Help us all by telling PSNI about those who plant hoax devices

Police Service of Northern Ireland (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Thankfully the evacuation of Omagh Police Station last night was due to a hoax device. Sadly, even hoax devices can be used to create terror in the lives of our police and of our communities across Northern Ireland. I call on anyone with any information about those who plant hoax devices and real devices to contact the PSNI about this. It is essential that those responsible are brought before the courts for justice.

The PSNI can be contacted on 0845 600 8000 for non-emergency reporting. In an emergency do phone 999.

Originally published on Michael Carchrie Campbell

those who create terror must not be let to win

Badge of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With reports from Chris Lindsay, BBC journalist on NewsLine that Omagh Police station is being evacuated due to a suspicious package,

Omagh PSNI station being evacuated due to discovery of suspicious package

— Chris Lindsay (@chrislindsay_) May 7, 2012

I sincerely hope and pray that nothing untoward is found. My thoughts are with all serving our community in the Police Service of Northern Ireland at this time. Those who continually seek to create terror in Northern Ireland need to know that we will not put up with this. You will be found by the PSNI and brought before the courts.

Originally posted at Michael Carchrie Campbell.

Related articles

• Republican dissidents blamed for planting bombs in Northern Ireland – The Guardian (guardian.co.uk)
• Fuse was lit on bomb under car (express.co.uk)

Dear Nick Griffin we do have a democratic mandate against hate

Speaking on the Stephen Nolan show yesterday Nick Griffin brought his BNP rhetoric to Northern Ireland, including saying that there was no “democratic mandate” for the influx of foreign nationals into the Province.

While there may be a mandate for the number of people that come into Northern Ireland from elsewhere, there is however a democratic mandate for how they should be treated, in the Northern Ireland Act.

Section 75

Statutory duty on public authorities

(1)A public authority shall in carrying out its functions relating to Northern Ireland have due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity—

(a)between persons of different religious belief, political opinion, racial group, age, marital status or sexual orientation;

(b)between men and women generally;

(c)between persons with a disability and persons without; and

(d)between persons with dependants and persons without.

(2)Without prejudice to its obligations under subsection (1), a public authority shall in carrying out its functions relating to Northern Ireland have regard to the desirability of promoting good relations between persons of different religious belief, political opinion or racial group.

Of course this was in the Belfast Agreement so therefore racial equality was democratically mandated by the people of this island for Northern Ireland on 23rd May 1988.

So when Griffen went on to say:

“When you see a town changing from something which is, in fact, divided among Protestants and Catholics, and when you go there 25 years later and whole areas of it look like Africa or China, you know there is a problem.”

Yes the problem is you Mr Griffen, speaking against the democratic will of the people that all people should be treated equally is the problem.

So now we are overseas

How do you define abroad?

UK shown in lilac

For some, as we are an island state, the term is often interchangeable with overseas. But seeing as we are the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland those of us in the Northern Ireland branch of the Liberal Democrats didn’t think the term applied to us.

Yesterday myself and other members of Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats received the April newsletter from Liberal Democrats Abroad much to our surprise. Now we know that the Assembly Commission are going to be considering whether to fly the Irish Tricolour alongside the Union Flag at Stormont.

But we think that as election and referendum geeks we might have noticed a referendum for the people of Northern Ireland to determine if they were part of the UK or Ireland or independent. Indeed many of the local party would probably have been heavily involved in campaigning during such a self determination referendum.

Scarily also considering there are local elections next month in parts of England, and all councils in Wales and Scotland the only request for telephone canvassing is London.

Maybe, just maybe, this may be another instance of party members in charge of various sections of our party based in London not realising that the Northern Ireland Lib Dems are part of the Federal Party, part of the UK. Or maybe we are just part of them ignoring the needs of the party outside the M25.

Don’t we get a say on the extra £60 here in Norn Irn

Obviously when the Lib Dems in Government at Westminster talked about increasing the income tax threshold they meant it be for all the UK.

The excellent website, set up by Tim Gordon, asking people what they would do with it however, makes it impossible for me or the rest of our local party to tell people what we would put it towards.

Yes sadly the old problem that some of the rest of the Liberal Democrats seem to forget that we actually exist over here.

Northern Irish name checked at Scottish Conference

Nick Clegg with Scottish Lib Dem Leader Willie Rennie

Nick Clegg in his speech to the Scottish Liberal Democrat conference this weekend mentioned the Northern Irish.

The people of the United Kingdom have a rich shared heritage. We share a culture, a history and an identity. We live side by side in towns and cities across the British Isles. Scottish, English, Welsh and Northern Irish people are together every day, in offices and factories, school classrooms and playing fields. We have rallied together in hard times. Our forefathers fought together and died together, just as brave Scottish, English, Welsh and Northern Irish service men and women are fighting side by side in faraway lands right now. For centuries we have crossed each others borders, married each other, raised families together. What Scot doesn’t have any English, Welsh or Northern Irish in their family tree? I believe the bonds that bring us together are stronger than the forces that would tear us apart.

I do not recall a leader of any of the other UK wide parties name checking our wee country in such a way in a keynote speech to conference. No doubt this is in part due to the presence that the Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats have had in recent years of shaping the Liberal Democrat narrative, making our voice heard to the leadership and Ministers in Government and standing up for liberal values in Northern Ireland even though we do not contest election here.

Our course our local party here has also had connections to England, Scotland and Wales with members having strong connections familial and otherwise. But all of us continue to stand up for the principles in which we believe.

Belfast Telegraph is church land grab

Oh dear, the city name in the title of Northern Ireland’s biggest paper must have got to them. The above headline about a welcome restoration and regeneration project to St. Columb’s Cathedral.

I was very recently near St. Columb’s as I was attending a funeral in one of the nearby churches which just happens to be on a different part of that city’s walls.

St. Columb's Cathedral

Yeah, that is right St. Columb’s is about 100km away from Belfast in Derry/Londonderry. Perhaps the writer or subeditor needs a brief Northern Irish geography lesson.

Equal Marriage marching on except in Northern Ireland

Liberal Democrats at Edinburgh’s Equal Marriage March Picture copyright Liberal Youth Scotland

On Valentine’s Day our Lib Dem colleagues in Scotland joined others for a march to Holyrood in support of equal marriage. As you may be aware there has been a consultation process there into the subject and the Government are now considering those submissions. There will also be a consultation by Westminster covering England and Wales.

However, the week before in the Northern Ireland Assembly the subject of the Sexual Orientation Strategy once again emerged from the long grass it has spent most of a decade in to feature at the top of First Minister’s Questions. With the Junior Minister saying that OFMDFM do intend to publish this strategy and the revised Cohesion Sharing and Integration programme this year it fell on Green Party MLA Steven Agnew to ask about one specific.

You can find out more about what he asked and what implications is has on the LGBT+ Lib Dems Northern Ireland site.

The politics of football

Just when you hear that the DUP First Minister is attending GAA games and talking about inclusion they go and mess up understanding of ‘the other’ community once again.

The field of play is the football field, ironically as Martin McGuinness is looking to attend a football match at Windsor Park. But of course it all stems back to the Belfast Agreement that allows anyone on the Irish islands to identify as a British and/or Irish Subject/Citizen. Because of that until a footballer declares a senior level he can play for either Northern Ireland or Ireland through the junior levels and then change allegiance. The net gains are the Irish set up at present.

Nigel Dodds and the DUP want to close this loophole in adults making the decision as to which country to declare for. Often schoolboys decide for the one where they are currently living as it is easier when it comes to travelling.

This is nothing new I remember watching a young Alan Kernaghan play at schoolboy level for Northern Ireland down the road at Clandeboye Park, to later have the Ireland full international play some of his last competitive games as player/assistant manager at Livingston.

Some of our other sports Rugby, Cricket, even bowls compete at an all-Ireland level. A notable exception who came the other way is Barry McGuigan who while from Clones, boxed for Northern Ireland in the 1978 Commonwealth Games, but Ireland in the 1980 Olympics, only to take British Citizenship so he could box for British titles when he turned pro.

There is still a flaw in Dodd’s reasoning and that is that FIFA will still operate the Grandparent rule by which if one of your grandparents were born in a FIFA affiliated member you can decide to play for that one. Many people in Northern Ireland have some connection with the rest of the island. Indeed I’m one such person who when I was an adult considered using that rule when it came to my registration with the IAAF (International Amateur Athletic Federation). With a grandmother born in Donegal I could have competed for the Irish team which at the time would have been easier than the very competitive GB&NI team.

However, the fact that Dodds wants to stop sportspeople deciding when they reach adulthood which nation to represent is in contravention of their rights as laid out in the Belfast Agreement. It is a decision that has been upheld by the Court of Arbitration in Sport. But what is most certainly is, however, is yet another example of the DUP talking about understanding of ‘other communities’ yet falling short when they want something different that the DUP’s unionist ideals.

New Executive Committee

At the well attended AGM of the Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats earlier this evening the following people were elected to the executive committee.

Chair: John O’Neill

Treasurer: Michael Carchrie Campbell

Membership Development Officer: Stephen Glenn