El BlogadorThings are hotting up on the old election front.
Sinn Féin MLA for Newry and Armagh Davy Hyland has been dramatically dropped by the party for the March 2007 election. Likewise his colleague Pat O'Rawe was deselected, although there are rumours that Sinn Féin HQ may stick her back on the ballot paper in time for March.
The SDLP's Patricia Lewsley has announced she won't be running again in Lagan Valley as she has been appointed Children's Commissioner. To be honest, one can hardly blame Patricia- with the DUP/ SF shenanigans going on up at Stormont, most MLAs don't know whether they will have a job in a few months' time. People can easily forget that MLAs have mortgages and bills to pay like the rest of us.
In South Down ,veteran Ulster Unionist Dermot Nesbitt will not be running again. Nesbitt was standing chatting to Edgar Graham at Queen's in 1983 when the latter was gunned-down by the IRA.
In North Antrim, SDLP Chief Negotiator Seán Farren is bowing out.
North Belfast Sinn Féin MLA Kathy Stanton is also not seeking reselection as the party's candidate for the constituency for 'personal reasons'.
No doubt many more will join this list, which should make for an interesting set of elections. ElBlogador.com
As it's near the end of 2006 and I haven't done any graphics lately, I've put together a few of my favourite from El Blogador during year. And yes, before anyone tries to sue, they are fake!
The recent 'outrage' displayed by unionist politicians, as exemplified by Jeffrey Donaldson's performance on the BBC's 'Question Time' programme, at the prospect of gay people being afforded equality protection under the law was sad but entirely predictable. Are we to assume that all unionists are backward right-wingers who display an unnatural fear of those who are different from them? I should hope not, but it is no wonder that racist attacks are so prevalent in unionist areas if this is the kind of example set by unionist leaders when it comes to people who don't perfectly fit the WASP, straight, collarette-wearing 'ideal' which they presumably reckon we all ought to aspire to (yeah right!).
One particularly bizarre reason given for opposing gay equality came from UUP councillor Adrian Watson. Watson runs a B&B in Antrim, and although he claimed he believes in displaying "total tolerance to the gay community," he added: "It is difficult because my 14-year-old daughter helps out immensely [at the B&B]. And the obvious question: 'Why are two men, or why are two women in a double room?"
No offence big lad, but if your 14-year-old daughter doesn't know what two gay men get up to in the bedroom (aside from sleeping) then I reckon it may be time for you to sit her down and have a little chat. We wouldn't want the piss being taken out of her in school by her classmates now, would we?
One slightly worrying comment which Watson also made was that his business is a "bed and breakfast in a family home with three young children. Common sense has to prevail." Again we apparently see the allusion being made to the idea that gay people are somehow a threat to children. If Wilfred and Doris were coming to stay in his B&B, would he ban them because of his 'three young children'? I think not. So why should it be any different if Winifred and Doris come to stay? If his problem is actually only to do with the 'awkward questions from his children' issue, I don't see why his answer would need be any different than if they were asking why a straight couple or a pair of friends were sharing a room- apart from the fact that unless he drills a hole in the bedroom wall Norman Bates-style to cop a peep then he won't have a clue what they are 'up to' in there anyway, it's not as if he needs to go into detail!
Of course, I know that the unionist community is not homogenously homophobic, but if the politicians they elect appear to be so, then it doesn't send out a particularly good message to those of us who don't display such a Victorian outlook on life. And what of those liberal unionists who couldn't bring themselves to support such blatant discrimination?
It is time for unionist politicians to grow up and stop being so insular, or maybe we'll all start to think that they doth protest too much... ElBlogador.com
A brief exposé of the true effect the British Government’s Review of Public Administration will have on Northern Ireland:
• Calculated job losses, referred to by the British Government officially as “staff efficiency estimates” are only held for the following sectors: Health, Education and local government.
• The potential “staff efficiencies” in Health, Education and local government alone are estimated to be up to 3,790.
• Estimates about how many jobs will be lost as a result of the RPA are based on assumptions made in November 2005, over a year ago.
• The British Government estimates that up to 1,579 jobs will be lost in local government alone and it will cost up to £143 million to implement the RPA at local government level, although this is based on ‘average’ and ‘best practice’ drawn from a cross section of public and private sector organisations.
• Regarding the effect the job losses will have on Northern Ireland economically and socially- while the Secretary of State took high level decisions on the outcome of the RPA, the detail and process of implementation of those decisions are still being developed.
• The British Government estimates that the RPA will cost up to £397 million to implement.
This breaks down as:
Central Authority: up to £20 million
Health: up to £152 million
Education: up to £82 million
Local Government: up to £143 million
Again, these figures are based on ‘average’ and ‘best practice’ drawn from a cross section of public and private sector organisations. ElBlogador.com
One thing which strangely didn’t appear in the St. Andrews Agreement was some sort of provision for residents of the north-eastern counties of Ireland to vote in Irish presidential elections. In fact, I’m not quite sure what exactly nationalists gained from the so-called Agreement.
Of course, northern nationalist demand for a right to vote in presidential elections is nothing new- as far back as 1971 it was a core policy of the fledgling SDLP. Provisional Sinn Féin at the time, subservient as it was to the Provisional Army Council, wasn’t exactly given to constructive constitutional policies (quite apart from the fact that contemporary provos didn’t even recognise the legitimacy of the presidency as it was then, and is still, constituted).
I’m not quite sure when Sinn Féin changed its mind regarding the presidency and decided to back it. Nonetheless, it has been particularly vocal in recent years in demanding the vote for northerners. The SDLP should probably get its act together on the issue, given that it conceived of the idea of northern enfranchisement for such elections in the first place, and now has the ‘North South Makes Sense’ platform on which to promote it in the modern context.
Unlike the issue of representation of the Dáil, where it is somewhat understandable that existing parties there would be reticent to afford northern parties full rights on account of the fact that they haven’t been given a mandate according to the methods by which TDs are elected, the fact that the presidential elections comprise one single constituency would make it quite simple to allow northern voters to play their part. Using cross-border cooperation, the vote should be extended to those in the north who are on the electoral register, subject to the same qualifications to vote in the south.
It’s ridiculous that a quarter of the population of Ireland does not get to vote for the President of Ireland. Surely universal adult suffrage is a basic right… ElBlogador.com
So former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has said that she is 'greatly saddened' by the death of genocidal Chilean maniac Augusto Pinochet. Quelle surprise... ElBlogador.com
Every day more and more stories emerge about the low-down, disgusting tactics employed by all sides during the Troubles. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the whole sordid period of violence was the level of collusion which took place- we all knew it existed, but the more information that emerges, the less likely it seems that there will be inquiries into what precisely went on and who exactly was involved.
This week marks the 35th anniversary of one of the worst atrocities in which security forces colluded with loyalist terrorists- the attack on McGurk's bar in Belfast. 15 innocent people were killed when the UVF planted a 50lb bomb in the doorway of the family-run pub in a Catholic area near the city centre. Despite the fact that there was a massive security presence in the area at the time the bomb was planted due to high levels of IRA violence that week and the fact that three republican prisoners had escaped from Crumlin Road Prison just up the road from the pub, the UVF killers were able to blow up McGurk's with no bother whatsoever. The driver of the car that was used to deliver the bomb was later sentenced to 16 life terms, but the person who planted it has never been convicted.
There was no reason for the bombing save for the fact that those inside the pub were Catholic.
Those who died were: Philomena McGurk (46), Marie McGurk (14), James Cromie (13), John Colton (49), Thomas McLaughlin (55), David Milligan (52), James Smyth (58), Francis Bradley (61), Thomas Kane (49), Kathleen Irvine (53), Philip Garry (75), Edward Kane (29), Edward Keenan (69), Sarah Keenan (58) and Robert Spotswood (38).
May they rest in peace.
The truth must be revealed. Even though events like this happened a long time ago, the scumbags behind massacres such as the bombing of McGurk's must not be allowed to get away with it. The same goes for any murder that happened during the Troubles. Time does not remove the guilt, nor lessen the right of victims' families to see justice for their loved ones.
The families of the McGurk's bombing victims have set up a website to advance their campaign for justice at www.themcgurksbarmassacre.com.
May the the truth be revealed and justice served. ElBlogador.com
I read with interest Maurice Fitzmaurice's article in today's Mirror in which he reported on yesterday proceedings in the NI Select Committee which saw representatives of Community Restorative Justice being quizzed by MPs.
One of those representing CRJ was convicted killer Harry Maguire who played a part in the death of two British soldiers in 1988- in full view of the world they were dragged from their car, beaten to a pulp, and then slaughtered. Many people will remember Fr. Alec Reid giving the Last Rites over their battered corpses. Maguire was sentenced to 79 years in jail. However, despite his hardline provo credentials, Maguire, who is CRJ's 'Director of Training' openly accused Sinn Féin MLA Caitriona Ruane of misunderstanding CRJ when she said it was an alternative to the police: "Clearly in our view she got that wrong. It shows a lack of understanding of what we do."
He added: "We do not see ourselves as an alternative to the PSNI. We do not see ourselves as an alternative policing service."
Meanwhile, CRJ boss Jim Auld agreed when questioned by the DUP's Gregory Campbell that the PSNI is the only legitimate police service in the north.
As I have said before, restorative justice cannot be allowed to result in political policing. The comments of those involved in CRJ yesterday mark a positive step. However, concerns remain- Auld has allowed himself on too many occasions to engage in political debate with those who try to raise understandable concerns about CRJ, simultaneously giving them greater cause for worry. And Maguire stated at a conference run by the SDLP in Newry that CRJ got involved in personal matters where people had affairs.
The British Government has tightened its proposed regulations on restorative justice schemes after pressure from the SDLP, but these do not yet go far enough. Deputy Leader Alasdair McDonnell said: "Although the new restorative justice protocols have some improvements, they still leave communities exposed. The danger of state-paid vigilantes under Sinn Féin's control remains. That really would be political policing."
The fact remains that many people in the nationalist community and beyond will see the involvement of the likes of Maguire as reason enough to dismiss any role for CRJ. It ludicrous to suggest that someone who sees it as legitimate to torture and kill someone could be allowed to dispense justice. While the comments yesterday were welcome, actions will speak louder than words. There is a place for restorative justice in society, but until now CRJ has proven itself unable to fulfil that role. The only way restorative justice schemes can operate is in complete accordance with the law, and under heavy regulation- key to this is complete willingness to recognise and cooperate with the PSNI, and eschewal of any role for those convicted of serious crime (not just on the nationalist side of the fence- do we really want to see the Shoukris and Stones of this world running justice schemes in loyalist areas?)
The ball is in CRJ's court. ElBlogador.com
DUP leader Ian Paisley has met with the mother of Columba McVeigh, the teenager who was abducted and murdered by the IRA in 1975 and whose body was buried secretly. To this day his remains have not been found.
Paisley was contacted by the late Fr. Denis Faul in relation to the issue of the Disappeared. In recent years efforts have been made to locate the bodies of those who were secretly slain and buried by paramilitaries, but there has only been limited success. Indeed, without going into detail, the INLA in particular has been far from helpful in understanding the grief of one particular family who had a loved one 'Disappeared' by that organisation- quite the opposite in fact. Meanwhile the IRA's memories of the locations of its victims have faded with time.
The fact is that these killings should never have taken place. They were cold-blooded murders, plain and simple. No one has the right to summarily take another's life, nor to dispose of their body in such an undignified manner. The tragedy of the Disappeared is one particularly harrowing episode of the Troubles.
It's a sad day when an elderly Catholic lady has to rely on Ian Paisley to fight for her rights against those who claimed to defend her and her community. Nothing can bring back the dead, but let's hope this poor woman, and others like her, get to bury their loved ones properly. ElBlogador.com
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