I wast just channel hopping there when I saw Let's talk on the TV. It seems that it's not only in the area of Lisbon that people are being expected to put up with unkept promises.

Gregory Campbell, the new minister for the Arts, Culture and Leisure, was asked the question as to whether or not he thought the time was right for an Irish Language act. His response, rather unsurprisingly, was no. His reasoning was that Irish already got more than enough funding whereas Ulster Scots got very little, and all traditions need to be respected, not just people who are of an "Irish cultural outlook".

A few things about this really irk me.

First of all, an Irish Language Act was one of the things promised in St Andrews Agreement. It may have been over a year ago, but that agreement was what set up power sharing as it is running now. Forgive me if I'm completely crazy, but if something is agreed, surely it should be delivered upon?

Secondly, I can give a much less hibernophobic explination for the lesser funds allocated for the develpment of Ulster Scots: it isn't a language and has no native speakers. Rather it is a dialect of Scots English, which people are "learning" in order to try and give Orangism a more tangable feel. I mean, have you ever seen it written down? It's just English written phonetically in a Scots accent.

Lastly, why is it so surprising that people from the island of Ireland would have an Irish cultural outlook? We're all Irish here. Ok some people wish do deny this and claim themselves as "British" instead. But being British isn't being of a single national group. Are Welsh people less British because they identify themselves as Welsh and speak the Welsh language? Unionists really have to work hard to remove this pathological fear they seem to have of the word "Irish". We're part of the UK, it's true. But whether you support that or not, we're the Irish part of the UK. It's nothing to be ashamed of.

The Irish language is the language that we should be speaking as our mother tongue, and it's sad that it has declined so much. Gordon Brown has allocated £6million dowars the development of Gaeilge in the north of Ireland. Clearly the people of Britain itself (as in the island of GB, rather than the UK), don't see this as threatening to the cohesion of the Union. Surely if you were proud of the UK you would be proud of the diversity of four different nations in one, rather than running scared and making up languages to hide from the truth. Again look at Wales as a fine example of how a distinct language and culture can flourish within the UK.

It's so bizarre to think that at the first big meeting of unionism in history, the Ulster Convention in the Botanic Gardens, a sign was proudly erected bearing the words "Erin go Bragh" (Ireland Forever), emblazoned with harps and shamrocks. Their pride to be part of the UK was born from their pride as Irishmen first. Unionists they were, Unionists from the Irish province of Ulster.

Modern day Unionists could learn a lot. Stop burying your head in the sand from anything that isn't British in the sense of "English". Furthermore, please stop defamating your own language and culture by creating a warped one of your own instead.

Let's put the sillyness to the side and deliver what promised. Let's all start sining off the same hymn sheet, and hopefully one in Gaeilge.



Is mise le meas

British Ratification: The Ghost of Lisbon

The UK has become the 19th country to ratify the Lisbon Treaty. It seems like no-one across Europe is willing to even consider the notion of Democracy any more.

In a previous post I had noted that Gordon Brown was said to have been supportive of the Irish electorate, and would stand up for Irish democratic process should Lisbon be rolled on anyway. I'm now starting to have my doubts as to whether or not this support will actually take place.

It's amazingly shocking to me the lengths governments will go to in order to turn a blind eye to Democracy, whilst still heralding it as their highest ideal.

The papers from the debate on Lisbon in the House of Lords, who voted to ratify the treaty, are very interesting indeed:

I think it is right to say—I hope that it is not controversial—that most authorities recognise that the treaty of Lisbon is and has to be technically dead. It had to be ratified to become alive—to exist—by all 27 of the signatories to it, and one of those signatories has declared that it does not wish to do so and has rejected it. That is the technical position; I do not think it is widely disputed. One has to be realistic—perhaps in this House it is particularly our duty to be realistic—and recognise that corpses can be resuscitated in certain circumstances and by certain ingenious devices.

What on earth is going on here? How blind can people be, or unscrupulous, as to completely fly in the face of everything our western democratic system is supposed to pride itself on? We need the other countries of Europe to stand up and support the fact that without Irish ratification, there is no treaty. Over. Done with. Move on.

What are these ingenious devices anyway? Wonderful ways of pulling the wool over people's eyes yet again? I would have thought that the British government would have serious concerns over throwing away national sovereignty in this way.

It must be said that Lord Howell of Guildford, who stated the above, was doing so in the context of trying to prevent it, i.e. supplementing an amendment to respect the Irish vote:

(a) Parliament to consider the most appropriate response to the changed circumstances and uncertainties caused by the rejection of the Lisbon treaty in the Irish referendum; and

(b) any amendments to the Bill made necessary by those changed circumstances to be considered in detail by the House, if necessary on recommitment”.

It must ALSO be said that this amendment was overwhelmingly defeated.

It's interesting as well that the British Government places itself in the position to make such monumental decisions for its people without actually consulting them. It seems they expect the same of the Irish government also:

The issue here is very simple. It is whether, having got this far, there is any justification for not continuing. We should look first at what the Irish say. They have urged other countries to proceed with their own ratification processes. The Irish Minister for Europe, Mr Roche, said on the BBC on Monday:

“I believe that the Irish people have had their say. I believe that they now want to allow each of the other member states to have its say and then at the end of this process to say, ‘Well where does this leave us? Where are we?’ I mean, the whole genius of Europe is that it has moved together and that it moves together in unison. The idea of a two-tier Europe is not attractive to any member state”.

It appears that Mr Roche wants to scare the Irish electorate into feeling like they'll be "left out". And how can he claim to know what the people think or want, when he got it so wrong over the referendum?

I personally think that what the Irish people want is for their views to be respected without being bullied and scared into an alternate course. That's what the NO result meant, and its about time people realised that.

In any case, the European Council meets today and tomorrow, so we'll just have to wait and see to what extent democracy will be respected, if at all.

Bush in Belfast

George Bush ended his week in Europe today with a visit to good old Beal Feirste, where he hailed NI as a shining example of conflict resolution across the world.

What he apparantly forgot was that many of the world's conflicts stem from the USA's involvement.

As well as paying a visit to us modest people in the colony, Georgie boy also spent some time at number 10 with Mr Brown. It was there that he urged the UK to deploy MORE troops to Afghanistan. What a fantastic idea Mr President. How typically American as well. When things begin to go wrong, send in MORE FIRE POWER. That's sure to solve the problem.

What Mr Bush and Mr Brown don't seem to realise is just how much of a mess they've made of the whole Iraqi situation. Yes, undoubtedly Sadam Heussein was a bad guy, but at least he was an Iraqi administering Iraqi government. What the people in Iraq are protesting against is the idea of a western model of government being enforced with the might of the coalition forces. In other words, a foreign involvement in domestic politics.

It's like Vietnam all over again, except this time they should know better.

Sadam needed removed from power, no doubt about it. But this needed to be done by Iraqis themselves, not because the USA with Britian following behind decreed it should be so. Let's not forget that it was the US government who helped arm Sadam himself all those years ago, as they had done with the Taliban in Afghanistan as well. In the mean time, more people from the north of Ireland are put in danger on the front line in a dubious attempt to win by sheer overwhelming numbers.

Thanks again Mr Bush for your kind words regarding the northern example of a working peace process to the rest of the world. Perhaps if your government stopped creating additional problems to those which naturally exist, not as many would have to look to us at all.

Bigots under fire

A little while ago I commented on the horrible display of bigotry and prejudice that was Iris Robinson's outburst on homosexuality. It seems, however, that this is in fact being investigated.

The psychiatrist to whom Mrs Robinson reffers as "a lovely psychiatrist who works with me in my office trying to turn homosexuals away from what they are engaged in" has come under fire from the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

They have said in a statement that there is "no recognised professional body in the western world that would support [his] belief". You mean to say that the professionals don't think that a person's sexuality can be changed? How surprising that is! What's actually surprising is that Dr Miller is still allowed to refer to himelf as a psychiatrist and offer "treatment" in such an antiquated way.

Perhaps there is something to be said for the fact that ABEO, the "re-orientation therapy" group that he has set up in Belfast, charges £1,000 for anyone who wants to become a councellor in "just 5 and a half days!" Seriously, this would be funny if it wasn't so sick.

He's not the only one to be put under the spotlight. Apparantly Iris might herself be under investigation by the police in accordance with hate crime laws. Whereas I think that this is going a little far, it is easy to see why hate crimes are so frequent in the north when our First Lady is seen as fueling and endorsing the motives behind them. And why is no-one investigating her for allowing her office to be used as a drop in clinic for crack-pot shrinks with no credibility from his own profession?

Something seriously needs to be done about these kinds of situations. Such Bible-thumping fundamentalism cannot be alowed to run roughshod over and ruin the lives of innocent people, especially not from our politicians. And I myself am Christian! Stop playing the religious card people, it just doesn't work. Enough with the trying to appeal to a God of Love to justify your own hateful prejudices.

And we wonder why the north of Ireland seems so backward?

Britain Conceeds Lisbon Defeat

The Sunday Times yesterday reported that PM Gordon Brown has privately conceded defeat over the whole treaty of Lisbon affair.

As we all knew, the Irish "NO" vote in the referendum was going to cause a bit of a furor on the European scene. Some of the ideas that have apparently been kicked about are to plow ahead with the Treaty regardless (completely undemocratic, but hardly surprising), freeze Ireland out and link it to the rest of the EU with some sort of 'legal bridge' (in other words punish the people for exercising their democratic rights against the European elite), or create a two-tier system of European affairs.

It's clear that this kind of system would leave not only Ireland but others like the UK in the "First Division" rather than the "Premier League". The main problem with Britain on this front is that it is too eurosceptic, won't join the single currency and have too many opt-out clauses. It would be much easier, perhaps, to then relegate them into the lower leagues.

Can you really imagine the British government letting this go unchallenged? Great Britain, once the masters of the world, now nothing more than a footnote to the rest of Europe? Somehow I don't think so.

I'm wondering as well why the other countries of Europe are so keen to press ahead anyway. Have they no idea the effect that this would have on their electorate? It's a message of "we did not allow you a referendum. And even if we had, it wouldn't have been respected anyway. Just look at the Irish." Surely this is tantamount to political suicide?

It seems strange to me the level of disparity of opinions that the European Project can cause. Here in the north of Ireland, I never dreamed that I would side with Sinn Fein on anything, and the fact that they were one of the biggest players in the NO campaign I'm sure nudged a few people towards the YES side. Across the water, it seems that David Cameron has been shockingly impressive in his calls for the UK to have their own referendum. How bizarre?

In any case it seems, by the Sunday papers at least, that Number 10 is going to back up the Irish vote should it be undermined in the European Council. Hopefully with the might of Britain backing it up, the Irish NO will be an actual end to the farcical constitutional relic of the Lisbon Treaty.

Yet let's not count our chickens yet. Ideology's a fine thing, but we'll have to wait and see how it fits into practice.

Ireland Says NO

The results of yesterday's referendum have just been announced with a clear victory for the NO campaign.

The Irish electorate have shown their rejection of the Lisbon treaty in Europe's only citizen vote on the issue by 53.4% against. In perhaps the biggest turnout in Irish European referendum history, people not only voted to reject the treaty but in much greater numbers than ever before (over 800,000 votes against as opposed to the 500,000 against the Nice treaty).

For all intents and purposes, Lisbon is dead.

Or is it?

It was always clear that the Treaty required complete unanimity in order to come into effect. Regardless of the results of the ratification process of other member states, Ireland's rejection of it means that it should simply not be an issue any more.

Interestingly enough, however, very few from the YES camp were open to saying that out loud. Opting for an "as far as Ireland's concerned...but the other states still have to decide..." approach already has me feeling slightly uneasy. How this will play out over the coming weeks and months will yet to be seen.

It amazed me watching the coverage on RTE how much contempt certain ministers had for the electorate itself. People such as Dick Roche were seen to be suggesting that the reason for a NO vote was that the Irish people were frightened of something they did not understand. Quite alarming coming from an elected member of government.

Eamon Gilmore of the Labour Party and YES campaign, however, remarked that the Irish people had made an informed decision and that decision should be respected. At least some on the YES side have a bit of respect for people's decision maing ability, bearing in mind that they decided to elect most of them to the Dail in the first place.

I hope that this respect is carried also by an Taoiseach to the EU next week. Already there are accusations of the Irish being "ungrateful" for all that Europe has done for them, with one French lady in Brussels goings so far as to say that Ireland should ratify the treaty on nothing but gratitude alone. Thank goodness no-one was worried about Ireland being bullied as a small nation by the might of the EU itself...

In any case the people of Ireland have said NO to Lisbon. That should mean that Lisbon won't be on the table any more. I hope that Brian Cowen also goes to Brussels with an attitude of presenting the decision of the people, rather than appologising for them.

Certainly other things will arise, and other treaties will come in order to further develop the workings of the EU. But speaking from a Northern Irish on-looker's perspective, give ALL citizens of European Union Member States the chance to vote next time.

After all, is that not what democracy's all about?

Lisbon: Stairway to Heaven or Road to Ruin?

Today people in the Republic will go to the polls to either make or break the history of the European Union. Living in the north makes me personally unqualified to vote, but the decisions made by the rest of the Irish nation will have far reaching effects and consequences.

Anyone in Europe who has an interest in politics can't deny the sense of anticipation surrounding this, and we have heard various arguments for and against the ratification of Lisbon. Yet what would it mean in either case?

I'm not necessarily anti Europe in all its forms. The EU has served a good role in the past, helped encourage inter European peace and dialogue, and developed a working knowledge and sensitivity to other European cultures. However, the direction in which the Union is headed is somewhat alarming, especially from an Irish perspective.

The proponents of the "Yes" vote in the Republic have phrased the question thus: "Can Ireland really afford to be the only European country not to ratify the Reform Treaty?" This does have a few valid points for consideration. For example there is the whole economic question. The Celtic Tiger has grown in no small part due to European investments and the free market economy. The Euro, it is claimed, actually helped the Republic to achieve more financial freedom from the folk across the water than it ever had since the time of independence. As people who are alive who can testify to the momumental nature of economic change south of the border can testify, money matters alot.

But the question has to be asked conversely "Can Ireland really afford to ratify the Treaty on behalf of all Europe?" Such a monumental shift in the powers and legislature of the EU, which affects all European citizens, should surely be put to referendum in all member states, not just our own. Is that not the very nature of democracy?

Thank God for Bunreacht na hÉireann. At least at the moment it guarantees the right of Irish citizens to vote in referendum on all such issues according to article 46.2:

Every proposal for an amendment of this Constitution shall be initiated in Dáil Éireann as a Bill, and shall upon having been passed or deemed to have been passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas, be submitted by Referendum to the decision of the people in accordance with the law for the time being in force relating to the Referendum.

This freedom enshrined in Irish law is one of the principal guarantors of Irish freedom and democracy. It's this freedom that is being threatened by the Lisbon Treaty. As far as I understand it, any further reforms to the European treaty would not be subject to referendum, thereby undermining Irish national law.

In addition, the EU would be able to take a seat at the United Nations and, regardless of the fact that all member states are different with different perspectives on international issues, represent the Union in foriegn affairs. So much for national soverignty.

The whole thing smacks of a repeat of the old Act of Union (1800), but on a much larger scale. We've spent hundreds of years struggling for freedom from an empire and the right to decide our own destiny, and still haven't even achieved that for all of our nation. Yet for some reason people in the Republic are being encouraged to sell not only Ireland but every other member state whose citezens do not get a right to vote on this issue into another, larger body which will again have no respect for our right to decide our future for ourselves! It seems ludicrous to me.

As a bystander on the whole process, I (and countless other Europeans with me), can only wait with bated breath hoping for a "Nil" vote. If not only to protect Irish democracy and national soverignty, but also in protest to the unfair and distinctly anti democratic fashion in which our fellow European citizens won't get to have their say.

It's all in the hands of the Republic now. Let's hope the people make the right decision.

Presidential Protest

I remember some time ago writing about the visit of the Queen to Belfast, and how much I hoped that people from the Nationalist community would not do anything to upset the day. I also remember not hearing of anything actually taking place. How different the picture looks when the Irish President makes a visit to a school in Coleraine.

I can't express how, i don't know, annoyed? this makes me. Having grown up through childhood as a unionist with a unionist family, I was always told that "we" were better than "them", more reasonable, less violent, and that if there was any trouble it was sure to be the other side who was to blame. Even after thinking for myself and making the change to become a Republican, there are still those in my family who would try to get me to buy this nonsense. And nonsense it is, as the evidence clearly shows.

The unionist community are really letting themselves down. But isn't this how it's always been? Unionism always has to be right, no matter what it does. Or that's what they tell themselves anyway.

According to Gregory Campbell of the DUP, the President invited this upon herself:

I look forward to the day when there won't be any contoversy but she herself has added to that contoversy.

By this of course he is reffering to the infamous Nazi comments of three years ago. Perhaps the main reason for this continuing strong reaction is that there is in fact an element of truth in it. A truth that Unionists simply don't want the world to see.

As I have said, I was raised in a unionist household. I know firsthand the kind of thing she was talking about. Ok, "Protestants" didn't try to exterminate "Roman Catholics", but surprisingly enough this isn't what the President had said. Her comment that they were raised to hate the other side, to think of them as inferior, is justified by history. The South African Apartheid state looked to Northern Ireland as a shining example of how a state could be run. The concept of compromising with Republicans frightens Unionists so much simply because they do not see them as being their equals.

Mary's comments were un-balanced, it's true. The same fostering of hatred against "Protestants" was done by "Catholics" as well. But never from a state level. And how exactly can you expect her to relay completely balanced opinions when she is identifying with what she experienced in her own childhood at what must have been an emotionaly charged visit to the sites of the Holocaust?

As for comparing her visit to the north with her other statement of the conditions upon which a Royal visit to the Republic would be possible, I could almost laugh at the sheer hypocracy of these people. As head of state, it is well within her remit to voice any concerns or prerequisite requirements for such a visit. As far as I'm aware, there has been nothing of the kind regarding her visiting Northern Ireland, or any other part of the UK for that matter. Also, I can't remember ever hearing that the Queen was offended or put out by her comments.

Protesters can call her Republic scum and tell her to "F*** off home" all they want to, without realising perhaps that she's from the north herself. All they are doing, and all people like them on both sides ever do, is shame themselves.

Here's to you Mrs Robinson

Well folks, exam season is finally over at the big university, so I can once again turn my attention to this blog. And what a way to start it off.

There's a big shake-up going on up the Hill, as if you haddn't noticed, with Peter Robinson taking over from the Big Man as leader of the DUP. But it's not aul Pete I'm turning my attention to at the moment, it's his wife.

I'm no fan of Iris, nor of any of her family to be frank, but I was shocked to see the events of the weekend surrounding the whole gay controversy. This whole thing has shown a deep rooted bigotry far surpassing anything else we've come to expect from our two most extreme political partys. This is one that is stretching even across the seemingly insurmountable divide between ideologies.

For any of you who have missed out on this debacle, let me bring you up to speed. Iris Robinson was interviewed concerning an attack on a gay man on the Stephen Nolan show where, after making her cursory "This attack was wrong" statement, proceeded to state that homosexuality was an abomination and urged homosexuals to seek out psychiatric help in order to change their behavior.

I mean come on! She also defended her statement by saying that they were an expression of her Christian faith, that she didn't have anything against homosexuals but the "sin" of homosexuality. It's the word of God...apparantly.

Two things, Mrs. Robinson. Firstly, you as an elected representative no longer have the right to air your personal prejudices against an entire section of the Northern Ireland community. Your job is to represent everyone in the constituency who elected you. No doubt this will mean various homosexuals. If you can't contain your bigotry and "disgust", you should never have ran for government. But who am I kidding? This is NI after all.

Secondly, I too am a committed Christian. There is nothing in me that thinks there is anything wrong with being gay. Therefore your appeal to your "Christian values" is also defunct, because that is not a position shared by the entire Church. Your comments are unwelcome not only because they are hurtful, hateful and discriminatory against people based on something which cannot be changed (as asserted by the Royal College of Psychiatrists) but also because they give right thinking Christians a bad name as mindless bigots like yourself.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I firmly believe that she and anyone in Stormont who would go down this route should be removed from office without question. We cannot allow our politicians to be engendering in our people a hatred that would lead to these kind of attacks in the first place...

Then again, this is NI.

"Our shared future". Are gay people not to be included in this as well? You should feel ashamed, Mrs Robinson

Catriona Ruane and the 11+ Debacle

It's been a while since I've had the chance to post again, University exams and whatnot looming ever closer have taken their toll, but nothing annoys me more nor incites me to divulge my opinions these days (wanted or not) than this fiasco.

Catriona Ruane seems to know absoloutely nothing about education. Her idealised notion of fairness and equality for all translating into a comprehensive type system of education seems, to me anyway, absolutely laughable!

It's absolutely bemusing. The party that hinges its entire raison d'etre on being a united Ireland/ anti British party is pushing to remove the academic selection that makes the Irish contingent of the UK stand above the rest, and instead go for the system in operation in England! (Which by the way the English themselves have stated does not work, and are moving away from)

I'd love to know the reason behind the idea that academic selection and the grammar school system discriminates against people from working class backgrounds. Coming from a working class family myself, in what has been noted as one of the worst areas in the UK, I achieved a place in a grammar school based solely on my academic level. Now at university, I think that I for one can stand up as an example whereby Sinn Fein's crazy position simply doesn't hold.

I'm gald to see that a lot of Sinn Fein voters are now begining to criticise this as well, as mentioned in yesterday's Belfast Telegraph, and a number of Catholic/Nationalist teachers have spoken out against this strongly as well.

Sure the 11+ isn't perfect. But to remove it completely...that to me is sheer lunacy.