Roy Greenslade is both a supporter of Sinn Fein and writing in the Guardian, a fair minded and expert critic of his old profession. I mention this to anticipate an irrelevant smear. On the reporting of the Ballymurphy inquest, he’s absolutely right. A story that matches in horror the Birmingham pub bombs or the abuses in cause celebres such as Hillsborough or the murder of Stephen Lawrence is largely ignored because the initials “IRA” are involved. The old reflex is back at work ; they fear IRA propaganda. You think they would have learned something from the long saga of Bloody Sunday.
For the inquest into the deaths of 10 people shot by British paratroopers in 1971, later known as the “Ballymurphy massacre”, has been under-reported by London-based mainstream media since it began more than five months ago.
But the failure of newspapers and news broadcasters to report on what was said by two former soldiers who served in Northern Ireland at the time of the deaths, was a breathtaking omission
Contrast this failure to report with the space given to politicians, such as Tory MPs Penny Mordaunt and Johnny Mercer, and former army chiefs, such as Lord Dannatt and Sir Mike Jackson, when protesting against the historical prosecution of British servicemen. Their views were headlined while the Ballymurphy inquest evidence has been all but buried.
In fairness, as with all long-running inquiries, it is expensive to staff the press bench day after day. However, the Press Association has been providing a service, enabling editors to receive copy on a regular basis, and BBC online has reported all the key evidence.
The Irish News has carried almost 70 pages about the inquest and its editor, Noel Doran, argues that “significant new information has emerged over the course of the inquest.” He says: “Senior officers have spoken for the first time about the incidents, and they’ve been cross-examined, too. New facts have come to light.”
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has conceded that her party will
suffer some losses in the 26 County local elections, but she said: ‘Beidh lá eile
againn’ [We will have another day].
Arriving at the count centre in Dublin’s RDS this evening she said Sinn
Féin benefited from a surge in support in 2014, but that they will not
retain all of these. She said the surge this year had gone to the Green
Party.
“I am not sure where we are going to land but I know that we will have a
lot of counting and some long nights ahead of us,” she said.
But Ms McDonald added: “Sinn Féin aren’t cry babies, we dust ourselves
down and we get back at it because that’s what political activism is all
about.
“Some days the day is yours and the tide is in and some days are more
challenging and the challenge for any political organisation is to be
able to manage and to navigate your way through either scenario, you
have to have all-weather politics.”
Tallies are predicting that Sinn Féin – who tripled their numbers in the
last local elections – will lose a number of these seats.
In Dublin their party vote is roughly half of what they received in
2014, while the party could lose as many as half their seats on Cork
City Council. Much depends on the direction of transfers among the
left-wing candidates, who have all suffered as a result of the ‘Green’s
day’, as McDonald put it.
An exit poll for RTE published showed Sinn Féin will likely poll around
12%, some 3% down on five years ago. The largest decline has been in
urban areas, where a low turnout by working class voters has coincided
with a swing to the Greens.
The same exit poll indicated a significant increase in support for Irish
reunification in the 26 Counties, which should have benefited Sinn Féin.
But some decline in the Sinn Féin vote had been expected following
upheaval within the party over its approach to abortion. Aontú, a new
republican anti-abortion party which formed in the wake of the
controversy, is set to win at least two seats in its first 26 County
election according to early tallies, and possibly up to five.
Ms McDonald said: “I am disappointed for our people who ran and who
served for the last five years and who I know wanted to continue to
serve their communities.”
She said the huge surge in favour of the Greens worked against all
parties, including Sinn Féin but also warned of a disengagement in some
areas.
“There is an issue that we need to address politically in terms of
disengagement from politics generally, particularly in identifiable
parts of Dublin and beyond, so I think it’s a mixture of things,” said
Ms McDonald.
When asked if another poor election result could lead to question marks
over her leadership, she replied: “Leaders are charged with leadership
come what may. So it is easy to lead and be a political activist when
things go your way and the surge is on.
“Those are great days. But you also have to be ready . . . when
things are more challenging.”
Theresa May’s lack of political acumen meant she wasn’t up for job“The only way to stop a new prime minister pushing for no-deal is a vote of no confidence followed by a general election. Would the DUP support a no-confidence vote or would they vote for no-deal?”Brian Feeney. Irish News. Belfast. Saturday, May 25, 2019 Cold, robotic, obsessive, devoid of emotional intelligence, and according to some, vengeful to people like George Osborne who’d disagreed with her or bested her in an argument, Theresa May is the past.
She failed in everything she set out to do, including reducing immigration to ‘tens of thousands’, just one of her preposterous slogans like ‘Brexit means Brexit’ or ‘strong and stable’ or ‘nothing has changed’.
Amid all the crocodile tears from colleagues who have striven to get rid of her, no-one expressed any affection – it was all about duty, public service, tireless efforts. They’re glad she’s gone. She wasn’t up to the job and her lack of charisma, but more importantly, lack of political acumen, led to 33 ministerial resignations and finally, complete, unprecedented indiscipline in her cabinet.
Best not to go back over the long list of mistakes and misjudgements she made. We are where we are and what a mess she left.
First, the collapse of her premiership means the Stormont talks are going nowhere. The only silver lining means that our current dreadful proconsul, umbilically linked to May, will be sacked, to the regret of no-one.
However, nothing will happen now before the autumn and the establishment of a new British administration. Will the confidence and supply deal with the DUP, which wrecked any prospects of agreement here, be renewed at the end of June? How can it be before a new prime minister is selected, and that won’t happen before July?
At present the favourite is Boris Johnson. Certainly he’s the favourite of the Conservative membership who have the final say.
People talk about his lack of support among Conservative MPs who initially whittle the contenders down to two. At present they look as numerous as a Grand National field, but Conservative members will be telling their MPs to vote for Johnson and if they don’t, asking why not.
In any case, all the contenders will be touting their hard-Brexit credentials, which makes no-deal a real threat. Lest you forget, there are only three legal options: May’s deal, no deal or no Brexit.
Two of those are non-starters. Whoever wins will certainly go to Brussels to demand the backstop be removed or Withdrawal Agreement reopened. They’ll be knocked back. It’s unlikely a hard Brexiteer will ask for another extension because that’s a confession of failure; it means Britain hasn’t left the EU.
There’s another problem with that. Several EU countries, led by President Macron, will oppose any extension as Macron did in April. He correctly predicted there would be an awkward squad of Brexit MEPs from the UK in the new European Parliament.
They will sit there unless and until the UK leaves, potentially obstructing the budget and election of the new Commission and Council presidents. If there’s no extension the UK will have to crash out on October 31.
With a new prime minister in the autumn there’s a new parliamentary session, so all bets are off; no meaningful votes, the resolution preventing no deal not binding.
The only way to stop a new prime minister pushing for no-deal is a vote of no confidence followed by a general election. Would the DUP support a no-confidence vote or would they vote for no-deal?
Remember, Deputy Dodds used to intone like Theresa May, ‘No deal is better than a bad deal.’ Does he still say that?
Now here’s the thing. If it’s Johnson, he won’t make a deal with the DUP until September and if you were the DUP would you trust him?
Theresa May he ain’t. You’re playing senior hurling now lads.
HANDBALL TOURNAMENT The 2nd annual FDNY Doubles Handball Tournament HAS BEEN POSTPONED. The tournament will now be held on Sunday, June 9, at Juniper Park in Middle Village (corner of 80th St / Juniper Blvd North.) The bracket drawing will begin at 8:15 AM, and the tournament will begin by 9:00 AM. To register, log in to PayPal at www.paypal.com/pools/c/8elfE7W2wX and provide names of players, along with payment of $50 per team and a contact number. The first 32 teams will be eligible. Must be an FDNY employee. 1st Prize is $500, 2nd Prize is $200, and 3rd Prize is $100. The rest of the proceeds will be donated to the EMS Health Fund to benefit members in need due to tragic events.
FDNY BARBELL CLUB The FDNY Barbell Club is currently seeking new members. All experience levels in CrossFit; Weightlifting and Powerlifting are welcome. Monthly meeting as well as training times and locations to be determined. Interested members may submit an email with their name; unit and phone number to FDNYBarbellClub@gmail.com. For questions or more information, contact Ricardo Roman at 347-583-1229 or Sasha Gomez at 917-627-3785.
FDNY TRIATHLON TEAM The FDNY Triathlon Team would like to invite any members interested in participating in the 2019 New York City Triathlon on Sunday, July 21, to contact Info@FDNYTri.com. All skill levels are welcome and there is still plenty of time to train! If you’re racing any other events this year, they want to hear from you, too.
FDNY GRAPPLING CLUB The FDNY Grappling Club is currently seeking new members. All experience levels are welcomed (beginner to seasoned grapplers). Training times and locations are to be determined. Interested members may submit an email with name, unit and phone number to fdnygrappling@gmail.com.
Theresa May’s voice broke as she reached the end of her resignation speech. Known as the ‘Maybot’ throughout her premiership her exterior finally cracked. She sounded close to tears as she said it had, ‘been the honour of her life’ to ‘serve the country that I love.’ She wasn’t this emotional during the Windrush scandal, a horrifying disaster of her own making.
May’s resignation starts the bell ringing for the Conservative Party leadership contest. Boris Johnson, Andrea Leadsom, Jeremy Hunt and Michael Gove are all jockeying for position. The winner gets to pretend to be sincere when they go back to Brussels to try to renegotiate the Withdrawal Agreement.
While the burr of the leadership contenders continues in the background, many in Northern Ireland will be wondering what is going to happen to Karen Bradley. A May loyalist, she is one the Prime Minister’s supporters in the cabinet. It’s doubtful whether she’ll survive the incoming change of office.
Theresa May is known for giving robotic answers to questions but Bradley turns it into a horrifying art form. Everything is a devolved matter. The Northern Ireland Office is a benign, powerless void, bravely buying lanyards to support the LGBT community while the natives fight amongst themselves.
The Supreme Court said, obiter, last year that Northern Ireland’s abortion laws breached the European Convention of Human Rights. Bradley said the British Government would only act if the European Court of Human Rights said there was a breach. Who knew the government in this country cared this much about the European Court? It only took twelve years for minor changes to be made to the the law regarding voting rights for prisoners.
The Secretary of State has still not implemented legislation to compensate victims of Historical and Institutional Abuse. Bradley is insisting that Northern Ireland’s political parties need to answer further questions before she can do anything. Victims, who have already had to face a grueling legal process, staged protests outside Castle Coole on the 21st May while Bradley was there for a royal garden party.
Only this week, Bradley told victims of the Blood Infection Scandal that devolution was the best way to resolve the difference between financial support between England and Northern Ireland. One victim said that they were being used as “political football.”
Even before her most recent comments, Bradley was already unpopular with the political parties. She was seen as uninterested, disengaged and unwilling to put the hard work in to get the talks process started. On this Northern Ireland’s politicians are united: Karen Bradley is a terrible Secretary of State.
Bradley is painted as a character from the Thick of It, incompetent rather than malicious. After the past few weeks I’m starting to doubt that assessment. I think the cruelty is the point.
We have long memories in Northern Ireland. The legacy Theresa May leaves behind will be picked over for generations. Do us all a favour, Prime Minster, take Karen Bradley with you on the way out.
