From Irish Political Review: January 2008
Editorial Commentary
Editorial
| ULSTER SCOTS… | can be great fun—if sometimes not quite politically correct. Ciaran Mac Murchaidh pointed out in the Irish News (29 Nov) that the term for "special needs" children was claimed to be Wee Daftie Bairns. Appropriate to our times is the term for telephone: Lang-Bletherer.
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| PYJAMAS… | have again exercised the Belfast press. The headmaster of a school in the Short Strand has had, for the second time, to remonstrate with mothers for still wearing payjamas when bringing their children to school. It does indeed take one aback seeing women all over Belfast at nine in the morning wearing their nightclothes. Particularly striking are the furry slippers, usually pink or ex-pink. |
| SENATOR PEARSE DOHERTY… | opening Sinn
Fein Conference in Dublin on 8th December: "This weekend Fianna
Fáil announced that they have registered as a party in the
Six Counties. It will take far more than a bit of paper from the
Electoral Commission to make them an all-Ireland party. If Fianna
Fáil are truly to become an all-Ireland party and move beyond
a rhetorical position on Irish re-unification If they are really
interested in Irish unity they need to begin the practical preparations
now. |
| DUP MLA SAMMY WILSON… | had the following
to say on 7th December in the course of opposing MLA Jim Allister's
plans for a new "traditional" Unionist Party: "The DUP
has settled the constitutional question—Northern Ireland's position
within the United Kingdom is secure. Sinn Fein is bound into British
institutions at Stormont, republicans are legally obligated to support
the police and the courts and the recent IMC report showed that they
were committed to peaceful and democratic means. The DUP will not be
deviating from this position and we have been perfectly clear that
if the PIRA is involved in terrorism there will be serious repercussions. "The Democratic Unionist Party has achieved what it set out to—we have forced our opponents on to territory they never wanted to occupy. Now that we have achieved that, our people want us to get down to the business of making devolution work. We have been able to stop plans which would have been be damaging for unionists and have been able to further policies which can strengthen unionism and Northern Ireland. What has Jim done?" |
| FIANNA FAIL: | There are websites associated
with the new development in the North. The new Cumann are called after
Watty Graham, and William Drennan, both United Irishmen. There are
also websites, including: ffnorthernforum.com |
| BERTIE AHERN… | at Bodenstown: " “We think it is our duty, as Irishmen, to come forward, and state what we feel to be our heavy grievance, and what we know to be its effectual remedy. We have no national government and we are ruled by [those] whose object is the interest of another country, whose instrument is corruption and whose strength is the weakness of Ireland…. We require a cordial union among all the people of Ireland [and] a complete and radical reform of the representation of the people in Parliament….We acknowledge] that no reform is practicable, efficacious or just which shall not include Irishmen of every religious persuasion.” "This Declaration and Resolutions of the United Irishmen of Belfast inspirationally urged the "promotion of constitutional knowledge", "the abolition of bigotry in religion and politics", "the equal distribution of the rights of man through all sects and denominations of Irishmen" as well as the essential goal of "the prosperity and freedom of Ireland." More than two centuries on, those aims remain our aim." (21.10.2007) |
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