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http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Boston-Irish-American-may-get-toughest-tour-of-duty-on-the-planet-43109992.html
Katheen O’Toole may take over Northern Ireland police force
By NIALL O'DOWD
IrishCentral.Com Publisher
Published Thursday, April 16, 2009, 1:11 PM
Updated Friday, April 17, 2009, 10:47 AM
Boston-born Katheen O’Toole, a former city police commissioner, may be the next chief of Northern Ireland’s police force, informed sources tell IrishCentral.com. The job has sometimes been described as the toughest assignment there is in police work.
The appointment of a female Irish American to replace Hugh Orde and head the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) would be a remarkable turn of events at a critical time for the North’s police force, just as the dissident Real IRA threat has once again surfaced
O’Toole is currently the chief inspector of the Garda Inspectorate, which was established to oversee Ireland’s national police force, the Garda Siochana.
She has won praise for her role into the investigations of police wrongdoings. The Morris Tribunal, which examined the issue, said it was "staggered" by the lack of discipline and amount of insubordination in the force.
O’Toole was a key member of the Patten Commission in 1998, which created the Police Service of Northern Ireland – one of the most-critical decisions in the creation of the peace process.
The Patten findings are now studied all over the world as a model of how to police divided communities, and their work has been widely copied in other conflict-resolution regions.
She was originally a British pick for the commission, fueling fears in Irish America that she would not be impartial. However, on the job, she proved one of the most-effective members of the commission and won high praise from all sides.
When she was named to the Patten Commission, O’Toole was the head of the Public Safety Office for the state of Massachusetts. In 2004, O’Toole was named the first female commissioner of the Boston police force, a job she held from 2004 to 2006. In May 2006, O’Toole announced she was quitting the force to take up her new job in Ireland.
She was born in 1954 and grew up in Marblehead, MA. She graduated from Boston College in 1976 and from the New England School of Law in 1982. She is married to retired Boston Police Officer Dan O’Toole, and they have one child, Meghan, who recently received her Masters degree at Galway University.
The PSNI, which replaced the discredited Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), has won general praise in both Catholic and Protestant communities for how they have handled policing. The retiring Chief Constable, Hugh Orde, has played a major role in winning that acceptance.
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/Garda-replacement-for-Orde-unacceptable.5184560.jp
Published Date: 20 April 2009
A PSNI Chief Constable drawn from the Garda would not be acceptable to Northern Ireland – and a local candidate could still be considered, it has been claimed.
The rules require that Sir Hugh Orde's replacement should have served at least two years with a police force outside the Province, which is thought to make it unlikely that any senior PSNI officers will qualify for the job.
It has also raised speculation that the new chief could come from the ranks of the police in the Republic.
But TUV leader Jim Allister said that such a move "would not be acceptable and would be rightly seen as yet another sop to Sinn Fein".
The MEP added: "Not satisfied with the promise of policing and justice being devolved after the European election, no doubt Sinn Fein will be anxious to speed the further greening of the PSNI with a stooge from the Republic. This must not happen."
He said the criterion which seeks to prohibit top policemen within the PSNI from competing for the top job was "outrageous" and must be reversed and called on the Policing Board to take action to allow senior PSNI officers to be considered.
Board member Basil McCrea said that exceptions could be made for PSNI officers. He explained: "Until October last year it was discretionary that the Chief Constable had to have had two years outside Northern Ireland policing, but then the Northern Ireland Office wrote to the Policing Board and asked us to make it mandatory."
The Ulster Unionist MLA added: "However, the Policing Board could decide to make an exception for an exceptional candidate from within the PSNI."
Sir Hugh has announced he will step down from the top job at the PSNI in order to head up the Association of Chief Police Officers.
http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Desperate-bid-by-ex-IRA-man-to-stay-in-US-43232807.html
Maze escapee on brink of deportation
By CONN CORRIGAN
IrishCentral.Com StaffWriter
Published Saturday, April 18, 2009, 9:07 PM
Updated Sunday, April 19, 2009, 1:15 AM
A former IRA prisoner who escaped from the Maze prison in Northern Ireland in 1983 looks set to lose his fight against deportation.
Pol Brennan, who is currently being held in a detention center in Texas, said that he had been informed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement that his appeal against deportation had failed, and that he is to be deported as soon as possible.
A supporter of Brennan’s, Katherine McCabe, said in an e-mail message on Friday that there was only a week to act to prevent the deportation.
Brennan's Web site urges people to write to the Director of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, and ask her to not apply a part of the Immigration and Nationality that deals with terrorist-related grounds, which are being used to deport Brennan.
Brennan was arrested in Northern Ireland in 1976, and sentenced to 16 years in prison, for IRA membership and possession of explosives.
While in the Maze Prison, he joined the so-called “Dirty Protest”, and refused to wear prison clothes. At one stage, he shared a prison cell with Bobby Sands, who later died on hunger strike.
Brennan was one of the 38 IRA prisoners who escaped from the Maze in September 1983. He entered the U.S. months later, and was eventually caught by the U.S authorities in Berkeley, California in 1993. That decade saw him be released on bail twice, and fight a legal battle with the authorities against his extradition, which was being sought by the British authorities.
In 2000, the British government said that it was dropping the extradition request, as part of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
From 2000-2006, Brennan was granted a succession of work permits, and lived in San Francisco where he worked as a carpenter.
In January 2008, while driving with his American wife Joanna Volz to visit friends in Texas, Brennan was detained at an immigration checkpoint because his work permit had expired.
Although he'd applied to renew his permit, authorities hadn't yet sent it to him by the time he was stopped. He has been in U.S. custody ever since.
Brennan told a Texas court last November that he was hoping for political asylum and a green card on the basis of his marriage to Joanna Volz.
He told the court he feared he would be attacked if he were to be sent back to Ireland.
The court heard that Brennan's entered the U.S. in 1984 using a false name, later purchasing a targeting pistol using that alias, as proof of his alleged criminal tendencies.
The court also noted a 2005 misdemeanor assault conviction, which Brennan received after an altercation with San Francisco contractor who'd refused to pay him $1,000 in wages owed.
Although Brennan has always insisted that the contractor assaulted him first, on advice from his lawyer he eventually pleaded guilty and subsequently paid a $1,500 fine and performed 500 hours of community service.
Brennan’s fight against deportation has attracted considerable attention. In July 2008, three congressmen - New York Republicans Peter King and Jim Walsh, and Massachusetts Democrat Richard Neal - called for Brennan to be granted bail pending the outcome of deportation proceedings against him.
They insisted that Brennan was not a flight risk, and cited the fact that he had twice been bailed from U.S. jails without incident when Britain was seeking his extradition in the 1990s.
Sinn Fein Assembly member Raymond McCartney has also urged the Director of Homeland Security not to deport Brennan.
“Pól Brennan has made a new life for himself in the USA. He is married to an American citizen for over 20 years and that is where Pól’s life now is,” McCartney said.
“The decision of a federal appeal court to deport Pól back to Ireland is hugely disappointing and in reality means Pol’s last chance of staying in the USA lies with the Director of Homeland Security.”
Mike Cleveland, a spokesman for Brennan, told IrishCentral that the letter-writing campaign to the Director of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, was “very much a last throw of the dice.”
“However, I can say at this point that we are getting a pretty remarkable response. There’s still some hope.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/northern_ireland_politics/8009131.stm
(See the video at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8009122.stm)
A County Antrim man has said his family are being forced out of their home because of sectarian attacks.
Chris McCaughan said a "republican element" in Rasharkin was targeting his family because they are Protestants.
Mr McCaughan said the trouble had been going on for 10 years. The most recent attack was at the weekend when car tyres were slashed and a window broken.
"You can only take so much of this. I just find it very hard to cope with. My wife is devastated," he said.
"My wife this last few months has been absolutely tortured. Her car's been pelted with eggs, she's been given a lot of verbal abuse, and this is with her mother who is 84 and partially blind.
"But I'm not blaming the Catholic community for this. I'm blaming the republican element who are prepared to stop at nothing to try to get rid of whatever Protestant community there is left in this village.
"A lot of my own family have had to move out because of sectarianism."
Mr McCaughan, who moved to Rasharkin in 1980, said he felt he now had to "get out of this village".
"I've talked to different Catholic families but they themselves know they're under threat if they try to do something about it.
"We don't feel safe going down the street, and now it's come to the stage we're not even feeling safe in our own home."
Sinn Fein assembly member Daithi McKay said "a lot of work was going on to improve community relations" in the village.
"These people are not republicans, they're hoods and we've been inundated with complaints from across the community, both Catholic and Protestant, who've had their cars vandalised.
"We need to ensure these people are brought to book for this anti-social behaviour."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8004349.stm
A number of cars have been damaged in what local people have said was a sectarian attack in the West Circular Road area of west Belfast.
Windscreens and windows of at least 10 vehicles were smashed.
One resident of the mainly Protestant area said it was the latest in a string of attacks.
"I was sitting in my house and the next thing I got a knock at my door to say my car windows had been put in," he said.
"We need cameras round here, because it isn't the first time it's happened."
DUP councillor William Humphrey said meetings had taken place with police and community representatives to try to prevent sectarian attacks.
"It is appalling that anyone should behave in such a way and wantonly damage peoples' hard earned possessions," he said.
"I have spoken to the police and been assured that extra patrols will be deployed in the area over the weekend to protect both people and property."
Sinn Fein assembly member Alex Maskey said the attacks were not wanted.
"Those behind the sectarian attacks on cars on the West Circular Road and Springfield Road junction are nothing more than mindless bigots," he said.
Police have appealed for anyone who witnessed the attacks to contact them.
http://www.ardfheis.com/?p=1376
pril 20, 2009 by sinnfein
Filed under Latest News
Sinn Féin MLA and spokesperson on Human Rights, Martina Anderson has stated recommendation issued in a report on Immigration within the north of Ireland must be speedily acted upon to protect the Human Rights of some of the most vulnerable people.
Speaking today Ms Anderson said:
“There are many recommendations within the report that must be acted upon speedily. Many of these issues have been ongoing and have still not been addresses. As a result human rights abuses are happening on a daily basis.
“There are many inconsistencies in the manner in which immigrants, whether legal or illegal, are facilitated and dealt with it is clear that there is no validation of guidelines or continuity in practice in policing modes. This undoubtedly leaves room for continual infringements and ill-treatment.
“These policy impact on the most vulnerable of people, including very young children, who are being treated abysmally by a British government policy that is failing to respect their fundamental and basic human rights.
“It objectionable that under the current conditions the border and discrimination continues to exist for some, but not for others. This island needs one immigration system, one border control system, and one immigration policy.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/apr/20/recession-northernireland
* Aziz Durrani
* guardian.co.uk, Monday 20 April 2009 17.30 BST
Twenty jobs are at risk at Gem, a call centre company in Londonderry. The company confirmed it was in talks with staff over redundancies. Gem employs about 50 people at its Londonderry site and a further 9,000 in two offices in Belfast.
The minister for regional development in the Northern Ireland executive has confirmed that 75 jobs will be cut from Northern Ireland's bus and rail services next year. Conor Murphy said the losses would be across the Ulsterbus, Metro and Translink services. He said about 50 jobs would be shed from bus services, representing 1.5% of the workforce. Northern Ireland Railways could face 25 job losses, he added.
North Wales-based lawn company GreenThumb is to create 1,000 new jobs across the UK. The company has 186 branches across the UK and is predicting a 25% increase in business over the next two years. "We've grown steadily year-on-year over the past two-and-a-half decades, but since the recession our growth has accelerated dramatically," said David Collison, GreenThumb's marketing manager. "People are deciding to improve their properties rather than move. If they're not going away so much in the slump, they want to enjoy their gardens."
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/first-minister-peter-robinson-hits-out-at-economic-doommongers-14273488.html?r=RSS
Monday, 20 April 2009
First Minister Peter Robinson today warned against talking down the economy and again hit out at critics who claim there is a black hole in the Assembly's finances.
The DUP leader said the Executive would use the advice of a special think-tank of experts to fight the economic downturn.
But he told the Assembly today that the Executive had been "on the ball" in its handling of the economy and warned against talking-up a crisis.
This came as a leading economist claimed a tax increase in Northern Ireland will be necessary to maintain frontline public services.
With Chancellor Alistair Darling announcing his budget on Wednesday Northern Ireland faces the most challenging financial circumstances in decades, Bank of Ireland official Alan Bridle said.
"If the quality of frontline public services is to be maintained, then the reality will be some combination of reducing government costs, an increase in the regional tax burden and greater involvement for the private sector at a time when private finance is constrained too," he said.
Meanwhile, the Ulster Unionist Party deputy leader Danny Kennedy also warned that the Chancellor's planned efficiency savings could have a wider impact on Northern Ireland than the £140 million cut that has been predicted up to now.
"The Chancellor, Alistair Darling, has let it be known that he will be looking not only for £5 billion of efficiency savings in 2009/2010 but that he will also be looking for additional efficiency savings of £10 billion in the period beginning 2011-2012," said Mr Kennedy.
"This effectively trebles the efficiency savings already announced to £15 billion and has potentially serious consequences not only for Stormont but for all the devolved administrations."
He added: "If £5 billion efficiency savings resulted in Stormont losing £180 million to £200 million, then this latest news has the potential to lop £600 million off Stormont's bloc grant from Westminster over the three-year period of the comprehensive spending review.
"This will have a serious impact on the Finance Minister's budgets and it indicates that his position up to now of refusing to revise his budget and re-prioritise the Programme for Government is now completely unsustainable."
Mr Robinson told the Assembly the Cross Sector Advisory Forum would continue to offer critical advice on how to protect the economy.
On April 6 the forum, made-up of government ministers and representatives of the business sector, held its first meeting at Stormont.
And while Mr Robinson said politicians must be realistic about economic pressures, he added: "As the scale of the global economic challenge emerged, we did all that we could to ensure that we did not 'talk ourselves into a depression' by talking down the economy and dampening business confidence.
"Whilst always remaining realistic this is now the time to recognise that Northern Ireland will emerge from the current economic problems and get back to growth and prosperity."
He said the Assembly was not helpless in the face of the crisis.
In an attack on the UUP, he told the Assembly: "I don't know anybody who has an IQ that strays into double figures who would suggest that a Programme for Government which prioritises the economy should be changed.
"That clearly was the right decision that we took. It clearly is the right thing for us to continue with.
"The budget, like any budget with any government anywhere in the world, can be changed as times go on and pressures on the the one hand, or indeed under-spend on the other hand occurs.
"And of course that would happen."
But he added: "Of course there is no black hole. It is abundantly clear there is no black hole.
"What people who talk about a black hole are actually referring to is pressures and every government will face pressures.
"For instance we will have a very considerable pressure if the Chancellor was to take a decision on Wednesday that was going to impact on Northern Ireland to the extent that I have already outlined.
"But that doesn't mean there is a black hole, it means that we have to take decisions as to how we deal with that additional pressure."
The First Minister listed a series of measures he said the Executive had taken to deal with the economic crisis including freezing regional rates, deferring water charges, plans to phase out prescription charges, plus providing winter fuel payments, as well as measures to support the construction industry and boosting debt advisory services.
Mr Robinson added: "I think everybody knows that the Executive has been on the ball... I believe all of our ministers are striving within their own departments to make best use of the resources that are available to them in a context where they can assist with the economic downturn."
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/visteon-sitin-workers-face-eviction-hearing-14275422.html?r=RSS
Monday, 20 April 2009
Former workers occupying a Visteon car parts plant have been summoned to a court eviction hearing, it was claimed today.
They staged a sit-in at the Belfast car components factory after management announced they were closing the loss-making centre last month.
A case brought by administrator KPMG against the 210 former employees will be heard in the High Court in Belfast tomorrow.
A similar protest at another Visteon site near London ended after KPMG took legal action against union leaders.
Some former staff in Belfast protested outside the KPMG offices in Belfast today.
Visteon employed almost 600 workers at three plants in Northern Ireland, Enfield, in north London, and Basildon, in Essex.
Workers claimed they were given guarantees on pay and conditions when the company split from Ford in 2000. They have said they will leave only when they are offered an adequate deal and rejected an offer of more redundancy money.
Protesters in Northern Ireland picketed Ford showrooms over the Easter weekend.
http://www.ardfheis.com/?p=1372
April 20, 2009 by sinnfein
Sinn Féin west Belfast MLA Paul Maskey has this afternoon said that dialogue is the only way forward in resolving the outstanding issues for the protesting Visteon workers.
Mr Maskey spoke during questions to the Minister of Enterprise Trade and Investment and stated that any such move to remove the workers would be a regrettable step and will not assist in bringing a resolution to the dispute. The Minister, Arlene Foster agreed with Paul Maskey’s assessment.
Speaking from the Assembly Mr Maskey said,
“News has broken this afternoon that the administrators for Visteon are taking legal steps to remove those protesters still occupying the plant. This is a regrettable step and will not go any way to resolving the outstanding issues.
I welcome the recognition from Arlene Foster that this is not the way to go in the time ahead. Dialogue is needed to ensure that the protesting workers and their families are given a fair deal.” CRÍOCH
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/court-dday-for-ian-paisley-jnr-1671493.html
By Noel McAdam
Monday, 20 April 2009
Ian Paisley Jnr was today meeting his solicitors as a High Court deadline ordering him to reveal information on the murder of Billy Wright expired.
The former Northern Irish Junior Minister had been intending to appeal against the ruling over allegations a former prison warder supplied information about procedures at the Maze prison near Belfast where the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) leader was shot dead in 1997.
Mr Paisley, however, today said: “I have not yet lodged any appeal because the courts have been on holiday over Easter.
“A number of issues have arisen in my mind over the last week or so and I am meeting my solicitors this morning to discuss what my options are.
“I intend to make an announcement after that,” he added.
In a statement earlier this month, his solicitor said: “This is the first time that a Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland has been asked to consider the position of an elected public representative under these circumstances and the case has significant implications, not only for our client, but for all elected public representatives in the United Kingdom and indeed Europe.
“The Court of Appeal will be asked to add politicians to the categories of confidentiality along with of journalists, members of the clergy and doctors.”
The north Antrim Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), whose position was supported by First Minister Peter Robinson, said he would go to prison rather than break confidentiality and reveal the identity of the source.
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader said: “I have every respect for the courts and acknowledge the difficult task that they faced with the issues that this case raises, but the heart of the democratic system of representation is based upon a constituent being able to talk confidentially to an elected representative and that representative being able to challenge authority where necessary. The recent ruling in this case would undermine that key principle”.
Almost two years ago Mr Paisley wrote to Billy Wright's father saying he had received information that the Northern Ireland Prison Service had employed people to destroy about 5,600 files as part of an alleged policy in relation to data protection legislation.
He said this information, which was provided by a “senior prison officer”, claimed that the decision to destroy the files was “taken at the top”.
But in his ruling in March, Mr Justice Gillen said that although it was important for elected representatives to be able to protect the confidentiality of a source, the information played a central part in enabling the inquiry into Mr Wright’s death to determine whether or not it had been facilitated by the prison authorities.
This article is from The Belfast Telegraph
http://www.onenewsnow.com/AP/Search/World/Default.aspx?id=496672
SHAWN POGATCHNIK - 4/20/2009 4:21:58 PM
The leader of Ireland's 4 million Roman Catholics, Cardinal Sean Brady, and representatives of Northern Ireland's major anti-Catholic paramilitary group announced Monday they will meet soon to discuss the outlaws' potential disarmament.
Brady and figures linked to the Ulster Defense Association _ which has been sticking to a 1994 cease-fire but refuses to disarm in line with Northern Ireland's 1998 peace deal _ said they would meet later this week, although a precise date and time are not yet confirmed.
The UDA's legal political front, the Ulster Political Research Group, due to meet Brady at his official residence in Armagh, Northern Ireland, includes senior UDA commander Jackie McDonald. He often has made declarations of peace while defending the shadowy group's right to keep weapons as insurance against a collapse of the peace process.
UDA representative Frankie Gallagher said his delegation would stress that the UDA's arsenal, chiefly consisting of 1980s-era guns and ammunition, already was beyond the reach of rank-and-file UDA members and in the sole possession of senior figures.
"In terms of weaponry, we can give reassurance to the cardinal that that is being managed by the UDA," Gallagher said.
He said the UDA, which has an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 members in working-class Protestant parts of Northern Ireland, has been mulling a start to disarmament for the past four years and "there's a clear route now."
The Good Friday accord of 1998 envisioned that Northern Ireland's rival underground armies _ the IRA on the Irish Catholic side, and the UDA and smaller Ulster Volunteer Force on the British Protestant side _ would surrender their weapons by mid-2000 in support of a new Catholic-Protestant government.
All three major paramilitary groups refused to budge by that target date, a failure that fueled the collapse of power-sharing in 2002.
The Irish Republican Army did gradually disarm from 2001 to 2005, when it formally renounced violence and handed over its Libyan-supplied arsenal _ including flame-throwers, surface-to-air missiles, and tons of Semtex plastic explosive _ to disarmament experts.
But the less elaborately armed UDA and UVF have refused to match the IRA move, citing a range of excuses, including the recent rise in violence from IRA splinter groups. They argue their groups deserve more credit for refusing to retaliate against Catholics for last month's dissident IRA killings of two British soldiers and a policeman _ the first such slayings since 1998.
The British government is threatening to withdraw Northern Ireland's de-facto weapons amnesty, which has been in force since 1997 in hope of spurring total disarmament, unless the UDA and UVF start surrendering arms soon. The amnesty permits outlawed groups to hand over weapons without fear of prosecution; once that guarantee is removed, UDA and UVF members could not reveal their arms dumps without facing the risk of prison time.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8008139.stm
The principals of Catholic secondary schools are to form a group to press for the ending of academic selection.
They say they support the Minister for Education's guidelines for admission to post primary schools without testing.
The principals say Caitriona Ruane's admission criteria make testing unnecessary and no Catholic school should have any problem with them.
They are forming an association which they say will speak for those whose views have not been adequately heard.
All but one of the Catholic grammar schools in Northern Ireland have said they will set entrance exams in the absence of an official test.
Sinn Féin Education spokesperson John O'Dowd MLA welcomed the statement from the principals.
"This again acknowledges that the vast majority of key stakeholders within the education sector supports an education system which offers educational excellence for all of our children," he said.
"The ending of the 11+ is a positive move for our children and the fact Catholic Secondary schools today have taken a stand against its replacement is good for education.
"It is now time to build an holistic education system and to encourage and to recognise the work of all our educationalists."
http://www.ardfheis.com/?p=1368
April 20, 2009 by sinnfein
Sinn Féin Education spokesperson John O’Dowd MLA has welcomed a statement from the Principles of Catholic secondary schools highlighting their support for the ending of academic selection.
Mr O’Dowd said,
“This statement agains acknowledges that the vast majority of key stakeholders within the education sector supports an education system whcih offers educational excellence for all of our children.
“The ending of the 11+ is a positive move for our children and the fact Catholic Secondary schools today have taken a stand against its replacement is good for education.The reality is that academic selection has been allowed to cloud the excellent educational achievemnts being delivered year on year within the non Grammar sector.
“It is now time to build an holistic education system and to encourage and to recognise the work of all our educationalists.” ENDS
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/ruth-dudley-edwards/rebels-an-inconvenient-truth-for-adams-and-co-1713376.html
Sinn Fein faces a difficult housekeeping problem that won't be solved easily, writes Ruth Dudley Edwards
So what would you do? Put yourself in the position of Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, as this weekend they talk about what the hell to do about the dissidents.
First -- if they're being serious -- they need to have an honest stock-take.
The great Adams strategy has failed, and the recent challenges from dissidents have brought that failure into pitiless public view. What was sold to the faithful to reconcile them to the Good Friday Agreement was that in power North and South of the border, Sinn Fein would remorselessly drive policy in the direction of a united Ireland. With a fair wind, republicans believed, president Adams would have been in office in 2016, when the Brits finally sold out the demoralised, fragmented unionists.
That dream died when Adams blew the general election in 2007 by revealing he was an economic illiterate who didn't understand the South. Instead of SF taking 10 or more seats triumphantly into coalition with Fianna Fail, it found itself with four dismal deputies pressing their noses to the window of the cabinet room.
On top of all this, dissident republicans are
killing and maiming and threatening to "execute", not just soldiers, police and pizza delivery-men but such "counter-revolutionaries" as the Deputy First Minister himself.
In Derry, where not a fly would have looked sideways at Baron McGuinness in the good old days when Provos ruled with gun and baseball bat, the Real IRA informs an Easter crowd they're defending national sovereignty against "the quislings in Stormont". In Adams's fiefdom of West Belfast, anti-SF graffiti is sprouting and attacks on the party's offices include three on Connolly House in the Andersonstown heartland and the smashing of a memorial to IRA dead.
What, Gerry and Martin will be asking, as they beef up their security, can we do about it?
They've tried the lofty statesman approach, but photographs of McGuinness with US President Barack Obama, and Adams with the Hamas prime minister, win no prizes in bleak housing estates where jobless young men crave excitement.
Moral authority? They lost that a year ago with the death of their most iconic supporter, Brian Keenan, revered architect of such "spectaculars" as the bombing of Canary Wharf. Other well-known names have changed sides. Bernard Fox, once named in the House of Commons as being on the army council, has resigned from SF and challenges Adams in Belfast. And rumours about other potential defectors fly about.
Violence? A decade ago, after the Omagh bomb, Provos visited Real IRA leaders, beat some of them up and threatened to kill them all if they didn't declare a ceasefire. That worked only in the short term. Annoyed by his impudence, in 2000, in broad daylight, they murdered Joe O'Connor, RIRA's Belfast commander, and got away with it. Could they do a bit of culling now, they must wonder? It's difficult. SF is on the policing boards and wants justice and policing devolved.
Deniable killings? That might wash with the Dublin and London governments, but on the ground in the North denials wouldn't work. Make martyrs of dissidents, and there could be an electoral whirlwind. And republicans know all too well how feuds spiral out of control. As recently as the mid-Nineties, those who died in an INLA feud included the instigators. Kill a RIRA or CIRA leader and you risk gun-battles on the streets in your own constituencies. Appease the dissidents? How? They've made it blindingly clear that the only issue is getting the Brits out.
Harness the electorate? Well, maybe it's possible that at a time of economic disaster SF might do well in the European elections and clean up in the local elections in the South, but the polls suggest the public are in no mood to take risks and success wouldn't actually bring power. Or impress the nihilists.
There's a desperate attempt to try community consensus and harness 97 per cent of nationalism to defeat the 3 per cent: Bobby Storey, once described in the European parliament as being the IRA's chief of intelligence, joined forces with Alex Attwood of the SDLP to denounce the dissidents in an open letter. Yet how well can the old enemies, SF and the SDLP, work together?
If you train young men to admire killers of policemen and soldiers, it is hardly surprising they decide they want to emulate their heroes. The truth is the Provos are in a bad place, it's their own fault and they don't know how to get out of it.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/film-tv/news/1916-movie-lsquowill-not-glorify-violencersquo-14273086.html
Monday, 20 April 2009
It is the 1916 Easter Rising but not as we know it.
With Guy Pearce as James Connolly and Ian Hart as Thomas Clarke, Hollywood is set to bring Padraig Pearse and his fellow revolutionaries to the big screen.
But not everyone is happy at the prospect with one leading historian, Queen’s University Belfast Professor of Politics Paul Bew, warning that the Hollywood treatment of 1916 could be exploited by dissident republicans opposed to the peace process.
Prof Bew expressed his fear that the movie would be too simplistic in its depiction of events.
“I hope this film doesn’t resort to the same old simplistic cliches of ‘we, the Brits, and our imperialist guilt and what we did to the Irish',” he said.
“The circumstances surrounding Easter 1916 were much more complicated than that."
But Nicola Charles, the producer of the $25 million Easter Sixteen, has defended the script written by Brendan Foley, denying that it romanticises violence.
"It's a film that has to be made and Foley has spent 14 years working on the script. The film is really the prequel to Michael Collins. Our final scene is their opening scene.
“It’s a human interest story and in no way does it glorify violence. It's not about violence and revolution.
“It is about hope and heroism," she said.
Prof Bew raised his fear that modern-day dissidents might take their lead from the characters in the movie.
"They - the dissidents - can surely say, 'Well, we may be so-called micro groups but we have an historic legitimacy as saviours of the nation',” he said.
“One would hope that such an irony of our history would not be missed but I wonder."
Updated: 11/1/2009
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