parades – Page 2 – Slugger O'Toole

Not British, Brutish: @brianjohnspencr guesting on the @LADFLEG blog

John Ó Néill on September 24, 2013, 5:07 pm

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In a bit of departure, the Loyalists Against Democracy blog has a guest post from Brian John Spencer (regularly of this parish). Entitled, ‘They are Not British, They’re Brutish‘ and against the backdrop of the increasingly cartoonish behaviour of loyalisms curated extreme, he rages against what he variously calls ‘civilised Northern Ireland’, ‘soft-bellied multiculturalists’ and ‘ever-indulgent middle-highbrows’ and suggests they all need to wake up. He even converges upon Chris’ argument that Unionism needs to adopt the kind of leadership …

Even Protestants don’t support parades and protests: #LucidTalk

John Ó Néill on September 16, 2013, 5:10 pm

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More figures from LucidTalk in the Belfast Telegraph, this time on Parades. Respondents were asked which statements they agreed most closely with (results given as percentages): If you exclude don’t knows, you get the following results (results given as percentages): And, if pie-charts are your thing, here’s charts for the first three groups excluding don’t knows: … and Protestants (excluding don’t knows)… … and Catholics (excluding don’t knows)… As to the poll itself, the stats provided state that: Our LucidTalk …

Inability of OFMdFM to compromise has allowed the “No Go” politics of the street to re-occupy a central space

Mick Fealty on August 12, 2013, 3:57 pm

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It’s no go your maidenheads, it’s no go your culture, All we want is a Dunlop tyre and the devil mend the puncture. Louis MacNeice – Bagpipe Music One of the optical illusions of Northern Ireland’s now regular summers of trouble is that it has nothing whatsoever to do with the power sharing executive on Stormont hill. This was an actual feature of the politics that developed from the early sixties through to the outbreak of serious public disorder in …

Two rounds of Parades Poker to Sinn Fein (though some bombers are more equal than others)..

Mick Fealty on August 10, 2013, 8:47 am

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Two quotes stand out in this article in the Crime and Law section of today’s Irish Times: Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness said last night: “Make no mistake about it, those responsible for the violence against the police are the combined forces of the UVF and Orange Order in north Belfast.” Meanwhile, out wesht [Not THAT far west! – Ed]… Mr McGuinness said a republican parade in Castlederg , Co Tyrone to commemorate dead IRA members would be “dignified and lawful”. The …

Unionists begin long parades weekend by attacking PSNI

John Ó Néill on August 9, 2013, 10:00 pm

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It is looking it will a long weekend. Tonight’s anti-internment march was the first of a series of parades, with the Apprentice Boys tomorrow, Belfast District No 4 at Ardoyne and the Tyrone Volunteer Commemoration on Sunday. Tonight’s march was preceded by unionist loyalist protestors attacking police in Belfast city centre before the march even arrived (making the predictable spin more difficult since the republican march was nowhere in sight at the time). The march was routed away from Royal …

Did US St Patrick’s day concerns about OFMdFM’s inability to co-ordinate prompt Hass intervention?

Mick Fealty on August 5, 2013, 4:17 pm

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After his interview with a former US Consul to Belfast, Steven McCaffrey wonders if OFMdFM suggestions that the engagement of Richard Haas was largely on their own initiative, are somewhat exaggerated: The fact that Mrs Stephenson appears to track recent political progress as having started after Northern Ireland leaders met President Barack Obama in Washington on St Patrick’s Day makes it tempting to wonder – rightly or wrongly – who we really have to thank for the positive new policies …

In our still conflicted society, what does ‘leadership’ really mean?

Mick Fealty on August 1, 2013, 10:48 am

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All I can say is get yourself a copy of the Irish News today, and read Newton Emerson. I won’t try to parse or quote or paraphrase his arguments (since I cannot link directly to the piece online), but they raise the issue of what political leadership really means. Is it issuing a press release condemning attacks on the other side? Or looking for robust common standards that allow individuals in broader society to pursue their own political, cultural and …

Considering the constitutional future of Republicanism in Ireland…

Mick Fealty on July 12, 2013, 7:33 am

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Last year I wrote a post on the 12th which has several times since been taken out of context… You can see it here. In it I argued, simply enough as I thought, that the 12th of July belongs to all of us. By which I meant that as much as Orangemen should be permitted to march, non Orange citizens are entitled to their non Orange day too In the meantime, this was the year a senior Orangeman had to …

And after the Ardoyne parade back up to Stormont, again…

Mick Fealty on July 10, 2013, 8:14 pm

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Well given the passion (and the brutality of that DUP attack) on Monday… the DUP have decided to call everyone back into Stormont on Tuesday, 16 July 2013… A spokeswoman for the assembly said: “There will be an additional plenary sitting of the Northern Ireland assembly on Tuesday, 16 July 2013 after the Speaker received a valid request to recall the assembly. “Plenary will begin at 12 noon and will discuss a motion in respect of the impact of a determination …

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

Mick Fealty on June 19, 2013, 11:48 am

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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 …

Zero sum game over parades continues between OFMdFM parties…

Mick Fealty on May 23, 2013, 9:32 am

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Here’s a good one, the DUP Minister at Social Development has commissioned a report (original here, courtesy of Morpheus below) that says that parades bring in £55 million a year [there’s a surprise – ed]. Except that the former Lord Mayor of Belfast says what it does not take account of is: …the mass exodus of people from the North during the height of the ‘marching season’ or the amount of people put off from coming here by the associated …

Micheál Martin “there is a grave danger that policing in the North will be compromised because of this activity”

Mick Fealty on May 17, 2013, 5:09 pm

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I’ve alluded to this in a post earlier in the week, but the Oireachtas record gives Deputy Gerry Adams a voice not captured on the Dail video. The exchange between himself and the leader of Fianna Fail is very instructive, not least as we face into another summer of discontent… The relevant section begins with Mr Martin making a point he’s made before, only because of his interventions more forcefully and directly to one of the political parties he clearly …

Was Sunday’s loyalist riot in north Belfast an attempt to ‘regulate by riot’?

Mick Fealty on September 3, 2012, 3:41 pm

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So there was riot in north Belfast. What’s new? Well, what’s new is that for the first time in a number of years it was initiated by Loyalists against a Republican parade. In recent years, the traffic has been more or less one way in the opposite direction. And it seems to have been pretty pre meditated. At 2pm yesterday a crowd of several hundred were seen gathering at the flash point some of them wearing scarves and balaclavas. Not …

Dungiven parade: Republicanism on display or a mere base sectarian reflex?

Mick Fealty on August 29, 2012, 11:00 am

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I picked this up from Gerry Lynch on Facebook just now. It won’t come as any surprise to the practicing Anglicans of Dungiven to find themselves regaled with loud Republican music whilst at worship Their church has been marked out for all manner of special treatment over the years, not least the careful siting of a hunger strike just outside the local church ground… Chris has raised important questions about the attitude of the DUP leadership in relation to parades …

“They are conversations – they are not negotiations, they are not mediation…”

Pete Baker on April 20, 2012, 5:03 pm

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With the draconian approach of the elected representatives in Sinn Féin and the DUP abandoned, and long-forgotten, the extant Parades Commission have appointed a trio of intermediaries to have ‘conversations’ with unidentified others in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast. From the BBC report Lord Alderdice is involved in the initiative, along with the Holy Cross priest Father Gary Donegan and the former Presbyterian Moderator, the Reverend Norman Hamilton. He admits there is no guarantee of success. Dr Hamilton said: “The Parades …

“encouraged by a small number of people opposed to the peace process…”

Pete Baker on July 13, 2011, 8:00 pm

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Twenty-six people were arrested during last night’s rioting in nationalist areas of north and south Belfast and Londonderry. There were also reports of public disorder in Armagh, and the Dunclug estate in Ballymena. RTÉ lists Strabane, Newry, Ballymena and Armagh city, as well as Belfast and Londonderry. In Londonderry, we are told Sinn Féin Foyle MLA Martina Anderson said the violence was “orchestrated” and described it as “an orgy of destruction”. “Let’s be clear the vandalism and wanton destruction in …

Tweeting the twelfth

John Ó Néill on July 11, 2011, 3:22 pm

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Since Mark and company will be in the field (in all senses), I’ll try and keep a feed running here on CoverItLive which will automatically update from twitter. At the moment it includes the most common hashtags (#twelfth, obviously, and #orangefest, #niparades and #glorious12th) but I can include others if people feel they are trending sufficiently. You can comment below or use the hashtags and join in via twitter. Anyone who wants to relay tweets into the comments can feel …

Republican Sinn Féin President arrested

Pete Baker on July 7, 2011, 12:09 am

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Apparently it’s “in relation to an illegal parade” in Lurgan on 23 January this year. There are denials that the hijackings and reported shots fired in Lurgan this evening are connected to the arrests. From the UTV report Josephine Hayden from RSF said the government has failed on promises to phase out strip-searching at jails. “There was a march planned for tonight to highlight the condition of prisoners in Maghabbery and Des was coming to speak at that,” Ms Hayden told UTV. “The …

“We don’t approve of young children engaging in this type of activity…”

Pete Baker on March 30, 2011, 8:43 pm

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The Belfast Telegraph has an update from the Ti Chulainn Cultural Centre in Mullaghbawn, south Armagh – where children, some of primary school age, were photographed in October wearing balaclavas, combat jackets and trousers, dark glasses and berets, and brandishing replica weapons including AK47s and Armalites. From the Belfast Telegraph update The Ti Chulainn centre in south Armagh has said that children dressed up as paramilitaries armed with replica weapons on its premises hadn’t “been part of an organised event” in the …

Flag wars over St Patrick’s Day in Downpatrick

Turgon on March 16, 2011, 11:15 pm

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UTV are covering the story of the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Downpatrick. For the last 25 years the local council have handed out red and white St. Patrick’s cross flags. Sinn Féin councillor Eamonn Mac Con Midhe has announced that he will be carrying a tricolour during the parade. He stated: “I’ll be there on Thursday with my tricolour marching down the street with the councillors as I said I would be. “Very little unionist councillors have ever participated …