Three Thousand Versts of Loneliness

Periodically there is a story suggesting that far right groups plan to organise in Northern Ireland. In 2003 politicians expressed dismay and outrage when the BNP threatened to contest council elections here. Only last summer we were warned that the same party intended to recruit members at Twelfth of July parades. Today the Newsletter reports that a meeting of 40 “members and their trusted friends” have convened to hear the party’s leader, Nick Griffin, speak and reaffirm that his organisation has ambitions here. Certainly any attempt to organise in Northern Ireland is unwelcome. But reading between the lines the fact that since announcing its intentions in 1994 and restating that fielding candidates in Northern Ireland was a goal in 2003, that in 2007 there appears to be no progress towards this strongly suggests that the BNP is failing to attract members here. Despite the fact that Northern Ireland has for the first time developed relatively large immigrant communities, there...

Having secured a contract which will encompass the 2010 World Cup’s qualifying campaign Nigel Worthington has reconvened his charges to face Bulgaria in a friendly tomorrow night. The Northern Ireland manager is on somewhat of a hiding to nothing with this match. A home win against Bulgaria in a friendly match will not precipitate wild celebrations at Windsor Park, but a defeat may well raise fresh doubts over Worthington’s tactical acumen. Reserve goalkeeper Michael McGovern has a broken finger and is unavailable, but Northern Ireland’s most notable absentee is Motherwell centre back Steven Craigan who will be in action for his club tomorrow night. Craigan’s previous omission from matches in Latvia and Iceland left the Northern Ireland defence desperately weakened and precipitated a successful campaign to have the Dundonald man reinstated. Leaving out such an experienced defender has undoubtedly been one of Worthington’s most serious mistakes during his brief tenure so far. This...

The essence of a successful internet site for a newspaper is traffic. Gaining as much exposure for your newspaper and its content increases advertising, develops a readership that may not be inclined to buy the newspaper otherwise and establishes your brand as an authoritative cutting edge news source. In a local situation such as Northern Ireland, the internet is a perfect platform to establish your paper as the predominant authority on our local news, both for browsers at home and abroad. It seems therefore an astonishingly short-sighted move for the Irish News to return to subscription only content, after a number of weeks of being free to view. I was aware that the free to view online edition would only be a temporary measure, but I suspected that perhaps a positive response and the fact that the print version would not be adversely affected may have caused a rethink. Certainly there are those on the newspaper’s staff who believe free online access is the way to go and the subs...

Although my preferences are not hidden, I have tried as far as possible to prevent this blog becoming too party political. When I disagree with something emanating from the Ulster Unionist Party, I do not hesitate in raising my objection. I do not apologise however for highlighting the political courage being demonstrated by Michael McGimpsey as he merges four health boards into one and slims down the bloated bureaucracy that afflicts the NHS in this country. Mr McGimpsey is translating words into action, the quality which is conspicuously lacking in other parties (see below). His initiative will cost 1,700 jobs which are not needed, but will allow services to be delivered on the front line.

EU bureaucrats have greeted the Serbian presidential result with relief and it appears that Boris Tadic’s win is being seen as a green light for Kosovo to proceed with an imminent declaration of independence. In Pristina the result has been interpreted as an acknowledgment that Kosovo should be let go without a struggle. On the contrary, Tadic’s narrow win simply demonstrates that Serbs are unwilling to return to the trenchant nationalism that characterised Slobodan Milosevic’s regime and envisage a modern and tolerant future for their state. In no way does the result demonstrate an acceptance that Serbia should yield sovereignty over the Serb province of Kosovo. An endorsement of Tadic’s less confrontational stance may well betray an unwillingness to aggressively face down NATO and much of the EU, but the diplomatic tussle over Kosovo is not over. Although states within the EU are likely to recognise a unilateral declaration of independence, there is by no means consensus , partic...

I have previously lauded the broad, inclusive, Pan-UK unionism being espoused by figures within the Ulster Unionist Party such as Johnny Andrews. A central plank of the economic unionism Andrews advances is that Ulster Unionists should be fully engaged in arguing for lower Corporation Tax throughout the United Kingdom, rather than attempting to promote Northern Ireland as an exception which should be brought into line with the Republic of Ireland. The UUP Party Officer has once again been arguing for this response to the Varney Report in a letter to local newspapers . Andrews links the disadvantageous economic situation precipitated by the DUP’s overseeing of devolution to their weak response to Peter Hain’s blackmailing tactics. He highlights the increased pressure on rate-payers and home owners which will come to bear under the DUP / SF carve-up, the real terms decrease in block funding which they have presided over and the desultory nature of their commitment to growing the pri...

Hot on the heals of four Victims’ Commissioners being appointed rather than one, Sinn Fein’s Francie Brolly has appealed for another commissioner , this time for the Irish Language. No doubt this would entail a £65,000 salary, a lengthy selection process and a successful campaign for an Ulster Scots’ Commissioner. Given the news that Catriona Ruane is opposed to academic selection, not only at 11, but at any age, perhaps we shouldn’t be permitting an elitist process such as job interviews at all. Why shouldn’t everyone in Northern Ireland have an equal right to become a commissioner of some kind in our burgeoning quango industry? After all we are already making rapid strides in that direction. I would be only too happy to become Commissioner of Blog Writing Football Mad Civic Unionist Russophiles and work strenuously to ensure government delivers for my interest group. This weekend my girlfriend and I were grievously inconvenienced on finding that our new toilet didn’t work proper...