Speaking at a Co-Operation Ireland dinner in Belfast last night, the Secretary of State said the parties involved in” the Talks” were “engaging seriously and constructively in an effort to make genuine progress”.
Go on then , read that again. Go on . That in a nutshell is politics in Norneverland.The emperor is again romping about naked, making fun of us all .Strutting about bare -arsed while pretending to be wearing gleaming finery.It would appear we only pay the wages for this lot so that they can sit on their hands at dinners , while being spoon-fed lobster bisque. i would call her statement a very transparent untruth.What else is it?
The Talks never started. We all knew that they wouldn’t. They had already been talked out the year previously and conclusions were reached .It was the acceptance of the conclusions that were remiss. We’ve now had four weeks of pretence. and we’re supposed to be holding our collective breath while awaiting our politicians to hammer out a solution or two in the latest “Talks”. That would conjecture some difficulty in that the DUP haven’t actually talked to anyone about anything while pretending to want a solution to our problems. Do they hope that if they close their eyes it will all go away before the elections come around? I think their followers want them to do that . Hold the fort .Don’t negotiate with anyone . Don’t give an inch about anything . Ah, to hell with all these politics.They’re for wimps.No surrender!
Or something like that, eh? DUP ministers appear to have a somewhat lawless carte blanche to behave inapppropriately at every turn.Forget about all these politics , y’boy ye . Stick the boot in. Negotiation appears to be a weakness in that debate only brings about logical conclusions that always bring an apparent loss of ground. The problem is that politics, if about nothing else, is about making deals. It has no other purpose;otherwise we would all be beating each other with clubs. The DUP is very happy to insult anyone outside their tent but are not so sure-footed when it comes down to logic.
The evidence would tend to confirm this
Germany calling
Puffed up, Stuffed down
North of Dundalk stalks puffed the Great English Auk
Her boutique beak geekily squawking of talk,talk,talk
Better fetch her furcoat
Flightless, exit by boat
South of Dundalk gawks stuffed the Great Irish Auk.
Still on grand form, Mighty Perk..
We know that Unionists will not compromise unless a gun is put to their head by the British. We know the British are partisan and will not upset the Unionists. Hence the talks will fail.
The irony here is that Nationalists have little to loose with the status quo. An independent commission will decide on parades. Council’s will decide on flag and emblem policy and there will be two narratives on the past.
We hear Unionists calls for fundamental change in Stormont in terms of forming an official opposition and reducing mla numbers. As this amounts to significant changes to the GFA this presents Nationalists with an opportunity. Any changes should not be agreed to without first implementing all outstanding elements of the GFA including Acht na Gaeilge.
Any deal that changes aspects of the agreement without the implementation of outstanding elements will be an unprecedented nationalist roll over of monumental proportions.
We know that Unionists will not compromise unless a gun is put to their head by the British. We know the British are partisan and will not upset the Unionists. Hence the talks will fail.
I was wondering when we would here this default situation again its almost like the other old arguement when the british pull out the unionists will suddenly discover they are actually Irish.
Can we not move on and come up with new positions?
Neill …you wouldn’t by chance have any fresh ideas of your own how the “negotiators” in the DUP might better begin to actually “do ” negotiation and politics before the ball that they are bouncing at the other side of the field is finally taken taken away and someone shows them how the deal is actually done? anything fresh in the thinking line would always be appreciated . …Just to get them earning their wages. If they were footballers , methinks they ‘d get the boot.
You might not agree with this but here we go many in the unionist community especially the DUP saw the negoiations between SF and the UUP and took some valuable lessons to heart they saw weakness from the UUP and saw that SF kept the UUP on a the hook the DUP learned from this and swore it wouldnt happen to them and it hasnt the DUP will not go to pieces to help SF.
Talks so close to an election are stupid and wont achieve anything.
However this would be my solution to some of the problems.
The orngemencan have their march down the Ardoyne however it has to be 5am and be over at 5.05am.
Flags can be only flown from designated places flags are to be banned from lamposts.
A general amnesy if it happened before the ceasefires it will have to be regarded as dead and buried there can be no logical or practical way around this.
We have a public day of rememberence for those who were killed in the conflict.
St Patricks day be made a public day off and we lose the last Bank hoilday in August
The Irish Language becomes the second offical language of Northern Ireland but receives no aid like the Ulster Scots culture.
All marches be they orange or green have to sign upto a code of good conduct and if they dont behave well or their supporters dont behave well they lose their deposits
Then we can start fixing the economy
I’d go with you on some, neill, but not others. E.g., instead of your last re marches I’d ban the lot for five years. Certainly have your celebrations or commemorations or whatever, but on the spot, no restless legs. Make St Patrick’s Day a public holiday and forget about August and 12 July. I’d go with the amnesty – but then I didn’t have loved ones killed: I might feel differently if I did. Yes to your flags proposal. And of course since my banning all parades would operate, the Orange march through Ardoyne would be a non-starter…Yes, I know, I know, they’d never buy it. But one can dream of a time when people just celebrate whatever the hell they want to celebrate, but at home. Or at least in their local area…Which makes me think of those bloody bonfires – I think I’d have to ban those too when I became Il Duce…
Some good ideas there Neill.I would have no problem with most of them.but then I don’t feel too personally involved ,and like Jude, I’ve no immediate relatives who have lost loved ones. I would take St Patrick’s Day and move it into the Summer .Simply put , it always takes place at the most inclement time of the year and would probably be a more festive thing in the warmth of Summer. The students in the Holy Land would also be on holiday so that area wouldn’t be under seige either..The flags , if they are so important should be treated with a bit of respect . Special flagpoles and nowhere else..
Ceart go leor, Jude. Tá an bua agam. Tá mé isteach. Anois, caidé a bhí agam le rá? Ar dtús, ba mhaith liom mo mheas a thabhairt do Uas Warbeck as an sult a chuir sé le fáil ina chuid rámhaillí. Creidim gur staonaire é.
Gabh mo leithscéal. ‘Tá mé istigh’
Na bi buartha, fiosrach, nil an t-Uasal Warbeck isteach no fiu istigh leis fein ach an oiread. Deanta na firinne, is amuigh ata se, dala U2, le faobhar ar a ghuth, ag reabadh an dorais dunta ag teach a athar. Agus, mo lean, no fiu, mo leann, ni staonaire, fiu, lan-saonaire no leath-staonaire fein e. Mar ba leir, o na buideil gan aireamh den Old Speckled Hen Ale a d’ol se agus e ag breathnu ar chlar tragoideach teilifise le deanai, The Fall of the Freckled Fellow.
(At this point, Perkie’s innner H.E. man would like to man up and muscle in on the act and give his free versh of the Erse above. And H.E., is after standing for Hiberno English, to be sure, to be sure).
Not to worry, fiosrach, Warbeck, Esquire is not unlike yourself, he too is outside of himself, like a one man U2, with an Edge to his voice, banging away on the bolted door of his da’s country manse. Alas, he is not an abstainer, either of the total or the Lenten variety not to mention the Seventh Day Adventist type. As was evidenced by his recent dolour-dousing imbibation of incalcuable bottles of Old Speckled Hen Ale while suffering through the poignant programme on telly, entitled ‘The Fall of the Freckled Fellow’.
Note: apologies, fiosrach, for the absence of the fada. Fada, of course, is leprechaun for both da and the line-dancing lad with an acute accent who serves to lengthen the sound of the vowels and in some case, the bowels as one would expect from a patois called Erse. Now the absentee da belongs to a long (some say, too long) tradition of Irish culture (and God knows, Wabeck Major was absent for long periods during Perkie’s neglected childhood, ongoing) but the reason for the absence of the fada must be found elsewhere. To wit, in the pale-visaged city on Liffeyside, whose Holy Book is a pro-Semitic tome, that anvil of prose in which the leprechaun is hammered, Ulysses. One refers to Dublin, capital of the Middle-East of Eireland. Where a reasonably virulent Inti-fada against the fada has been waged by the local Knesset on Knildare St. le, erm, fada. I know, I know, but then Dublin is not pale-visaged for nothing. So, Perkie’s inner Noel Coward is not taking any chances and so as not to draw attention to his petrified self, chooses to keep his fada under paddy lock and k. Only madrai fada and Englishmen go out in the noonday moon.
Beir bua, fiosrach !
I think I’d have to ban those too when I became Il Duce…
Since when did banning actually achieve anything just makes it more attractive in the end if i am not getting my 12th off you sure as hell aint getting St Patricks off ah hang on your retired every day is a day off… : )
See, neill? Method in my madness. I think we do ban quite a few things, by and large successfully. Discrimination, gerrymander, drunk-driving, smoking in public places…I was going to add ‘drugs’, but that would just torpedo my own argument…
It would rather!