As Good As It Gets?
Previously I wrote that I couldn't see today's IMC report making much difference to the political deadlock. After looking at it I would have to admit I was wrong, in as much as it did pose a dilemma for the DUP. Apart from finding that the 7 strong council had "fallen into disuse", the IMc said they did not foresee any formal announcement of its disbandment.
Given that this is precisely what the DUP has been looking for, this meant Peter Robinson had to decide whether to hold out for such a formal P. O'Neill statement. Or should he agree with Shaun Woodward's assessment that the debate over the Army Council's role is now history and this is, as Jack Nicholson might put it, "as good as it gets".
In the pouring rain outside the Assembly building, the DUP leader told us he still wants more - a confirmation from the republican leadership that the Army Council will never meet again and the IRA is out of business for good. He stopped short of calling for a formal P, O'Neill statement, so maybe something from Gerry Adams or Martin McGuinness would do the trick.
Whether they will oblige I may find out in about ten minutes time in the Stormont Great Hall.
In the meantime, Jim Allister has been pouring scorn on today's report, which he reckons is full of "Jesuitical verbiage". With the Stormont Executive having failed to convene since mid June, the Traditional Unionist MEP argues that it too is no longer "operational or functional", yet, he points out, one would hardly deny that it exists.
UPDATE: Well I got to ask Sinn Fein whether they would provide the words Peter Robinson wants. Instead Gerry Adams made a joking reference to providing a photo of the IRA Army Council not meeting. It was a clear reference to the photos of IRA decommissioning which the DUP asked for but never got. More talks are due between the two parties tomorrow morning at Stormont castle - let's see if they get anywhere.
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Mark
FAIRY TALES FROM THE IMC
Looking at today's IMC Report I expect the next report to conclude that the PIRA Army Council is a charitable organisation whose actions are driven by altruism, including helping old ladies cross the street and being kind to animals. It will also suggest that the Army Council's selfless concern for the well-being of others deserves recognition. It would not surprise me if the IMC urged the British and Irish Governments to lobby the Pope to begin immediately the process for the canonisation of Gerry Adams.
Saint Gerry! Ahh! It has a certain ring to it, don't you think?
Susie
Carryduff
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Mark,
I would like to raise a few pertinent points which I hope you can both answer and ask the politicians.
Firstly I would like to ask about the IMC. How is the IMC independent when it clearly is funded by the Government? Also how can it be independent when it receives its information from the security specialists that are paid by the government? Surely it is like a horse race. Surely the jockey is riding to the owners instructions. Lord Allerdice is saying what Hugh Orde tells him.
What more does Peter Robinson want? I think he will have to change tack or he will have a standoff as I feel Republicans have nothing more to offer.
As a suggestion for Shaun Woodward and Gordon Brown, if the executive fails to meet on the 18th September then the executive ministers should not be paid a ministers wage and the departments go back to direct rule. Also if the assembly dont make decisions by the end of the month then pull the plug entirely and ensure wages are not paid. That will sort the issue out. How will the greedy politicians live without their prized pay cheques? Failing that why not double water charges and introduce them on the 1st October?
Stormontspy
PS Dont listen to what Jim Allister says as no one else does. Unless of course he is talking about his expenses.
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Mark,
Another thought on the IRA Army Council. How would we know if it is disbanded or not? What happens if the 7 members were all spotted together at a football match? Would the army council have met? What happens if they didn?t see each other for 3 years and decided to go on holiday somewhere or go out for a meal or go to the cinema? If the security services seen them then would everything go down the drain? I do wish it would go away and Adams and Robinson can resolve their issues and provide real representations to the people of Northern Ireland. The sooner the politicians get on with the job the sooner we can have normal life. Ok it will never be perfect but all the dissidents will disappear and all the mavericks will be confined to the history books. Let peace rule.
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WHAT A STRUGGLE INDEED FOR THE IMC
How can a proscribed organisation - PIRA - be gathering information on dissident Republicans allegedly on behalf of their one-time arch-enemy MI5 and do so legally? If the 'magnificent seven' no longer meets for business, then who are these PIRA undercover agents - now working for the British State and with the assumed approval of the Army Council?
All this from the omnipotent IMC is nothing less than bullshit - straight out of the New Labour rule book on mendacity.
Is the Secretary of State for NI about to remove the IRA from the list of proscribed terrorist organisations - after all according to the IMC they have finally been transformed into peaceniks and reborn again democrats?
No longer pure Marxists of the 1916 Brotherhood, the Provos have finally abandoned their constituent.
Who is pulling whose leg? Away with ya and catch yourselves on!
Pandora
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