Skewster

Worthy of mention is the growing ‘apreciation society’ on Facebook for Iris Robinson’s former toyboy Kirk McCambley.

The 21 year-old, a Roman Catholic cafe owner, was named as the young lover of Mrs Robinson during a BBC documentary , which went on to make a series of allegations about her financial dealings.

Within hours of the documentary airing on the BBC, almost 2,000 people had joined a group, the Kirk McCambley Appreciation Society , on the social networking site.

via The Telegraph

More people gobsmacked that McCambley is apparently a Roman Catholic. A love lust that transcended age, the sanctity of marriage and the ginormous Northern Irish religious divide. Some wag quipped: she was reaching out to the Catholic community…

I’m going to break with a very long retirement to laugh out loud at Iris Robinson. Actually, I’m not really laughing out loud at her, it’s a pretty horrible situation to be stuck in the middle of… The silly old girl went and had an ‘innappropriate relationship‘ with a much younger man (read: ~40 years her junior), and cleverly managed to wrap up a whole lot of financial irregularity into the whole affair. More on the whole sordid scandal at Slugger O’Toole.

In the first instance – congratulations to Iris on having a rather sexually liberating affair, after living what must have been an awful sham of a repressed conservative Christian lifestyle. Sometimes a woman just needs to loosen up a little. And bravo on the efficiency of hitting the ‘sex scandal’ and ‘financial scandal’ targets with just one stone. That’s the kind of councillor you want in your area – someone who can pull strings and get our young folk set up in business. Even if it is just young folk we happen to be straddling

Note: If you’re not familiar with Iris Robinson, she’s the wife of Northern Ireland’s First Minister, Peter Robinson. Together, they form the ultimate Unionist power couple. Or did. They espoused a conservative Christian/hardline Unionist outlook that certain cliched corners of Northern Irish culture love (partly because they have no imagination, partly because most of ‘em are over 60). Until recently, she was most famous for telling the world that “gays are an abomination” and recommending a psychiatrist who”d talk them out of their filthy ways.

Wait 'til I get my hands on that b*****d...

Part of me feels a little sorry for her. She did try to kill herself. Her husband did just go on out to work as usual that day.

But then part of me thinks – why not? Let’s not try and wrap this up in outdated Christian blech about forgiveness and human frailty. This is a woman who publicly denounced gays as abominations. I don’t even wnat to know what her position on evolution is, or whether she’s a fully subscribed fan of Leviticus.

Or maybe the mental illness made her come out and make her anti-homosexual proclaimation? Maybe we should just ignore everything she’s ever said publically?

For me, this should be the final nail in the coffin of the DUP and those stupid, traditionalist Unionist movements. They’re corrupt to the core. This just proves it. How many scandals has Ian “walking liability” Paisley Jr been involved in? What about Sammy Wilson? Now Iris and Peter are up to their immaculately exfoliated necks in shit. It’s either endearingly human of them to err in this way, or it’s out-and-out corrupt. You decide.

The only thing to worry about is what effect destroying Peter Robinson’s political career will have on Northern Ireland. For all the Assembly’s ineffectiveness, handing it over to someone else within the DUP or the dusty old Ulster Unionists might be as big a mistake as sticking with Peter.

But at the end of the day, this is what you get when you elect a bunch of dusty, bible-bashing pricks into government: they feel they can lecture you ad-nauseum without having to adhere to their own chosen rule book. And don’t give me a lot of faff about forgiveness when your ‘party’ is a pseudo-religious movement well-known for holding everybody else’s sins to account.

This is why I’ve always had a problem with the established political order in Northern Ireland – they think they can get away with murder.

In a move destined to shock absolutely no-one in Northern Ireland, Ian Paisley Jr is

a) angry
b) offended
c) outraged
d) all of the above

by Tony Blair’s remarks about the Protestant Bigot. The gist of Blair’s outburst was aimed at Muslin extremists, but used a local analogy to spice things up:

“They are no more proper Muslims than the Protestant bigot who murders a Catholic in Northern Ireland is a proper Christian.

“But unfortunately, he’s still a Protestant bigot.

“To say his religion is irrelevant is both completely to misunderstand his motive and to refuse to face up to the strain of extremism within his religion that has given rise to it.”

Somehow, the outrage filter that exists in Paisley Jr’s head has picked up on this and amplified it into a mass insult of the entire Protestant population! Aided and abetted by “Friend of the DUP”, Reg Empey and former Presbyterian moderator Ken Newell, this formidable threesome have launched (seperate) attacks on Tony Blair on behalf of all Protestants. Hooray! Champions of the cause!

Is it possible that Tony Blair is speaking about a more distant period in (Northern) Ireland where the Catholic population were less well treated than they are now? I think so.

If Blair had launched an attack on ruthless Athiest murderers, I – as an Athiest – would not be offended. Because I am not a murderer. Therefore if I were a common-or-garden-Protestant, I would not be offended at the “Protestant Bigot” statement, because Tony Blair is patently not referring to me. Understand?

Now, if I was a Protestant bigot, or my father was a Protestant bigot, perhaps I’d be more pissed off. But let’s not blow the whole thing out of proportion, shall we?

A University of Ulster report that suggests that Northern Ireland’s politicians are “badly out of step with ordinary people“.

Interestingly, the research shows that a growing number of DUP supporters think the party needs to learn to compromise.

I’m slightly sceptical of this, and the claim that “support among DUP voters for power-sharing had doubled between 1998 and 2003″. Obviously, this doesn’t sit comfortably with the DUP claim that they’ve been elected on an Anti-Agreement ticket.

Which is it? Do the majority of people want working institutions in Northern Ireland, or do they prefer “The Jerry Springer Show” that the previous Assembly represented? Would they have voted for the DUP if they wanted peace?

Sectarian Headcount

The research also criticises the Good Friday Agreement for failing to move politics in Northern Ireland away from the traditional ‘sectarian headcount’ model.

While there’s truth in that, I don’t feel there’s any way to move beyond that model when most people in Northern Ireland designate themselves Unionist, Nationalist or Other. And when the GFA was negotiated from these polarised viewpoints, it’s no shock that this is the form the Assembly took too.

The question I am asking – to anyone who cares to answer – is are we ready to move beyond the failed politics of Unionist v Nationalist? I know I am. I know others who are. But are the majority of people on the street ready to come out and say to the politicians “Stop dicking around and make the Assembly work!”

Because, if this report is correct (and I hope it is), it hints at an attitude shift in hardcore Unionism that might eventually lead to practical, mutually beneficial solutions in this part of the Emerald Isle!

I just wonder if our politicians (particularly the hardcore) are brave enough to embrace the will of the people, or if they’ll find some way to twist the agenda yet again. I’d love to see the Jerry Springer-style politics put to bed permanently.

Well, this one’s been up for a few weeks. I’ll admit I forgot that the poll was there for a while! Having said that, 87 people had their say on the matter…

All counted, we have a slim majority (51%) of folk who think it’s time to sever the MLA salaries. 23% disagree and want to keep paying good money for no results. 26% didn’t give a toss and were probably here for the post about Paperdoll Heaven instead!

Anyway, I think it’s all academic. Stopping MLA salaries is a good idea, but it’s never going to happen.

The politicians will continue to run around in circles, chasing the same old issues but ultimately doing nothing productive. The DUP will drag the peace process out for years before grudgingly going into Government with Sinn Fein. And for some reason – science will one day explain – we will all sit passively by and watch as it all happens.

El Blogador has posted a very interesting biography of the DUP‘s Deputy Leader, Peter Robinson.

What an eye-opener!

I’ll be the first to admit I don’t have an encyclopedic knowledge of Northern Irish politics, or its ‘personalities’, but seeing a man who refuses to talk to terrorists and criminals dressed up in his beret and toting a rifle is frightening.

What’s much more frightening is that the electorate are so blinded by their own biggotry that they can’t see this blatant hypocrisy staring them straight in the face. Yes, that goes for Loyalists and Republicans!

It has been famously said that Sinn Fein aren’t fit for government in the Republic of Ireland. Well, neither Sinn Fein or the DUP are they fit for government in the North. Both parties are populated by extremists who cannot empathise with the ‘other side’, and in all the years of this conflict they still haven’t matured enough to learn to compromise.

And yet – much more shameful – are the great biggoted masses who vote by flag and nothing else. What can be done about educating the public about political deceit and double standards? Or are these things sanctioned by the voters themselves?

Over to you….

On to more serious matters for this week’s poll. ‘Big’ Peter Hain’s threatening to crack down on playground politics by taking away our politicians’ pocket money.

What do you folks think? Will a loss of salary sharpen Unionist appetites for a power-sharing executive with Republicans?

I’ll confess to having a quiet smirk at the volley of responses to Hain’s threat/statement. Not sure if it’ll hold water, or if he’ll even act upon it (since he hasn’t given any deadline for progress). However, people need to be aware that there’s currently no penalty for political dithering – these arses could debate until the Apocalypse and still get paid for it. Over to you…..