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Towards the cost of SluggerReports  Or as a zip (386KB) 
Through Irish Eyes: how the Irish successor generation views the UK.
Review and the parties
Review proposalsAlliance Sinn Fein SDLP DUP Irish Labour Parties Alliance DUP Green Party NIUP PUP SDLP Sinn Fein UKUP UUP Women's Coalition "Excellent, balanced weblog on Northern Ireland" Guardian "...pulls in people of all persuasions and none." BBC "...dump all your old ideas about what's happening in Northern Ireland" Sunday Independent "Comment from a full range of the political spectrum" ireland.com "Drives debate beyond the web" Sunday Times "Just keep scrolling" Instapundit "No relation, but some fine reporting!" Deborah O'Toole Linking Slugger  rdf |
April 14, 2004 Low turnout? 'Idiots and lunatics' barred from voting Patsy McGlone (SDLP) has attacked the Electoral Commisssion for barring ‘idiots and lunatics’ from voting after investigating a person with Down’s syndrome being denied. He was already being questioned by Michelle Gildernew (Sinn Féin) over his party’s involvement in making voting harder not just for the diasabled but everyone else. SDLP calls for more fiscal control In its submission to the Review of the Good Friday Agreement the SDLP is proposing greater fiscal autonomy for Northern Ireland. According to SDLP Spokesperson on Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Seán Farren MLA, greater fiscal control would allow for the introduction of a more suitable package of measures to assist economic development. [more] Towards a post modern Army? Airstrip One is a two man blog that casts a cynical eye over British foreign policy, so there's rarely much reference to Northern Ireland there. However Phillip Chaston highlights a case in which two Albanian men successfully sued a British army peace keeping force in Kosovo for unlawful shooting. Link via Iain Murray. In the Basque country after Madrid The Madrid bombing featured heavily here on Slugger as much of the early speculation revolved around the possibility that ETA an organisation with long running fraternal links with the IRA had been behind the atrocity. Nearly a month later Belfast Telegraph journalist Mary Fitzgerald visited the Basque country to ask people what they made of Madrid's Guernica. Marching: Negotiations the way forward? The Irish News praises the behind the scene negotiations that helped a previously contentious Apprentice Boys march to pass off without incident earlier this week. Healthy health service means more choice? The Economist recently ran a poll with YouGov that shows a significant majority of people believe that increasing choice in public services brings an increase in the quality of those services. [more] Monarchy vs Republic: Constitution and law We had the beginnings of a discussion recently on the relative merits and demerits of the written versus the unwritten constitution, which also dipped into the varying characteristics of Monarchy and Republics. [more] A real political issue ahead of Irish elections? With the launch of the CORI (Conference of Religious in Ireland) Socio-Economic Review 2004, RTÉ and UTV highlight the growing gap between rich and poor. A criticism Mary Lou McDonald (Sinn Féin) raised earlier this week. ’Where is the commitment to Equality in a Government that has seen substantial increases in relative poverty and inequality over the lifetime of the Coalition?’ Forgetting the bottom line? In today's Irish News, Tom Kelly argues that in the rush to right wrongs, Northern Ireland is becoming unfeasably top-heavy in government led bureacracy needed to maintain necessary practical oversight to keep a new hoped for dispensation (and everyone living there) in line. [more] Blair ignoring Northern Ireland lessons Malachi O'Doherty reckons that with regrad to British policy in Iraq, Tony Blair is getting it wrong in virtually every respect: "This is the Blair who claimed that great lessons in peace-making had been learnt in Northern Ireland. Well there was one very simple lesson available in Northern Ireland and that was that military brutality makes things worse, not better". Cost of tribunals rising Although the costs of the Bloody Sunday inquiry has frequently come under question in Northern Ireland, the Republic has had its own set of tribunals investigating multiple accusations of government malfeasance since 1997. The cost currently sits at 101 million Euro. Learning from Ireland's example James Helm on why the EU accession countries are so keen to learn from Ireland of how to succeed in Europe. The Day of Welcomes extravaganza in Dublin to celebrate accession on 1st May was cancelled recently, on the face of it for reasons of cost and security. Cigarettes and the writer Northern Irish born writer Nell McCafferty has been smoking for 46 years. In the paper version of last weekend's FT magazine she chronicled how she survived the first few days of the smoking ban in Ranelagh, an affluent suburb of Dublin. By the Thursday she was feeling the pressure: [more] April 13, 2004 Case for integrated education If you haven't read much of Yank in Ulster before, try it now. He seems to have burst back into life with a two part argument (here and here) for integrated education and a short critical letter of a piece in Fortnight magazine he believes blames the religious attitudes of one man for all strains of racism in Northern Ireland. Lancaster House next talks venue The negotiations are to shift to a new venue, Lancaster House, perhaps most famously associated with the constitutional conference that led to the transfer of power from the white minority of what was then Rhodesia, to President Mugabe of Zimbabwe. It also played host to a series of conferences in the sixties, which led to Kenya's trnasition to independence. Taoiseach must advocate UI Leader of Sinn Fein in the Dáil Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin has called for the Irish government to become more proactive in adovocating a united Ireland rather than simply brokering deal acceptable to all sides: [more] Quiet start to marching season On the face of it we have a quiet start to this year's marching season. Anti-Agreement Republicans against violence Robert Carry writes about a new organisation call the New Republican Forum, which is seeking to provide a voice for Republicans outside the Sinn Fein fold who continue to oppose both the Belfast Agreement and any continuence of a violent political campaign. [more] Iraq is following the NI pattern Martin Kelly sees worrying parallels between the pathology of the early troubles in Northern Ireland the that of the escalating violence in Iraq. Rangers ban fan after conviction Glasgow Rangers has banned its first fan on the grounds of a conviction of breach of the peace aggravated by religious prejudice. The move is in line with its new policy statement Pride Over Prejudice brought in last year to curb religious conflict in football. April 12, 2004 Easter Rising The Boston Herald says the spirit of the 1916 rising still resonates across Ireland. Does it? If it does, it bypasses Sinn Fein (so says the Irish Justice Minister). Ruth Dudley Edwards isn't a big fan of SF's behaviour at this time of year either... "Realist" approach to NI Liam O Ruairc re-examines British policy in NI, and argues that London is reactive rather than proactive because things aren't "bad" enough to justify a more active approach. Belfast Agreement breached? The Irish Times reports that the SDLP, Sinn Fein and the DUP aren't very pleased with the constitutional changes proposed down south. Now as we discussed the other day, this won't affect UK nationals - so I'd like to know why you think each party has decided to get involved. Answers in the comments section, please.. [more] April 09, 2004 Raising the roof After the initial scepticism around new blogger ‘Height of the Ants’ the seeds of a few interesting points about how we fund/promote architectural heritage have been raised by Andrew. Stable doors The debate over plans to restrict the citizenship rights of babies born in the Republic to non-nationals has moved on a stage, with the Minister for Justice publishing the proposals to be put to the Irish people. Who would have forseen the GFA causing so much trouble in the south.. [more] Not the same Mo Mowlam has made headlines around the world for saying it's time to open a dialogue with Osama bin Laden. There's plenty of blog discussion on her comments, but I think Paswonky's blog puts it best - "Mo, your recipe for Northern Ireland doesn't apply everywhere". April 08, 2004 Happy Easter all... I'm taking some family time over the weekend, though I may post from time to time depending on the news. Otherwise I'll try to reply to the emails I owe some of our readers. Not sure what the others are planning but I imagine that blogging will be light. [more] More to truth than justice Tom Kelly, a former SDLP Vice Chairman and an Nationalist independent member of the Policing Board welcomes the suggestion a few weeks back by Chairman of the NOrthern Ireland Policing Board that some form of truth commission should be allowed to help people put the past behind them. [more] Councillor suspended by DUP The DUP has suspended Councillor Arthur Templeton from the party. Open all the books... Historio-blogger, Mark Mulholland argues that the piecemeal approach within the Cory Report is unlikely to achieve anything of lasting import: [more] Trimble: DUP document is political froth David Trimble is distinctly unimpressed by the DUP's latest public offering, suggesting that the all important five tests have already been met. He also makes the seemingly valid point that if Unionists have nothing to fear from a border poll, why the 30 year moratorium? [more] Integration and devolution... TOM Griffin is the first offline journalist to pick up on the theme explored on Slugger recently concerning the abandonment of multiculturalism and replacing it with integration in the context of a devolved UK. [more] No inquiry into Finucane, because... Brian Feeney argues that there will be no inquiry into the Finucane case because, he believes, the British Government know precisely what happened already. Political discrimination in Limavady? One Catholic worker is claiming discrimination against Limavady for the unusual reason that to have refused to follow what he claims was a Nationalist political agenda being pushed within the council. ‘Stádas oifigiúil’ do Gaeilge i dTE? Príomhchoimisinéir um Chearta Daonna Brice Dickson: "Agus sinn ag ullmhú na tuairisce seo, d'amharcamar ar go leor foinsí, ar argóintí dea-chumtha pobal na Gaeilge mar shampla agus ar an reacht-aíocht ó dheas ach chuireamar speis ar leith in Acht na Breatnaise." An é seo a fath a bhfuair an moladh go mbeadh an Ghaeilge agus an Béarla ar chomhchéim i mBille nua Ceart? Blair: too much the participant? Jack Holland argues that whilst history may have much to thank the current British Prime Minister for, by persistently brokering too many interim deals, he may have damaged his long term credibility in sealing a final deal. However, government insiders may feel that progress is measured more by the continuing participation in the process towards stable government than in the timescale of when we finally get there. Human Rights: a failing commission? Arlene Foster argues that with its membership collapsing from 14 to just six, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is falling further behind in its task to find a Bill of Rights that's acceptable to all sections of the community. DUP: East, West, North and South So we get to the end of the Review and at last the DUP gives some hint of its approach to viz-a-viz Strands Two and Three that Sean Farren and other Nationalist politicians have been calling for since January. In a neat reversal of the order within the Belfast Agreement the party tackles Strand Three issues before Strand Two [more] IRA accuse UUP of bad faith The IRA's Easter message blames the UUP for breaking the devolved institutions. The message itself will appear in tomorrow's An Phoblacht. |
Slugger O'Toole records news, commentary and diverse opinion on Northern Ireland. Produced by Mick Fealty News, tips or crits here: mick -at- mickfealty.com 
Readers comments
Easter Rising - (99)Monarchy vs Republic: Constitution and law - (27) DUP: East, West, North and South - (129) Quiet start to marching season - (49) Councillor suspended by DUP - (29) Blair ignoring Northern Ireland lessons - (8) Iraq is following the NI pattern - (36) Low turnout? 'Idiots and lunatics' barred from voting - (9) "Realist" approach to NI - (17) SDLP calls for more fiscal control - (6)
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