Leo O'Filon's Irish Affairs Page

7 Feabhra/February 2000: Irish Times inside look at the IRA, this time as unionists threaten to bring down the Good Friday Agreement because the IRA won't begin to hand over weapons on unionists' own timetable completely outside the Agreement. (Factually speaking!) It reminds me that the British Government isn't the IRA's only enemy: there's also a bunch of groups that didn't sign the Agreement, like Continuity IRA, "Real IRA," INLA, maybe even the IPLO still, for whom "the war" definitely isn't "over" and from whom the Provisional IRA feels the need to protect itself, since it wouldn't do to have the British and Irish governments help them. Would it?

10 Feabhra/February 2000: OK, look: Decommissioning isn't a confidence-building measure, it's offering up one's life. Like the one about the pig and the chicken wanting to give the farmer a bacon-and-egg breakfast: Says the pig, "For you, that's commitment; for me, it would be sacrifice!"

So here's your decommissioning:

1. Let the De Chastelain independent decommissioning body collect full reports on weapons held in Northern Ireland by signatories to the Good Friday Agreement and/or their "linked" organizations: the UK Government (Security Forces), the RUC (police), the Provisional IRA, the Ulster Defense Association, and the Ulster Volunteer Force (last two being Loyalist counterparts of the IRA).
2. Let these reports be verified, just like US-Russian nuke treaties--or Iraqi ABC weapons facilities--by De Chastelain's people. This could take a while.
3. Let the listed weapons be rated by some system so that each entity's total...I dunno, "kill power"?...can be assessed.
4. Let Decommissioning/Demilitarisation begin, in round-robin fashion, by the draw of lots, each entity handing over the same amount of "kill power" per round of "decommissioning." For example, each of the 5 groups concerned hands in one automatic rifle at the same time. This way all 5 "jump together," and nobody is left vulnerable to the others...
5. ...However, now everybody's vulnerable to non-signing paramilitary groups like the Red Hand Defenders, Loyalist Volunteer Force (which claims to follow the preaching of DUP leader Rev. Ian Paisley), CIRA, RIRA, INLA, etc. etc. SO...agree on some (hopefully) more neutral entity to defend EVERYBODY against these folks: the new Policing Service NI? with help from the Irish Defence Forces? EU/NATO? United Nations? USA?
6. See how everything links together in a true vision for peace...or at least progress...in the North? Decommissioning, Demilitarisation, Policing Reform.... Nothing's just political "coddling" or "concessions"!

7 Feabhra/February 2000: By the way, I believe my pre-Referendum thoughts on the NI Agreement on this page, have been borne out by experience since then...even if it didn't collapse a year ago. Too many loopholes... God help us all.

(NB: Obviously much of the editorial content on this page has become dated, and my ultimate plan is to shift it to an 'archive' page, and clean-up this main page a bit. When circumstances permit... In the meantime, please continue to use my news links below to stay up to date, especially since USA-based coverage is so woeful! ;)

Link to the Northern Ireland Civil Service page, which includes a new link for the Northern Ireland Assembly site.

The Home Stretch...or Back to the Future???

Some historians say Paisley started the chain of events that led to the current Troubles, as far back as the 1950s, as well as being part of a general strike that brought down NI's last agreed regional government.

Sometimes international media coverage--including USA- and UK-based media--leaves something to be desired...

In the USA, recorded RTE Radio News updates are available anytime by calling one of those (non-free) 900-numbers: 1-(900) 420-2411. The complete recording seems to usually last around 4 minutes.

And hard-core addicts can listen to the live feed of RTE One via a phone number in Brussels, Belgium--it's free except for the long-distance. From USA dial:

FYI, newscasts are at the top (:00) of every hour, 24 & 7, and vary in length: key newscasts seem to be weekdays 1pm and 6pm local time--that's 8am and 1pm US Eastern Standard Time...don't ask me about Daylight Savings yet! (These two are also available, recorded, online, at RTE's WRN page.) Also, the phone link seems to cut you off after 20 minutes, so you might best call in at 1 or 2 minutes before the hour.

Of course if your habit is that bad, you might just as well invest in a shortwave radio receiver.... Also, I thought I recently saw that the live feed was now available online, but when I went looking for the link again I couldn't find it. That'd be really convenient if you have your own computer at home or work!

This and other overseas info available on RTE's site.

IMO, I found RTE a good and quick source of information, for instance, the week Sinn Fein was kicked out of the talks, on developments in Dublin. Being a "Western" government radio service, it's harder for them to squeeze-in a point-of-view, so it tends to be more "just-the-facts" than any of the newspapers. Of course it's pretty mainstream just the same, no Marxian analyses or anything that I heard. But hey, ya can't have everything....

And I recommend RTE because they're the only broadcast news source on the Island that I could find Web info on. When BBC Ulster goes online I'll check them out, as I will UTV when they make their website less plug-in crazy, or I win the lottery and buy my own computer on which I'll be allowed to save said plug-ins. OK?

Just when you thought the Celt-inspired action show ROAR was dead and buried...visit the (fictitious) Ierne Toy Company! And who's the real Christian around here?! Catlin, of course! (Warning: Some of the jokes are very "inside"--Since I haven't been able to see the show since last summer, I had to [w]rack my brain to remember...but the effort was well worth it! I also like the irony about C.'s "subversive forest meetings"!)

{NB--The vocab around some of the religious references sounds disrespectful, but it really isn't. You had to see the episode, but they have to do with Christianity being a new and minority religion in that part of the world. OK? And I speak as one myself...}

A radical consideration, in light of expulsions of Parties from the Talks--I'm starting to wonder if it's accurate to call the UDP "the political wing of the UFF," or the IRA "the militant wing of Sinn Fein."

Although obviously the communities in the North sometimes have political leadership and sometimes (para)military leadership, I ask if the intimate "linking" of them is, in fact, accurate. I wonder if it might instead be the case that, say, the republican community has a "political wing" which includes Sinn Fein, and a "militant wing" that includes the IRA. Maybe the loyalist community has two or more "wings," similarly.

Now, from my experience covering local politics (granted, in the USA), when you have (relatively) small, fragmented communities as you do in NI, people run into each other, have some influence over each other; it's not like a Democratic politician in New Jersey and a Democratic member of the US Army in California, who probably have little if anything to do with each other. Sometimes people will be involved in more than one organization or "wing," too--although maybe just one vote on an army council or party central committee.

The current "wing" language suggests that the relationship between (para)militaries and politicos is that the former take orders from the latter, just like in a duly-constituted government the army takes orders from the elected or appointed civilian officials. But, for example, does the SF Ardchomhairle tell the IRA Army Council what to do? In fact security journalism in Ireland suggests not. And if, say, Martin McGuinness turns out to be an Army Council member, is he more than just a member, does he have more than one vote in their deliberations, does he even "oversee" them like a US Secretary of Defense? It would seem not.

If my suggestion is anything close to reality, then perhaps political parties cannot be held as responsible for paramilitaries' behavior, as the Mitchell Principles envision. Nevermind the possibilities of "rogue units," and the inherent contradiction that if an organization gives up "punishment beatings" then such rogues might be harder to control.

Surely the Mitchell Principles represent an attempt to make the NI situation simple enough that political pressure can be exerted on men and women of violence, to get them to stop. But as this statement suggests, it thereby oversimplifies a very complicated problem--getting militant fellow-community-members not to be so. Political pressure does not always succeed in its goals. This counsels more realism in administering the talks process.

As a former journalist, I also say this counsels greater reserve by politicians and media in "linking" entities whose links may be more indirect than direct. Such creation of false "links" doesn't help peacemakers see and deal with the realities, whether at the regional/international level, or at the community level.

I may be wrong...but truth may require a change in approach.

Well, what used to be the above news service from Live News Ireland was really neat! Now it just seems really gone. Anyway, here's the beginnings of a page explaining common news terms, for folks new to the Ireland scene. And if that doesn't help, remember what Brad Pitt said in The Devil's Own:

[NB-In compliance with GeoCities rules, I am not receiving any compensation for this link. Please note that LNI links you to a database whose purpose seems more to convey information about contemporary Irish music, than to sell stuff. If it ever gets downright commercial, I might be forced to take it off. Furthermore, I can take no responsibility for particular LNI site content--not even their grammar and spelling!--nor for the commercial behavior of other sites they may link to. OK?]

F�ilte! I hope to make this a page of useful links and commentary on Irish affairs on both sides of the Atlantic, with a special concern for Northern Ireland. Come back often, because these days (25 Sep 97), with the peace talks moving in a substantive direction, there'll be lots of nuacht to keep up with!

My perspective has nationalist leanings (click here for further reflection), but I've come to a much greater understanding of the unionist position with some study too. I favor peace and justice for all, especially the poor, oppressed, victimized, and fearful. That covers alot of people on both sides in the North. I also find my perspective informed by experimenting with alternative views of history. My own life-story might reinforce this, as I am a non-bitter ex-Catholic still very much in touch with that tradition, and a non-Protestant Quaker learning more about the Protestantism of some of my new co-religionists; and I've been a Mennonite, too! (Figure all that out!) Anyway, I don't think anyone not living there or from there can understand the North without study--and as I come to realize in my own life how little Catholics and Protestants really understand each other's universes sometimes--more specifically, how I, from a Catholic background, didn't have a clue about Protestantism, and how some Protestant writers don't seem to fully comprehend Catholicism--perhaps study is commendable even to folks in the North too!

Finally, the color scheme of this page--orange, white, and green (as supported by your browsing equipment)--happens to resemble the flag of the Irish Republic. But here I reach for its older, deeper meaning of peace and cooperation between the two traditional communities of the Island: I am told the Irish Tricolour originated with a 19th-century cross-community movement for the Island's freedom. Would that a way could be found to fulfill the legitimate aspirations of all on the Island!

And here's RealAudio coverage, by America's C-SPAN cable network from 9/97, brought on by the Sinn Fein USA tour just before SF joined the Stormont talks. It includes stuff from the unionist side and NIO too.

This technically well-done Irish News piece makes south Armagh feel like occupied territory, even while including both sides in the coverage: "Community dignity denied." (Looks like a generic Features link that might require updating shortly.)

Food for Thought: Also, numerous reports in late October and early November discuss the reluctance on both sides of the border to give up power to cross-border entities, as some propose for the NI political settlement. Does anyone have to give up anything? It seems to me that if Northerners, through their members of one or more cross-border boards, acquire some influence over some all-Island aspects of life, that would be more than they have now. And if they let some Southerners, through Southern board representatives, help with some aspects of life Island-wide, it's neither a net gain nor a net loss of "power": it's a wash. Yet it buys a good bit of Northern nationalist support for a new, agreed situation.

There could even be ways of determining that all-Island boards can't have a say in things solely effecting the six counties, or solely the twenty-six. The United Nations, and the USA domestically, do this every day!

More Food for Thought: I recently read the concern of Ian Paisley, at his party conference, that any North delegation to a North-South body would have to be at least one-third nationalist, relegating unionists to a permanent minority position overall. I couldn't locate the source of his information. I had presumed that, in good European parliamentary fashion, each Government--that of the Republic and that of NI (established by the upcoming hoped-for settlement)--would appoint representatives; presuming that unionists would control the Northern Government at least for a while, they'd appoint unionists, and it'd be fifty-fifty.

Maybe North-South imbalances, though, could be addressed on an East-West basis, i.e., Strand 3. Not to mention the probable unionist domination of NI affairs for the foreseeable future, i.e., Strand One.

This all points up the interlocking relationships among the three Strands of the talks!

And as for reminding anyone that unionists are a minority islandwide, or that they have exercised or benefited from an ascendancy there for centuries--their traditional cries of "democracy," anti-"absolutism," and pro-"majority rule" notwithstanding--doing so is probably not likely to make them any more willing to deal! (I mean, beating people over the head isn't always helpful or meaningful interaction!)

Recently in the Stormont talks, unionists proposed establishing something among the islands of Ireland and Britain similar to the Nordic Council in Scandinavia. Although calling it a "Council of the British Isles" might be offensive to some--an issue to be taken up with the geographers perhaps!--visit the Nordic Council's English-language website to see what they say about themselves. (They also have information in Scandinavian languages.) I'd never heard of it before, so I can't offer critique, but I do note that certain distinct territories within the independent nations there do have explicit, although embedded, representation on the Council, sounding similar to that proposed for Wales in the EU under devolution, while remaining part of the English/UK delegation.

A question that arises in connection with such a council is whether Westminster could ever be outvoted, especially by Ireland with or without, say, Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man, even Northern Ireland! Or would the structure be just a fig leaf?

About names?: How about "the Insular Council"? Although the word now carries some undesirable connotations (like "parochial"), it has been anciently applied to Europe's 'near-northwest' isles; in fact the so-called Celtic typefont is more traditionally referred to as Insular. Just a thought....

(And someday I'll explain what I mean by 'historic nonresistance church'! In brief, I offer it as theologically distinguishable from the traditional term, 'historic peace church,' or perhaps a subset.)

The Irish Times recently had an outstanding and profound opinion piece about what it takes to truly make peace, in the North or anywhere. Their writer Fintan O'Toole even worked-in mentions of Protestant peacemaker Jim Wallis and Catholic Dan Berrigan (both Americans). Here's the article: "Need to wage peace with intensity of waging war."

Other sources I frequent for news about Ireland:

• The Belfast Telegraph (mainstream Unionist perspective)
  
• The Irish News (only nationalist daily based in NI)
  
• The BBC has a new general news site continuously updated
  
• Teletext news from RTE, Radio Telefis Eireann, the Republic's national broadcaster. (And here's their homepage, RTE Online.)
  
• The Press Association (PA) "is the national news agency of the UK and the Republic of Ireland," their website says; I don't know if that means it's governments-owned or not. But they do seem to emphasize the UK bit more than the RoI bit, as far as what they cover in the news. (FYI, the similar-sounding AP--the USA-based Associated Press and AP Network News and related services--is not government-owned...In fact it's a cooperative, owned by its affiliated newspapers, TV/radio stations, etc.)
  
• The Andersonstown News (Republican but anti-violence perspective)
  
• An Phoblacht/Republican News (not opposed to the armed struggle; critique even the current Republic!)
  

And a fascinating exposition of a conservative Unionist/evangelical Protestant perspective is available from the website of the Democratic Unionist Party, Ian Paisley's group.

And go into Conrad Bladey's Irish Studies site with eyes open: he claims to be balanced, but seems to be a fairly staunch U.S.-based Orangeman. What I find fascinating here is the fact that there's as emotional a literature on the Protestant and Unionist/Loyalist side as the (in many places) better-known stuff on the Catholic/Nationalist/Republican side. It was an education for this Irish-Catholic-bred reporter! It also gives even more cause for concern at how far apart the 'true believers' on each side are from each other.... (To survey the opposing response to each and every one of the many claims and stereotypes contained on his site would take more time than I have. But one could wish for greater effort at distinguishing 'the other side of the story' from rumor, bigoted myth, and overreaction, in the material he presents. [Note: These exist on both sides.] That may be harder than I think, though; even recently I encountered, on the mind of an otherwise reasonably tolerant Quaker Protestant, the impression that Catholics believe in cannibalism, because of doctrines surrounding the Eucharist....)

For a further look inside the mind and culture of Orangeism, see this offsite link to a fascinating group of old and new poems and songs. (I played music many years in the Catholic Church, and nearly feel on the floor laughing when I read the one about the convert whose "ould Orange flute" would only play Orange songs!)

Here are some more newsy places to go, that I've recently found:

• Irish Emigrant Ltd - Around the 32 Counties
• ireland at home cafe!
• Glossary of terms and acronyms in daily use in Ireland
• The Ultimate Collection of News Links: Ireland [including the North, despite the Tricolour on their page...Hey, it's not my site!--LJF]
  
• And a special award to someone who's doing something I thought of doing until I found their site, one not to be missed!--
  • Newshound: Links to daily news stories about Northern Ireland, from around the world

• One recent sociological article in particular is relevant here: The Religions of Ireland.

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1997-2002 Leo O'Filon III [email protected]....
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