Taking heart from Titanic investment

This is an excellent and wonderfully-written piece from the New York Times about the rise and crash of the Irish economy...in the interests of his craft the reporter accompanies developer Sean Dunne on a 3am cruise through Dublin's most famous pubs.

And this is a useful update on the plans to regenerate West Belfast and Shankill from Pádraic White, chair of the Enterprise Council, from the Irish Times.

Pádraic puts a positive spin on the public investment in the Titanic Quarter landmark project, writes Gerry Moriarty:

"Some others might have exploited this disparity to play the old negative Green Card: to complain that nationalist west Belfast was disadvantaged, while unionist east Belfast was disproportionately supported. But, typically, White's focus was on the positive. 'Support for Titanic Quarter has actually given great heart to those of us who are developing new concepts and regeneration ideas. It shows the Executive is capable of actually making decisions and that's vital, because one of the inherited problems in Northern Ireland after 30 years of direct rule is that there was a great reluctance to make decisions.'"

The article reports that £40m of public money is to go into the Titanic project, by my count the figure is closer to £55m (including £10m from Belfast City Council).

Practical steps to mainstream Irish

Minister Conor Murphy, Janet Muller of Pobal, Belfast Lord Mayor Tom Hartley and Raidió Fáilte head Feargus Ó hÍr at the launch of the new multilingual services from the Department of Regional Development.

Listening to DRD public service ads in Irish on Raidió Fáilte yesterday — in relation to free travel for over-sixties — reminds me of the significant strides forward made by Minister Murphy's department in serving Irish speakers and puts in stark contrast the failure of other departments to do likewise (I see yesterday John O'Dowd of Sinn Féin tackling health minister Michael McGimpsey over his refusal to allow correct Irish spellings on medical cards — an indication of how far we have yet to go).

Here's what I mark up as advances made by Minister Murphy:

- introduced Irish onto departmental stationary
- erected an official bilingual sign outside DRD HQ
- Offered language courses to all civil servants
- assigned those with Irish to undertake duties using the language
- introduced a multi-lingual website
- introduced all public application forms/information leaflets as Gaeilge
- undertaken along with his advisor a one week crash course at the world-class Oideas Gael course in Gleann Colm Cille, Donegal.
- introduced departmental advertising as Gaeilge in various media forms to ensure speakers have full and equal access to services. (Sadly, not enough to save Lá Nua but it was a help. Ironically, word that other departments were to introduce similar policies — including Agriculture and Education putting regular public notice ads in Lá came as the paper was closing down. Dominic Bradley of the SDLP did similar good work to encourage Minister Margaret Ritchie's DSD department to advertise in Irish, but nothing came of his efforts.)
- instructed Translink as public transport provider to introduce timetables as gaeilge across the north where requested, school bus saftey workshops facilitated by speakers and sponsored by Translink, the introduction to city guide to Belfast for tourists as gaeilge (new bus stops as gaeilge will also be introduced alongside destination information/announcements on buses as gaeilge) - this package was launched in October by GA + CM
- Jake Mac Saicais, head of Forbairt Feirste was appointed to the government's external advisory board on the review of the regional development strategy - the North's blueprint for the next 15 yrs.
- Minister Murphy will bring forward a paper to the executive this year proposing to introduce a limited amount of road signs across the north.
- invited POBAL to work alongside departmental officials in supporting his efforts on an ongoing basis.

Peace process hero shifts gaze to Iraq

Just when Irish academics were getting to grips with Iraq, attention switches to Palestine and Israel.

Still, Professor Brendan O'Leary, one of the heroes of the Irish peace process and a staunch advocate of legislation to underpin the peace process with respect for civil rights, has published a welcome new work on Iraq.

He writes: "Friends, Happy new year. Please forgive this shameless e-mail-promotion, but publishers advise their authors to be shameless: it sells books, and in this case I want to be read. Please see a link below to Amazon.com where you can buy my book, How To Get Out of Iraq with Integrity, for $23.07, a pre-publication discount on the hardcover price: the publication date is January 23 2009."

I hadn't heard of the Tuesday's Child charity before but plan to join their torchlight procession from Clonard Monastery at 6.45pm this evening to protest the horrific invasion of Gaza.

And finally from our Dublin correspondent, Niall Meehan, in a letter to the News Letter.


Dear Editor,

It is unlikely, while composing her speech for a meeting commemorating
the centenary of the SIPTU trade union, that President Mary MacAleese
thought it might upset the DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson. Not just him, the
ever sound-bite ready Ken McGuiness was also offended. The Newsletter
put Jeffrey's objection to the President's view that people join armies
for economic reasons on its front page - and devoted an editorial to
criticising the allegedly "deep-seated republican" sympathizing
President (January 5th 2009 - story & editorial below).

To this I can only ask: have you taken leave of your senses?

Asserting that many people join armies to escape from poverty could
not be regarded as controversial, not in most parts of the known (or
the sane) world at any rate. Even though President McAleese quoted an
Irishman in First World Was British uniform, Tom Kettle, MP, this too
was somehow held against her.

If such anodyne remarks cause this amount of fuss, then unionists have
little enough to be worried about. But clearly, worry they do. For
many years politicians in the South advised on not upsetting
unionists, because they are very touchy on the subject of Irish unity
and so forth. Former UK unionist, Tom Kettle's nephew Conor Cruise
O'Brien, was the an early and often proponent of this point of view.
Given the inane unionist reaction to President MacAleese'e remarks at
the the SIPTU Centenary meeting, this approach must be seen to be
redundant. Unionists will find reason to feel insulted anyway.

Merely because of the ridiculous though mildly diverting reaction it
might generate, I suggest an end to the O'Brien approach. If unionists
see offense where none is given, then it is probably better to give
them something to really sink their teeth into. As a start, I suggest:
Jeffrey Donaldson and Ken McGuinness are political nutcases.

Yours sincerely,

Niall Meehan

Os comhair na cúirte/In the dock

Bhí cuid dár gcairde ag lorg naisc leis an scéal tábhachtach seo maidir le Cumann an Fhéineachais sna Stáit Aontaithe (cé nár mhínigh duine ar bith dom go fóill cad é mar thangthas ar an leagan sin don ainm Brehon Law Society).

Some of our readers wanted a html link to this important story about the Brehon Law Society in the US standing up for the rights of Irish speakers in the North.

'An area neglected for decades'

In this excellent RTÉ interview, shortly before his death, Tony Gregory TD reflects on his life as "a political activist" and "outsider to the establishment politics".

"Being an outside is not in any way a negative thing, as far as I'm concerned," he states and recalls that he was involved in Official Sinn Féin and community politics from the age of 16.

Blog idea catching on

This blog idea is certainly catching on: Read Gerry Adams' new blog here.

It's the first of a series of new Belfast Media Group blogs. Léargas, according to focal.ie, the no-frills translation site which I see (not surprisingly) picked up a gong at the recent Irish web awards, means:

léargas fir1
gu: léargais, ai: léargais, gi: léargas
▪
Réalteolaíocht/Astronomy
seeing s
Foclóir Réalteolaíochta/Dictionary of Astronomy 1996
▪
(ability to see)
visibility s
Foclóir Tíreolaíochta agus Pleanála mar aon le Téarmaí Seandálaíochta/Dictionary of Geography and Planning incorporating Archaeological Terms 1981, Foclóir Geolaíochta agus Geoifisice/Dictionary of Geology and Geophysics 2004
▪
Ealaín, Ceirdeanna, srl./Arts, Crafts, etc., Litríocht, Critic liteartha/Literature, Literary Criticism
= léirstean bain2
perception s
perspective s
view s
insight s
Foclóir Reiligiúin/Dictionary of Religion 2005, Foclóir Oideachais/Dictionary of Educational Terms (dréacht/draft), Foclóir Litríochta agus Critice/Dictionary of Literature and Criticism, Foclóir Fealsaimh/Dictionary of Philosophy 1993
▪
(spiritual insight)
= soilsiú fir
enlightenment s
Foclóir Reiligiúin/Dictionary of Religion 2005
▪
= suirbhé fir4
survey s
Foclóir Oideachais/Dictionary of Educational Terms (dréacht/draft)
▪
Fealsúnacht/Philosophy
light s
Foclóir Fealsaimh/Dictionary of Philosophy 1993

Irish to buy over Boston Globe

I see via Roy Greenslade's incisive media blog that the New York Times is set to off-load its Boston Globe newspaper — to the Irish.

It would indeed be interesting if Irish Americans were to head up the consortium buying over the Globe as it was always regarded as (similar to the New York Times) having undue regard for the British version of events when reporting from the North of Ireland (Kevin Cullen's reporting excepted).

There is also speculation that the Boston Herald, published by Irish American Pat Purcell and traditionally a Republican-leaning newspaper in that most Democratic of cities, would merge with the Globe. I think Pat wouldn't object to such a development but suspect that rather than merge both papers would be published by one owner.

Tony Gregory's death is blow to nation

Report on the Brehon Law Society's interest in the ban on Irish in courts in the North is featured in this week's Irish Echo.

And, of course, the death of Tony Gregory, a hero of the Irish people, represents a bitter blow to his many friends, comrades and admirers. The Irish Times carries this report on the death of the Dublin inner-city politician who became famous when he refused to wear a tie in the Dáil chamber, saying "the people I represent don't wear ties", and went on to negotiate a profitable deal for those same constituents with Charlie Haughey.

An Irish speaker and former school teacher, he remained sound on the national question over many decades.

More recognition for our greatest artist

This great picture by Crispin Rodwell introduces an excellent column 'First Person' in the Financial Times magazine today on muralist and revolutionary Danny Devenney. It's a great piece of writing, in the first person, and reveals that Danny, best known for his Bobby Sands mural on the Sin Féin headquarters, was shot three times when he was 18 (and robbing a bank for the IRA) and later when going into the SF offices in Dublin (in 1980, I think). He is a former guest of HM at Long Kesh and was arrested on charges of sedition with Tom Hartley, now Lord Mayor of Belfast, in 1978.

The story of that sedition charge, which involved PRONI, and also led to the arrest of Lurgan printer Gary Kennedy (an SDLP member who also printed the Andersonstown News) deserves a longer airing but this is more well-deserved recognition for Danny.

In the same paper, I note more hard times beckoning for Visteon, the car-parts manufacturer which has a plant employting over 200 in West Belfast, and previously the North Belfast News warned that telecoms giant Nortel was about to be delisted from the New York stock exchange because its stock had fallen below a dollar a share. In fact, it's lost 95 per cent of its value this year. Nortel employs several hundred in North Belfast.

I also see the Brits are set to build a bullet train service linking Manchester to London in a 75-minute journey. How come we can't get our act together and build a rail link from Derry to Belfast which would take 60 minutes max to cover the 70-odd miles and then upgrade the Enterprise from Beflast to Dublin so that it can cover its leg of the journey in 90 minutes. (Sad to report that the old problems continue to dog the Dublin-Belfast link. Friends who travelled on the Sunday morning service recently told me they were petrified by the cold and less than amused at the fact that the toilet sink had no running water.

Another Irish case of 'infrastructure, my arse!'

Rothko and Warhol

In a hotel which claims to offer internet access from two Macs in lobby, but take it from your London correspondent that neither work so this posting is from the trusty blackberry (though if truth be told our tech guys now say iphone is the way to go).

In London to check out August: Osage County, a Eugene O'Neillesque study of a dysfunctional American family (and by extension America) where the only sensible voice comes from the grounded American Indian maid. Remarkable piece of theatre by the Steppenwolfe Theatre Troupe from Chicago.

And today, checked out the Andy Warhol and Mark Rothko exhibitions on London's Southbank. Irish American artists Sean Scully and Brian O'Doherty are both given prominence in the excellent video-audio guide on Rothko, with O'Doherty suggesting Rothko's last works before his 1970 death by suicide were bright and evocative of spring - quite a contrast to his dark murals of the year before which form the bulk of this collection.

From the perspective of the urban planner, the Brits have really pulled it off with a string of theatres, art galleries, arthouse movie house complementing the small galleries and wonderful eateries along the Southbank.

Plent to ponder on the way home tomorrow!

Meanwhile, kudos to Martin Lynch for penning a new play about Long Kesh and I see Danny Morrison is to be among a panel of writers discussing literature from and about the camp to coincide with the new play. Let's hope someone remembers all the works in Irish from Long Kesh (Bobby Sands wrote at least two songs in Irish which were smuggled out on toilet paper) and of course didn't Seamus Heaney write a poem about Long Kesh as well?

So 30 years ago is history?

I'm a bit concerned about the number of reports in the Andersonstown News on the Belfast of yesteryear which in fact look back a mere 30 years...as with this report on visit of British Queen to these shores in 1977.

But then I remember that the average age of journalists in the Belfast Media Group is below 30 so these events, so fresh in my memory, do belong to the dark past.