Gonzo gave his immediate reaction to Barack Obama’s speech late last night but it’s also worth reading Micky Kaus’ suitably sceptical take at Slate“A little flat, and not just because of it’s now-required State-of-the Union laundry-list passages”
Meanwhile Máirtín points to an Irish Echo report from a couple of days ago on the reaction by some to Obama’s suggestion that a US envoy to Northern Ireland was no longer required - as previously noted by Brian.“I’m Shocked, I really am,” veteran Democratic activist Brian O’Dwyer said. “The stupidity of it, that somehow the idea that it is all over (in Northern Ireland) and there is no need for an envoy; this of all things. Irish American is most proud of...
The BBC’s Mark Devenport had suggested the IMC could play a part of the “serious consequences” predicted by Northern Ireland First Minister, the DUP’s Peter Robinson, if the Executive continued to fail to meet. Whether today’s reported meeting between the DUP and the IMC is more than a sounding of next week’s IMC report isn’t yet clear. But it comes at a time when the NI First Minster has accused the Regional Development Minister, Sinn Féin’s Conor Murphy, of breaching the ministerial code....
After the “kerfuffle” - the threats, the clarification, and the rebuttal - apparently the DUP and Sinn Féin are to hold talks next week. As the Belfast Telegraph report tells usThe DUP today said it was waiting confirmation of talks with Sinn Fein for next week to tackle the impasse threatening the future of devolution. Sinn Fein has also organised a series of internal consultations, including a meeting of its 27 Assembly members also next week.
Well we’re certainly not in May now.. But will they take the advice offered in the NewsLetter editorial? Probably not.....
RTÉ reports that Taoiseach Brian Cowen has not ruled out a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, as those other battle lines are drawn. Meanwhile the Irish Times notes a Danish newspaper reportSENIOR IRISH officials met their Danish counterparts in Copenhagen earlier this month to get advice on how Ireland could opt out of significant provisions of the Lisbon Treaty in order to resolve the impasse created by the outcome of the referendum in June.
The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten reported that the Danish model, involving opt-outs from certain aspects of EU co-operation, was now being actively considered by the Government. Diplomatic sources in Dublin have confirmed the meeting took place. The newspaper reported a delegation from Dublin visited the foreign...
A good round-up of the political parties’ reactions to yesterday’s events, and the surrounding circumstances, in this iol report. Firstly, from the SDLP’s Margaret Ritchie“It is increasingly a manifestation of republican frustration at the failure of Sinn Féin to deliver what it promised to its own movement”
From Sinn Féin’s Pat Doherty“Nationalists and republicans will once again be disappointed by the attitude being displayed by the SDLP.”
The DUP’s Nigel Dodds“Any commitments that were given by the government to Sinn Féin are a matter for the government, but the DUP made the situation perfectly clear before we left St Andrews, that we had not agreed to any dates for the transfer of powers”
And...
I mentioned the launch of Nasa’s new GLAST telescope previously and they’ve now released the first light images. Oh, and they’ve renamed it the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope - a short history of telescopic observations here. There’s a dynamic image of the Vela pulsar too - which beams radiation every 89 milliseconds as it spins.
No mention, though, of the discovery of pulsars by Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell.. or her part in Pluto’s downfall.. [Image Credit: NASA/DOE/International LAT Team]...
In the NewsLetter, Liam Clarke notes the irony of the venue for Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin’s threat to take the ball awayCrossan’s commemoration was an ironic venue to choose for a call for the return of control of security powers to Stormont but O Caolain didn’t stop at that. “If we are forced to conclude that change will not be forthcoming from the Executive, then we will have no option but to pull out our Ministers and seek to put pressure where responsibility ultimately lies, which is on the British Government in London,” he went on.
It is a sign of how far republicans have come when they are now threatening to pull down a local Irish administration with a cross-border dimension in the hope that the British...
In the Irish Times there’s a fairly comprehensive rebuttal of Cardinal Séan Brady’s “criticisms of the European Union’s approach to religion” - as previously noted here. Another blow in the Church v State [Lisbon] clash?A democracy has a duty to make laws in the interests of all. As an entity whose population is religiously diverse, the EU cannot legislate purely on the basis of the theological convictions of a single faith without violating this duty. Furthermore, in democratic public life, individuals must account for their beliefs and will inevitably be criticised for them.
The Cardinal has effectively characterised the imposition on religious bodies of the duties to accept criticism and provide justifications for their political demands...
According to the BBC report, a small number of petrol bombs and stones were thrown at police in the Belfast last night when “what the PSNI has called “sporadic” disturbances broke out in Cromac Street, the Markets, Lower Ormeau, Lower Newtownards Road and Short Strand areas” - no reports of injuries or arrests. In County Armagh today, where the ‘gangs’ seem somewhat more lethally equipped, “at least one blast bomb, as well as bottles, stones and petrol bombs have been thrown at police investigating a security alert [in the Tullygally and Drumbeg areas of Craigavon]”. Motorists are being asked to avoid the area....
Northern Ireland First Minister, DUP leader Peter Robinson, has responded to Sinn Féin’s apparent threat, via TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, to take the ball away - notwithstanding Mary Lou McDonald’s clarification..When Ministers were appointed they made public and legally-binding pledges which are not being fulfilled. This cannot continue. A meeting of the Executive has been scheduled for 18th September. If this meeting were not to take place it is self-evident that there would be serious consequences for the good government of Northern Ireland and indeed potentially for those who refuse to fulfil their legal obligations.
Let me make it clear the DUP will not respond to threats such as that which Sinn Fein has made. If we were...
I want to come back to the Olympic theme in more detail both here on Slugger and elsewhere. But this piece by Fintan O’Toole is worth flagging up for the pure politics of it, than anything to do with sport. The Ross O’Carroll-Kellys of elite Equestrianism failed to deliver, whilst the frequently maligned urban working classes once again provided the country with its only Olympic medal glory (boosted partly by the strange failure of the US and Cuba).
As so often in the past, national pride was salvaged by those of whom the nation generally feels least proud: young, working class men from marginalised communities. While the horsey set, with all their money and self-regard, were making a show of us yet again, the competitors who demonstrated honesty and discipline,...
The Irish Times picks up on Sinn Féin’s Dáil party leader, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, threat to collapse the Northern Ireland Executive take the ball away - and some of the subsequent reaction. But the Irish Independent carries the party’s Dublin MEP Mary Lou McDonald’s clarification of Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin’s comments.During a press event on the Lisbon Treaty fallout in Dublin, Ms McDonald appeared to tone down the original threat made by Mr O Caolain. “It’s very clear we need to deliver any agreements that we’ve had with the DUP and the two governments. The devolution of policing and justice has to happen. We, in our party, have worked for years and are very committed to the process under way,...
Just as Brian reckons there’s trouble brewing between church and state, Will Crawley notes a Ted-ish tendency in the Italian clergy.. Expect “secret sects, satanic groups and New Age movements” to be invoked.. again.....
Anthony McIntyre had planned a book tour of the US to promote Good Friday, The Death of Irish Republicanism. In the Sunday Life his publishers relate the reasons given for the refusal of a visa.The publishers said it was unlikely Mcintyre would be given a visa as long as George Bush was in the White House. A spokesman said: “The refusal is based upon his felony conviction. As he is not a politician going to the US on ‘peace processing’ business, he does not get a waiver to entry despite his conviction, as other convicted IRA members have.
“He could apply again, but the likelihood of his being able to enter the States is slim to none, given both his record and the political climate. “We expect the status quo to remain in place.”...
Some political responses to Sinn Féin’s threat to collapse the Northern Ireland Executive take the ball away. From UUP leader Reg EmpeyCommenting on the statement from Caoimhghin O’Caolain, Ulster Unionist Party leader Mr Empey called for clarification from the Sinn Fein leadership. “If Martin McGuinness does not distance himself from this statement then a full-blown crisis is facing the Executive next month,” he said.
Which would prove those “prophets of doom” right.. Meanwhile, from NI Junior Minister, the DUP’s Jeffrey DonaldsonDUP junior minister Jeffrey Donaldson says the comments are not helpful. “I think there is a danger that Sinn Fein are trying to create a crisis. Policing and justice devolution...
Apparently the representative of Emperor Pope Benedict XVI in Ireland, Cardinal Séan Brady, “has suggested that EU hostility to religion may have prompted some Irish voters to reject the Lisbon Treaty. That wasn’t one of the options available in the Eurobarometer poll.. as noted previously by Mick. But the only option that was close only received 2% support. More from the RTÉ reportHe warned that ignoring this trend had inevitable political and social consequences, not least on levels of support for the European project itself. He said it may be important for the EU to review its prevailing pragmatism that results in Christians being denied the right to intervene in public debates, or at least having their contribution dismissed as an...
Interestingly, the Sinn Féin representative now threatening to collapse the Northern Ireland Executive take the ball away over the issue of policing and justice powers is TD, Caoimhghin O Caolain. According to the BBC report[Caoimhghin O Caolain] said republicans were growing increasingly concerned at the lack of progress being made on the issue. “If we are forced to conclude that change will not be forthcoming from the executive then we will have no option but to pull out our ministers and seek to put pressure where responsibility ultimately lies, which is on the British government in London,” he said.
“There is now widespread and growing concern among republicans at the failure to transfer policing and justice powers from London to Belfast...
Somewhat of a convergence of criticism, ostensibly of policing here, from separate sources. First up out-going Assistant Chief Constable Peter Sheridan, previously interviewed in AgendaNI, talking to Suzanne Breen in the Sunday Tribune.While the IRA Army Council may continue to meet, Sheridan predicts it will “fade into the pages of history” as there are no longer military matters for its members to discuss. However, he expresses concern that the threat posed by Republican dissidents is politically ignored.
“Last Saturday night, there was a rocket attack in the middle of Lisnaskea [Co Fermanagh] in which several police officers were nearly murdered. There was no coordinated political response… An emergency Executive meeting was convened to address...
In the Guardian, Henry McDonald on the deadlocked Northern Ireland Executive and the mother of all DUP-Sinn Féin battles to come in September.The mother of all DUP-Sinn Féin battles to come remains the policing and justice question. According to reliable sources Peter Robinson and his team met a senior delegation of Ulster Unionists at Westminster last week during which the first minister spoke in rather hardline, belligerent terms about the issue.
He, and indeed Gerry Adams (who has also hardened his rhetoric over what he regards as DUP intransigence) could be bluffing. Both parties enjoy the limited power they exercise and in all likelihood know that it is the only show the British and Irish governments will tolerate.
But, like politicians and economists accused...
In the Irish Times, Miriam Lord turns TV reviewer on the occasion of former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern guest-presenting RTÉ’s The Road to Croker.The politician turned presenter stayed in his comfort zone throughout the show, with two stars of the great 1970s Dublin football team opening proceedings. You can’t go wrong with Paddy Cullen and Jimmy Keaveney - anecdotes at will.
“We’ll be asking two Dublin legends where it all went wrong,” said Bertie to the camera. We’re all wondering that.
“A trawl through the good old days might be just the tonic to lift the gloom.” Never a truer word, Bertie. Dublin Castle, September 15th, if the Mahon tribunal calendar is right....
Slugger has gotten advance notice of an interview with Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson in Total Politics magazine - which probably took place before Ian Paisley Jnr’s recent comments. And, in perhaps a reference to the threats of collapsing the executive taking the ball away by Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams, there is this“People within the party recognise that, until the stability of the Assembly is more firmly established on a longer-term basis, there will be reluctance among people who are Westminster MPs to give up their seats to work exclusively in the Assembly. There will be a phasing-in of that approach,” [Peter Robinson] said.
And furthermore“We have a choice as a people. Either you continue with the division or you seek...
The Public Prosecution Service is said to be considering the judge’s verdict after Brian Arthurs, who was named in this 2005 Sunday Times report as a member of the PIRA army council and had been jailed for 25 years in 1995 for possession of explosives, was acquited on all charges fifteen months after being charged under the Proceeds of Crime Act [May 23, 2007] - he is now reported to be considering a civil action against the chief constable for malicious prosecution and, according to the Belfast Telegraph report, is “taking a complaint to the police ombudsman.” The Northern Ireland deputy First Minister, Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness, who may or may not have been one of the MLAs who provided a reference for Arthurs, responded to the news here. And...
Whilst Craigavon Borough Council has been criticised by Sinn Féin councillor, Johnny McGibbon, after they voted to join the UK-wide celebrations and raise the London 2012 Olympic handover flag this weekend, the Department of Culture, Arts, and Leisure tells us that on Sunday 24th August,At Belfast’s celebrations, the Lord Mayor of Belfast will be presented with a London 2012 handover Flag by children from our ethnic communities to mark the beginning of Northern Ireland being part of 2012.
That would be the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Sinn Féin’s Tom Hartley, presumably.. Although, perhaps an alternative will be used.....
The key to recognising some of the main beneficiaries of the decision to progress with a £46m dual carriageway between Broadbridge Maydown and City of Derry Airport comes in the notes to editors in the ministerial statement.1. The A2 is part of the Northern Key Transport Corridor connecting Belfast to Derry via Coleraine. It is the main road connecting Limavady to Derry and provides links to the Maydown and Campsey industrial zones and to the City of Derry Airport, the key air transport hub in the northwest.
And that will certainly help in the problem of finding someone to buy the airport.. Of course, as was the case with previous compulsory purchases of land around the airport “in the public interest”, the Derry Journal report notes - “Vesting orders for...
Three weeks after the initial threats were made against NCP parking attendants in west Belfast and they have still not returned to the streets. Can we say it’s a no-go area yet?Nipsa’s John Corey said the situation has not changed. “We do not believe it is right that any chances should be taken with the health and safety of these workers,” he said. NCP, which operates the service for the DRD, was told of the threat by the PSNI....
Perhaps inadvertently, the DUP’s Ian Paisley Jnr, a member of the Policing Board, provides another reason to delay the devolving of policing and justice powers. He’s apparently concerned about the recent use of Semtex. And, perhaps, the attempts to exert control in certain areas. From the iol report.Mr Paisley claimed people would now accept it as necessary to finally crush the dissident threat. “Sooner or later there will be a murder of a police officer unless the police are able to deploy ruthlessness in tracking down and wiping out these dissident members,” said the North Antrim MLA. “I believe the community will accept such measures and if dissidents are shot on sight, the community will accept that it is a necessary use of lethal...
According to the BBC report, “An emergency meeting of the Regional Development Committee was told independent consultants would examine what had happened.” ‘What had happened’ being a reference to the flooding of the newly opened Broadway underpass at the weekend. Except that the project director of the construction company involved has already told us “what had happened”“No doubt the culvert did its job, it was designed and built exactly in accordance with specifications and put into practice. “But unfortunately you can’t countenance for severe weather conditions like this.”
And in the UTV reportdeputy contract manager with the firm that built the underpass, Marty O`Neill, spoke with U105. He said: “It...
What’s been astonishing at this Olympic games is just how well the British appear to have performed in comparison with past outings. Ireland’s performance in comparison begin to point not at lack of talent but structural weaknesses in the way sport is funded. Generally, Northern Irish competitors have with Team GB fared much better, hitting finals in several sports and in the case of Wendy Houvenaghel from Upperlands in Co Derry who took silver in cycling. Yesterday, the UK papers were at pains to point out just how potent the Lottery system has been at micro funding athletes at critical stages of their development, though it seems to me that that is only part of the story. Serious amounts of central funds have been committed in infrastructure as well as in importing...
To deal with a real world problem. After months of stalemate and inaction in the Executive, it seems two DUP ministers have consulted and agreed an ex officio plan to deal with the flooding from the weekend. The problem, as Michael has suggested, may be that executive approval is needed for anything that covers the remit of two or more executive departments? Which would actually require an executive meeting. Interesting… That could make for an interesting call for the DFM…...
Apparently Lá Nua broke this story on 11th July, and published a response from the Orange Order on 7th August. “Members of the Orange Order belong to the Institution because they are firmly committed to their Reformed Protestant Faith and in a world where secular values are changing the societies in which we live, our faith is important to us.”
A “senior member” of the Orange Order said to Lá Nua; “They might think they are being smart issuing that type of answer but it is showing that they are burying their heads in the sand. Many members have been very positive about the suggestion internally but nothing has happened at an official level yet”
A spokesman for the Order said that “we’re a pro-Protestant...