Society and Culture

Suspension; eye witness

Mick Fealty on October 15, 2002, 11:28 amLeave a comment | Readers 4

In the subscription only Irish News Newton Emerson, editor of the satirical website Portadown News was in Stormont on the last day of business. One thing that consistently erks the reasonable middle ground parties is the way that most commentators rarely talk to them: “The Women’s Coalition are first to brave the spotlight. Cruelly, several reporters take this opportunity to make final adjustments to their cameras and microphones. There are no questions. As they leave, the DUP arrives and the …

Suspension; winners and losers

Mick Fealty on October 15, 2002, 8:28 amLeave a comment | Readers 4

Malachi O’Doherty is the first one I’ve seen to evaluate the gains and losses made by each of four main parties through the events of the last fortnight. It’s an interesting exercise, but one that may prove misleading in a process that has become more long term, where many expected early closure. Indeed it is these parties that O’Doherty pinpoints as the main losers. The winner, he declares is the DUP, repeating his observation of last Sunday that Peter Robinson …

Ouch!

Mick Fealty on September 20, 2002, 3:42 pmLeave a comment | Readers 9

Rumour has reached us that one of the assailants in a recent gun attack also managed to put himself into hospital by shooting himself in the ‘privates’ during the get away! For those less familiar with recent events in Belfast, there has been a low level conflict rising between rival Loyalist paramilitaries over the last few weeks. For background, see here. Anyone familiar with the plot line of Colin Bateman’s novel and subsequent film, ‘Divorcing Jack’, or Martin Lynch’s early …

Short Strand protestants..

Mick Fealty on September 20, 2002, 3:10 pmLeave a comment | Readers 32

Suzanne Breen talks to protestant women in the troubled area in East Belfast, kindly reproduced by Newshound. The three women all live right on the peaceline in the Clandeboye Estate. Jean grew up in the staunchly unionist Newtownards Road area. She has five children and moved into the Short Strand 30 years ago. “Since May our homes have been under sustained attack from loyalists day and night,” she says. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers …

Politician’s weblog

Mick Fealty on September 20, 2002, 3:00 pmLeave a comment | Readers 12

Interesting weblog by Westminster MP Harry Barnes. This piece is intriguingly titled; IRA plc and Loyalist Limited. Harry is a member of the House of Commons Northern Ireland Select Committee. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty

More on the UUC meeting…

Mick Fealty on September 20, 2002, 12:06 pmLeave a comment | Readers 4

The Guardian editoralises boldly: The immediate villains of the piece are anti-agreement campaigners inside the Ulster Unionists, led by two MPs, Jeffrey Donaldson and David Burnside. They hold out the unacceptable and un realistic prospect of devolution without Sinn Fein. Unionists should recognise that by rejecting Mr Trimble, they would also be rejecting Northern Ireland’s opportunity to run its own affairs. By contrast, Mr Trimble’s record is commendable. He took the bold step of swinging mainstream unionist opinion behind the …

Nationalist backroom

Mick Fealty on September 19, 2002, 11:37 amLeave a comment | Readers 4

The SDLP rarely get a share of the headlines, but Mark Durkan’s visit to the Shankill has certainly bought him plenty of column inches, here, here and here. However he followed up with an attack on Jeffrey Donaldson’s article (see here), saying: If Ulster Unionists give Jeffrey Donaldson a role in Agreement politics, it “would be like trusting Sellafield with environmental safety’ Speaking of the upcoming UUC meeting, he comments: …we do know is that every single strategy that he …

More Catholics than Protestants support the Police

Mick Fealty on September 18, 2002, 12:46 pmLeave a comment | Readers 4

Extraordinary headline, but one borne out by this study for the BBC. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty

Adams: let’s hear it for the Union

Mick Fealty on September 18, 2002, 12:14 pmLeave a comment | Readers 5

Gerry Adams calls for dialogue on the advantages of the Union. It’s hard to gauge how well such a proposal has gone down with Unionists themselves, though some have suggested that this is part of a ‘good cop – bad cop’ strategy, with Adams being good and others playing it tough. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and …

Unionist backroom

admin on September 18, 2002, 11:51 amLeave a comment | Readers 6

The public conversation within Unionism (see here) continues in the Belfast Telegraph. This time it’s Jeffrey Donaldson. He asserts, in apparent agreement with David Trimble, that this crisis is entirely of Sinn Fein’s making. Like the Trimblite academic Paul Bew yesterday, he highlights violence as a point of concern: Levels of violence on our streets are higher now than they were at the time of the Belfast Agreement over four years ago. The Assistant Chief Constable, Alan McQuillan, has declared …

Demographic nightmare

admin on July 23, 2002, 2:58 pmLeave a comment | Readers 34

If both sides are to be believed then no one is to blame for the ongoing nightmare in North Belfast. Still there is something quite chilling in the latest statement from Loyalists with regard to recent violence. It is forthwrite, simple and completely unapologetic: The senior loyalist said that Mr Lawlor had been killed in retaliation for a gun attack on Sunday evening in which a Protestant teenager was seriously injured. He said: “We’re one bullet, one fatality away from …

Trimble: Biography of an enigma

Mick Fealty on July 18, 2002, 12:36 pmLeave a comment | Readers 17

Just finished reading Henry McDonald’s biog of Trimble (US). One of those last minute impulse buys waiting for an early morning flight out of Aldergrove. And still Trimble largely remains the enigmatic creature he was before. However the book is a useful reference for some of the action we’ve had since April 1998 (though it cuts off when the end-game was still in it’s early stages). Several things leapt out at me: 1 The key influence that several Catholic/former Nationalist …

Census 2001: Some preliminary thoughts

Mick Fealty on July 17, 2002, 6:01 pmLeave a comment | Readers 43

There’s only weeks to go before the results of the 2001 census are announced, we’ve not heard much in recent times about the demographic timebomb that awaits the Northern Ireland electorate. Though the proportion of the electorate voting Nationalist has risen exponentially in the last 30 years, the implications are not as clear-cut as it may seem on first sight. One Unionist politician I spoke to recently was at pains to point out that everyone is behaving as though the …

Wednesday, June 26, 2002

Mick Fealty on June 26, 2002, 9:25 amLeave a comment | Readers 14

As claim and counterclaim proliferate over collusion between security forces and loyalist paramilitaries, there is a first few tentative calls for something like a truth commission to bring the conflict to some kind of final rest. Whilst Ulster does its usual summer trick of ritually beating itself up, there may be a thread of hope that no conflict can drag on forever. James Murray Brown speculates that: “There is a hope that this summer could see the quietest Drumcree in …

Tuesday, June 25, 2002

Mick Fealty on June 25, 2002, 10:13 amLeave a comment | Readers 19

Whilst the controversy over collusion between the security forces and loyalist paramilitary death squads continues, there is a new wave of more skeptical coverage of the story. From Malachi O’Doherty who suggests that pushing further is a serious form of illogic for Agreement parties who have already accepted an amnesty on all paramilitaries, to Eilis O’Hanlon who suggests that if such investigation is good enough for one side it is valid for the other. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of …

Wednesday, June 05, 2002

Mick Fealty on June 5, 2002, 10:14 pmLeave a comment | Readers 73

New Lord Mayor of Belfast Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty