Desperation?

It was quite clear that the McCain camp in the American presidential race were none to pleased at the reception Barack Obama got in Europe during his recent trip. However, the negative campaigning of the Republicans has taken a somewhat sourer turn in their latest campaign video- 'Celeb'. In it, they mock Obama's ability to command massive crowds around the world, interspersing images of the Democratic presidential hopeful and massive crowds with random attacks on his policies and pictures of such other 'celebrities' as Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.

The thrust of the ad is to question whether Obama's ability to fill studiums qualifies him to be a good President. The problem, though, is that the video says absolutely nothing about what McCain's alternative is. The fact that an American presidential candidate can command such support is surely a good thing, given how things have gone in Iraq. Yet McCain's video comes across as churlish in the extreme and wreaks of bitterness over the issue they highlight- Obama's celebrity.

Obama's ability to energise people is refreshing. His ability to command such attention is unprecedented. For the first time in a long time, people are enthused about American politics.

The real question is: does a nasty and pointless video by McCain which mocks the very thing that his campaign lacks- dynamism- qualify him to be good President? Clearly not.

SDLP Youth Protest Against Comments by Iris Robinson

SDLP Youth will today (Thursday 31st July) hold a demonstration outside Belfast City Hall against the homophobic comments made by Iris Robinson MP MLA. It will take place at 1pm sharp.

SDLP Youth Chair Peter Armstrong said: "It is clear that Iris Robinson believes it is acceptable for her to preach outrageous messages of hate and discrimination based on her interpretation of ancient biblical texts. However, the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland do not agree with her comments.

"We believe that Iris Robinson does not have any public support. She has shown the extent of her homophobia on television and radio interviews, at Stormont as an MLA and in committees that she sits on as an MP at Westminster. We believe it is intolerable that she can remain as the Chair of the Assembly's Health Committee after the comments she has made.

"Iris Robinson has failed to apologise for her hateful comments. She has offended many decent right-minded people. There has also been complete silence from other DUP representatives, which would make us think that First Minister Peter Robinson and his DUP party colleagues all share the same viewpoint.

“As a party born from the civil rights movement the SDLP has long been a champion of society's most vulnerable and those open to discrimination. The SDLP represents people from all faiths and none. As public representatives we have a duty to legislate in the best interests of all the people.

“We believe faith and government are not mutually exclusive. However, all public policy and legislation must stand up to the rigours of basic and guaranteed human rights.

“As a party we have consistently campaigned for a comprehensive and progressive Bill of Rights setting out the principles that should underpin the new society we are trying to build and help ensure events of the past and division of the present is overcome for good of everyone on this island regardless of race, class or creed.


“If you are against the comments made by Iris Robinson, please join us on Thursday 31st July at 1pm outside Belfast City Hall where we will hold a demonstration. Everyone is invited, including family and friends of gay and lesbian people.”

Who Drives The Media Agenda?

It has been hard to miss the fact that over the past couple of weeks, there has been an inordinate number of stories in the northern media regarding the war in Afghanistan.

I suppose it's no coincidence then that the British Army appear to have funded some sort of media soiree to said Asian country at the very same time.

This raises questions about what we are being fed by the media. Is it right that mainstream outlets should allow their output to be dictated to such an extent by the findings of a taxpayer-funded jolly? Aside from the odd special focusing on life for British soldiers abroad which could results from such a trip, is there any particular reason for the mainstream media putting Afghanistan so far up their agenda at the same time as they happen to be enjoying British Army hospitality there?

Surely news is news, and the fact that a media outlet has been invited to a foreign location shouldn't have any effect on hierarchy of importance placed on new stories.

This creates a worrying precedent if news outlets feel under pressure to justify the tens-of-thousands of pounds that are obviously spent on taking them to places such as Afghanistan, and it also raises the issue over whether it's right that those who can afford to indulge the media in such junkets get so much coverage in return.

Freedom of the press is fundamental to democracy, but assuming that these trips abroad were funded by the British Army, I find it worrying that taxpayers' money is being used to such an extraordinary extent to try to create good news stories about this war in the media.

Armagh win Ulster Championship

There is only one big sports story in the North and it is Armagh’s victory against Fermanagh in the Ulster Championship. Peter McDonnell and his players can be rightly proud of a very good victory and a very entertaining championship with – Armagh hopes – even better to come. The GAA can also take pride from providing such wonderful entertainment – whatever about the football in the first half – for so many people. Sure, what else would you be doing on a Sunday afternoon?

Better analysts than me can offer reasons as to why Armagh won. Fermanagh did have their chances in the first half and there was a lot of relief (and a lot of surprise) amongst the Armagh support where I was sitting, that Fermanagh missed a fistful of ‘easy’ points. Gradually, the Armagh players won their individual battles and once the Armagh anaconda threw its coils round the Fermanagh team, there was no escape for the men in green.

Not surprisingly, the Armagh supporters greeted victory with much noise. I never cease to be amazed by the sheer joy with which county supporters greet a win. It is truly primeval. That said, the silence which accompanies losing is as equally profound. While waiting for my lift home from the match, thousands of Fermanagh fans passed me and the lack of chat was noticeable. They certainly suffered a hard gonc. Hopefully, the team will be able to lift their spirits with a win against Kildare – and I don’t see why they shouldn’t win that one.

With Monaghan, Tyrone, Fermanagh and Down still in the qualifiers, I would not be in the least surprised to see two of the four in the quarter finals – and all of Ulster will be hoping that Monaghan beat Kerry.

Welcome to Belfast

It's the summer and we're enjoying excellent weather the last few days. The city centre and brand-Belfast is booming. Naturally Belfast is attracting quite a few tourists at the moment. One of the main attractions and a great place to start touring the city is Belfast City Hall. However, this isn't the case for tourists using Google Maps, which currently believes Belfast City Hall is located in Dargan Industrial Estate! Dargan Road is located off the M2 motorway and is home to many warehouses, but not Belfast City Hall. Dargan Road is not a tourist attraction!

Google Maps reliably informs me that Belfast City Hall, Dargan Road, Belfast, is located 3.4 miles from Donegall Square North where the real Belfast City Hall is located. The real Belfast City Hall also boosts a Big Wheel, city centre locations and many high-street stores around it.

A scoot around the Gaeltacht

It is that time of year again when I take my annual scoot around the Donegal Gaeltacht. Over the last couple of weeks I was in the north of the county in Ros Goill, further west in Dún Lúiche (where my paternal grandfather was born and raised) and in the south of the county in Gleann Cholm Cille where I did my annual poetry reading. (Don’t worry if you missed it, I will be back next year!)

Have to say that I noticed a (slight) change for the better in Ros Goill and Dún Lúiche. It can be hard enough to find Irish in Ros Goill unless you happen to know an Irish speaker personally. However, I actually heard people speaking Irish by chance in the pub – and I am not a regular in pubs either. Even more important was Sunday’s Irish-language Mass where the holiday makers outnumbered the locals. That said, the Irish speakers in the congregation certainly made themselves heard and it was a great (for me anyway) that my children actually heard people speaking Irish other than their father.

However, if you don’t know anyone in the area who speaks Irish and you don’t attend Mass, you might well find it hard to find any Irish in the area. Funny enough though, while Ros Goill is one of the few Gaeltacht areas which does not have a summer college for children, it does have one for adults. So that would seem to be the best way of making a local acquaintance.

In this context too, I would have to say that the local language committee, Coiste Céim Aniar, have done good work in raising the language’s profile in the last couple of years. Their newsletter, Guth Ghoill, is a mine of information about local lore and stories and there are a lot more signs in Irish in Downings and in Carrigart than used to be the case. Many locals have also (successfully) undertaken diplomas and degrees in Irish to improve their command of the language and Coiste Céim Aniar are also doing their best to promote the language among young people.

Ros Goill may be one of the weaker Gaeltacht areas in terms of numbers of speakers but there is little doubt that there is still a wealth of Irish in the area. Hopefully, the attempts to encourage young people to speak Irish and to remind older speakers of the value of the language they have from the cradle will bear fruit. The area faces a great number of challenges in keeping the language alive but it certainly seems that there are many locals who are determined to meet that challenge.

On a trip to Dún Lúiche, I was surprised too by how keen the locals were to use Irish. That has not always been the case. In years gone by, I was rebuffed in English by some locals when I spoke Irish to them. (And I would not have been alone in that particular experience.) However while visiting Ionad Cois Locha, the locals were more than happy to talk Irish. The woman selling tickets responded to my very diffident: “An bhfuil Gaeilge agat?” (Do you speak Irish?) with a torrent of Irish. I almost think she was insulted I thought she might not! You just can’t win. Also, the young girls working in the café were speaking Irish amongst themselves and of their own volition. It certainly gladdened this (somewhat cynical) heart.

Anyway, just back from Gleann Cholm Cille where Oideas Gael and their language courses continues to generate much needed tourism. Talking to bean an tí, she said it had been a very bad season and if it had not been for the Irish-language courses, things would have been much worse. Indeed, that seems to have the case in much of Donegal – the summer colleges brought in the students and their parents on visits and they all spent money. Who said Irish was of no economic value?

Of course, this is little more than a snap shot of the Donegal Gaeltacht. Irish remains very fragile in many Gaeltacht areas and you can search high and low before finding a native speaker. I could honestly see some areas that are officially Gaeltacht areas disappearing of the language map in the next twenty years or so. I hope that I am proved wrong.

Beidh le feiceáil.

Glasgow East By-Election Results

00:05: SNP describe election as "very good" for them, saying that they have made "great strides."

00:32: BBC saying it looks like SNP candidate John Mason may have won, although remains to be confirmed.

00:45: Nicola Sturgeon, Deputy Leader of the SNP, says it is looking more and more likely that they have scored a victory, but refuses to confirm.

01:28: Looking at a recount.

01:33: Apparently Labour has raised concerns over whether there has been miscounting of another candidate's votes (Frances Curran of the Scottish Socialist Party), as they have the same surname as their candidate (Margaret Curran).

01:44: I'm off to bed.

Ulster Unionism.. at last?

In the topsy-turvy paradox that is Northern Irish politics we have constitutional republicans (in the wider European sense) that are called 'nationalists' (the SDLP), nationalists pretending to be republicans (Sinn Fein) and, most strangely, 'unionists' (the DUP) who possess arguably the strongest sort of nationalism on the island- Ulster Nationalism. This point is demonstrated most clearly in recent weeks by Iris Robinson's comments regarding homosexuality and her attack on secularism. Iris's political development seems not to have embraced any Enlightenment thinking whatsoever and is stuck solidly before the epoch-making French Revolution of 1789- maybe stuck even as far back as 1690! Her views and those of the DUP have no place whatsoever in modern Britain except on the fringes and underline just how different the development is of one small part of the Union when compared to the rest.

The DUP, and large swathes of the UUP it must be said, represent the "Our wee Province" view of the North, and one which is anathema to their stated goal of preserving the Union. One of the Carsonite arguments for exclusion from Home Rule was cultural and religious, and maybe they had a point when you looked at he domination of the Catholic Church in the South, but conservative unionism has arguable more in common now with the social conservatism of FF and FG in the Republic than it does with Labour, the Lib Dems and the liberal wing of Cameron's Tory Party in the rest of the UK.

It is the above point that makes tomorrow’s Daily Telegraph article, jointly authored by David Cameron and Sir Reg Empey, all the more interesting. Does this signal, for the first time in decades, a willingness for NI's unionists to embrace the political culture- and with it to a certain degree the wider social and cultural norms- of the rest of the United Kingdom? The UUP/Tory relationship could signal a move from what has been mere symbolic support in the past to the kind of alliance the parties had circa 1913 when Andrew Bonar Law was the Tory leader and NI was thrust into the centre stage of British politics. Although NI's influence then was determined as much by the state of the parties in Parliament, the IPP's relationship with the Liberals and the need to find a solution to the Home Rule Crisis than by the political link between Carson and Bonar Law, a political link between the UUP and Cameron's Conservatives could have the effect of ending the Ulstercentricity of contemporary Unionism and forcing it to adapt to change, which would undoubtedly strengthen the Union. It is, arguably, the logical conclusion to Ulster Unionism as an ideology.

This move has implications not only for Unionism but for Nationalism/Republicanism and the Assembly too. The Tories established in NI would upset the Good Friday apple-cart much in the way FF coming north would. It remains to be seen how the mandatory coalition model which works on the presumption of the current NI political status quo would adapt to a shifting political state. Politics is in both a state of stagnation in Stormont and of flux elsewhere. Interesting times indeed.

DUP/ Sinn Féin Axis Ministers Should Hand Back Their Salary

One of the main roles of Stormont Ministers is to act together as a collective in the form of the Executive. The whole point of this is to agree on the best way to do the job they were elected to do and to justify the rather large sums of money they get as Ministers.

However, with the DUP and Sinn Féin refusing to meet, the process of government has ground to a standstill.

As SDLP Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie has said: The cancellation of Thursday’s Executive meeting is totally unacceptable.

“I am outraged that amongst the many other important issues which are being held up in this logjam I am not able to progress my own housing agenda.

“The people who elected us have the right to expect much better from the Ministers they entrusted with power.

“This year I have set out to deliver a progressive and innovative strategy to deliver social and affordable housing.

“This is now being frustrated by the continued procrastination of Sinn Fein and their refusal to play ball at Executive level.

“I have been unable to table three bills to the Executive and following a previous cancellation wrote to the Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister to seek assurances that future meetings will go ahead.

“This letter was not even acknowledged, which is hardly progressive government.”

Accepting pay when they aren't fulfilling their roles as expected is an insult to the voters and taxpayers of the north. Cutting ribbons and posing for photos isn't enough. Ministers are paid to negotiate with each other and deliver. Instead, the DUP and Sinn Féin are acting like spoilt idiots. Rather than negotiate with each other, they'd prefer to delay progress here and go running to 10 Downing Street for solutions.

The time has come for the DUP and Sinn Féin to grow up and start acting like they mean business. Otherwise, what is the point of their existence?

Grass in the Gaeltacht

I got a copy of Gunter Grass’s autobiography, Peeling The Onion (Harcourt), on offer and took it with me on holidays in the Gaeltacht. Grass’s novella, Crabwalk, is brilliant but I find much of his other work very hard going. Peeling The Onion is, however, a very good and honest book in which he tells about his early years in Danzig – now Gdansk – and of his experiences in the war. The book caused some controversy when first published because Grass admitted that he had served in the SS – though the account Grass gives shows that while he wore the SS uniform he didn’t actually fire a shot in anger. He was wounded by the Russians and was very lucky to survive the war at all.

Aside from that, Grass’s account of the war years and its aftermath is moving and compelling and yes, I did manage, to find a little passage that pertains to here. Grass was working as a miner after the war and writes about the political mix amongst the workers. There were three main groups: Communists, former Nazi supporters and Social Democrats – or Socis – as Grass calls them.

The Communists “predicted the imminent demise of capitalism and the victory of the proletariat and had a pat answer to every question and a predilection for clenched fists”; the Nazispeak group would “hum the Horst Wessel Song and indulge in speculations and maledictions of the “If the Fuhrer were alive today, he’d round up the lot of you …”

As for the Socis, Grass writes that “when push came to shove came to shove the communists inevitably teamed up with the Nazis to shout down the Social Democratic remainder. Mortal enemies as they were, they made a red and brown front against the Socis … The driver of my locomotive … was a Soci; he explained the odd-bedfellows alliance to me as we were leaving the locker room after our shift one evening. “The same thing happened just before Hitler came to power in ’33: the Commies and the Browns [Nazis] ganged up on us. Till then the Browns were out to liquidate the Commies; then they switched to us. And that was the end of solidarity. When will they ever learn? All or nothing, that’s what they want and they hate us Socis because we’ll take only half if need be…”

(Is it just me or does some of this seem very familiar to us Here?)

Grass also writes about attending a Social Democrat meeting which was addressed by Kurt Schumacher, a politician who had been imprisoned by the Nazis for his social democratic beliefs. Gradually, Grass saw the sense of social democracy and “began to fall into step with the Social Democrats in the sense of Willy Brandt’s “policy of small steps”. And it was not until years later, in the Diary of a Snail, that I prescribed crawling shoes for the ills of progress. The snail’s track, not the fast track.”

I suspect that few voters here know much about the history of social democracy in Germany. (I know I don’t.) Yet it strikes me that it is a subject that would be well worth an essay or two on the SDLP’s site on the basis that it would provide a European insight into what social democracy is and what it can achieve.

Campbell and culture

Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure, Gregory Campbell (DUP), was blunt when talking to the Londonderry Sentinel about linguistic matters Irish and Ulster-Scots. He told the Sentinel that he was determined that there would be equal funding for Irish and Ulster-Scots.

Campbell said: “There still appears to be some misunderstanding around this issue. It was the St Andrews Agreement just over 15 months ago, where the British Government talked to Sinn Fein about the implementation of the Irish Language Act. Neither Sinn Fein, the British Government, mentioned the possibility of an Irish Language Act to us.

“Therefore, whenever we saw it, we said, and the record shows that at St Andrews, at the conclusion of the conference, we issued a statement with a whole range of issues in it and one of them was the reference to the Irish language Act where we said ‘We have not been approached, we have not been asked, and presumably the reason why we haven't been is because people knew what the answer would be - that we would be against it’.

“It doesn't need an Irish Language Act, and my position as the Minister responsible is to say to people, very simply, in cultural terms there are two big blocks. One is an Irish language or an Irish cultural enthusiasts and people who want to adopt that and that’s perfectly legitimate. The Government supports them in doing that and gives them money.

“Then there is the Ulster Scots cultural outlook, and that’s perfectly legitimate as well. Neither of the two of them are greater than the other. They are both perfectly legitimate expressions of cultural outlook by large numbers of people in Northern Ireland.

“The problem has been that up until very recently the Irish cultural identity received tens of thousands, more, tens of millions of pounds more than the Ulster Scots tradition. So my objective, whenever looking at comments that people make like us disparaging the Irish language Act, is to turn it round and say “No, what you've go to do is you’ve got to look at the public funding of these two cultural outlooks and you see a huge disparity.”

“My ambition and objective is going to be to eliminate that disparity. People have sat and talked and protested about inequality. Well, they are going to get equality, now they might not like getting that equality, but they are going to get it.”

An optimist might see some cause for hope in Campbell’s observation that both Irish and Ulster-Scots are “are both perfectly legitimate expressions of cultural outlook by large numbers of people in Northern Ireland”. They are indeed. What they are not, however, are simple matters of green and orange territory – as the DUP and Sinn Féin would like to suggest. Further, to argue that Ulster-Scots deserves the same funding with Irish is simply without merit. The two sectors simply cannot be compared as like and like – and throwing money at any language is not best practice.

Worse, however, is Campbell’s belligerent tone: “Well, they are going to get equality, now they might not like getting that equality, but they are going to get it.” Compare and contrast that statement to the one made by the Minister for the Gaeltacht, Éamon Ó Cuív, at the beginning for this month after a meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council. Ó Cuív green-lighted a £1 million for Ulster-Scots and spoke of his joy at having had a “positive” meeting with Campbell. He was very happy to give extra funding towards Ulster-Scots. It would seem that the meeting was not as positive as Ó Cuív would have us believe.

It does not bode well.

A little summer learning

Just over a week before the 21st John International Summer School begins in the Market Place Arts Centre in Armagh with the theme “Let there be no wall”. The opening night’s pairing of poets Seamus Heaney and Billy Collins (Monday, 28th July) has been so popular that organisers have added a second reading for Tuesday 29. Heaney needs no introduction and his achievements speak for themselves. Collins is an American poet and is regarded as one of the best of his generation. Not sure how many tickets are still available but it could be a good night.

Apart from that event, there are lunch-time readings, poetry workshops, lectures and musical events. Do not be a cultural couch potato. If you are free between Monday 28th July and Friday 1st August, get along to Armagh. The Market Place is a wonderful venue and there is always something cultural for everyone. Full programme and contact details are available from www.johnhewittsociety.org

There will be an inaugural McCluskey Civil Rights Summer School between Saturday 23th August and Sunday 24th August this year in Carlingford, Co Louth. The school is being held in honour of Con and Patricia McCluskey who played a leading role in the Civil Rights Movement and the theme is “40 years on: the Civil Rights Challenges in Ireland Today – Tackling Poverty, Sectarianism, Racism and Inequality”

Among the confirmed speakers are former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson; Bríd Rodgers of the SDLP and Bernadette McAliskey. Further information and a full programme is available from www.nicivilrights.org

Michael Cole, Rest In Peace

I was devastated to learn that SDLP Councillor Michael Cole tragically passed away this evening. Having had the pleasure to work with Michael over the past few years, and witnessed his year as Mayor of Newry of Mourne which drew to a close just a few weeks ago, I can say that he was a true gentleman and a thoroughly decent man.

The people of Mourne, the GAA and the SDLP will miss Michael sorely, and my thoughts at this time are with his loved ones.

Rest In Peace.