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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7988942.stm
One of the founding members of the nationalist SDLP, Paddy O'Hanlon, has died at the age of 65.
Mr O'Hanlon passed away on Tuesday night in Dublin's Mater Hospital following a short illness.
SDLP leader Mark Durkan said Mr O'Hanlon had been a "real champion of civil rights, justice and reconciliation".
"Paddy was one of the best orators of his generation, powerfully reflecting deep democratic convictions," he said.
"He was part of that leadership class which chose non-violence to challenge the injustice of the old Stormont regime, who rejected the violence of paramilitaries and repression of the state and who consistently espoused partnership as the only basis for sharing a peaceful future."
SDLP Newry and Armagh MLA Dominic Bradley said Mr O'Hanlon had "played an integral and inspirational role not only in the civil rights movement but later in the founding of the SDLP".
"He was much-loved and well-respected as public representative, a Gaelic sportsman and later as a barrister in south Armagh," he said.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/apr/07/video-g20-police-assault
Exclusive footage obtained by the Guardian shows Ian Tomlinson, who died during G20 protests in London, was attacked from behind by baton–wielding police officer
* Paul Lewis
* guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 7 April 2009 17.53 BST
The Guardian obtained this footage of Ian Tomlinson at a G20 protest in London, shortly before he died. It shows Tomlinson, who was not part of the demonstration, being assaulted from behind and pushed to the ground by baton-wielding police Link to this video
Dramatic footage obtained by the Guardian shows that the man who died at last week's G20 protests in London was attacked from behind and thrown to the ground by a baton–wielding police officer in riot gear.
Moments after the assault on Ian Tomlinson was captured on video, he suffered a heart attack and died.
The Guardian is preparing to hand a dossier of evidence to the police complaints watchdog.
It sheds new light on the events surrounding the death of the 47-year-old newspaper seller, who had been on his way home from work when he was confronted by lines of riot police near the Bank of England.
The submission to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) includes a collection of testimonies from witnesses, along with the video footage, shot at around 7.20pm, which shows Tomlinson at Royal Exchange Passage.
The film reveals that as he walks, with his hands in his pockets, he does not speak to the police or offer any resistance.
A phalanx of officers, some with dogs and some in riot gear, are close behind him and try to urge him forward.
A Metropolitan police officer appears to strike him with a baton, hitting him from behind on his upper thigh.
Moments later, the same policeman rushes forward and, using both hands, pushes Tomlinson in the back and sends him flying to the ground, where he remonstrates with police who stand back, leaving bystanders to help him to his feet.
The man who shot the footage, a fund manager from New York who was in London on business, said: "The primary reason for me coming forward is that it was clear the family were not getting any answers."
The Guardian's dossier also includes a sequence of photographs, taken by three different people, showing the aftermath of the attack, as well as witness statements from people in the area at the time.
A number of witnesses provided time and date-stamped photographs that substantiate their accounts.
Some said they saw police officers attack Tomlinson.
Witnesses said that, prior to the moment captured on video, he had already been hit with batons and thrown to the floor by police who blocked his route home.
One witness, Anna Branthwaite, a photographer, described how, in the minutes before the video was shot, she saw Tomlinson walking towards Cornhill Street.
"A riot police officer had already grabbed him and was pushing him," she said.
"It wasn't just pushing him – he'd rushed him. He went to the floor and he did actually roll. That was quite noticeable.
"It was the force of the impact. He bounced on the floor. It was a very forceful knocking down from behind. The officer hit him twice with a baton when he was lying on the floor.
"So it wasn't just that the officer had pushed him – it became an assault.
"And then the officer picked him up from the back, continued to walk or charge with him, and threw him.
"He was running and stumbling. He didn't turn and confront the officer or anything like that."
The witness accounts contradict the official version of events given by police.
In an official statement on the night of Tomlinson's death, the Metropolitan police made no reference to any contact with officers and simply described attempts by police medics and an ambulance crew to save his life after he collapsed – efforts they said were marred by protesters throwing missiles as first aid was administered .
The force said officers had created a cordon around Tomlinson to give him CPR.
"The officers took the decision to move him as during this time a number of missiles - believed to be bottles - were being thrown at them," it said.
Yesterday, the IPCC began managing an investigation by City of London police into the circumstances of Tomlinson's death after the Guardian published photographs of him on the ground and witness statements indicated he had been assaulted by police officers.
The IPCC commissioner for London, Deborah Glass, said: "Initially, we had accounts from independent witnesses who were on Cornhill, who told us that there had been no contact between the police and Mr Tomlinson when he collapsed."
"However, other witnesses who saw him in the Royal Exchange area have since told us that Mr Tomlinson did have contact with police officers.
"This would have been a few minutes before he collapsed. It is important that we are able to establish as far as possible whether that contact had anything to do with his death."
The IPCC added that Tomlinson was captured on CCTV walking onto Royal Exchange Passage.
"This is the aspect of the incident that the IPCC is now investigating," it said.
It was here the video was shot. A post mortem carried out by a Home Office pathologist last Friday revealed Tomlinson died of a heart attack.
Prior to seeing the dossier of evidence, Tomlinson's family said in a statement: "There were so many people around where Ian died, and so many people with cameras, that somebody must have seen what happened in the Royal Exchange passageway.
"We need to know what happened there and whether it had anything to do with Ian's death.
"We know that some people who were at the protest may not feel comfortable talking to the police.
"People are putting pictures on the internet, writing on blogs and talking to journalists. But we really need them to talk to the people who are investigating what happened."
http://www.ardfheis.com/?p=1212
April 7, 2009 by sinnfein
Filed under Latest News
Agriculture Minister Michelle Gildernew MP, MLA has visited the first farmer to sign up to the new Countryside Management Scheme in Moneymore.
The new Countryside Management Scheme was launched in June 2008 under Measure 2.2 of the Rural Development Programme 2007-2013. The Scheme gives financial encouragement to farmers for adopting farming practices that benefit the environment. There are now 1,000 farmers in the process of signing agreements. Moneymore beef farmer Paul O’Hagan is the first in the North to complete the process and has been involved in CMS under the previous scheme since 2001.
Discussing the new scheme’s success, the Minister said: “The enthusiasm and interest that has been shown for the new Countryside Management Scheme since I launched it last June has been phenomenal. This visit is what the scheme is all about. Getting the CMS rolled out on the ground to farmers who are helping to improve their environment day in and day out.
“Attending the first signing of an agreement under the new scheme at Paul’s farm gives me a great sense of pride in what we are achieving across the RDP. Paul has been helping protect his local environment for the last eight years and it very encouraging that he has been able to continue his good work through acceptance onto the new scheme.
Explaining progress so far since last year’s launch, the Minister added: “Paul is the first of around a thousand farmers across the North who are now due to sign up under the new scheme this year. I have particularly enjoyed touring the improvements that he has been able to make to his land under previous funding. Seeing countryside management in action is the clearest illustration of why the scheme’s been such a success.
“The new Countryside Management Scheme is a way for farmers and landowners to receive funding in return for making a positive contribution to biodiversity and water quality, and at the same time, enhance the local landscape.”
The Countryside Management Scheme (CMS) is an element of the Rural Development Programme 2007-2013, funded under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0407/breaking62.htm
JASON MICHAEL
Tue, Apr 07, 2009
The Opposition has condemned today's supplementary budget for failing to recognise the Government's mishandling of the economy and not containing steps to tackle the jobs crisis.
Fine Gael finance spokesman Richard Bruton dismissed Brian Lenihan's measures as a "bookkeepers' budget".
Opening his response to the Minister for Finance's speech, Mr Bruton said the budget was undeserving of applause it received in the Dáil as if failed to recognise the economy was on a "perilous edge" with the most vulnerable at greatest risk
"People are once again being asked to rescue a failing Government," he said.
Mr Bruton told the Dáil he had hoped the Government would wake up to reality but there was "not an ounce of recognition" of the "huge and calamitous" mishandling of the economy by the Government.
"People see banks bailed out developers, the Government bailed out developers, taxpayers bailed out the banks . . . who is going to bail out the taxpayer?"
Mr Bruton said many families would see an extra tax burden of €2,500 due to the budget, which he said was huge increase for those on modest salaries.
He accused the Government of "spending like there was no tomorrow, living on easy street, with no questioning whether the State could afford it, with quangos piled on top of each other".
"Problems were never confronted, they were bought out. Ministers were highest paid in the world as if they were managing a successful economy.
"No other country is looking for €4 billion in extra taxes in the next six months. We stand alone . . . because the Government has eroded all the other options that other countries have got," Mr Bruton said.
It was "deeply depressing" that there was a lack of effort to reform anything and claimed the Government was "dying of shame" and threatening to take the State's economy with it.
The Fine Gael deputy leader said the budget admitted that by the end of 2010, 250,000 jobs would be gone. "FG believed this Budget would be all about employment . . . but the whole emphasis has not been about employment . . . this has been too much of a bookkeepers' budget."
Labour finance spokeswoman Joan Burton said the Minister's measures represented "the budget from hell", especially for families in middle income bracket with two or three children who were now being heavily taxed.
She said the Government had enjoyed goodwill and political capital but threw it all away. "The Government does not have vital political capital to call the country to unity . . . and this is why there will be little public acceptance of the Budget measures".
Ms Burton said the PAYE sector did not cause the economic crisis "but by god are you [Mr Lenihan] making them pay for it". She said the First World War description of soldiers and generals as "lions led by donkeys" was the "perfect description for plight of Irish people today" .
She told the House that blaming the international financial crisis was "an even more threadbare excuse" and warned if the economy continued to decline, "the real effect, tragically, could be to drag the economy deeper into recession and undermine efforts of business".
Ms Burton expressed her disappointment at the "very little imagination" shown by Mr Lenihan in drawing up his Budget and told him there was going to be no consent from PAYE workers to "taking the hit" while tax avoidance was seen to be continuing to flourish.
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said this was a "payback budget", where "families on low and middle incomes are being asked to pay for 12 years of Fianna Fáil financial recklessness and mismanagement of the economy.
"People who pay for everything are being asked to pay again. They have already been asked to bail out the banks and now they are being asked to rescue wealthy property developers," he said.
"Middle income families are being turned on a financial spit, while many wealthy sectors have escaped yet again. There was not even a single mention of the scandal of the tax exiles in the budget and the urgent need to end the myriad range of tax reliefs has again been kicked into the distant future."
Sinn Féin economic spokesman Arthur Morgan TD said the failure to tackle job losses in the budget was "staggering".
Mr Morgan said Fianna Fáil and the Green Party had "failed those who are most in need, failed working families struggling to pay staggering childcare and mortgage bills, failed small and medium businesses at risk of going to the wall".
"Today’s budget failed to bring forward any real strategy to turn the economy around or to improve the country’s damaged international reputation."
He said: "Our reputation internationally has been damaged by this Government’s failure to manage the economy, by this Government’s failure to regulate the financial sector, by this Government’s over reliance on construction, by this Government’s shambolic handling of the public finances."
© 2009 irishtimes.com
http://www.4ni.co.uk/northern_ireland_news.asp?id=92042
07 April 2009
Island-wide transportation was in focus this week as executive ministers from both parts of Ireland joined forces to look ahead to a 'radical transportation solution'.
Stormont Minister Conor Murphy (pictured), in his role as Minister for Regional Development, tackled developing transport networks and connecting people and places in the all-island economy. His opposite number, Noel Dempsey, the Dublin Minister for Transport and the Marine gave his address looking at the issue of building a sustainable transport future for Ireland.
Delivering a speech at the Transport Ireland Conference in Dublin, the Northern Ireland Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy said: "Radical decisions on the future of our transport network need to be taken in order to address the serious issues of climate change, sustainability, congestion and connectivity in rural and urban areas across this island.
"The decisions will not be easy. It will require us all to make tough choices about our transport, now and for the future," he insisted.
"Economies depend on their transport system. And in this economic downturn, public transport has never been more important - offering commuters and customers a good value alternative to get to work, or to the shops," the Sinn Féin politican continued, noting that transport is responsible for around a quarter of our greenhouse gas emissions.
He said: "We have a very real need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the transport sector to meet the challenge of climate change, which is not just about the environment."
Sharing a platform with Minister Noel Dempsey, Mr Murphy outlined planned investment in transport in Northern Ireland and said: "We have already invested in newer, cleaner, and, crucially, more accessible buses and in better stops.
"We are investing in new trains and improving the track between Ballymena and Derry.
"At the same time, the more passengers on public transport, the fewer people in their cars. Good for the economy, good for the environment," he said, underlining that "we need public transport that is modern, clean, comfortable and affordable".
Mr Murphy also outlined the review of the Regional Transportation Strategy.
"The revised strategy will set the outcomes and key areas for action for transport in the North of Ireland.
"It will ensure a proper balance between the needs of people and the needs of business, between supporting the continued growth of our industrialised east and ensuring the sustainable development of our rural west and between developing our economy and protecting our environment and tackling climate change," he said.
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/Robinson-hits-back-at-expenses.5147391.jp
Published Date: 07 April 2009
FIRST Minister Peter Robinson has accused Ulster Unionists of trying to smear him over his expenses claims.
The DUP leader said that weekend reports on his finances had emerged from "the sleaze department of the Conservative Party".
In an increasingly fierce inter-unionist row, Mr Robinson accused UUP deputy leader Danny Kennedy and former chief whip David McNarry of using the Tories to plant stories in two national tabloid newspapers about himself and his wife, Iris, the MP for Strangford.
Both Ulster Unionists denied his claims, which they described as "fantasy".
The News of The World and the Daily Mail claimed that between wages, expenses claims, constituency office rentals and salaries for four relatives of Peter and Iris Robinson, the family were claiming more than half-a-million pounds a year from public funds.
Bristling with anger, Mr Robinson yesterday told reporters at Stormont that the two Ulster Unionists had been responsible for the stories appearing.
Standing beside Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness in Stormont's Great Hall, Mr Robinson said: "The News of The World and the Daily Mail didn't come across this story.
"This is the Conservative sleaze department that is putting it out, very deliberately being put out by the Tories on behalf of the Ulster Unionists.
"We know where it comes from; we know the kind of people that propagate it – people like David McNarry and Danny Kennedy – doing the work of the sleaze department of the Tory party."
But, speaking to the News Letter last night, both men denied any involvement in the stories.
Mr Kennedy said that Mr Robinson's "tirade of abuse" had "shown a level of intolerance".
"I very much regret the very personal response made by Peter Robinson. It was uncalled for and is entirely without foundation," he said.
"Neither the Ulster Unionist Party, nor myself or David McNarry, have anything to do with this story – it is part of the national story in relation to MPs' expenses."
And Mr McNarry, who was listening to Mr Robinson's comments in Stormont's Great Hall, said that he had not spoken to a Conservative about the issues.
"To try and turn it round into some sort of 'Tory sleaze conspiracy' is just fantasy stuff," he said.
"He is First Minister and in two national newspapers who in their investigations as to what's going on with MPs in other areas have seen figures which have just jumped out at them."
A spokesman for the Conservative Party said: "We know absolutely nothing about this."
In a statement released after he spoke to journalists Mr Robinson defended his use of public allowances.
He said that the tabloid articles about his expense claims contained "factual inaccuracies" and that it had been unfair to lump together his personal salary and expenses with those of his wife, family members and office rental.
He said that the expenses claimed for constituency offices had been used to provide a service to constituents which was second to none in East Belfast and Strangford.
"The Ulster Unionist Party, having been reduced to one Member of Parliament at the last General Election, has now taken an interest in the issue of dual mandates," he said.
"While they seem content to have their MLAs remaining as councillors they oppose our MPs also being MLAs."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7988267.stm
A Sinn Fein councillor has apologised after a four-letter word outburst at a council meeting in Ballycastle.
Sinn Fein's Padraig McShane swore during a debate at Moyle Council on the future of Rathmoyle Residential Home.
The council's chairman, Ulster Unionist Willie Graham, had ruled Mr McShane would not be able to speak on the issue on Monday night.
The councillor used the f-word and other abusive terms at the chairman and kicked a chair as he left the chamber.
On Tuesday he apologised for his language.
"I apologise unreservedly for the choice of words I used, but this is an extremely emotive issue," he said.
"The response was a reflection of the feelings of the local community here in Moyle."
Speaking after the meeting, Councillor Graham said he had never witnessed such behaviour in council before.
"In all my years in council I have never witnessed anything like this and the behaviour and the remarks Councillor McShane came out with to me," he said.
"In future he needs to think about how he conducts himself when he comes to a council meeting."
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Metro/1115355.html
Belfast mayor visits HRM, says two cities share pressures
By JEFFREY SIMPSON Staff Reporter
Tue. Apr 7 - 7:52 AM
Halifax Mayor Peter Kelly has heard some thoughts about how to create a prosperous city from a Northern Irish counterpart whose region has been quite successful at it.
Tom Hartley, the Lord Mayor of Belfast, spent Monday visiting Halifax and stopped into city hall for a chat.
"In a way the pressures on a city like Belfast are similar to the pressure on a city like Halifax," Mr. Hartley said in an interview.
But Halifax has been mired in a seemingly never-ending debate about downtown development in recent years, while Belfast has experienced a building boom and attracted investment from all over Europe as it capitalized on the peace after the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
"There’s a lot happening in our city," Mr. Hartley said.
"This year there is about 500 million pounds (about $913 million) of investment coming on-stream in Belfast."
Mr. Hartley pointed out that several historic civic buildings and cathedrals have been refurbished and there are new multimillion-dollar riverside developments in the works, including the ambitious Titanic Quarter — named after the ill-fated ocean liner that was built there — slated for completion in 2012 to mark the centennial of the ship’s sinking.
"Each city has its own creative and dynamic population who can make change," Mr. Hartley said. "You really need to join up your services. You really need to bring people from different disciplines together. You really need to utilize the talent of a city to then sort of drive the city forward. And I think that’s the secret today.
"And that lesson is as relevant to Halifax as it is to Belfast."
Mr. Kelly, who has spoken proudly in the past of his Irish heritage, couldn’t be reached for comment.
Charles Cirtwill, vice-president of the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, said Belfast has benefited greatly because it’s part of the U.K. and is next to the Republic of Ireland, two growth-oriented countries that have invested in healthcare, education, transportation and attracting people.
But Halifax has been held back by all levels of government, he said.
"It’s only been in the response to the latest recession that you’ve seen national strategies much more focused on individuals than simply growing government," Mr. Cirtwill said. "Nova Scotia is, in my view, one of the laggards in terms of having an innovative response to the recession.
"All we’re doing is looking at spending on the same things, just spending more."
Mr. Cirtwill said provinces such as Ontario and New Brunswick have taken a more innovative approach in restructuring their economies.
"The business community spends a lot of time saying we need leadership and it’s only really been in the last little while that some of them have started to step forward to fill that vacuum," he said.
Still, Belfast’s Lord Mayor was quick to notice some things that are immune to government change.
"This is like our January weather," Mr. Hartley said as he toured the Holy Cross Cemetery on South Street, where many Irish immigrants were buried.
( )
http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0407/torc.html
Tuesday, 7 April 2009 15:59
Officials in the National Museum are examining three artefacts which were recovered by gardaí following a burglary in Strokestown, Co Roscommon, last month.
The items, a gold collar and two gold sun discs, are believed to date back to 2,000 BC.
They were taken in the burglary at a pharmacy in Strokestown on the 27 March.
Advertisement
The items were taken from a safe and a quantity of drugs was also stolen.
Two men have since been arrested and have been charged in connection with the burglary.
The three artefacts were recovered on the 30 March.
http://www.tribune.ie/news/home-news/article/2009/apr/05/priest-attacks-religion-satire-film-as-bigoted/
Ken Sweeney Entertainment Editor
Religulous: personal take
A veteran Irish-American campaigner against anti-Catholic bigotry in Northern Ireland has slammed a new Borat-style film on religion which opened in Ireland this weekend.
Fr Sean McManus, president of the Capitol Hill-based Irish National Caucus, has described Religulous, a documentary on religion by US satirist Bill Maher, as "superficial, sneering and insulting".
In the US the film has outraged Catholics who claim they are unfairly targeted by director Larry Charles, who is also behind the film Borat and TV show Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Speaking to the Sunday Tribune this weekend, Fr Sean McManus said he hoped that Religulous – its title a provocative mix of the words 'religion' and 'ridiculous' – would fail at the Irish box office.
"You would expect a documentary about religion to raise profound questions about life or death or justice and peace but this film does not. It might have a shock impact in Ireland but only for a very short time," he said.
But it's the controversial film's writer and star for whom Fr McManus reserves most of his anger.
"Even Northern Ireland has not produced worse bigots than Bill Maher and the fact that he was raised Catholic only makes his ugliness more offensive," he said.
Host of HBO's late-night talk show Real Time, Maher has described Religulous as his own personal take on religion.
It shows the comedian confronting a believer in each faith with what he sees as the apparent contradictions and idiocies of their belief systems, be it Christianity, Judaism, or Islam. These include the director of a Christian Church for "ex-gays", and an actor who plays Jesus in the "Holyland USA" theme park.
The film also ridicules the doctrine of the virgin birth of Jesus and the biblical account of the talking snake in the Garden of Eden.
"He didn't pick one normal serious, sensible, informed person to speak about their faith in God. Another part of the documentary I object to is him scoffing at 'a young Jewish woman having sex with a space God'. Well the entire Christian tradition is that Mary was a virgin. That is why she is called the Blessed Virgin Mary," said Fr McManus.
April 5, 2009
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2009/0407/1224244146214.html
Tue, Apr 07, 2009
Have we forgotten the hard earned lessons of our history? That of character and perseverance? asks ELAINE BYRNE .
‘TIS ALWAYS the darkest the hour before day!” wrote Samuel Lover, the renowned balladeer and novelist born on Grafton Street just before Easter 1797.
For the almost half million unemployed and those with the real fear of becoming that statistic, this is not a day for poetry. Words of verse are no consolidation for overwhelmed mortgage holders, young professionals apprehensive of the future and those who now queue in their hundreds for food parcels. Fear has that amplifying power to smother the memory of hope and deaden the spirit.
But this is not the first time that Ireland has been tested at Easter. Just after noon on Easter Monday 1916, Patrick Pearse stood on the steps of the GPO with the Proclamation in hand and completed his act of audacity with these words: “In this supreme hour the Irish nation must, by its valour and discipline . . . prove itself worthy of the august destiny to which it is called.”
In full circle, the Good Friday agreement represented a historic opportunity for new beginnings on the island of Ireland. This recognition of a new mindset accepted that old problems needed to be looked at in new ways.
The Irish Easter has always signified a time for change and renewal. The message of Holy Week serves to remind us that in the darkest places of hopelessness, hope still prevails. Doubt and despair give way to the resurrection of opportunity and possibility.
But only if we believe.
So today, emergency budget day, we will get lost in a yawning sea of economic language anxiously waiting for interpretation by George Lee and others. Exchequer returns, income levies and taxation rates. Interim moves, upper limits and spending programmes. Water-cooler words that sound eccentric together. Structural deficit, fiscal consolidation and the now obligatory “deterioration in our public finance position”.
No room for poetry there.
The temptation today is not to have faith in the future because we have become accustomed to articulating our expectations within the definition of financial boundaries.
“But no man has the right to fix the boundary to the march of a nation. No man has a right to say to his country: ‘Thus far shalt thou go, and no further’,” Charles Stewart Parnell once said. “We must, each one of us, resolve in our own hearts that we shall, at all times, do everything which within us lies to obtain for Ireland the fullest measure of her rights. In this way, we shall avoid difficulties and contentions amongst each other. In this way, we shall not give up anything which the future may put in favour of our country. . . we must struggle for it with the proud consciousness.”
Parnellite patriotism that still reverberates in the reminiscences of history.
The recent ardfheiseanna leader’s speeches by Brian Cowen, Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore looked to John F Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama for inspiration. Why do we no longer have the confidence in ourselves to articulate the values, principles, morals and ideals of a nation through the voices of our own past and present? Have we forgotten the hard earned lessons of our history? That of character and perseverance?
Today has to be more than just economic parameters and fiscal orthodoxies. We must speak of the courage to embrace humility accompanied by the sincerity and honesty to acknowledge failure. The self-confidence to quietly accept the need for critical self reflection without the conceit qualification of drawing lines in the sand.
Irish history has presented us with political Easters filled with the death and resurrection of ideals. For the first time since Independence, we have the opportunity to implement the essential reform of one of the oldest continuous democracies in the world. Never before has so much been on the table. For this generation, this is our greatest possibility to effect profound change. No longer is political revolution born from violence.
These are exciting times. We have the potential fundamentally to transform old politics, old parties and old policies, born in the 20th century to that fit for purpose for the 21st century. Underlying system adjustments which will address the consequences of moral bankruptcy in banking, politics and the professions.
The news yesterday that all 20 Ministers of State are to resign to be replaced by just 15 in two weeks’ time is a step in this direction but must be complemented with wider Dáil reform. But let’s march on and break the cycle of the deep-seated party legacies of the Civil War and its resulting catch-all parties, as well as the dynamics of the PR-STV electoral system and the crippling localism of Irish politics.
Brendan Kennelly’s 1991 poetry bestseller, The Little Book of Judas , celebrated Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed Jesus. Ireland needs a contemporary Judas. Citizens prepared to betray and expose what is wrong as it is being wronged.
In a many dark hour
I’ve been thinkin about this
That Jesus Christ
Was betrayed by a kiss
But I can’t think for you
You’ll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot
Had God on his side.
So goes With God On Our Side , the third track of Bob Dylan’s 1964 album, The Times They Are A-Changin’ .
© 2009 The Irish Times
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7987247.stm
By Emily Buchanan
BBC News, Dublin
The Irish government has announced tough austerity measures as it tries to get a grip on a spiralling budget deficit. As Emily Buchanan reports, the downturn has reached every corner of the economy.
The sudden collapse of the Irish Republic's economy has hit hard - both for its people and some of its animals. At a sanctuary outside Dublin, staff have seen a surge in abandoned horses.
The lucky ones are like Squire, a pure-bred draught horse, who was found half-starved on scrubland. He may find a new home.
It is another story for the racehorses; bought in the good times by wealthy businessmen as a passport to social status, they are now being dumped. But being too wild to keep, they have to be shot.
Jimmy Cahill of the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says he has seen four times as many rejected racehorses this year as last, and he estimates altogether there are 20,000 horses in the country that nobody wants.
"When people don't have spare cash, the horse is the first thing to suffer, they'll either abandon it or put it in someone else's field," Mr Cahill says.
It is a far cry from the heady days when all along Dublin's docklands were signs of growth.
'Crony capitalism'
Rows of cranes and empty office buildings are now all that is left of a building boom which fuelled the much admired "Celtic Tiger" economy.
The collapse in credit and confidence has left Ireland in a perilous state says Dr Brian Lucey, of Trinity College's School of Business.
"We're not as bad as Iceland simply because we are in the eurozone," he says, "but within the eurozone we are more fragile than any other country."
“ This is the worst possible year to graduate ”
Dublin University student
That is partly because of the Irish Republic's small size and its brand of "crony capitalism", which prevented anyone calling an end to the party, according to Dr Lucey.
"One of the major problems was a toxic brew of a construction industry too close to government, and regulators captured at the gate. There's no doubt the poster child for failure is Anglo Irish Bank," he said.
The Irish government nationalised Anglo Irish in January amid fears it would collapse.
Dr Lucey says: "It was the front runner, but all six of Ireland's major financial institutions rescued by the government were engaged in toxic [or very risky] lending."
Public anger is being directed at the government, which presided over the uncontrolled boom. It is deeply unpopular and the opposition is putting ministers under fire for not seeing the storm coming.
"There have been numerous warnings not only here at home but from international bodies," says Richard Bruton, finance spokesman of the opposition Fine Gael party.
"The government refused to heed those warnings. Our party has always been highlighting how the government built huge spending commitments on the back of property revenues which were unsustainable," he says.
'No intention of defaulting'
In Dublin's famous O'Connell Street the long line of taxis is another visible sign of the shrinking economy.
The drivers complain there are too many taxis - more than in New York, they say - and they have to wait more than an hour for a fare.
It is a problem caused by lack of regulation, a rising tide of jobless seeking to earn a living as a cabbie, and fewer customers. It is a situation which looks set to get worse.
Bailing out the banks, along with plummeting tax revenues, now means the government faces a ballooning budget deficit, which reached 3.7bn euros (£3.4bn; $4.9bn) in the first quarter of this year.
As a member of the eurozone it is under pressure from the European Central Bank to bring the deficit under control, forcing it to announce tough public spending in its emergency budget on Tuesday.
The government is worried as already Standard & Poor's has downgraded Ireland's credit rating. There have been concerns that Ireland might even default on its debt.
But this is an idea which Deputy Prime Minister Mary Coughlan is keen to stamp on.
"We, Irish elected politicians have no intention of defaulting on any loans we take out in order to deal with the current difficulties that we have and it's on that basis that the Irish people will not lose their international reputation," she says.
But more public spending cuts will not help to boost the country's empty job market. On Dublin's university campuses students face their prospects with increasing alarm.
One arts student echoes many who say they want to go abroad: "A lot of my friends are thinking of going to New Zealand and Australia as the economic climate is better. This is the worst possible year to graduate," he says.
But for the first time in Irish history the emigration safety valve has been closed by the global recession. Many of those who have left are already coming back. This is uncharted territory for the Irish Republic. No-one can predict if frustrations will explode into social unrest.
Did you watch the budget? What is your reaction?
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/7987247.stm
Published: 2009/04/07 17:12:03 GMT
© BBC MMIX
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7988518.stm
Two dogs rescued from a fire at a rubbish-strewn north Belfast flat are to go into the care of an animal sanctuary, a judge has ruled.
They were removed from the Ross House flat of Ken McMillen in Mount Vernon after a fire last November.
Belfast Magistrates Court was told Mr McMillen had been led to safety when three dogs were found on a balcony.
One had to be destroyed. A judge ordered the remaining dogs stay at Mid-Antrim Animal Sanctuary for re-homing.
Mr McMillen did not attend Tuesday's hearing.
A police officer who went into the flat told the court it was piled with rubbish - chest high in one room.
He said the three dogs, border collies and a collie-springer cross, were found on an outside balcony.
The eldest of the animals, which were covered in urine and looked generally dirty, appeared unable to walk.
No water or food bowls could be seen in the flat, the court heard.
Although the dogs were taken away, by a member of staff at the Mid-Antrim Animal Sanctuary, the eldest had to be put down because it was suffering so much.
District Judge Fiona Bagnall granted the request for the animals to be kept at the kennel until they can be re-homed.
"I'm satisfied the dogs are to be disposed of by way of being placed in the care of the Mid-Antrim Animal Sanctuary," she said.
"Hopefully they will get a home."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7988518.stm
Published: 2009/04/07 16:42:53 GMT
© BBC MMIX
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/neesonrsquos-first-outing-with-sons-since-wifersquos-funeral-14259450.html
By Victoria O’Hara
Monday, 6 April 2009
Liam Neeson has made his first appearance in public with his two sons since his wife Natasha Richardson’s funeral in New York.
The Ballymena man went to see Liverpool play Fulham in London just over two weeks after his wife died from head injuries following a skiing accident.
The 56-year-old along with his two boys, 13-year-old Micheal and 12-year-old Daniel visited London’s Craven Cottage stadium on Saturday.
Dressed in a navy jacket and blue shirt he was also accompanied on the day out by his mother-in-law Vanessa Redgrave.
During the match Daniel Neeson held up a red Liverpool shirt while he witnessed his team beat Fulham 1-0.
The two boys were in Canada on a skiing holiday with their mother last month when she fell during a lesson.
This is the first time he has been spotted in public with his sons since his wife’s funeral.
He appeared briefly on Broadway, New York in March when the lights were dimmed in memory of his wife.
The grieving actor has completed work on his next movie Chloe, which he was filming when Natasha was injured on March 16 and died the next day.
It's not clear if Neeson will fit in a visit home to Northern Ireland so the boys can be with their paternal grandmother Kitty, who lives in Ballymena.
Last night he appeared in a film about a sectarian murder in Lurgan in 1975 which also starred Jimmy Nesbitt which was screened on BBC2.
The movie Five Minutes of Heaven was shot in Lurgan, Belfast, Glenarm and Newtownards.
Nesbitt said the news of Natasha's death was hard to take in.
“My heart goes out to Liam and his family. I feel shocked by the events and very much saddened for them all.”
Meanwhile, it has emerged that her family requested her organs be donated to patients in need after she was taken off life support at Manhattan's Lenox Hill Hospital.
http://www.hotpress.com/news/5360767.html
07 Apr 2009
It may sound like a strange concept, but the musical went down a storm in Cork, and is now set for a limited run at Dublin's Olympia Theatre.
After a hugely successful three-week run in Cork, Michael Collins transfers to The Olympia Theatre from Thursday May 7 for 15 shows only!
The show's recent run in Cork Opera House was a huge popular success, with audiences leaping to their feet for prolonged standing ovations after every performance. Michael Collins was widely praised by critics, with one prominent reviewer calling it “a moving, dynamic, resonant piece of musical theatre”.
“Michael Collins is my dramatisation of a changing period of Ireland’s history, but furthermore it is the story of how love and politics inflamed the period,” says writer/director Bryan Flynn, who six years bringing the project to fruition. Flynn also wrote the show's 24 songs.
Michael Collins takes the intrinsically fascinating story of the emergence of the Irish nation, and heightens its power by setting it to music performed by live musicians.
"The ensemble of 25 performers vividly bring to life the events of the 1916 Rising, the War of Independence and the Irish Civil War," a spokesperson told Hot Press. "But for all its massive scale, this musical drama is ultimately an intimate human story focusing on the interwoven plight of four extraordinary characters: Michael Collins, his adversary Eamon de Valera, his close friend and colleague Harry Boland, and the object of his affections, Kitty Kiernan."
The original cast will return for the run in the Olympia. The title role will be alternated by two West End actors, Eoin Cannon and Killian Donnelly, both of whom enjoyed rave reviews for their Cork performances. They are joined by principal performers Derek Collins as Harry Boland and Irene Warren as Kitty Kiernan.
The cast also includes Michael Grennell (Eamon De Valera) and Robert Vickers (Joe Emmet), along with Fair City's Rebecca Smith, Liam Butler, Ellen McElroy, Andrew Holden and Carol-Anne Ryan.
Orchestrations are by David Wray and Musical Direction by David Hayes.
Tickets from €20 including booking go on sale this Thursday, April 9, from Ticketmaster and usual outlets nationwide.
Updated: 10/4/2009
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