13 November 1997 Edition
Editor's desk
An interesting comment slipped from the mouth of Mo Mowlam when she went to the Belfast Forum last Friday. During a little argy-bargy with the DUP she was asked about her attitude to Sinn Féin (along the lines of ``why are you talking to these people who grill babies for breakfast?'').
Mowlam's reply was: ``We will treat them as human beings while they are trying to work for peace in the talks process.''
Note the ``while''. That of course means that Mo will treat Sinn Féiners as less than human if she thinks they aren't trying to work for peace in the talks process. Is this yet another Labour shift towards Thatcherite policies?
On Tuesday, during the Presidential inauguration, I wondered how much Sinn Féin had actually ``colonised'' Mary McAleese's election campaign. It wasn't that the schoolkids in Dublin Castle greeted the Sinn Féin leaders like pop stars. It was when I overheard a young child in O'Connell Street in Dublin referring to the new President as ``Mary McAdams''.
Congratulations to Gerry `Blute' McDonnell. The former Blanketman, H-Block escaper and current lifer was out on parole on Tuesday to get married to Christine. Here he is in his wedding suit outside our Belfast office, looking mighty pleased.
Fortnight magazine's editorial line (which marries aloof intellectualism and middle class angst) this month seemed to pin its colours to a very dubious mast. Two articles make the case for changing the definition of ``consent'' so that it refers to the Unionists, rather than to the population of the Six Counties. In other words there will be no change in the constitutional status until a majority of Unionists say so. Oh yeah, that makes sense - if you're a Unionist.
It is a position which has been quietly argued within Unionism for a while now and is designed to allay their fears of any change whatsoever. It is a last desperate clinging to supremacy in a world which is changing all around them. It is interesting that Fortnight now seems to be lining up with the most reactionary policy of all.
From Australia comes a report that a Royal Australian Navy sailor built a helicopter in his backyard from parts stolen out of navy stores. This impressive feat was possible because of the rampant theft, drug abuse and fraud in the Australian Navy which began, according to an investigation, when the navy hired police from England in the 1970s.
I would like to meet Horace Woolington - if he exists. Horace, you may recall, is the Daily Telegraph's number one letter writer from Ireland. His latest offering is a dig at Mary McAleese for not wearing a poppy. He says that she won't make a gesture to the Irishmen who died in British uniform but next year she will ``adorn many platforms'' recalling the 1798 rebellion, ``thus endorsing all the nationalist hysteria which this commemoration will unleash.'' No word of the unity of Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter - no wonder Horace gets his letters printed in the Daily Torygraph.
Mowlam's reply was: ``We will treat them as human beings while they are trying to work for peace in the talks process.''
Note the ``while''. That of course means that Mo will treat Sinn Féiners as less than human if she thinks they aren't trying to work for peace in the talks process. Is this yet another Labour shift towards Thatcherite policies?
On Tuesday, during the Presidential inauguration, I wondered how much Sinn Féin had actually ``colonised'' Mary McAleese's election campaign. It wasn't that the schoolkids in Dublin Castle greeted the Sinn Féin leaders like pop stars. It was when I overheard a young child in O'Connell Street in Dublin referring to the new President as ``Mary McAdams''.
Congratulations to Gerry `Blute' McDonnell. The former Blanketman, H-Block escaper and current lifer was out on parole on Tuesday to get married to Christine. Here he is in his wedding suit outside our Belfast office, looking mighty pleased.
Fortnight magazine's editorial line (which marries aloof intellectualism and middle class angst) this month seemed to pin its colours to a very dubious mast. Two articles make the case for changing the definition of ``consent'' so that it refers to the Unionists, rather than to the population of the Six Counties. In other words there will be no change in the constitutional status until a majority of Unionists say so. Oh yeah, that makes sense - if you're a Unionist.
It is a position which has been quietly argued within Unionism for a while now and is designed to allay their fears of any change whatsoever. It is a last desperate clinging to supremacy in a world which is changing all around them. It is interesting that Fortnight now seems to be lining up with the most reactionary policy of all.
From Australia comes a report that a Royal Australian Navy sailor built a helicopter in his backyard from parts stolen out of navy stores. This impressive feat was possible because of the rampant theft, drug abuse and fraud in the Australian Navy which began, according to an investigation, when the navy hired police from England in the 1970s.
I would like to meet Horace Woolington - if he exists. Horace, you may recall, is the Daily Telegraph's number one letter writer from Ireland. His latest offering is a dig at Mary McAleese for not wearing a poppy. He says that she won't make a gesture to the Irishmen who died in British uniform but next year she will ``adorn many platforms'' recalling the 1798 rebellion, ``thus endorsing all the nationalist hysteria which this commemoration will unleash.'' No word of the unity of Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter - no wonder Horace gets his letters printed in the Daily Torygraph.