He's Not the Messiah, He's a Very Naughty Boy...

For lo, a wise man did stand up before a collection of Southside Dublin worthies, and he did say, "Biffo, let my people go!" And the people saw this, and they said that this was good, except for the Unions, cause they hate Michael McDowell.

Yes, former justice minister Michael "Mad Dog" McDowell seems to be coming back, but he is being remarkably coy about in what manner exactly his reemergence will occur. He seems to rule out his running for office in the linked article, and yet his phrasing

“I love my country and I am deeply ambitious for it, but at this point I have to say with this outcome at this stage of my career it makes it very clear that, as far as I am concerned, my period of public life as a public representative is over.”

would seem to leave open the possibility of acting as Chairman of a new party, or of being "encouraged" to run for Fine Gael (at this stage of my career ... as far as I am concerned).

I would dearly love to see a new liberal party start up, but would McDowell merely sink such a movement given the divisive nature of his legacy? Or would he be the cornerstone around which a mighty structure might be constructed?

EDIT: Boy, I said "seems" a lot in this entry. Seems I'm fond of that term...or so it seems.

Half-assed Magnificence: Irish Defence Procurement

Delightfully Waltish thread over at Politics.ie, detailing myths and legends surrounding the Irish Defence Forces. All the usual are there: the Rangers are banned from bars near the Curragh due to their homicidal tendencies, troops have to shout "BANG!" during exercises because we have no actual rounds (live or otherwise) for them to use, and that Naval Officers liked to tell visiting Soviet crews about Ireland's secret submarine. But also discussed has been Ireland's incredibly bizarre ability to hold helicopter procurement competitions which are usually won by the least impressive aircraft on offer.

First, at the beginning of the decade we had the competition for a medium-life helo contract between the Sikorsky S-92 and the Eurocopter Cougar. Bizarrely, the S-92 won, despite the fact that it had not seen operational service, while the Cougar was already in use, and was based on the tried and trusted Puma. This development had absolutely nothing to do with promise by Sikorsky to invest €148 million in a production facility in north Dublin, where many constituents of the then Taoiseach, Bertie "El Berto" Ahern, worked. However, this sweet deal fell through when Eurocopter, rather unsportingly, took the state to the European Court over the decision.

So the Air Corps soldiered on, sans medium lift helicopters, and its fleet of Dauphins eventually faded from service, leaving only the Alouette IIIs on the front line. Yes Alouette's, the helicopter in service before my Dad reached the production stage.

And then, Baldonnel was blessed with the promise of new helicopters. "Brilliant", said the airborne brass in blue, "we'll have some of those Blackhawks the Yanks are always raving about." Alas, the government felt otherwise. After all, if we were to buy Blackhawks, which have a scary name, and are used by such evil imperialist regimes as the US, Israel and Austria (Austrian bastards, going around like they own the place!), then we would upset Ireland's lunatic fringe of sandal-wearing, bike-loving hippies.

Instead, the boys and girls in Baldonnel got the Agusta AW139, a well-known military vehicle of mythical might, used by such powerhouses as the Ambulance Service of New South Wales and the Estonian Border Guard. Still they have nice leather seats, which will mean the Army Ranger Wing can transit to hostage rescue missions in comfort. As can any Ministers who need to use the helicopters for, I don't know, flying to their constituency to open a pub.

I'm just dying to see how our procurement process works in the purchase of new ships for the Navy. Smart money says that the Navy ends up with superyacht equipped with tennis courts and swimming pools ... you know, so the government can use it for a bit of a relaxing break when the Navy isn't deploying the "SUPERYACHT!" (for that will be its official name, "SUPERYACHT!" ) on drug-busting patrols.

The British Are Coming! The British Are Coming...

...with a lower corporation tax rate for Northern Ireland. That loud banging you can hear is the last nail being hammered into the coffin of the Republic's economy. Currently, the North has the same rate as the rest of the UK, i.e. 28%, versus the Republic's 12.5%. I think it's safe to assume that the Stormont administration will push for a rate as close to the Republic's as possible, and London will give it to them, as hopefully it will get private sector business in Northern Ireland moving and reduce the almighty strain the 6 counties place on the national purse.

So then, let's see, we will have two economies competing with one another, with comparable corporation tax rates, one with a minimum wage of £5.80 per hour , the other with a minimum wage of €8.65 per hour (£7.20). Plus, energy is cheaper in the North.

Hm, I wonder who will win?

Struggling Towards a New Party

Recent coverage in the Irish Times, and elsewhere in the media, show that the impetus towards establishing new parties in Ireland is growing. The four parties mentioned in the article are:

1) Fis Nua - I suppose these could be characterised as the "Continuity Greens", effectively members of the environmentalist movement who have become disillusioned with the direction the mainstream Green Party has taken since going into government. Originally, it appeared that former Green Patricia McKenna was rowing in behind this group, but it would appear she has since distanced herself from them.

2) Direct Democracy Ireland, a party advocating greater use of referenda and other direct democracy legislative tools. It would appear to be fronted by Vincent Salafia, who is best known for his involvement in the M3 Tara protests and the protests against roadworks around Carrickmines Castle. Patricia McKenna would also seem to be supporting this venture. Personally, direct democracy seems nice in theory, but I'm not sure how it would operate in practice.

3) "The Irish Independents’ Party" - a movement spearheaded by Leo Armstrong, who is apparently a former member of the Greens and of Fine Gael. Held an initial meeting in Kilkenny, at which only 50 prospective members attended (which says much about how prepared Irish people actually are to fight for a new approach to politics in this country). Interestingly, Mr. Armstrong has been criticised on the letters pages of a number of national newspapers for not having any policies, but I think that his efforts say a lot about the perceived problems of the Irish political system - policies are not the issue, the very nature of politics in this country is.

4) The Reform Party - established by Cork businessman Michael Murphy, this would appear to be an attempt to fill the liberal, free-market friendly, low tax party-shaped hole left in the Irish political landscape by the departure of the PDs. I will be watching with interest.

Finally, and more recently, former justice minister Michael McDowell raised the possibility of his return to politics, leading to much speculation regarding the emergence of another new PD-style party. Rumours abound that such a venture would include Pat Cox, or even Declan Ganley, but it is hard to know how much truth there is behind all the talk. Indeed, it is hard to reconcile three such, shall we say, forceful personalities surviving together in a single party. Still, hope springs eternal that something new will arrive on the scene and wash away the stagnant status quo.

It is old but it is beautiful, and its colours they are fine

Settled down on Monday night to watch the edited highlights on the BBC; highlights not of the World Cup, but of the annual "Glorious 12th" demonstrations (i.e. parades) held North of the border by the Orange Order. As a southern Catholic, I have to say the whole thing seems, well, a little bizarre...

I can totally see the appeal, though. On the BBC, the coverage seemed to show a great family day out, children sitting on their fathers' shoulders to get a better view of the proceedings, mothers pushing prams, ice-cream, chip vans, the usual sights and sounds of any summer festival. It seems that the Order's efforts to turn the day into a tourst spectacle are making progress, creating a little slice of Nordicana (NI Tourist Board, that's copyrighted!), something you can get nowhere else in the world. But oddly (and I'm sure this thought will make the Order and many Northern Protestants feel they cannot win) it's when the parades are in their happy-clappy inclusive mode that underlying ethnic and religious messages are most stark.

You see, what struck me about the television coverage is just how normal your average Orangeman is, how the families watching the parade could have been down South watching a St. Patrick's Day Parade, how basically they were all just like me, and my family. Except that everyone taking part in the parades was Protestant, and that while Catholics might be allowed (indeed, encouraged) to watch the parades go by, they would never be allowed to join a lodge. Even if I convert, most lodges will not allow former Catholics into their ranks. The common bond of shared humanity, of living on the same island, is only allowed to extend so far.

I can think of few organisations in the British Isles where religious segregation is so strictly enforced (the only one that leaps to mind is the Catholic mirror-image of the Orange Order, the Ancient Order of Hibernians). And what is truly surprising is how this desire to identify with fellow Protestants extends far beyond Northern Ireland; one of the points made in the broadcast was that lodges from the Republic, in Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan and Dublin/Wicklow had grown in size over the last number of years. Do Protestants in the South feel that their identity is under threat? Is there, in modern multi-cultural Ireland, a growing desire among Protestants to have their culture recognised as a key component of society as a whole?

And what of the Orangemen who had travelled to the North from Canada, Liverpool and the US - what role does their Orangeism play in their nations. Are they merely seeking to express another facet of their identity, or do they truly feel that all Anglo-Saxon nations are bound in a common bond, one of whose key strands is Protestant faith?

N.B. The title is taking from "The Sash", one of the best known marching tunes from the Orange Order marches. Apologies if I have been too general in addressing the issues at hand, corrections and complaints welcome! On a related note, I am eagerly awaiting the arrival from Amazon of Blood and Thunder: Inside an Ulster Protestant Band by Darrach MacDonald.

Good Quality Terrorists

Bored and aimless as I often am, I spend an inordinate amount of time browsing the interweb, often ending up on a site called Politics.ie, which specialises in what an American "friend" of mine would term "leprechauny politics" (thankfully, he has received his just punishment, and is now languishing in a position in SE Asia which he does not enjoy, and which does not test his immense skills and intelligence. Ha ha, leprechaun that, Hantmonius!).

Anyway, bitterness aside, yesterday I was flicking through said website and I came across the following thread:

"The quality of young people joining the IRA was very impressive.." MI6 agent.

This got me a-thinking: what of the modern threats faced by the US and UK forces in Afghanistan and Iraq; do the coalition allies view the Taleban or Al-Qaeda in Iraq with the same grudging respect shown by some of the British military and intelligence figures noted in the above thread. I seem to remember the brilliant Wings Over Iraq blog had a video of a Taleban ambush in Afghanistan that didn't exactly go to plan, and showed up the boys of the old martyr's brigade to be less than professional. But at the same time, stories such as Taliban sniper hunted over seven UK deaths would seem to suggest that at least some of the Taleban are clearly capable.

And what of the character of the young men flocking to join the enemies of America and the UK - what sort of social profiles do they fill? It is well-known that many of the 9/11 hijackers were highly educated, and represented the "elite" of the societies from which they are drawn. What of the Taleban and its allies in Afghanistan: are their recruits the elite of their societies? Could they be passing up better opportunities in life in order to fight in a holy war? Or are they simply thugs (as some people in both Ireland and Britain would both view the IRA) who lust for violence, and if there were no war handy, would still be harming their fellow man, albeit without the cover of a political or religious goal?

My Daily Commute - A Journey Through History!

Image taken from Strange Maps

Those of us condemned to the drudgery of commuting to and from work every day usually have very little to contemplate as we zone out for the journey to the office. Until recently my commute was like any other, unremarkable and dull. That was until I moved to Monaghan...

Now, to most eyes, my commute may still seem humdrum. True, it's a pleasant 30 minute drive through rolling drumlins and pastoral countryside, via the towns of Monaghan, Smithborough, Clones and finaly Belturbet. But what I find interesting about this drive (in a remarkably nerdy kind of way), is that I cross the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic 4 times, and for a short half-kilometre section of the road I am in a virtual enclave of the Republic within Northern Ireland, which has no direct contact with the rest of the state, but rather can only be accessed by road via the North. Effectively, this means that this semi-enclave cannot easily be reached by An Garda Siochana (the Irish police force), nor can it be patrolled by the Police Service of Northern Ireland. While it is not exactly lawless, this pocket of territory has been used for a number of nefarious activities over the years, and it is still apparently the place to go locally if you like cockfights or other bloodsports (who doesn't?. I mean, c'mon, nothing says a classy evening to me like bloodsports!)

Similarly, each morning you can see the "donuts" burned in rubber onto the road by young men with too much horsepower and not enough brains, who zip along this border route in the dead of night, safe in the knowledge that for police in the South, without road access to the enclave, speed traps here would be a logistical nightmare, while on the Northern side of the border, police checkpoints run the risk of attracting violence from dissident Republicans.

What strikes me most, though, are the signs scattered along this route as to how artificial the border is, not just from a Republican viewpoint, but also how the division of our island has resulted in communities that once contained both Protestants and Catholics, Unionists and Nationalist, being divided, with one section of the community artificially removed, or withering away over time. In truth, this phenomena has seemed to be far more common among the Protestant community on both sides of the border; in the South, communities which had been in the locality for nearly 400 years have slowly disappeared since 1922, marrying into Catholic families or choosing to emigrate; while on the Northern side of the border the change has been more rapid, as the inter-religious violence that coloured the Troubles has led some Unionists to pull back from areas bordering the Republic, retreating further North to where greater numbers of their co-religionists live.

One of the most poignant signs of this change is a Church of Ireland (Anglican) church located in the enclave in of the Republic, but which I would guess would have been built over the course of the late 19th Century to serve the community in the area. It stands alone, a long way from the nearest village (which is now in Northern Ireland), and only once have I seen any activity at the church, a funeral. Judging by the mourners, the deceased that day was obviously of an older generation, and I noticed that every car parked outside this church, which was remember South of the border, had Northern plates. I couldn't but wonder had the deceased grown up in the area, either before or shortly after partition, when there still would have been a sizable Protestant community. Now, were they being returned to the church where they worshipped as a child, mourned by friends and family who had also felt that it was necessary to leave this place all those years ago? Was this area a place where they could not live, but could only return to in death?

In Belturbet, too, the town where I work, there is signs of a once thriving community now gone; an Orange Hall that is now only empty and unused, restored by the Irish state with a view to being turned into a museum. The local pub has a picture of the main street taken in 1910, in which one can clearly see, hanging from a house, the sign "UVF Meets Here" (the UVF being a Protestant paramilitary organisation opposed to Irish independence.) And while, as an Irish Catholic, I obviously find the basic premise of Protestant supremacy, on which the Orange Order and the UVF are based, difficult to stomach, these little hints of people now gone still make me wonder could partition and its aftermath not have been better handled. What position would the island be in now, if the Southern state at least had done more to calm the concerns of its Protestant population? Would we closer to unity or still divided? And, as a Southerner, am I just naive in my thinking?

If you would like to learn more about the enclave and are, like me, a bit of a nerd, see the great discussion at Strange Maps.