Picture by Within Thoughts
1. Why did the Chief Constable say that the IRA was now engaged in solely peaceful activity and then that it was IRA members who killed Kevin McGuigan?
2. Why did Michael Nesbitt and Peter Robinson seize on the second part of the Chief Constable’s statement and ignore the first part?
3. Are courts going to be dissolved and all verdicts of guilt or innocence placed in the hands of the Chief Constable?
4. Why has no mention been made of unionist paramilitary organisations which make no bones about their existence?
5. Who swallowed the word ‘NAMA’ and won’t let anyone use it?
6. Do we need a ‘fresh’ asessment of PSNI assessments?
7. How did the First Minister know citizens were to be arrested prior to the arrests?
8. When is a resignation not a resignation?
9. Has political unionism the ability to emulate the diplomatic leadership of their monarch ng a recent visit to Dublin?
Me a culpa, to read, ‘during’.
A good appendage to Jude’s astute questions lolar. There are many many questions that need examined in relation to this contrived sabotage of Shared Power. Political Unionism is lacking an leadership, save Afrikaners,vying to outdo themselves in defence of their illusory Supremacy. They must share the Swings in the Sunday Park. They don’t wish the Park to be open on Sundays, and they are certainly not ready to share the Swings. Its time methinks that this intransigence be faced down. The Nationalist Community, with its main representation in SF, have done everything to coax these obtuse representatives of Unionism into Compromise mode. They have resisted ay every turn for almost twenty years, reneging on so many parts of the original Goid Friday
Sorry unfinished and sent in err. To splice this on to my above comment…………..
……..Unionists have reneged on so many parts of the Agreement, that it is beyond recognition. They have obstructed the central Equality tenets of the accord, with belligerence, and so successfully over this past two decades, that Bowta in South Africa would be beaming, and envious of the Success of the “Passive Aggressive” Political obstructions they have engaged.
I am loath to say it, but political Unionism just ain’t ready to forge in harmony a way through to accepting Equality in Principle, and I think Nationalist representatives should now adopt a more Robust Political programme and attitude and start demanding the implementation fully of the equality agenda….
As for George Hamilton WTF??!! The Police have played a great role in helping to destabilise things….from the multi armoured car raid on Stormont to lift a CD….to the timing of Bobby Storey et als Arrest, Right at a time when such an arrest would be explosive while countdown clocks where knelling down the hours to another Crisis Deadline….The Police have many questions to ask. Petition to the Judiciary to be lenient on a Loyalist Paramilitary OTR with a house full of Weapons, part of a Romper Room gang who Burnt a cross onto a victim in the most horrendous acts of brutality on this poor man, along with the forty odd other people these Sadists tortured to Death…..Great call Robinson. With Unionists, its run with the fox and hunt with the dogs.
Wined and dined by the Police in Wales the Active UVF were……
EX IRA are arrested in timings perfect to help destroy the Agreement….this is political. How did Robinson Know this, probably because he engineered the Police to effect it…? Is this beyond the realms of possibility? How did he know in advance. Time we resisted this Afrikaner agenda politically, and started shouting louder so the rest of the country can hear what is really going on….
By the way Jude, you were brilliant yesterday morning, and your calls to sanity in seeing the realities behind these ambiguous noises on these killings, astute and delivered with backbone and much needed clarity and passionate delivery….a voice of sanity in the counter narrative to the Hocus Pocus being engaged by mist of the rest of a partisan media north and south of the country.
Go raibh maith agat, Francis…
Why did the police arrest Bobby Storey and others as the week started, knowing the crisis at hand and how these arrests would appear, and then conveniently release Bobby as soon as the DUP made their decision to resign their seats and collapse the institutions?
Me thinks this is a politically contrived convenience and the same old RUC at work.
Political Policing at its best. Well done coppers!
And SF want the nationalist and Republican people to cooperate with these unreconstructed agitators and bulwark of British rule in Ireland?
Yes Roy…it’s beginning to make quite a story….spies, spooks and corruption of power.It’s already got conspiracy written all over it.I wonder how well the Chief Constable is sleeping these nights and if he feels like TVMike and Robbo that maybe he has jumped the gun.I think he’ll be replaced soon when he gets his foot out of his mouth.
It is obvious the power sharing arrangement we owe to the GFA is doomed to failure. When it collapses, let the GFA go with it, and let’s get on with the real issue- A united Ireland free of English authority. Let those who would, relocate back to England that they love so dearly.
Brilliant idea Bill – ethnic cleansing. I wonder why no one has thought of that before. Let me just Google that – oh hang on a minute … Adolf…. Slobodan. – looks like it’s be tried and I’m afraid the results don’t seem too promising.
Whilst you are undoubtedly living proof that a village somewhere is missing its idiot, I do admire your candour. On the day that we are eventually out-bred (or we could be politically correct and call it “changes in demographics”), and “your day has come” you offer an intriguing insight into what lies ahead for the Brits among us in a brave new United Ireland.
But to borrow a phrase from “Saint Bobby the Untouchable” (and you need to picture me here with eyes bulging chewing a bit of Wrigleys Spearmint Gum for the full effect) “We’re not goin away ya know” – the house prices are horrific in England and there are far too many Irish.
And why has the popular media not probed Michael Nesbitt about the PSNI leak that forewarned him about the arrests of several republicans prior to his theatrics?
There is obviously someone in the ranks of the PSNI with a grudge against Bobby Storey.He even was arrested in connection with the killing of Jean McConville despite being barely 16 years old in 1972.He must have left the cops with egg on their faces during the troubles or something.
What a cynical créatúr I am ,if the “institutions” fall ,and I don’t use that word lightly ,then no more NAMA investigation…..is this really electioneering or the hand of providence for the swish family Robinson and more than a few business acquaintances . Having psychic abilities concerning imminent arrests is certainly fortuitous when planning staged acts and performing stunts and trickery….but we’ve seen this old magic show before….getting too long in the tooth now …..like George Hamilton , whether country and western singing or the old RUC hymnbook……heard the auld songs before ,know all the words…not impressed any more.
I have never been in favour of the NCA, but now I hope they are very effective in their NAMA investigations.
If any of our unionist politicians are charged with NAMA financial irregularities, convicted and possibly jailed, what will be the Sinn Fein reaction?
Sinn Fein, unlike unionists, never seem to want to hit their opposition over the head with their transgressions – I wonder why.
But even if NCA don’t (possibly for political reasons) turn up any incriminating evidence, we still have the hope that the US State Department investigation into the alleged NAMA fiddles will publish and be damned!
Well Sherdy, Sinn fein are prepared to suck it up forever, as you say. I would call it a sort of passive/aggressive response.It is part of their political armoury and I suppose it is a sophisticated reaction to unionism’s club.Republicanism has long abandoned the violent path and the Sinn Fein political path is seen as the only way to make constructive progress. If there is no political platform, progress , slow as it might be stops. Unionism , on the other hand see that by stymying any republican forward political progress will keep them safe .They are a conservative lot and any kind of political change is anathama to them. If they can’t actually fight the republicans in a physical force sort of way which they had a good go at for some thirty years until standstill… or even in a political way until standstill, the new plan seems to be to sit on their hands after taking away the only thing republicans have left…the Assembly. The hope appears to be to somehow put SinnFein into purdah and then have a neat litttle club for themselves while dissident younger republicans get frustrated enough to take up arms and bombs again. Unionists feel better when things are as simple as that.
I hear that Bobby Storey is to sue the police for wrongful arrest. If he wins then it is from us, the taxpayer that the compensation will come although we are in the main innocent. Should the cost of police misbehaviour not be paid for by the upholders of justice themselves? Perhaps the rozzers individually and collectively would be less inclined to arrest people vindictively if they were docked hundreds of pounds each month to compensate their victims.
Colm ..unless the Chief Constable comes up with some real evidence very soon , i think he will be following Theresa Villiers when she soon moves in search of a new job. As usual we’ll all have to pay the bills.
Mike TV and Robbo both have different agendas on why they are cherry picking the chief constables statement.
Mike TV already took an MP from the DUP, he now wants to take a few MLA’s. So he’s taking a leaf out of Paisley Snr’s book and wants to appear “tough” and “standing up to Republicanism” by leaving the Executive. This appeals to the most uncompromising of Unionist voters, the sort that have the clocks on their computers set to the year 1690. That’s why Mike TV is developing the “NEVER NEVER NEVER” or “Not an Inch” mentality of Unionism of Old. Jim Allister has tough competition.
I think Robbo is cherry picking the Chief Constables statement due to NAMA. At this time a distraction from the NAMA investigation is what is needed for the DUP and what better way than to put Stormont on the verge of collapse. I listened to a video where, in my opinion, it clearly sounds like DUP Jim Wells in the midst of the NAMA inquiry whispering to someone “They are killing us on the legals”. I will post the video below.
On the topic of Unionist paramilitaries the PSNI has made clear that the UVF/UDA are active, still engaged in murder, nailing people to tables, drug dealing, extortion, punishment beatings and sectarian/racist intimidation. Oh and they are openly recruiting like the UDA is in Coleraine. But those facts doesn’t stop the DUP/UUP from cosying up to the political parties of the UDA/UVF, forming the “Graduated Response” together and sharing many a stage at Twaddell. Jim Allister who hasn’t shut up about the IRA for many, many years, even got involved too. As I’ve said before all this shows the complete and utter hypocrisy of Unionism and their double standards.
But the question is: Why hasn’t the media repeatedly challenged the DUP/UUP on this hypocrisy and plain double standards from Unionism? And why hasn’t the British Government and the Irish Government? Can you imagine if Sinn Fein was doing what the DUP/UUP are doing but with dissident republicans? The uproar would be deafening.
I was watching the BBC’s “The View” on last night where Arlene Foster, the acting First Minister, stated she’s on guard to stop, not just Republicans, but Nationalists as well from making any decisions in the Executive and that she’s out to “protect Unionism”. That sounds to me much like the attitude of not wanting a Catholic about the place. Arlene made it clear shes serving the Unionist community, not everyone, that’s against what her job is about.
The Unionist Stormont of the 1950’s may be dead and gone but its alive and well within political Unionism.
Here’s the Jim Wells video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iz3kn50lnk
In fairness to Jude at least he doesn’t have the pretence of being anything else than a partisan blogger.
Wonder how you will spend your £50 you got from the talkback show yesterday?
If you mean by ‘partisan’ that I have a political view, you’re right. So does everybody who has an interest in politics. And your point is…?
C’mon neill…show us you have a sense of the absurd and a bit of humour.Surely you can see the eat -your -own -eyeballs madness that is being presented as political thought here at the moment . You don’t have to take sides to enjoy comedy….although i have to admit , Stan Laurel was always my favourite.
Only £50!Surely Jude is worth more than that!