31st Mar 2008
B is for Bad News - Belfast bars, Bertie Ahern and Business problems
It has taken David Ford and the Alliance Party to ensure the Assembly gets a full debate on the outcome of the Varney Report today. His motion is the first parliamentary response to arguably one of the most important and potentially damaging reports to the Northern economy in the past decade. It’s good to see the Alliance showing some leadership on the issue but only highlights the collective failure of the big two political parties to deliver on a lower corporation tax which bodies like the ICAI have worked so hard to keep on the agenda.
Another bad week for Bertie Ahern looms. The most successful Taoiseach in modern time risks loosing it all if proper explanations are not provided. Weekend reports of senior cabinet colleagues including Brian Cowen meeting with him over the weekend will fuel speculation that we are at the beginning of the end. I hope for the country’s sake Ahern and Fianna Fail move quickly to ensure their is a proper and orderly transition. Nobody wants to see a popular Taoiseach run out of office in scandal and the only way of preventing that may well be to leave early.
Celitc - Rangers and Clifonville - Linfield do not enjoy a huge following on O’Conall Street. When news emerged on Saturday afternoon of a sectarian attack by a bigoted mob on a young catholic man in Belfast city centre the shadow of the ‘old firm’ inspired assault crept over the city. It should be a thing of the past. Like the posting of a live bullet to the Cliftonville manager earlier in the week it reminds us all of the generations of work ahead to rid this island of sectarianism.
The Dubs were denied their big day in Crossmaglen yesterday when the match was called off just thirty minutes before throw in. The referee left nine thousand fans to turn around at the very last minute. Sometimes these things are unavoidable but surely Croke Park will be thinking today that things can surely be done better.
From what I heard on the Nolan Show on BBC Radio Ulster this morning the commenter’s there were suggesting that the ‘bigoted mob’ weren’t football supporters and had no connection with Linfield. They said that the mob had English and Scottish accents and could’ve been Combat 18 or some Neo Nazi group.If that is correct,this sort of thing would make me want to resurrect that old saying ‘Brits Out!’
In the 80’s I worked upstairs in John Frazer’s store overlooking North Street in Belfast.Nearly every Saturday afternoon we were entertained by both Cliftonville and Linfield supporters fighting each other. I use the word fighting, it was more like chasing each other around the town. Both groups were easily recognisable wearing their respective football shirts/colours. From what I heard on the radio the ‘morons’ referred to earlier wore black, which included black baseball caps and goggles. I hope that Belfast isn’t the new weekend retreat for Combat 18 or similar groups.