Friday, October 18, 2002

Blair's Speech Paul Dunne British Prime Minister Blair gave a speech yesterday evening, to a pro-Agreement audience drawn mostly from the business and community-activist sectors. The "executive summary" is, as the media this morning has variously reported, that the IRA must disband. I won't go through the thing line by line, but I think focusing on a few key passages will give the essence. [The Shamrockshire Eagle] Comments: Google It! 7:35:06 AM

Soldier 027 Bloody Sunday; witness breaks ranks. "A soldier giving evidence at the Bloody Sunday inquiry said today that two of his colleagues had a ''game plan'' for the 1972 shootings." More at UTV. And The Times, and The Irish Independent. [Letter to Slugger O'Toole] Comments: Google It! 7:29:55 AM

Other approaches? The party may not be everything. A small but growing theme of discussion in NI has centred around the possible re-alignment of politics. According to Toby Harnden [in The Political Treachery at the Heart of the IRA], operating to purely party interests may not be the most effective means of achieving a United Ireland. He digs up a 1990 quotation from Gerry Adams:"Adams mused about a 'gradualist scenario with Dublin taking up more and more responsibility and the British influence slowly waning'. [Letter to Slugger O'Toole] Comments: Google It! 7:24:30 AM

"I think he would have killed me" Laura Friel Ann, a mother of three from North Belfast, was already bleeding profusely from a gash where she had been smashed over the head with an iron bar. A man holding her down by the throat repeatedly attempted to grasp a bottle lying just out of his reach. "Stiff her, stiff her," shouted members of the mob. [AP/RN] Comments: Google It! 7:22:10 AM

Still little Garda accountability Cathal McGovern Responding to criticism directed against the force in the wake of the May Day anti-globalisation protest in Dublin, Garda Representative Association (GRA) secretary, PJ Stone, proved the personification of arrogance. In reply to criticism from the Irish Council of Civil Liberties (ICCL) Stone suggested the majority of complaints directed at the force were the mischievous rantings of 'subversives' and criminals. As was pointed out in my previous article on the subject of reforming the force, and in particular the complaints procedure, the tactic of deflecting criticism for serious wrongdoing on to the shoulders of 'subversives' and criminals once again received an airing at length on television and in the print media. [Fourthwrite] Comments: Google It! 7:19:24 AM

Workers Unity To End Poverty Pay Workplace Anger Increases Over Decent Wages Hundreds of Firefighters from England, Scotland and Wales joined forces with their coworkers in the six counties last month in the first of a series of public protests to highlight their demand for fair pay. [The Starry Plough] Comments: Google It! 7:17:20 AM

It's NICE to trust people MacCool We need to vote for the Nice Treaty. All the politicians are agreed. When political parties are united on something it is usually a reason to become suspicious. [Saoirse] Comments: Google It! 7:12:57 AM

Running on Empty Anthony McIntyre From observing Sinn Fein discourse in recent months it is apparent that the foot has been pressed to the pedal in a bid to create the image of an unstoppable momentum towards a united Ireland. An element in this imagery of acceleration has been the call to the Dublin government to draw up a white paper on unity. Running parallel with this is the claim that unionism is devoid of any vision for the future. [The Blanket] Comments: Google It! 7:09:15 AM

Lisnaskea schoolboy injured Sixteen-year-old Michael Shine, who suffers from cerebral palsy, was in his parents' car returning from the All-Ireland football final on September 22 when he was struck by a bottle hurled by loyalists through the window of the vehicle. The Fermanagh teenager suffered serious facial injuries. [AP/RN] Comments: Google It! 7:06:24 AM

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