 …

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‘Tax avoidance’ makes the G8 in Fermanagh more meaningful to Dublin than Stormont…

Yep, and if you want a short (if a little repetitive) pen picture of what and the who of the G8, this short video from the US Embassy in London is as good a grab as any. You can see from the ariel photographs here just why the Lough Erne Golf Resort was such a no brainer to the organisers. To steal from Shakespeare’s John o’ Gaunt “it is a precious stone set in the silver sea/Which serves it in …

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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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