Fury At Tyson

Posted on December 11, 2015 by fitzjameshorse

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I like Amateur Boxing. I hate Professional Boxing.

For a while in the 1970s, it seemed that (professional) Boxing had shaken off its image of Corruption and Exploitation and under Mohammed Ali (worldwide) or Henry Cooper (in Britain) and Barry McGuigan (in Ireland) had moved away from the seedier side.

Yet there was a reaction…I just couldnt warm to people like Barry Hearn, Barney Eastwood and Frank Warren. …boxing promoters. Nor do I like those trash-talking staged Press Conferences where heavyweight boxers are “restrained” by men who are half their height and twice their age. It is much more like those phoney wars on Wrestling Entertainment.

Nor am I am a big fan of post-bout embracing of former trash-talkers.

Yes …I understand that it is all about ticket sales.

There seems nothing “noble” about the “noble art”. There are exceptions of course…our own Carl Frampton is a genuinely nice guy. All credit to him for retaining his dignity.

Yet …Boxing is still haunted by being about fightin’ men escaping the poverty of East London, South Philly, West Belfast or North Bronx….not to mention Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester….Philipines or Mexico. And while the poverty is not so bad as in the 1930s, there is still something aspirational about escaping a working class environment for middle class comfort and security.

Sometimes….encouraged by the rich men with the big cigars, it is about Greed.

Perhaps the title fight recently involving the Bad American Guy who loves money and the Good Philippines Guy who gives his money away, sums it up. The Bad Guy won.

Even more recently Tyson Fury of Britain defeated Kritsko of Ukraine to become undisputed World Heavyweight Champion. I had never heard of Fury.

Seemingly Fury comes from England’s “travelling community” a d he is a Fundamental Christian. There is nothing “christian” about his views on homosexuals or women. “The best place for a woman is in the kitchen…or on her back”.

But this is not something that can be said in 2015.

BBC News Presenter Clive Myrie referred to him as a “d@@khead” live on air. Another BBC reporter tried to goad him i to repeating his views in a street interview. But Fury…who is articulate and pretty clued in wisely referred to GOD loving the reporter. Yet oddly a local BBC reporter…AndyWest was suspended by the BBC for a tweet which expressed shame that the Beeb had not taken Thson Fury off the shortlist for BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

Two things. Why is there a difference in the way the BBC are treating Myrie…a high profile, highly paid national newsreader and West, a rank and file reporter in BBC Belfast?

And secondly, my American readers will wonder what is the BBC Sports Personality of the Year?

I can only explain it by referencing the early days of British TV…two channel land in the 1950s, when the BBC Sport was dominated by broadcasters like Peter Dimock, David Coleman, Frank Bough and Harry Carpenter. It is best described as an annual occasion. Viewers could vote for a Sportsman or Sportswoman by filling in a coupon in the Radio Times, which in those days was the weekly BBC ratings magazine. And the Winner would be revealed during a live hour-long show.

These were innocent days. No manipulation of votes. No “campaigns”. The viewers could be trusted.

In the Internet age, things are different. With votes thru phones and online, the system could be manipulated, undermined or downright sabotaged. There was no real mechanism to stop campaigns for complete unknowns who….for example….maybe played as third choice goalkeeper for a minor league football team.

Ah the Internet is Democratic!!! But as is often the case …when the Internet gets “democratic”, the Establishment changes the rules. And there is nothing more Establishment than the British Broadcasting Corporation.

The Beeb are of course anxious to protect the heritage….but reallt the Sports Personality of the Year is long past its sell-by date. It has been revamped. The “live”  Show lasts two hours. But importantly, it os no longer a “write-in vote”. The Public cannot be trusted. So a short-list of twelve people is drawn up by a panel of experts.

And one of the twelve people is….Tyson Fury.

He is a late choice. He only won his Heavyweight title two weeks ago and by any ordinary standard, this achievement is pretty damn big. But what about the Homophobia and Sexism? iS it relevant when recognising sporting achievement? Is it relevant when it is about “Sports Personality” and the implication that it is about being a role-model.

So a campaign starts to have Fury removed from the shortlist. Fury clearly revels in the notoriety but amid speculation that other nominees might withdraw (and even the threat can boost their chances), there is the classic 21st Century battle over so-called “Political Correctness”.

My own position is clear. Political Correctness (and I dont think the term is a good one) is the best thing that has happened in my lifetime. The fact is that Political Correctness NEEDS Confrontation in order to advance.

And another fact is that all confrontations are accidental. This Tyson Fury controversy is accidental. Two weeks ago…unexpectedly …he won his Heavyweight title. And was a late inclusion on the BBC short-list. And then he goes off-script with Homphobia and Sexism.

And the third fact about Political Correctness is that the liberals like me…and probably you….ALWAYS win. So there is no scenario in this controversy which is not a winning one.

Scenario 1….the BBC “listens” to its viewers and removes Tyson Fury, an easier task for them if he says something even more off-script. lIberals win and it is left to the Daily Mail to say its “political correctness gone maaaaaad”.

Scenario 2….other nominees withdraw from the contest and Fury is given a facile victory….or the voting public rallies round someone (Andy Murray or Lewis Hamilton) who can beat Fury and his right wingers.

Scenario 3….it is a “live” show albeit with a (say) hour delay. And Fury says so ething discredible.

Scenario 4….it is 2015 and the leading BBC Sports Presenter is Clare Balding. ….a woman….a gay woman. Maybe Ms Balding, who is now a British National Treasure….will withdraw from the show.

There is no scenario that is not a good one. Even Clare Balding handing the trophy to Tyson Fury.

The re-vamped show trying to appeal to both Tradition and Modernity is past its sell-by date….even if the sportsmen and women are more enthusiastic than ever. There are commercial spin-offs.

But this is the BBC of Clare Balding…not Peter Dimock, David Coleman, Frank Bough and Harry Carpenter.

And yet there is something ironic. The worlds best-loved sportsman is allegedly Mohammed Ali. But the Mohammed Ali…the elderly and frail man of 2015 is not the Mohammed Ali of 1960s and 1970s. He escaped the Louisville, Kentucky ghetto uneducated and articulate (like Tyson Fury) but he was not always popular. He was stripped of his titles for refusing to be drafted to Vietnam and that caused his unpopularity in USA. And yet in Britain his unpopularity can be traced to an angry interview (or ambush by) with Michael Parkinson in which he defended Segregation on the grounds that “red birds fly with red birds and blue birds fly with blue birds”.

Yet Ali is now re-habilitated on both sides of the Atlantic. As indeed is Mike Tyson.

And yet it can be no surprise that the relationship between professional boxers and the women in their lives is often violent.

But for a Boxer to succeed in the popularity stakes, there needs to be compromise….or maybe he just compromises himself. So genial Henry Cooper could trade on his plucky Cockney geezer image. And Frank Bruno, clearly used (or was used) his lack of Education to endear himself. Sadly Bruno suffers severe mental illness.

But no boxer was ever more politically correct than Barry McGuigan. His life on the Monaghan-Fermanagh border, his mixed marriage…for personal and professional reasons he found it necessary to compromise. Boxing under a “neutral” flag and with no anthem but his father singing “Danny Boy”, he found a formula that endeared him to Catholic and Protestant supporters within Norn Iron and with Irish and British fans …in the 1980s. No mean feat. A triumph for LetsGetAlongerism.

Anyway the “BBC Sports Personality Contest” is still more than a week away. Should be interesting TV but I suspect the BBC will prefer something bland.

 

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Embarrassing Bodies

Posted on December 10, 2015 by fitzjameshorse

You have all seen THAT photograph…Donald Trump and Gerry Adams at a Sinn Féin fundraiser in New York City. It is hard to know which of the great men is more embarrassed…but I dont think the photograph will be on Gerry’s election literature next year. More likely,  Nelson Mandela is a cooler friend to have than Donald Trump.

Over on Slugger O’Toole, there is a caption contest for the Adams-Trump photograph. Even if I wanted to log in to Slugger, I cant do it but surely none of the Sluggerites can beat my own suggestion that there should be a pun based on it being a Sinn Féin fundraiser and Trump’s fondness for women…..”so Donald what exactly do you mean when you say the Czech/cheque is in the mail”

Anyway here are some more embarrassing bodies. That strange bromance between Tony B Liar and Colonel Gaddafi of Libya. Back in the days when both were pretty regular guys. Then one discovered that his friend was a war criminal and it all went bad.

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To be fair, Tony B Liar has been unlucky with his friendships. There was that time he invited Mr and Mrs Assad from Damascus to a wife-swapping party in Downing Street. That ended badly.

 

 

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Stephen Nolan Themed Christmas Party

Posted on December 5, 2015 by fitzjameshorse

Tonight I will be hosting my annual Christmas Party, attended by three hundred of my closest friends.

The Party will have a Stephen Nolan theme. A tribute to one of the great mediocre shock jocks of our times.

Guests are asked to bring a supply of Northern Bank £20 notes and to wave them about….a gesture of solidarity with the Great Man, who was much discomforted by doing this in England last night.

Guests will then go on Twitter….and “tweet” about this in a self-important way. We will of course look like buck eejits.

Pass the Journalist of the Year Award.

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Pat Ramsey MLA Retires

Posted on December 3, 2015 by fitzjameshorse

i have to say that I am personally sorry to hear that Pat Ramsey is standing down from the Assembly. A genuinely decent guy.

SDLP man to the core. He will be a hard man to replace in part because he transcended party politics.

With a lot of SDLP talent in Derry, there will likelybe a few hats in the ring. The constituency is of course “Foyle” and is more or less the City of Derry and some rural areas.

In 2011, four candidates were run in the expectaion of holding three seats. Three seats were held…Pat Ramsey holding his seat but Pól O’Callaghan lost his seat to which he had been co-opted to replace Mark Durkan MP.

Two new SDLP people were elected in 2011…Colum Eastwood and Mark H Durkan (nephew of Mark).

There is more talent in Derry than the actual opportunities available…Brian Tierney, Martin Reilly, Gerard Diver to name a few. Ronan McCay is the new SDLP Chair.

I dont know enough about the logistics in Derry…but there is bound to be some kinda geographic balance between branches such as Northland, Waterside and others which would give three candidates an area for vote management purposes.

While I dont believe in quotas based on gender…I am a firm believer in the best man or woman for the job…but I think it likely that the third candidate will be a woman. It is NOT about “optics”.

That means (most likely) a person who has been a councillor or senior staffer. I am always reluctant to name people (staffers) who have no public profile and largely unknown outside SDLP circles.

Allowing for all things being equal in terms of location and availability…I would go for Brenda Stevenson, who was an excellent Mayor of Derry. Its also genetic…she is a Hume.

This is not a prediction of course. Merely an opinion. But if I am right….expect me to mention it. If I am wrong….well Id thank you not to mention it.

But this is the Future. For today, it is only right to pay tribute to Pat Ramsey.

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“The Commons At It’s Best”?

Posted on December 2, 2015 by fitzjameshorse

Today will be one of those alleged great show-piece events in the (British) House of Commons. The political correspondents at BBC, ITN and Sky and the sketch-writers in the major newspapers are already dusting off the clichés …including the old favourite “This was the House of Commons at its best”.

The British always seem to be at their best when they are discussing War….killing people…in reverent, hushed tones.

There wont be much shouting across the Floor. In ten hours of Debate, the Leaders of all parties will get to make a speech, advocating bombing in Syria or restraining from bombing Syria.

So far…so predictable. But the real interest will be in the contributions of senior backbenchers…often former ministers …who will bring a degree of expertise to it all. At least thats the theory….on the Tory side, Julian Lewis, chair of the Defence Committe and David Davis (a former soldiers and a maverick) and “Colonel” Bob Stewart (a blimpish figure) are sure to catch the Speakers eye. Margaret Beckett on the Labour benches (remember her reluctance to criticise Israel – few years ago? ) will lilely contribute.

All will be lostened to in hushed silence. Heads  will nod with gravitas and there will be much (exaggerated) respect across the Chamber. For the British Commons loves the sound of its own pomposity…and the journalists will play their quasi-constitutional role of being  grave and responsible.

Is Politics really at its best when it is non-partisan? Or is Politics less chaotic more principled when there is serious debate with a clear Opposition alternative?

So….bombing Syria. Or more precisely bombing ISIL in Syria. The complex alliances in that War are a farce.

Syria was once accepted as just another part of the Arab Spring. Uprisings to establish Democracy in Egypt produced a government that the “West” did not like so…the democratic government was overthrown and a more compliant government installed. In Libya, the tyranny of Gaddafi was overthrown and the country is now just a failed state in civil war.

Western intervention in Iraq failed miserably and produced sectarian bloodshed.

In Syria, the Assad regime was targetted as the next to fall but the “West” hesitated and some of the opposition groups…were demonstably worse than Assad. Notably ISIL.

Western populations are now told that Saudi Arabia who bankroll Islamist extremism and Turkey who buy ISIL oil are “good guys”.

The 9/11 bombers were Saudi. A NATO country kills Kurds who are fighting Assad and backs its ethnic Turks who are fighting Assad. The “ethnic Turks” in Syria are bombed by Russians who are supporting Assad and the Russians are needed to bomb ISIL. The Americans and French are bombing ISIL who are fighting Assad but are not targetting other anti-Assad forces….the so called 70,000 “good guys” who will fight both Assad and ISIL  …well its all bollox. We all know this.

Meanwhile we also know that the threat to British cities  (and other European cities) is from home-grown terrorists rather than ISIL infiltration into Europe.

Above all…there is a sense of deja vu that western populations (particuarly in Britain) were fed misinformation which led to the disaster in Iraq.

Of course, the lesson of the Little Boy Who Cried Wolf is that he was not believed when he told the Truth. But .”.fool me once, shame on you….fool me twice, shame on me”.

I should of course emphasise that I am an Irish citizen and that implies a deep commitment to  neutrality as well as a deep distrust of the motivations of post-imperialist players on the world stage.

It is an odd vote. Jeremy Corbyn has given his MPs a “free vote”, they can vote according to conscience. He will be the first member of the Labour Party to speak …against bombing. And his own would-be Foreign Secretary  (Hillary Benn) will be the  last Opposition speaker….for bombing.

It can only be described as a ridiculous situation.

Cameron maximises his own votes by “whipping” his Party and only a handful will vote against the Party. Cameron is not genuine in his weekend lobbying of Labour Blairites to support him. It is a cynical attempt to exploit Labour divisions and unworthy of all that “politics at its best” self-praising rhetoric that  the British political establoshment loves so much.

And Cameron’s contradictory statement to his own backbenchers that opponents of bombing Syria would be going into the lobby with “terrorist sympathisers” is a disgraceful comment.

As Donal Lyons of SDLP tweeted last night.

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This “terrorist sympathiser” comment has been made because Cameron now knows that he has the votes. He need not be reconcilatory to Labour MPs. He can play politics.

But this lie must be thrown back at him. Hopefully, Mark Durkan who holds the seat once occupoed by Nobel Peace laureate, John Hume will point out that SDLP needs no lectures from British governments.

So Cameron will win the votes but will hardly win the debate. Only a handful of Tories will defy him but he can count on the support of DUP and UUP, eager as always to display their British patriotism. Shamefully, he will get the support of the Liberal Democrats, reduced to a rump of just eight members after the heady days of the Tory-Lib Dem coalition. They have learned nothing from being Tory “yes” men.

And Labour hopelessly divided. Only a minority of the Shadow Cabinet will back Jeremy Corbyn. With one eye on their hero, Tony B Liar and the other on overthrowing Corbyn and playing out their own Leadership aspirations, they will troop into the Government lobby.

In doing so, they do not seem to grasp that the real opposition to this war is being led by nationalists….SNP, SDLP and Plaid Cymru. The post-colonial conflicts such as Syria do not reflect the national ethos of Scotland. Can Labour ever win back Scotland? Can Labour ever form a “”UK” government again?

iS this another nail in the coffin of the “United Kingdom”?

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Sinn Féin: A Little Difficulty In West Tyrone

Posted on December 2, 2015 by fitzjameshorse

I kinda like Barry McElduff, one of three Sinn Féin MLAs in West Tyrone. Some people think he is a buffoon but I think he just acts like a buffoon. This is often the case with people who are self-deprecating and who dont take themselves seriously. The problem in Politics is that if you dont take yourself seriously, nobody else will.

So Barry McElduff…now the senior of his three Sinn Féin colleagues …is the destined to be the “class clown” on the SF benches. But he is the least likely of any Sinn Féin MLA to getany kinda Ministerial post. In some ways …thats a pity….but the rewards for being the stand-up comedian in Sinn Féin is exactly the same as any other post…”the average industrial wage”.

Usually, Barry McElduff is fully aware of his role in politics/entertainment.

So…nice to see him give an unwitting performance.

He sent out a circular to a thousand constituents in part of his constituency, pledging to fight “Tory cuts” and noting how the budgets of local services were under pressure.

Few would disagree with him.

The problem was that Barry claimrd £900 in postage costs from the hard-pressed Taxpayer. He has had to pay it all back.

Oops. Frankly no big deal in many respects. The expenses claimed by or for Sinn Féin MLAs have come under acrutiny before.

But it is embarrassing. Obviously, it is in the interests of Sinn Féin spinners to say “nothing to see here….please go home”. And obviously its in the interests of opponents of Sinn Féin to highliight the the case and to make the most of the embarrassment to Barry and his Party.

i think there is a deeper issue. Usually Sinn Féin can deflect criticism. They  are held to a low standard and their publicity machine can go quickly into top gear. But to me, it is yet another sign that Sinn Féin have lost their touch.

Sinn Féin have stopped being lucky…all the time. Like the Welfare issue itself and the over-reaction to people daring to protest the decisions, there is a hint of a Party that is wounded.

It comes at a time when SDLP has made itself more relevant tnan at any time in recent years.  SDLP seem to have a degree of momentum.

Today, it is Barry McElduff’s turn to take the Sinn Féin pup for a walk.

 

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Introducing “Westminster” (The Sinn Féin Pup)

Posted on November 27, 2015 by fitzjameshorse

As the adverts tell us, a puppy is not just for Christmas.

Last week, Sinn Féin were sold a pup. They…the Irish Nationalists and Republicans….agreed to hand “Welfare” (ie Welfare Cuts) back to ….Westminster.

But Sinn Féin assure us they will fight for the most vulnerable in Society….it is a contadiction. Meanwhile Sinn Féin criticise SDLP (the “Stoop Down Low Party”) for attending the House of Commons. But maybe SF is the “Stoop Further” Party.

It is all a bit of a farce. A year ago SF was accepting “welfare” cuts before doing a U-turn before the recent Westminster election.

Now they have caved in.

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Not that their allies in DUP are much more principled. The “hokey cokey” resignations and appointments was because of speculation that the IRA Army Council was still on existence. As this has now been independently confirmed, it might be more logical if they resigned permenantly but they have curiously settled for the IRA to be “monitored”

Yet it would be only half the story to say that Sinn Féin sold out on “welfare” and DUP sold out on IRA….for both casually decided to overlook the Legacy issues….the victims of the Troubles.

Thats the real shame here.

In 1998 nationalists overwhelmingly and unionists narrowly voted for the Good Friday Agreement. We voted on the basis that the victims would not be forgotten. They received vague assurances and the word “Justice” was used a lot.

The promises got more vague. And the number of people who have actual first hand memories of the years 1969 to 1998 decreases with each passing year.

It is now crystal clear that their issues will not be dealt with. They have been quietly told to “get over it” and “its time to move on”

Will Sinn Féin and DUP lose votes? In any normal world, they would deserve to lose votes. They have let people down. But as the Assembly election is between the centenary of the Easter Rising and the centenary of the Somme, then it might still be possible for both parties to motivate the core vote.

All Sinn Féin needs to do is play up the chances of being the biggest party (and get Martin McGuinness into the First Ministers seat)….and ironically thats all the DUP need to do…paint a nightmare scenario.

Meanwhile David Ford of Alliance Party is the Minister for Justice. Dont expect him to rock the boat…will he get into the House of Lords in the New Years “Honours” or will he wait until June and the Birthday “Honours”. That would suit the Alliance Party better….and he would be above the battle between Stephen Farry and Naomi Long for the Leadership.

There has never really been a point to David Ford …a man loitering with intent of a peerage. For services to toadying to DUP and Sinn Féin….a LetsGetAlongerist success story.

SDLP will feel they have had a good week. Colum Eastwood and Fearghal MCKinney have brought a degree of energy and the three Westminster MPs have played a blinder.

And Alex Attwood was at his forensic best in the Assembly …and it was at least interesting to see Sinn Féin and their Twitter Army squirm around.

Next step? Well….Sinn Féin bought this pup. Now they have to feed it and take wee “Westminster” walkies in West Belfast, Derry, Newry and Ardoyne.

“Westminster” looks a cute wee puppy now. But he has some Rottweiler in him. Maybe he will be biting Sinn Féin on the arse before he is much older.

 

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SDLP…That Was The Week That Was

Posted on November 21, 2015 by fitzjameshorse

Or an alternative headline…”SDLP …a  week is a long time in Politics”. It seems that this was a good week for SDLP. On Saturday, last week, we were all a bit nervy. This Saturday, we are more optimistic than we have been fora long time.

There was something about last weekends Leadership Election that makes me think we should have had “white smoke” coming out of a chimney to signify that the College of Cardinals …or SDLP delegates…had made a decision. A religious person might be tempted to think the Holy Spirit was involved.

For as I blogged a week before the election, this was not an election that would be decided by factions within SDLP…the strongest silent vote was rank and file SDLP members, who dont care much for either faction.

Hence  the balance…Colum Eastwood is Leader and Fearghal McKinney is Deputy Leader and better still, if I had hand-picked the Party Executive, I doubt if I could have been more pleased.

And of course, this week we had that “Deal” at Stormont…and a succession of Sinn Féin MLAs trying to turn Defeat into Victory…and the week ending with people actually wanting to join SDLP.

I am …dare I say it…a bit like the Holy Spirit. I move in mysterious ways.

The Conference is not about the “hall”. Rather, the actionis a series of ten minute conversations with some people I have got to know over the past five years. And people-watching.

Best moment of Conference was the speeches proposing and seconding reducing the voting age to sixteen. Conference debuts for Mr Ruairi McDonnell (17) and Ms Dearbhla McDonnell (16)…Alasdairs older kids….brilliant speeches it must be genetic (yes we all made the same joke).

Interesting to observe that there are some MLAs who seem to move around witha personal entourage. It is amusing to watch. Young folks obviously watching too much “The West Wing”.

Interestingly, the post which I recently wrote on the rise and rise of “staffers” went down well with veteran councillors and not so well with “staffers”. “Staffers is actually a very broad term. It covers HQ/Press Office staff, the highly political advisors attached to individual MLAs, the apolitical and brilliant constituency office people and a sprinkling of student types.

Increasingly, the actual councillors who are dealing with real issues like street lighting, garbage collection and housing problems look as if they have been usurped by political professionals and wannabe professionals, who are interested in “big issues”.

I am not sure if I like or dislike this new development. It is amusing to watch. At one level, HQ seems to think that rank and file members …especially uppity ones like me…are a pain in the arse and that SDLP would function better if it was left to them. There is something wonderfully chaotic about SDLP. We rely on our hearts rather than our heads. The professionals are effectively trying to herd cats.

It is all about …balance.

The extent to which the political professionals are committed to SDLP or a CV is variable. I have seen too many whizzkids who once seemed very central and somehow drifted into other employment …they have transferrable skills. When I run across them at seminars etc now and I ask them if they are still Party members, they shrug their shoulders. So there is a turnover of staffers and wannabees. But the trend seems to be that we are getting more in than we are losing.

A political party is a bit like a puppy…not just for Christmas.

Some might say that I am bitter and twisted because I have applied for “staff jobs” with SDLP in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 and never even been shortlisted for interview. And some people who say that, might be absolutely right. Some might say that I know a fair bit about Politics…but I am too lazy to actually “do” anything. In my defence, I am 63 years old and just haven’t the energy.

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This Blog gets no support from the “Party” but increasingly, I feel that it is a voice for “rank and file” people. I have more credibility with non-SDLP members when I am 90% “on message”. Mostly, I am too quirky to worry about how I am viewed within the SDLP. But there was one uncomfortable moment last weekend…it was both amusing and hurtful.

Take a look at the pic above. That is Alan from Slugger O’Toole, who along with David McCann was accredited as “Press”. Of course they sought accreditation and I didnt. Now leaving aside the very generois term “Press” to cover Blogging…they are facilitated more than I am. They get into Conference for “free”.

As a member I can attend private sessions. But the Conference brochure, annual reports etc costs me £15. It is “gold dust” to me, not least the list of runners and riders for Executive posts. Slugger does not get a copy of the brochure…but as I understand it, BBC have a copy.

The point I make here, is that …banter aside…Slugger O’Toole is not notoriously pro-SDLP. I feel that I am paying to actually blog in support of SDLP. The SDLP have a reputation for listening to other voices. I daresay thats a good thing…a feature of SDLP Conferences. Professor Deirdre Heenan, Rev Norman Hamilton this year. But sometimes it would be nice to listento our own voices.

Just three weeks ago, I was at the Lyric Theatre …a SDLP seminar on Civil Society. Deirdre was on the panel again, along with Ryan Feeney from the GAA. As far as I know neither are members of SDLP. And David McCann of Slugger O’Toole was on the panel…substituting for Mick Fealty of Slugger O’Toole.

Now here is the thing. Mick has a lot more experience in this field than I have. Fair play. But come on ….David McCann? It really makes no sense for SDLP people to be tweeting that BBC featured Eamonn McCann and Chris Donnelly on a Spotlight programme on Colum Eastwood. Can we really whinge about that when we do it ourselves.

That should be the first item on the agenda for Colum and Fearghal…OUR OWN VOICES.

Perhaps I am slightly marginalised in SDLP because I never identified with one faction or another.  Maybe too much of a loose cannon. But more likely it is because SDLP has not put too much effort into Blogging.

The marginalisation is irritating because there is a delicate balance. The last thing I would want is to be an “embedded SDLP blogger”. But frankly Id like just a wee bit more appreciation.

It will beinteresting to see how the Assembly Election campaign is planned.

 

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Deal Or No Deal?

Posted on November 18, 2015 by fitzjameshorse

Well of course there IS a Deal. The only requirement is that DUP and Sinn Féin reach an agreement. The other Parties in the so-called “power-sharing” Executive saw the Agreement forty five minutes before Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness went public.

By the way, it is amazing how DUP and Sinn Féin can talk up a defeat into a victory.

For make no mistake, they are both defeated. DUP threatened the collapse of the Executive on the basis that the IRA Army Council was still in existence….and the fig leaf they have been given is that paramilitary activity will be “monitored”.

And Sinn Féin and Welfare Reform. Well the decision making process has been re-allocated to Westminster.That would be the uber republicans who dont even take seats in Westminster. They have sold out.

The logical step for this all-Ireland Party is to write the same policy into their Dáil manifesto.

Of course all political parties would have to find a solution and thats the trade-off. But really the shock in the Agreement is the total abandonment of Victims. After nearly eighteen years of delaying tactics…both DUP and Sinn Féin and of course the British have just given up on the “legacy” issues.

Truth has been officially abandoned. Justice has been officially abandoned. How can David Ford stay in Government as Minister for Justice?

Can SDLP sign up to this? No.

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Marchons! Marchons!…A French Lesson

Posted on November 17, 2015 by fitzjameshorse

I think the French National Anthem is my second favourite. English newspapers are printing the  words so that football fans can sing along tonight as England play France in a friendly international. But there is a certain irony because the words would send a shiver down the spine of aristocrats and foeigners alike.

The Marsailles is the song of the French Revolution. Perceived in the palaces in London, Berlin, Moscow and Vienna as Terror…France was a “rogue state exporting Terrorism”.  It is a familiar pattern …the French Summer of 1789 descended into Chaos and Terror. Attrocities like babies being crucified on the doors of churches. So a few years ago we had the Arab Spring in Egypt, Libya….Syria. And we have Terror exported and babies crucified.

French people understand the pre-Napolean Terror. The treatment of the young Dauphin is just one stain on the Revolution ,,,,and the French and the rest of the democratic world regard the French Revolution as a good thing. And even an anthem that warns that French fields will bloom from the blood of its enemies is sung heartily by French schoolchildren.

One of the most annoying aspects of the 21st century has been the disgraceful way France has been represented in United States and Britain. If it wasnt for USA, the French would be speaking German so French fries become “freedom fries”. Of course if it wasnt for the French, Americans would be speaking a much better form of English and having “chips with everything”.

And that American Revolution experience was fairly reciprocal. The French Army and Navy dispatched to deal with a common enemy at Yorktown were sent by a King….but a lot of French soldiers quite liked this new “Republic” and brought the message home.

So American and French history are entwined. And was it only last week that I read a “joke” online ….the colours of the American Flag on the Moon have faded to white and aloens are confused as they think the French got there first.

Yet nobody is saying it this week. France is the “oldest ally of the United States”

Not that it is much better in England. An entire generation of English stand-up comedians has grown rich on jokes about French surrenders and how Britain saved French arses in World War Two. Actually its more complicated than that. French and British arses who had both honourably gone to war in defence of Poland in 1939 were saved by United States…who had only gone to war when it was attacked in 1941?

Easrlier this year the narrative was Wellington defeating Bonaparte at Waterloo (1815-2015). Today it is all “Entente Cordiale”.

So the French are not exactly the “cheese eating surrender monkeys” of 21st century myth.

Not that the French are perfect. The Indo-China Empire became America’s Vietnam. And post-WW2 as the French and British empires (on American orders) collapsed …the excesses in Algeria mirrored British excesses in Kenya.

But as Americans have adopted the French this week, so too have the British ….the old enemy is now an old rival on the football field and by a quirk of fate, tonight’s match …a friendly …is the first that France will have played since the traumatic events of Ftriday night.

There was something crass about American and British attitudes to France for more than a decade. The U-turn is just as crass. Will the BBC dedicate a week to French culture with back-to-back episodes of “‘Allo ‘Allo”.

There is not much ambiguity in Ireland about France. In 1690, King Louis sent troops to Ireland to fight a common enemy. As did Republican France in 1798. And the ideals of Republican France inspired Republican Ireland. The Irish Flag a direct copy of the French Flag.

So no U-turn required at last night’s football match in Dublin. Ireland and Bosnia-Herzegovina. And the great problem with “One Minute Silence” is that a handful of voices can be heard among 60,ooo silences. And a section of the Bosnian support were unpleasantly noisy.

The Bosnian behaviour was a headline which overshadowed Ireland winning the match. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Why?

In simple terms, Europe is not wholly “Christian” and “post-Christian”. Bosnia is a Muslim country and with attrocities committed there less than three decades ago…by Christian Serbs….and with precious little help to the Bosnians from the rest of Europe, it is likely that they were in no mood to listen to lectures on “European Civilisation”.

It keeps getting worse. With the number of refugees reaching the safety of Europe, any risk assessment would say that statistically some Islamist fighters are getting into Paris and London by a trojan horse. It is making us all too nervous. Paranoid….because the second and third generation terrorists are already in Paris andLondon…and fully integrated. In every sense the jihadists speak Europes language.In every sense Europeans do not speak their language.

And as State Governments in USA demand that the Federal Government restrict migration, it demonstrates that the War on Terror is already lost. “Do NOT send your huddled masses” is something that fundamentally changes USA.

And of course the Statue of Liberty is a gift…from France.

War on “Terror” or any Noun does not make sense.

The conflict is between Life and Death. It will get worse.

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