Six arrested in Belfast and N Antrim

The day began with news of Loyalist arrests and with due deference to the need for balance, we now have news from the BBC of the arrest of six people from a Republican background suspected of being involved with gun running from the US.

Satirical bites

The latest version of the Portadown News is available.

Policing drama: pressure on the IRA

With major legislative concessions in the pipeline, the Belfast Telegraph speculates that the ball will now lie in the IRA's court, to make a decisive move and kick-start the process again.

Trimble and the Republic

Emerging from a tradition that many would characterise as anti-intellectual, this piece from Roy Garland charting a plausable defence of Trimble's outburst last week is all the more interesting:

"There are two kinds of unionism. One rejoices in intimate links with a pluralist, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic British state whose openness to the world and tolerance of difference holds people within its orbit. Their attachment to the union is compatible with a love of this island and appreciation of Anglo-Irish and sometimes even Gaelic traditions and culture. There are other unionists for whom being British means little more than being not Irish."

He goes on:

"David Trimble and his colleagues do not always speak from a position of strength because of the virulence of opponents who are ostensibly wearing liberal clothes. However, it is not only unionists who live in a less than perfect world and Trimble seems to be saying that the credentials of the Irish state also require examination and reform."

And:

"The Republic now needs to initiate changes that can end the dominance of one set of traditions in favour of a multiplicity of others in a broad tapestry of pluralism."

DUP: not an alternative, yet

In the wake of the DUP's annual conference, the Belfast Telegraph still believes its lack of an expressed political vision is the party's greatest weakness:

"The weakness of the DUP's position has always been its failure to come up with any alternative which would command cross-community support. The latest defiant refusal to negotiate with "the representatives of terrorism" does not suggest that anything has changed."

Update: William Graham in yesterday's Irish News reported on Ian Paisley's list of demands, and on the face ot it, it doesn't look much different from the UUP's. Trimble on the possibilty of divergence within the DUP.

First Ministers's staffing too high?

Democratic Dialogue is in the news again, defending its attack on the high staffing levels of the Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister in it latest bulletin.

Police move on Loyalists

There have been raids this morning resulting in the arrest of several individuals, mostly in the Waterside district of Derry and the Co Antrim town of Ballymoney.

Update: more from Associated Press.

Big brother works?

Henry McDonald reports on the effects of CCTV in an interface area of North Belfast.

Cad a bhfuil le rá faoin Phoblacht?

Pléigheann Ian Malcolm ar an substaint den ráiteas deifreach a thainig ó David Trimble ar na mallaibh.

Tá Robert Fisk ag teacht go Doire

Tá an t-iriseoir, Robert Fisk, le 30ú léacht chuimhneacháin Dhomhnach na Fola a thabhairt i nDoire, Dé Luain seo chugainn. Is é “Crimes Without Punishment” teideal na léachta ina gcuirfidh sé an próiseas síochána anseo i gcomórtas lena mhacasamhail sa Mheánoirthear. Níos mó. Faighte againn trí Bheo.

In support of Trimble?

One unlikely supporter of David Trimble came in the form of Eilish O'Hanlon. Never is her wit so wry and biting as when it has a clear target in mind. This time she went after Trimble's various critics. We'll begin by quoting her last line, first:

"FINALLY, a correction. In the Sunday Independent last week, Jody Corcoran wrote that the Troubles began 'in 1968'. This should, of course, have read 'approximately 800 years ago with the arrival of those filthy colonialist dogs from across the water.' Apologies to anyone who was offended by this inexcusable mistake."

DUP: internal grumbling

The wrangle over DUP selection in Mid Ulster continues.

UUP: the Orange link

Dennis Watson, an Orangeman and former member of the UUP told the DUP's conference at the weekend that the link between the Order and his former party would be broken in the near future.

We carried various Unionist views on this scenario at the beginning of November.

Protestant support holding

The US Consulate took the unusual step of releasing figures from one of their private polls, which seems to contradict the impression that support for the Belfast Agreement is fading fast amongst the protestant population. Interestingly, there seems to be no single reason unifying those opposed.

Derry/Londonderry: name change?

Gregory Campbell complains that the proposed name change is sectarian and divisive.

Paisley in good voice

Veteran politician Ian Paisley proved that at 77, he is still capable reproducing his own inimitable brand of rhetoric at his party's annual conference at the weekend. Though there is a certain incongruity between the character of the leader's speech and that of party secretary Nigel Dodds, who spoke of "...a good and viable alternative and only the DUP has the strength and ability to negotiate a better deal."

Update: Paisley has told his party that anyone making contact with Sinn Fein will be expelled.

Policing drama: new deal?

Henry McDonald says that the government is ready to offer Sinn Fein a deal, in which former prisoners will be allowed to sit on the district policing boards, if they take their seats on the central board, giving their approval to the PSNI as the legitimate police force in the North for the first time.

But there are signs that if this move were attempted without substantial moves towards IRA disbandment, Unionists would simply walk out of the central board.

However, it is likely that these messages are little more than straws in the wind at this early stage of negotiations. According to Chris Thornton, while Sinn Fein have welcomed new legislation, they have as yet no plans to join the central board.

Update: more detail from the Examiner. And the Newsletter.

McIntyre: intimidation in Derry

This is the first of a series of three articles telling the story of a family in Derry that has been in dispute with local Republican paramilitaries. It's a bit of a long read, but worth it.

Although Republicans are by no means the worst offenders in terms of intimidation and the use of exclusion orders - the semi state body charged with mediating in such circumstances dealt with over 900 cases in the last year, the majority victims of Loyalist exclusion - this story throws most light on the difficulty Sinn Fein faces in having to straddle the gap between their former revolutionary existence and their coming role as part of government within a new civic dispensation.

Paul Durcan outraged

In a week in which the poets of Ireland have held more space on the Letter than usual, Paul Durcan joins Paul Muldoon and Tom Paulin in the headlines.

The middle ground is crucial

Eoghan Harris is annoyed with with David Trimble over his remarks attacking the Republic last week.

"...why has Trimble twice attacked an Irish State that no longer exists? Some people think he's trying to flank the DUP. But as Professor Robert Mahoney remarked to me this week (returning from America to his current beat in Belfast) the UUP can't go further right than the DUP, so it might as well stay in the decent centre. That insight is crucial to the conduct of politics. Mass democratic parties should not try to flank delinquent parties. Because they end up being found out."