From the Balcony

I see that Sir John Lavery's monumental painting of the appeal of Sir Roger Casement is the centrepiece of a new exhibition in Dublin of the Belfast artist's impassioned political works. Its a true masterpiece and reminds us again of the terrible infamy of the British Empire, God bless her.

Also recently, I came across an adult comic book about the 1916 Rising by artist Gerry Hunt whose parents were out in Easter Week.

History has a habit of rewriting itself when the censor's reign has passed.

Of course, nowhere is history being more successfully written than in West Belfast where Féile an Phobail, which kicks off on Friday, has recast the resilient and talented community once dismissed by a British overlord as "a terrorist community". The great African writer Ngugi Wa Thiong'o says its in the possession of memory that the people strike back. Take our memories from us and those who would rule us would really have succeeded. Thankfully, that ruse hasn't worked and surely can't work as long as the Irish language is spoken in this great city.

And the magic of Féile an Phobail is that you can have fun while asserting your pride and dignity. And no one will have more enjoyment than the sold-out audience at the Damien Dempsey opening night gig when New York troubadour Joe Hurley (pictured), a fascinating Cockney-meets-Irish-American musician who has been a great friend to the Big Apple Irish. As well as hosting a stupendous annual tribute to Marc Bolan, Joe hosts a scintillating St Patrick's Day extravaganza in New York, and recently he composed a series of songs to accompany Colum McCann's riveting Let The Whole World Spin. His first concert in Belfast promises to be a sensation. What particularly pleases me is that the deal to bring him to Belfast was sealed, 53 floors up, in the Irish Ambassador's residence in New York when I introduced Joe to Féile an  Phobail director Sean Paul O'Hare at the conference finale farewell of our New York-New Belfast forum.

It's not every day James Joyce calls into the office but it was our pleasure to welcome one of New York's finest, Fr Jim Joyce (left), to Teach Basil today.

A priest at Fordham who insists he has street cred because he worked in other less salubrious parts of the Bronx – as well as having done some heavy lifting with our old friend Fr Parkes of Cristo Rey school in East Harlem — Fr Jim is no stranger to Belfast, having spent some time in the Bone and Ardoyne.

We get everywhere. Fr Jim was brought to our offices on a whirlwind tour of the North by Fr Gerry McCloskey, a great hero of West Belfast who has been dispatched by the bishops from St Agnes' where he did magnificent work, to his native North Belfast. The pair were accompanied by Dominic, a trainee priest with just four years to go.

Which reminds me that the chaplain of the US military base in Honolulu is also a priest with a strong Derry connection. In the tradition of keeping a church under pressure relevant, they tell me he says mass on Wakiki beach each Sunday evening. The sort of approach which might even get me back to the beach of The Lord.

Cuirim spéis i gcónaí ar ardchaighdeán na gclár ar TG4 — aréir fiú bhí mé ag amharc ar Dermot Somers sa tSibéir. Ní fear mór teilifíse mé ach go minic tchítear dom go mbíonn na cláir is fearr ar an chainéal Gaeilge.

Agus scéala chugam anois go bhfuil clár go díreach críochnaithe ag comhlacht neamhspleách ar na San Patricos, na hÉireannaigh sin a thaobhaigh leis na Meicsecanáigh le linn an chogaidh le Meiriceá (agus atá ina laochra ag gach mac-léinn sa Mheicsiceo go dti an lá inniu). Beidh Larry Kirwan as Black 47, a scríobhann don Irish Echo, i measc na ndaoine faoi agallamh sa chlár mar tá amhrán scríofa aige in onóir na San Patricios.

Agus creidim go bhfuil clár ar an bhealach ina leanann Horslips aistear Mhicí Mhic Ghabann go dtí an Klondyke, bunaithe ar Rotha Mor an tSaoil.

Agus is é an trua é go gcaillfidh mé an clár nua atá déanta ag Tobar ar Loisceadh Sraid Bombay i 1969 mar beidh seoladh againn an oíche chéanna de thaispeántas nua de chuid Robert Ballagh ar 2 Lúnasa.

Agus cúpla moladh chugam ó Sheámus Mac Seáin, atá san oispidéal faoi lathair (nárbh fhada ann é) maidir le Sabhal Mór Ostaig:
Ar leigh tú "A waxing moon " le roger hutchinson? b'fhiú a léamh. ach an rud a bhfuil mé chuige anois agus an tsuim atá ag Ian Noble san uisce beatha agus go bhfuil teidil Gaeilge ar chúpla meascán (Blend?) da chuid ,smaoinigh mé gurbh fiú dúinn Branda a dhéanamh (agus ní biotáilte atá i gcéist agam) de Robert Mac Adam agus meascán ar leith de uisce beatha Éireannach a dhéanamh agus a ainm leis agus an lipéad a bheith i nGaeilge air Is comhtharlú é agus tú ag caint ar uisce beatha ach bhí Eoghan Ó Néill le bualadh le Daithí Ó hOrgáin (fear an ola agus Irish Distillers) inné agus d'iarr mé air a fhiafraí de an dtiocfadh linn meascán dár gcuid féin a bheith againn sa Ceathrú Gaeltachtra ainmnithe as Mac Adam agus Pictiúr de shean Eaglais Broadway a bheith air nó an Soho Foundry nó rud éigin. Is cosúil go ndéanann siad meascán speisialta do dhaoine. D'iarr mé ar Eoghan a fháil amach cad é an costas a bheadh ar líon beag buidéal a fháil déanta. Is iontach nach bhfuil uisce beata a bhfuil ainm Béal Feirste ceangailte leis. Is seoirt gimic é ach san am céanna sílim gur fiú rud éigin ar leith a bheith ag an Ceathrú Gaeltachta a bheadh ionadaíoch de Bhéal Feirste ar fad agus an Ghaeilge ceangáilte leis. Chuala mé ar na mallaibh gurbh fiú na céadta milliúin punt do Alban é Branda "Robby Burns" arbh féidir Branda a dhéanamh do Robert Mac Adam gur fiú Milliún punt féin é? Cad do mheas? 

I remember the thrill of watching Alex Hurricane Higgins tear up the baize in the 1982 world snooker championships and like everyone else lucky enough to have been alive then, I mourn his passing. Like that other artist whose magic I enjoyed, George Best, he later self-destructed.

Along the way, he sued the South Belfast News for suggesting he was kipping down in homeless hostels, earning himself a few bob in the process.

At the time, he was touring the clubs of West Belfast playing punters for a few pounds per game. I didn't begrudge him his modest libel payment then and don't now..he was down but not out. And while the TV screen can repeat this furious aggression at the table, I expect it will be ever so.

Suaimhneas síoraí go raibh aige.

I promise not to overload the faithful with information about H2O but here's James MacInnes of Scottish Water who heads up their operations on the Isle of Skye and in a large surrounding area. James, who is, like myself, a member of the running brotherhood, is evidence of the changing fortunes of the Gaelic language.

A native of Skye, he can't speak Gaelic but his nine-year-old daughter Elizabeth attends the local bunscoil in Skye and is fluent in Gaidhlig.

James kindly showed me round the water supply plant and the water treatment plant in An tAth Leathan/Broadford (one's more enticing than the other). He reminded me that there are big energy costs associated with the supply of water and the treatment of waste water. In fact, NI Water spends £40m a year on electricity. Now if there was less waste, then there'd be less cost to the public.

James is standing outside the hotel owned by Sir Iain Nobel, 3rd Baronet, a merchant banker who bought up half of Skye through the Clan MacDonald estates, became an enthusiastic learner of Gaelic and founder of Sabhal Mor Ostaig. I'm told his Te Bheag whiskey is wonderful and can attest to the excellence of the food at the pictured Hotel Eilean Iarmain.

Sa phictiúr thíos,  Angela NicIllebhraigh, Boyd Robertson, príomhoide, agus Donella Beaton as Canan, fiontar gnó, ag Sabhal Mór Ostaig, taobh istigh den choláiste. Agus Sabhal Mor Ostaig féin.

Pictured Angela MacGillivarry who heads up distance learning, principal of Sabhal Mor Ostaig, Boyd Robertson and Donella Beaton who is leading the business venture within Sabhal Mór Ostaig, Canan (the Gaelic word for Language). The trio are one of the main buildings on the campus in front of artwork produced in a national project for children at Gaelic scoileanna in Glasgow and Skye. Also pictured two of the buildings on the campus.

Tá instealladh misnigh is fuinnimh faighte agam ó mo thuras go Sabhal Mór Ostaig agus creidim go bhfuilimid ar tí athrach mór a fheiceáil sa chaidreamh idir na pobail ar an dá thaobh de Sruth na Maoile.

I have received a great injection of courage and energy from my visit to Sabhal Mor Ostaig and believe we're on the cusp of a new era of co-operation and joint activity between the peoples on both sides of the Sea of Moyle. We now have strong devolved administrations in the North and in Scotland, a new era of support for Gaelic in Scotland, a surge in the use of Irish and the normalisation of the language in the North (despite political obstacles), the introduction of Scotland to Interreg, the EU-funded programme, opening up new ventures between Scotland and the North of Ireland (Border Counties and Six Counties), and the increasing number of Irish speakers taking the Sabhal Mór Ostaig course in Gaidhlig (and vice versa).

Seo cur síos chomh maith agus ar féidir a dhéanamh ar an deis agus ar an dúshlán atá romhainn. This is as eloquent and powerful a summary of the challenge and opportunity ahead of us (put the word Irish and Ireland in place of Gaelic and Scotland to get the shared picture):

"There are few responsibilities more absolute than those which flow from custodianship of a language and culture; especially when these exist to such an extent in only one country. If Gaelic dies in Scotland, it dies in the world. If it flourishes in Scotland, then it sends out a message of inspiration and optimism to others who face similar challenges and adversities. Therein lies both the challenge and the opportunity."

"Is gann gu bheil dleastanasan sam bith a tha cho mor ris an fheahdainn a tha ag eirigh a gleideadh canain is cultair; gu sonracichte nuair a tha iad ann an aon duthaic a-mhain. Ma gheibh a' Ghaidhlig bas ann an Alba, gheibh i bas san t-saoghal. Ma shoirbhicheas leatha ann an Alba, theid teachdaireachd bhrosnachail is dhochasach a sgaoileadh dhan fheadhainn eile a tha cur aghaidh air dubhlain is duilgheadasan dhen aon seorsa. 'S ann ann an sin a tha an da chuid an dubhlan is an cothrom nan laighe."


Cé dúirt? Who said those inspiring and insightful words: The Patron of Sabhal Mór Ostaig, HRH the Prince of Wales, Prince Charles!

I have one Skibereen Eagle-ish eye on Skye but the other is firmly on the Andersonstown Library which was closed last week in a shocking case of educational vandalism.

Leo Wilson, Gaeilgeoir, republican and community stalwart is taking a court case to fight the closure, having been double-crossed in the courts last week when he lodged his judicial review.

Gerry Adams has a full account of the courthouse battle on his blog.

I have no comment to add to this bail hearing report today, which I reproduce here, because it leaves me speechless:

Man accused of Cullybackey bonfire murder bid bailed

A man accused of attempted murder at an Eleventh Night bonfire in
Cullybackey, County Antrim has been given bail.

Neil Greer, 32, from Ard Na Maine in the village is also charged with
using a golf club as a weapon and grievous bodily harm with intent.

His co-accused, Andrew Connor, 24, from Markstown Grove, also in
Cullybackey, was given bail on charges including possession of a
knife.

One of their alleged victims was left with bleeding to the brain.

Another man suffered a less serious head injury as well as bruising
to his back.

Two women were also injured in the attack at Tobar Park.

Objecting to bail, a police officer said the community was "in fear"
of coming forward with information and that one of the injured
parties had already received an anonymous phone call telling him to
"drop the charges".

She added that police believed there was paramilitary involvement in
the attack and that there were concerns there would be further
intimidation.

A district judge granted bail but warned the defendants that if there
were any more phone calls, or interfering with witnesses, he would
bring them back to prison.

The pair were also ordered not to come within five miles of
Cullybackey.

Delighted to see that the Belfast Media Group sports journalists Conor McLoughlin, Gerard Magee and Ed McGinley will receive a special award at a glittering Croke Park gala on Saturday night for the supplement they produced for last year's Antrim Ulster Final appearance.

Our printers cornered the world market in saffron ink to make it the first time we printed the masthead in any colour other than black or red to complement the excellent supplement.

You can see the original supplement in digi form here. 

It also boasts a wonderfully-designed front page in the style of a Wanted Poster. 

Is eiseamláir speisiúil é Cal-Mac do na seirbhísí farantóireachta is iompair in Éirinn.

With its bilingual policy, Scottish ferry company Cal-Mac (Caledonian Mac a'Bhruithinn/Caledonian MacBrayne) is a great exemplar for Irish ferry companies and transport bodies/departments.

Cal-Mac employs 1,000 people and voluntarily entered into a Gaelic-language scheme to promote the use of the language by employees, passengers and with customers.

Back home safe to be met with this photograph from our leader Daithí Mac Lochlainn in New York who also made his way to the Gaidhealtacht in Scotland recently.


More to follow when I recover from the propeller jet lag.

Bhi me inne ag tabhairt cuairte ar larionad uisce anseo ar Oilean Sgiathanach ach inniu ta me ag tabhairt cuairte ar Samhal Mor Ostaig.

I have heard much about the National Centre for Gaelic Culture and the Arts in Samhal Mor Ostaig on Skye but have been blown away, not only by the constant rain since our arrival, but by the warmth of the welcome and the expertise of the College leadership.



I find a positive attitude to Gaelic in Scotland, right from seeing a welcome in Gaelic at Inverness airport, Failte gu Alba, to the waitress who told us she's learning Gaelic at school because she wants to teach in a bunscoil. Of course bunscoil and meanscoileanna are a relatively recent phenomenon in Scotland, where just 60,000 people are fluent Irish (oops, as Scots Anorak comments, that should read Gaelic) speakers.

This is a fortuitous time to visit Samhal Mor Ostaig as we enter a new era of Irish language protection and promotion in the North of Ireland and the advent of the new £8m Irish Language Investment Fund (whose members are here, at their own cost, on a fact-finding mission) but here's a sobering thought: one building at Samhal Mor Ostaig, the Fas building cost as much as our entire kitty, £8m.

Hopefully we can build more bridges in the time ahead between Gaeldom, bearing in mind that our unionist brothers and sisters can learn much about the benefits of language promotion in Scotland whereas they refuse to acknowledge the same at home.

D'fhoghlaim me rud eile; Te Bheag an Ghaidhlig ar Teach Beag agus an t-ainm ata ar uisce beatha duchasasch anseo. Nior ol me uisce beatha ariamh, ni thosoidh me anois ach cuimhnim ar chomhairle Mhicheal Ui Fhlannagain, dliodoir An Chiste Infheistiochta ata anseo linn, fa dha riail mhora an  uisce beatha: 1. nil aon dha uisce beatha mar a gceanna; 2. ni feidir le duine ar bith an duifir a aithint.

Sa phictiur, Tim Armstrong o Shamal Mor Ostaig, Poncanach ata ag deanamh taighde anseo anois agus a bhfuil Gaeilge agus Gaidhlig aige, Niall O Cathain, Micheal O Flannagain.

Pictured: Tim Armstrong, a Yank fluent in Irish and Gaelic and now doing research at Samhal Mor Ostaig, Niall O Cathain from the Investment Fund and our Fund solicitor Micheal O Flannagain.

Alex Attwood, new minister at the Department of Social Development, is going through his portfolio like a dose of salts.

Issues which previously took months to tackle are now being knocked down like coconuts at a fair and meetings are being held at 48 hours notice. All of which is quite a change from his predecessor Margaret Ritchie who was stand-offish and reputably very difficult to get over the line on any of the big questions she faced.

I was one of those who argued for the community to allow then Minister Ritchie as much space as possible to get issues sorted; and remain opposed to the pickets which greeted her presence in West Belfast at every turn. But the reality is that, unpleasant as those confrontations with republicans were, the minister got very little done when it came to the big West Belfast issues.

That may have been because her hostility to Sinn Féin made it all but impossible for her to deal with Gerry Adams and other Sinn Féin representatives in a professional manner (when Alex Maskey went to see her about car parking in the Markets, she said she would be placing a photo of Robert McCartney prominently in her office!). In retrospect, Margaret Ritchie wasn't up to the job. No doubt she'll do a better job as leader of the SDLP and MP for South Down.

It also strikes me that Sinn Féin are making some space for Alex Attwood — and he certainly seems to relish his long-awaited promotion. He spoke well at a recent Colin Partnership meeting I attended, and I'm now told he also impressed on a visit to the Shankill on 8 July where he met with our old pal Jim Carvill and other members of the West Belfast and Greater Shankill Enterprise Council (now officially in limbo). Sadly, he didn't know that Minister Ritchie had already received a presentation on the work of the body (which resulted in pats on the back but no action) though Minister Attwood says he will now follow up with his officials.

In a time of savage cutbacks, is it too much to hope that the only West Belfast Minister around the Executive table will start flying the flag for an area where the peace dividend has come dripping slow. Or will the minister be the prisoner of civil servants who find it acceptable to take 30 days to arrange a meeting and three months to announce a decision?

A big test looms for the new minister. The Gaeltacht Quarter Board has now dissolved as the government mulls a proposal in the latest Deloitte report to set up an urban regeneration company in the district to take forward this ambitious plan. Margaret Ritchie stalled on that decision though she generously funded a clatter of business plans for the area. Will Alex Attwood move more decisively?

Interesting times ahead.

Éamonn Ó Catháin – Oideas Glasránach

Tá mé ar mo bhealach go hAlbain inniu  a thabhairt cuairte ar Shabhal Mór Ostaig ar Oileán Sciathánach, fiontar oideachais, pobail agus ealaíona.

Shíl mé gurbh fhiú don Chiste Infheistíochta Gaeilge nua eolas ceart a bheith aige ar an togra tábhachtach seo atá ina dhíol bróid ag Gaeilgeoirí na hAlban agus tá áthas orm go bhfuil socraithe ag údaráis na coláiste cruinnithe a eagrú dúinn amárach le go bhfuighfidh muid léargas cruinn ar a gcuid oibre.

Idir amanna, nach iontach an obair atá ar bun ag Nuacht 24 mar a thcí sibh ón mhír seo thuas.

When I was a lad, New Zealand came up in conversation only as a destination for wandering Belfast tradespeople weary of seeking work in the shipyard. And as a new home for Belfast ex-pats, it was painted to us youngsters as a colonial-style country, white, western and way-far-away.


Now it appears the Maori have successfully asserted their identity. I see the country referred to as Aotearoa frequently and am told the 'minority' language is treasured.

All of which brings me to this poem a friend sent on yesterday in Maori with English translation. I especially like the lines: "My language is my cherished possession, My treasured Tiger Shell, My precious ornament, My language is my strength, An ornament of grace.'

He kākano āhau
I am a seed
Scattered from Rangiatea
And I can never be lost
I am a seed, born of greatness
Descended from a line of chiefs,
I am a seed.

Wherever I may roam
I will hold fast to my traditions.
My language is my cherished possession
My language is the object of my affection
My precious adornment
My language is my strength,
An ornament of grace

Whenever I stand,
I am clothed by my ancestors
My pride I will show
That you may know who I am
I am a warrior, a survivor
I am a remnant
  
Wherever I may roam
I will hold fast to my traditions.
My language is my cherished possession
My treasured Tiger Shell
My precious ornament
My language is my strength,
An ornament of grace

As Ireland collapses around our ears, I yesterday took refuge in that one institution which remains unbroken: the GAA.

And what a day it was with Antrim beating the Dubs to advance to the last six in the hurling championship!

This morning, I got to visit another great Irish institution: Clonard Monastery. It too remains unbroken, providing succour and support to the faithful. I had four Americans in tow when we went calling on Fr Gerry Reynolds, hero of the peace process, who had just finished 9:30am mass and was heading up to a neighbouring Methodist church on the Springfield Road with a group of the Clonard regulars. They visit a different Protestant church each week, by agreement with their counterparts, but ask for nothing back in return. "It has transformed our relations with the Protestant churches we visit," said Fr Reynolds (pictured).

My guests from Texas and Colardo included Jim Hayes, former publisher of the Fortune magazine, Gerry Pyle, Jack Kendall and Steve Suggs. Jim was sent in my direction by our great friend John Connorton in New York. Fr Reynolds idenitifies "hope" as the key ingredient of the peace process. Without hope of a better future, there could have been no chance of making peace. Fr Reynolds very kindly let us into the wonderful gardens at Clonard where he spoke about the great similarities in generosity and warmth between the working class peoples of Belfast. "That's the tragedy of Belfast," he said. "A woman on the Shankill told me that if the killers of her son had have known him, they couldn't have killed him."

Which is why is kudos to Fr Reynolds and his friends for getting to know the congregations at Protestant churches across Belfast.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday a business friend came to see me to ask why the business community had been so quiet in response to the depressing and distressing scenes from Ardoyne. Together, we drafted a letter on behalf of those of us who believe creating jobs and wealth for our communities is an important calling. After meeting Fr Reynolds, I was even more convinced that we need a statement from the business sector to ensure we don't go back to the hell from which we have escaped. Here it is:

As business leaders, we have spent much of our lives trying to create wealth and employment in the city we love, Belfast.

In recent times, our efforts have been roiled by turbulent economic waters but nevertheless, we believe the opportunity for transforming our economic fortunes is greater now than ever before.

We boast the youngest population in Europe, digital infrastructure which is the most advanced in the world and we continue to attract blue-chip companies like NYSE, Cybersource and GE which are keen to invest in us for the long-term. Allied to those strengths, we have dynamic entrepreneurs, an improving education system, top-class universities and a political leadership which has vowed to make the economy its priority.

All the gains of recent years are a consequence of the peace process. Indeed, it’s out of a desire to cement the peace with jobs that the US has created the unprecedented position of Economic Envoy to Northern Ireland.

And yet the fruits of the peace process have not been evidenced as they should be in those areas which bore the brunt of the years of warfare. Indeed, we fear it’s no coincidence that the recent outbreaks of violence have been at their worst in areas where the peace dividend is meagre.

Nevertheless, the renewed conflict on our streets will only increase our resolve to ensure that the peace dividend reaches our most marginalised communities, orange and green.

However, we are also convinced that the depressing scenes of violence being broadcast around the world make the job of regenerating Belfast a hundred times more difficult. Worse, they imperil the progress we have made and threaten to blow us off course as we stand on the cusp of building one of the world’s greatest economies on the foundations of the peace process.

There are diehards of all hues who remain opposed to the peace process. The most dangerous are the dissident republican armed groups which are determined to drag society back 30 years — using the youth of our disadvantaged communities as their cannon fodder.

These elements thrive on division and the absence of dialogue.

Society’s most potent response to their activities should be to increase co-operation and to enhance dialogue.

We have overcome many obstacles to reach this stage of the peace process. We have got this far thanks to politicians and community leaders who believe that the fragile compromise of the peace process is better than the terrible certainty of conflict.

They have achieved much but there is more to be done. They must now go the extra mile to find a solution to the thorny issues which continue to threaten a future of peace and prosperity. As business people, we stand ready to support their peacemaking efforts in every way we can. We believe the peacemakers must and will succeed  for the alternative, for those of us who lived through 30 years of conflict, is too dreadful to contemplate.

This is the lead story in the Andersonstown News about the CIRA 'outcasts' behind the rioting in St James'/Broadway last week.

The editorial in Andersonstown and North Belfast News was penned by my goodself and can be read here. As you can see there's an offer to the pro-violence dissidents to state their case in our columns, that will require a spokesperson with a name which would help debate, methinks.

It's also reproduced below:

Strange bedfellowsAndersonstown News Thursday
IT’S hard to believe that, 16 years after the first IRA ceasefire set society on the road to peace, the Orange Order is still refusing to engage in talks with nationalists and their political representatives with a view to resolving disputes around the handful of remaining contentious parades. Yet, as seen in Ardoyne on Monday, that is very much the case.
Instead of engaging in dialogue, the Orange Order prefers to march blindly on, impervious to the mayhem and madness it leaves in its wake. We suspect that when Chief Constable Matt Baggott refers to lack of leadership from our politicians, he is thinking of some of the most senior unionist politicians who step out on the Twelfth morning with these anti-Catholic parades which climax in antediluvian, anti-peace process statements at the field.

Nationalist
Sadly, the yesterday’s men who lead Orangeism have their mirror image in that small group of embittered republicans whose opposition to the peace process – and to the Sinn Féin leadership – is legendary. Indeed, many of those who blocked the Crumlin Road on the Twelfth spend more time criticising Sinn Féin than they do criticising perfidious Albion.
It’s a cruel irony that Orangeman and pro-violence dissident alike see the peace process as sell-out.
Both are willing to see a return to the death, destruction and untold suffering of the thirty-year-war, if that’s what it takes to stop the peace taking hold.
Yet, against those whose focus is on refighting past wars stands the vast bulk of people on this island, nationalist and unionist, who accept that a renewed conflict will lead only to the prison cell and the graveyard — before it inevitably reaches the negotiation table again in 20 years time.
Those in republican circles who adopt the nihilistic sloganising of yesteryear should be asked to come forward and defend their actions over the past four days. After all, the greatest burden of war is carried by the civilian population, so the ordinary citizen has a right to know where these bloody confrontations with Orangemen and police are leading us.
We presume there are those within the ranks of the alphabet soup of wannabe IRA groups who can answer that question; our columns are open to them.
In fact, we believe that the wiser heads among disaffected republican groupings should be encouraged to engage in continuous dialogue with the community and our political leaders. Past experience tells us that the exclusion of certain views leads to more, not less, violence.
Moreover, mistreatment of prisoners and abuse of the rights of those targeted by the police will not be tolerated by the nationalist people. Such actions, of course, will also increase support for those who oppose the peace process.

Murder
In setting out their strategy for a ‘return to war’, the leaders of the violent dissident factions might wish to address the role of anti-social thugs (most frequently featured in these pages for terrorising the local community through car theft, assault, burglary and murder) in the violence which has been playing out in our streets over the past fortnight, particularly at Broadway, the lower Ormeau and North Belfast.
A future where Orangemen, ceasefire soldiers and anti-social thugs find common cause is one which holds zero attraction for the nationalist people who fought the British and their allies over 30 long and hard years and who are now more than ever determined to win the peace.

A call for an end to the rioting in North Belfast from the dissident republican leader behind the Crumlin Road sitdown protest which sparked four days of ugly violence has been branded "too little too late" by the Ardoyne umbrella body opposing Orange parades.

You can read the full story online or in this week's North Belfast News.

A black week indeed for the peace process but hopefully, as the violence peters out without, thankfully, loss of life, it's time for those who support the peace process to put their shoulders to the wheel.

Deirtear liom gurb é an bainisteoir is deireannaí a mbíonn a fhios aige má tá mioscas ar bun sa tseomra nuachta.

Mar sin féin, thit sé ar mo chrann-sa, grúpa atá ag machnamh ar ghallúnach nua Gaeilge a dhéanamh, a thaispeáint thart ar Theach Basil inné. Orthu siúd bhí beirt scríbhneoir as Sasain, Tracy Shaw (a bhíodh ar Coronation Street, rud a d'aithin cuid den fhoireann anseo), agus a comhghleacaí Jane, chomh maith le Colin agus Stuart as Sterling Productions.

Ar ndóigh, is é Sterling atá taobh thiar den sobaldráma Seacht (tá an tsraith dheireannach á taifeadadh anois ag Ollscoil na Ríona) agus tá súim acu cur isteach do comhórtas a d'fhógair an Ciste Craoltóireachta o Thuaidh do shobaldráma nua — an iarraidh seo, seans, lonnaithe i seomra nuachta.

Tá ardmheas agam ar Ann Stirling a bhfuil níos mó oibre curtha ar fáil ag a comhlacht i ndeisceart Bhéal Feirste do Ghaeilgeoirí óga ná aon chomhlacht eile teilfíse.

Sa phictiúr tá Ann ar dheis sa chúl agus an fhoireann léi (Tracy chun tosaigh leis na nuachtáin ina gleic aici).

Cllr Ruth Patterson is holding forth about the dramatic incident on the Eleventh Night when a car knocked down several people enjoying the Village bonfire. As you can see, it was all too much for one Orangeman who is down and out to the right of the picture.

That was the scene as well in Belfast city centre just after 8pm last night as drunken loyalists made their back to the Shankill and North Belfast. One jacko, arms akimbo, Budweiser in one hand, was trying to stop traffic outside Deane's brasserie, possibly to help his pram-pushing lady friend across the road. A delightful family moment.

All in all, a combustible mix but as most of the nationalist louts were in Ardoyne attacking the PSNI, it seemed to pass without serious incident.

Meanwhile, the anti-peace process republicans got the intended result as Ardoyne and many other places erupted in violence as the Twelfth moved to a close. The Parades Commission decision to allow this contentious march past Ardoyne when Orangemen refuse to speak to locals (I mean the real locals not the guys bussed in and bearing the 'we're residents not dissidents' posters) is crazy. Hopefully, it will be reversed to encourage the Order to speak to their nationalist neighbours. Otherwise, the Orange Order will simply be aiding the very group it despises the most (yes, even more than the Pope), anti-peace process republicans.

Many of those leading the riots in Ardoyne are well-known to the courts for their anti-social behaviour and no doubt will be back in the same courts shortly.