Everything Ulster - Election 2005

THAT's the claim made today by SDLP leader Mark Durkan. He told colleagues in his Foyle constituency that the provisionals are acting like a political settlement will just fall into place after the elections, and that Sinn Fein are misleading voters by talking as if a deal will just 'click into place' after May.

Durkan went on "They ask people to strengthen Sinn Fein’s hand for one last bit of negotiation. We have heard this all before. That is what we they told people before the last elections, the ones before that and the ones before that again." He also said that as long as Sinn Fein's vote has continued to grow, the provisional movement as a whole has "no incentive to clean up it's act".

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Today the Direct Misrule minister for finance, Ian Pearson, Labour MP for Dudley South announced that the Maze site was the only viable proposal for Northern Ireland's new stadium.

Despite opposition from sports fans across Northern Ireland, from Belfast to Londonderry, to Bangor, to Drumahoe, the government have decided to land Northern Ireland with a stadium in the backend of nowhere, against the wishes of Northern Ireland football fans and Ulster Rugby fans. It's true the site is only a few miles form the City* of Lisburn, but as the Millenium Stadim and Lansdowne Road (remember the Bertie Bowl?) testify, to get any kind of decent atmosphere about a city on the day of a big game, the stadium must be located in the city centre. The arguments for this have been made ad nauseum and I won't go into them here.

I'd love to see the reports on the viability of the sites (if such reports even exist) just to compare and contrast how far the government went to investigate the potential for the other sites. We were always going to be told the Maze site was the only show in town. Unofficial sources have been saying this for months, now we know.

It would certainly seem plausible that Ian Pearson and his friend Angela Smith, have been lying from day one on this. Why is the Maze the only viable option? Was it really about the money? Did they genuinely try and overcome this? Or was the site selection simply about the career of a few jumped up Labour government ministers, attempting to make a name for themselves?

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OK, it nearly rhymes!

Nothing much going on today in the world of Election Northern Ireland 2005. There was a letter in the Newsletter from one Dr Kieran Deeny, independent West Tyrone candidate for Westminster, responding to DUP criticism that he'd be a single issue candidate. He accused the DUP of trying to score points of the Ulster Unionists.

Dr Deeny went on to say "It is fine to focus completely and entirely on a single issue when aiming for one of six Assembly seats. As an MP comes added responsibility and I will not shirk that responsibility..." before going on to claim that unionists in West Tyrone would understand if both unionists candidates stood down.

The reason for this, Deeny argues is that in him "Tyrone can vote for the person most likely to acquire modern-day health and hospital services for their families and, at the same time, be able to remove the present abstentionist MP," of course referring to current Sinn Fein MP Pat Doherty, who refuses to take his seat in Westminster.

While Deeny has said he is not a single-issue candidate, I have yet to learn where he stands on other issues. Much as I would like to back anyone who has a chance to remove cirminals and/or their apologists from their seat, it would be nice to know a bit more about him first. Something telling, when you google the words 'kieran deeny policies' the top result returned to you is a DUP page!! Oh dear...

OK, strictly speaking, the existence of roughly one million unionists in Northern Ireland is the biggest obstacle, but according to the SDLP leader Mark Durkan, the key to a United Ireland is persuasion, not coercion. He goes on to say "The existence of the IRA is only making the task of persuasion more difficult."

At the same time, Newry-Armagh MLA Dominic Bradley has backed up the Irish government's claims that the provisionals are to blame for the current impasse in the peace process. He said "The core problems are the failure of the DUP to work the Agreement, failure of Sinn Fein to sign up to policing and the failure of all paramilitaries to go away now and for good.

In an attempt to switch the focus back onto the Irish government, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has said "What about policing? Demilitarisation? Human rights and equality? The political institutions?"

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SOUTH Antrim Ulster Unionist David Burnside MP has said unionists should only consider voting for the SDLP in an effort to keep Sinn Fein from winning seats in a multi-seat PR election. He went on to say that in a Westminster election, it is vital that unionists vote for a unionists candidate.

He also called for the SDLP to publicly state that they will form a voluntary assembly coalition with the DUP, UUP and Alliance at Stormont, going on to say that "Without that condition... unionist voters should not vote for the SDLP because they would be endorsing a pan-nationalist agenda to put Sinn Fein in government. ... No Republican criminals must ever again be put in the government of Northern Ireland."

The SDLP's Dominic Bradley, MLA for Newry-Armagh, ruled out this arrangement claiming his party was sticking to the Good Friday Agreement's commitment to inclusion and claimed that "That doesnt mean we tolerate wrongdoing from any paramilitary group, but excluding Sinn Fein would achieve nothing."

One has to question what the SDLP's position on wrongdoing from a paramilitary group is. They say they won't tolerate it, while at the same time refusing to punish it.

This article was reported in today's Newsletter, but is not, at the time of publishing, available online.

Slugger O'Toole reports on an article in the Irish Times (subs required) on the Policing Board's decision to approve a 'less lethal' plastic bullet, although there was opposition from the SDLP.

Some background: Plastic bullets have caused controversy in Northern Ireland throughout the troubles, and nationalists especially are against their use. Plastic bullets are used by the PSNI, instead of live rounds as they are less likely to result in death. However there have been cases where the firing of plastic bullets have led to the targets dying later from severe injuries.

The recommendation to endorse the new form of plastic bullet, which is supposedly less lethal, came originally from Hugh Orde, the Cheif Constable of the PSNI. The policing board has accepted Hugh Orde's advice and agreed, in principle, to allow the police to use the new "attenuating energy projectile", despite SDLP opposition.

The interesting part of this story, from an election point of view, is the reaction from the various parties...

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DUP leader Rev. Ian Paisley has written to David Trimble stating that a unionist electoral pact is still possible according to the Newsletter. However, the Reverend insists that the only seats worth discussing are Fermanagh/South Tyrone and South Belfast, both traditionally UU seats, and therein lies the problem.

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The SDLP got in some early electioneering yesterday, announcing their proposals for an all-ireland state. We all know the SDLP exist in order to achieve the creation of an independent all-ireland state. That part of the story is not particularly newsworthy. The reason this launch is making news is that, apparently for the first time, they've sat down and thought out how it might function. The result is their new document, "A Better Way to a Better Ireland".

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Today sees the launch of Everything Ulster, a Northern Ireland blog site which will bring you news, politics and the odd bit of sport from Northern Ireland all the way to your web browser!

In the initial months, the main focus will be on the 2005 election in Northern Ireland, as Everything Ulster tries to differentiate between the parties.

The domain www.EverythingUlster.com has been registered and should be redirecting people here in the next day or two. In the mean time, sit back, put your feet up, and wait for the show to begin!