Blue Shirts will come a calling

I have to say that towards the end of the election I was a little confused by the faux outrage of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael at the mere mention by Frank Flannery, Fine Gael Strategy Supremo, that perhaps the time was coming when the Blue Shirts would have to consider government with Sinn Féin.



According to Dermot Ahern he was sick to his stomach, so was I..........I thought Flannery said Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil.

As a Socialist Republican the idea of being in government with Fine Gael/West Brits makes my stomach churn.

That said politics is the art of the possible and while my political sensibilities would be challenged by such a proposal I would never rule it out if a programme for government could be agreed.

I am involved with the Republican struggle in order to advance Republican objectives and if they can be furthered by going into government with Fine Gael then I would hold my nose and support Sinn Féin TD's walking into the Dáil and voting Enda Kenny as Taoiseach.

The political reality is thus, if after the next election numbers dictate that Sinn Féin will be in government then Sinn Féin will be in government.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil may like to pretend otherwise but both know that is the reality of Southern politics.

Governments there have a history of strange bedfellows.

Charlie Flanagan, Justice Spokesperson for Fine Gael, seems to see that political reality as well.

Every Irish political party emerged from the barrell of a gun in one way or another, to suggest otherwise is rank hypocrisy.

For Fine Gael to venerate a man like Michael Collins and then turn their nose up at so-called Sinn Féin/IRA gunmen does leave me with a wry smile.

Fine Gael don't do rank hypocrisy, but if they did......

No longer "The Republican Party"

I have long argued that Fianna Fáil may be "The Republican Party" but that their Republicanism ends at the Armagh/Louth border.

So it comes as no surprise that Fianna Fáil Minister of State at the Department of Finance Martin Mansergh said there was no stomach among mainstream parties south of the border for ending partition.

"The Republic is engaged in a major struggle to maintain, within the EU and indeed the euro zone, its economic viability and sovereignty"

"It is hardly the moment to press claims to the north which we have renounced"

Fianna Fáil may have declared the 26 counties a Republic but it is not the "Republic" as proclaimed by the leaders of 1916.

According to the Fianna Fáil website

"Fianna Fáil adheres to the great democratic principle of government of the people, by the people and for the people. The party’s name incorporates the words ‘The Republican Party’ in its title. Republican here stands both for the unity of the island and a commitment to the historic principles of European republican philosophy, namely liberty, equality and fraternity"

So according to this the entire raison d'etre of Fianna Fáil calling themselves "The Republian Party" is for the unity of the island.

In light of this revelation by Mansergh perhaps the time has come for the Solidiers of Destiny to drop their title of Republicanism.

Et Tu Jim

The emergence of the backwoodsmen in the form of Jim Allister and the TUV must be a nightmare scenario for the DUP.

Shouting from the sidelines, constant negativity and paranoia...now Peter the Punt knows how David Trimble must have felt.

The problem for the DUP is that they must know what was coming; they perfected the dark arts as now practised by the TUV.

Yet they still selected a poor candidate in the form of Dianne Dodd's, a woman with all the charisma of an undertaker. That's perhaps unfair to undertakers.

Dromore should have been a wake up call for the DUP to observe the warning signs of history.

David Trimble tried to operate "one foot in and one foot out" in relation to the Devolution project and he got lynched because of it.

The DUP should fully embrace the new dispensation instead of doing everything with forced effort and snarling.

I'm not talking about a chuckle brother’s moment; I'm talking about political maturity and taking some of the negativity and hate out of things.

Elected politicians should provide leadership to their communities, not pander to the lowest common denominator.

If Robbo et al spend all their time looking over their shoulder at Allister and Co then they are destined to fail.

The emergence of the TUV as a political reality does present some interesting scenarios for Republicans.

With Unionism now divided Westminster presents us with additional opportunities for possible growth.

Jim Allister has already stated his intention to run in North Antrim at the next Westminster election and judging by Labour's problems I foresee an election before next year.

The TUV took 13.7% of the Euro vote and that vote came straight from the DUP.

Now I understand the Allister can't stand in every constituency but if the TUV manage to find semi-credible candidates they should be able to garner 10% on a good day.

If we take 10% as the bench mark then the DUP stand to lose 3 Westminster seats.

Upper Bann, South Antrim and North Belfast.

In Upper Bann at the last Assembly election the DUP achieved 31.4% of the vote and Sinn Féin achieved 25.3%. If a TUV candidate stood and was able to garner 7% of the vote the seat would transfer to Sinn Féin and John O'Dowd.

In South Antrim the DUP achieved 34.5% and the UUP achieved 20.5%.

Now at the Assembly election we had quite a substantial Alliance Vote and judging by the last Westminster election the DUP and UUP were quite close here.

If the TUV stood they would almost certainly gift the UUP with the seat.

In North Belfast the DUP garnered 37.4% to Sinn Féin's 30.6% with some Nationalist tactical voting and a semi-credible TUV candidate and the seat could move to Sinn Féin and Gerry Kelly.

This is all conjecture however due to Gordon Brown's proposed changes to the first past the post election system and the TUV still being an Allister project and not fully tested on a constituency by constituency basis.

That said it's enough to give many in the DUP nightmares.

What we do know for sure is that the TUV intend to stand candidates at the next Assembly election and create, what Allister called, "a traditional Unionist bulkhead".

Should that plan arise to fruition I present you Martin McGuinness First Minister.

Cllr Christy Burke quits Sinn Féin

I was saddned to hear the news that long standing Sinn Féin Councillor Christy Burke has decided to leave the party just days after he was re-elected with the help and support of that party.

Christy's reasons for leaving will soon become clear but he has suggested that he wasn't given enough support during the election.

I have no intention of washing internal party dirty linen in public so I will say only two things.

Firstly I would like to thank Christy Burke for all his hard work and wish him all the best in the future.

I would also like to echo the call from Aengus Ó Snodaigh and call on Christy to give back the seat to Sinn Féin, a party who have just got him re-elected.

A cross roads

Now that the Euro Elections and the local elections in the 26 counties are over I thought I'd add my tuppence worth to the debate.

As always I will be focusing on the Sinn Féin perspective because to be quite honest that's the only perspective I'm interested in.

This has been an election of mixed results for Sinn Féin and I'm left with a somewhat empty feeling; neither happy nor sad by the results.

First off let's look at the good results for Sinn Féin in these elections.

Bairbre deBrun was re-elected in the 6 counties and topped the poll as well, much to the dismay of the Unionist superiority complex.

Toiréasa Ferris had a massive vote in Munster and came very close to winning a seat; increasing our vote by 6.2%.

We also broke new ground in many areas of the 26 counties with wins in Limerick, Wicklow and Mayo amongst others.

The bad comes next

Mary Lou McDonald failed to retain her MEP seat when the Dublin constituency fell from a 4 to a 3 seater. Her vote was actually down by 2.5%

Our vote in Dublin City was actually down by 5.8% during an economic recession when people were deserting Fianna Fail in their thousands.

Our vote overall in the local elections was down by 0.7%.

We lost councillors in Meath, Dublin, Wexford and Waterford including Daithi Doolan and John Dwyer.

I next want to examine each aspect of the elections in turn and then give my opinion as to where we go from here.

Euro Elections

6 Counties

With 26% of the vote (126, 184 votes to be precise) it's pretty much as you were for Sinn Féin when you consider the reduced turnout.

The only difference this time was the introduction of the TUV and Jim Allister who split the Unionist vote and allowed Republicanism to claim the top spot for the first time in the history of EU Elections.

In reality though as this is a PR election it matters not a jot who tops the poll but I will enjoy the machinations of delusional Unionists who miss not being top dog.

26 Counties

At 11.3% overall our vote is up by 0.1%, our poor showing in Dublin and the North West masked by a massive increase in Munster.

Dublin

This was always going to be a hard election for us to win for a number of reasons. This constituency moved from a 4 to a 3 seater.

Mary Lou has also been subject to some pretty nasty press, some perhaps justified but in the whole quite disgusting and a lot of it sexist.

That said we are in the middle of an economic recession and Finna Fail have been haemorrhaging votes by their thousands yet we are actually down by 2.5%.

It doesn't take a genius to work out that something isn't right.

I like Mary Lou, she is a very competent and likeable person but like a lot of Sinn Féin candidates they are either loved or loathed and not in equal measure.

I certainly detected an anyone but Mary Lou atmosphere amongst the establishment parties exemplified by arch-Blue Shirt Gareth "Thatcher's Bitch" Fitzgerald calling on voters to vote for Pro-Lisbon candidates i.e. including Fianna Fail and Green candidates.

With all that considered I still say that it is our own difficulties that cost us this seat. The Socialist Party had a 6.9% swing in this election so other left wing candidates did do well. Just not us unfortunately.

After the Policing Ard Fheis we lost a lot of good people in Dublin. I know a lot of people involved with the party restructure in Dublin and the simple reality is that we are just not strong enough in that area.

Dublin is the lynch pin for our advance in the 26 counties and in that respect we need more focus in building up this part of our organisation.

If we don’t succeed we could be faced with the prospect of having no Dublin TD’s after the next election.

I'll return to this later in the post.

The only consolation with the result is that Joe Higgins got elected and the seat stayed with the Left. I have a lot of time for Joe Higgins personally and the Dail is a loss without his presence.

North West

At 9.2% of the vote we are down by almost 5.6% and the reason for this is quite simple. Declan Gangley of Libertas took a serious amount of Anti-Lisbon votes that would otherwise have come to us and the introduction of Pat The Cope Gallagher stopped the mass exodus of Fianna Fail Republican votes coming to us.

The election of Pat The Cope does however present us with opportunities that I will return to later.

South

This was our best performance in the Euro's for a number of reasons. Toiréasa Ferris had a fantastic election increasing our vote by 6.2% and coming very close to taking a seat that nobody expected her to take.

She also presented herself as a new Sinn Féin candidate; young, bright, articulate and in touch with modern Ireland. She also broke the old tradition of Sinn Féin candidates being transfer repellent as the early stages of the South count showed.

The By-Elections

Dublin South

No real change, a very slight change so as you were to a large degree. Celebrity Blue-Shirt George Lee romped home; I wonder how many of the Fine Gael front bench are now perhaps sorry that Labour's Alex White didn't win.

Dublin Central

With Mary Lou focusing on Europe it fell to party stalwart Christy Burke to mount the Sinn Féin challenge. I say challenge but we were never going to be part of the race.

This was a battle between the Ahern's Drumcondra machine in the form of Maurice Ahern, brudder of BBBBertie, Fine Gael's Paschal Donohue and Maureen O'Sullivan "The Gregory Candidate".

I was happy to see Maurice Ahern slapped aside, even more so when he lost his Council seat by 14 votes to Sinn Féin's Seamus McGrattan. I dare say that Mary Fitzpatrick is even more delighted.

The problems I see for Sinn Féin here lie in the future and any challenge by Mary Lou for a seat.

Paschal Donohue looks set for a seat for Fine Gael. Maureen O'Sullivan will be hard to shift. Joe Costello looks even more secure of a seat when you consider the Labour gains in Dublin. Mary Fitzpatrick is almost assured a seat for Fianna Fail so where does that leave Sinn Féin and Mary Lou?

With our vote down by 5.8% in the city and the tide being with Labour and Fine Gael has our ship sailed?

The Local Elections

Overall our vote is down by 0.7% and when you consider our gains versus our loses it’s pretty much “as you were” in terms of local government.

This is not a good result by any standard during our current economic circumstances.

People are deserting Fianna Fail and the Greens but they are not coming to Sinn Féin on the whole. They are going to Fine Gael, Labour, Independents and other smaller left groups.

In effect they are going to anyone but Sinn Féin.

I said after the last election that we would need to make changes before these elections if we had any chance of clawing back support in the next general election.

Serious change has been made in terms of organisation, structure and leadership issues.

To borrow a phrase from Fianna Fail; a lot done but more to do.

It's hard to know where to start when you consider the challenges facing us. The main thing to say is our lack of media access.

The loss of the technical group was a hammer blow to us after the last election in terms of getting our message out and left the field open to Fine Gael and Labour to mop us disaffected government voters.

Despite being integral to the Anti-Lisbon vote the hostile Southern Media sought to give all the kudos to Gangley and Libertas as a way of stifling the growth of Sinn Fein.

Where do we go from here?

Onwards and upwards is my initial hope. Too much rests on the Republican project for us to continue to stagnate.

Core Values

We need to continue our work in espousing key Sinn Féin values

1. Popular Republicanism
2. Left Wing Values
3. Community Activitism

Within these values we need to balance a host of interests. We need to be seen as an All-Ireland party as opposed to a Northern Based party.

This means promoting key people, based on talent and not geography. I'm talking about people like Toiréasa Ferris, Pearse Doherty, Padraig MacLoughlinn, Daithí McKay and other young, educated and articulate candidates.

I'm talking about people who your typical voter can relate to in this modern era of apathy and cynicism.

We need to move on from the leadership of Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness and focus on a younger and more diverse leadership team.

Now before anyone goes nuts or media commentators start quoting me as calling on Gerry and Marty to go let me explain.

I'm not talking about replacing Gerry or Martin in the short term but neither is getting any younger. Sinn Féin has always prided itself on being the party of the youth but their are quite a few on the Ard Chomhairle who are no spring chickens.

We need to be succession planning for the future the same way that any company would and that means the older generation across the country creating space for the younger members.

We need to focus on our policy substance or lack thereof and our lack of a short term strategic vision. As Republicans we are great at seeing "the bigger picture" as a man I know likes to say but some times the short term is just if not more important.

-What are our plans for getting the country out of recession?
-What plans do we have around job creation?
-If we were in government what cuts would we make and where?
-Where would we raise taxes to cover the deficit?
-What's or transport policy for the next 10 years?
-What's our policy for strategic planning and the urban sprawl?

These are the types of questions that people have. A United Ireland is important but for the vast majority of people it is not the burning question at the dinner table.

The burning questions are around mortgage payments, interest rates, affordable childcare and how people are going to put food on the table.

Unless we are able to provide people with a strategic vision for the short to medium term we are going nowhere, it's that simple.

That leads very easily on to my next point, ideological placement. What this election has shown is that there are votes out there for people across the ideological spectrum so long as voters of whatever percussion believe what you are saying.

I believe that we damaged that position at the last election. We lost trust and that's something that is very easy to lose but harder to win back

It's my belief that we should place ourselves left of centre in order to tackle the labour vote while leaving us open to attracting the Fianna Fail Republican vote.

Our main concern should not be about trying to run before we can walk. We need to break the 10% barrier. I've always believed that if you get the small things right the big things will follow.

In that respects we need to work on the following four areas and I already accept that a lot of good work has and is being done in this respect.

1. Organisational Review
2. Party Building
3. Strategic Policy Formation
4. Communication

1. Organisational Review

Are our structures fit for purpose? If the answer is no, and in my view that is the answer, then they need to be changed. Our internal structures are not conducive to streamlined efficiency; they are overloaded, inefficient and lead to people working harder as opposed to smarter.

Cut the red tape, increase transparency and political governance, simplify the structures and you will decrease burnout and increase productivity. It may sound business like but in some respects that is how we need to be.

We are involved in lots of activities and organisations that while admirable and noble provide us with no electoral or political advantage.

My simple rule is thus, if you don't accrue political capital either electorally or advance the ultimate goal then that activity is a drain on resources and should be stopped.

It may sound cruel but people have only so much time they are prepared to dedicate to Republican issues and we should be funnelling that time in the most productive fashion.

To that fact I would like to see an internal audit actioned to determine this issue and make recommendations to the Ard Chomhairle.

2. Party Building

The simple fact is thus, we are not big enough to be able to expand in the ways we would like. In that respect we need to build the party. We need to bring people back if we can and we need to bring new people in and that means being pro-active.

In areas like Dublin there is a massive job of work to do here and it should be led by those in the locality.

As a general rule we should nurture home grown talent as opposed to flying in someone else.

3. Strategic Policy Formation

More needs to be done in this area and while we have some excellent policy documents these are only the skeleton. We need to bring in outside experts in this respect and we need to pay.

Yes I know in Sinn Féin that is a dirty word but it's necessary. My father always said if you work for nothing you'll have plenty of work but that is not the philosophy we should have to policy.

We need to focus on 5 key areas of change and we need to arm all our activists with this information once it has been formulated.

We should produce literate and publish it through every door. We should also seek feedback from the public.

What issues are most important to you and what would you like Sinn Féin to do about it.

This would be a volume of work but it would be time well spent.

It would show the general public that we are committed to change and determined to better their lives. It would also allow us to engage with the public in a way which is not possible during elections.

4. Communication

I know that we face a hostile media and there isn't much we can do about that. We need to think outside the box and that means using new media and self publishing.

Now I know lots of areas have their own local publications but how many of these are read by the average Joe?

We need to look at the print media, why do people buy certain newspapers and what makes them successful.

We need to get strategic in terms of communication and this again costs money.

If you can't get your message out there and get at least a section of the public to buy into it then you can't grow.

This blog isn't meant to be critical; it is supposed to be a discussion piece and a formative tool in order for us to advance.

With the election of Pat The Cope we have an instant opportunity to highlight ourselves. Pearse Doherty should be blooded and allowed to show his considerable skills and talents.

I have serious concerns that unless we continue to change we will stagnate.

The Republican project is too important for any of us to allow that to happen

Update

The Euro and Local Elections in the 26 counties are over and the dust begins to settle.

I'd say I feel fairly ambivalent at the moment, some good news but some bad news as well.

I am in the middle or writing up an in-depth analysis of the election from the Sinn Féin perspective as I see it but I want to wait until we get the final results in the locals.

I also want to do a post in relation to the TUV impact on any future Assembly/Westminster election and the gains for Sinn Féin.

I'm sorry I haven't posted in such a long time but work has been mental; 60-80hr weeks. I shouldn't complain though.

There are a great many the length and breath of Ireland who are without a job.

I'm on a few days holidays so I intend to put up a few posts tonight and over the next few days.

A view into the abyss

A few days have gone by and the political climate of the North of Ireland has changed exponentially.

The last few days have been a real challenge to my belief system and my, what can only be described as, "historical Republicanism".

I was brought up in a family, village, area and community where those who choose the political path at the time of a Republican split were viewed as traitors.

This is one part of the new political dispensation that I have always struggled with, a nagging doubt at the back of my mind if you will.

The IRA was founded 90 years ago during the Tan War. When Collins and others signed the treaty with the British the IRA condemned them as traitors and treated them as men who had sullied the proud tradition of Republicanism.

At the time of the split with the stickies in 1969, the Provisional’s arose out of the ashes of the Bogside and Belfast. They denounced those who wished to play politics while our people in Belfast faced a loyalist pogrom from Unionist death squads, the RUC and the B Specials.

What followed was merely a continuation of the armed struggle that had begun when the Republic was proclaimed in 1916.

Today we find ourselves in a different situation and I find myself on the wrong side according to traditional Republican orthodoxy.

According to Republican history as soon as the movement turns political it splits and the one which heads towards politics is replaced by a new group of volunteers ready to carry on the fight against the British.

I have often wondered how I would face this moment when it came, as I suspected it would.

Republicans loyal to the Republican movement and the leadership of Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness all face this challenge to our core beliefs.

This week witnessed an historic first when Martin McGuinness declared these dissidents as "traitors to the island of Ireland".

Many within the Republican community were unsettled by this statement from Martin; indeed the dissidents were enraged beyond belief.

To describe a man/woman as a traitor in Republican circles is the ultimate taboo. It denotes touts and collaborators, those who oppose the very essence of Irish Republicanism.

I happen to think that Martin was right to say what he said, indeed it needed to be said to stop any potential leakage of support to these dissidents.

Martin is a former leader of Oglaigh Na hÉireann, a man who has dedicated his life to achieving a United Ireland.

His words are all the more significant because of the fact that Martin said it. Martin, more than anyone in the Sinn Féin leadership is the one who resonates in the Republican heartlands.

He has been very open about his involvement in the armed campaign and as a result he has the respect and trust of the heartlands.

The Irish people declared in one clear voice, North and South, in 1998 that the only way to a United Ireland was through politics.

That hasn't changed.

Thus these dissidents are acting against the clear wishes of the Irish people and that I can not support.

My nagging doubt has gone, I have chosen my side in this struggle for independence and I will let history judge if it was the right decision.

I can only follow my conscience.

Republicans need to stand united and strong against this threat to peace, against this threat to progress.

We can do no other!

Pandora's box is smashed opened!

As if the weekend killing of two British soldiers was not enough of a strain upon the peace process I see that the dissidents have now killed a policeman in Craigavon.



It has just been confirmed on BBC

"A police officer has died following a shooting incident in Craigavon, County Armagh. The incident is understood to have happened near Lismore High School at Brownlow. Police came under attack while investigating suspicious activity near the school. "

It seems that the dissidents are intent on opening up the gates of hell for all Irish people.

I would just like to ask these people one simple question.

If, or perhaps more chillingly when, some Unionist Death Squad murder an innocent Catholic in retaliation for these killings are they going to accept that responsibility?

I'm starting to feel slightly angry at the moment and I never thought I would ever feel that reaction in relation to the death of a peeler.

I am convinced that we can gain a United Ireland through political means; I only wish I was as sure of heaven as I am of this.

I am also convinced that all these actions by the dissidents do is to undermine that political change.

Their actions will lead to only two consequences, more Irish sons and daughters in the grave and in jail.

These people have to be faced down, the Irish people need to decry in one clear and determined voice.

Not in my name!!!

It would be easy to sit back and say nothing, allow things to blow over and see what happens.

Republicans have never been shy about taking hard decisions; we have taken them at every turn.

We need to decide between what is right and what is easy.

These people can not succeed in allowing this country to slip back into chaos, they just can't!

The Rubicon has been crossed!

I have to be honest and say that I didn't even hear about the killing of British soldiers until late this morning.

I was in work and myself and a work colleague were heading over to Mass and he informed me about it.

I'm also going to be brutally honest and say that I have mixed feelings on this issue.

I supported the IRA's recent campaign against the British; I also supported their decision to enter the political process. None the less I supported the IRA carrying out similar actions to that which happened in Antrim at the weekend.

More over they were not even Police men, they were members of the British Army, a foreign army of occupation that has no place in Ireland.

While I regret any loss of life I can not stand by and be a hypocrite.

I also feel I should not just go with my gut reaction because that is not looking at the bigger picture.

Gerry Adams sort of sums it up for me. You can also tell by his statement that this is not an easy issue for Republicans

"Last night's attack was an attack on the peace process. It was wrong and counter productive. Those responsible have no support, no strategy to achieve a United Ireland. Their intention is to bring British soldiers back onto the streets. They want to destroy the progress of recent times and to plunge Ireland back into conflict. Irish republicans and democrats have a duty to oppose this and to defend the peace process. There should be an end to actions like the one in Antrim last night. Sinn Fein has a responsibility to be consistent. The logic of this is that we support the police in the apprehension of those involved in last night's attack"

When I do look at the bigger picture I see things quite clearly.

The people involved in this attack have no support; at least no more than one could fill in a phone box.

The Irish people, North and South have voted overwhelmingly for peace. They have voted to unite this country through the ballot box as opposed to the armalite.

The only reaction that these people will get from this attack is for the British army to once again be on our streets and lanes. That is totally unacceptable!

I would like to make it clear that I am not opposed to armed struggle as a general rule.

I will however oppose it when it stands no chance of achieving the objective and when it will only result in more of Ireland's son's and daughters going to jail and the grave.

This is a difficult issue for Republicans but we must face it with maturity and with both eyes set on the bigger picture.

Hearts will not win a political struggle, only the head will.

A return

Hi all, just a quick update for Balrog.



I'm just back from Prague after a very entertaining break.

It is a fantastic city with fine architecture and beauty to rival even Paris and Madrid. While the cuisine left a lot to be desired the drink, or more so the price of it, was a welcome.

It's a city that seems to be flourishing since the fall of the Iron Curtain.

The people were friendly and accomodating and the craic was mighty.

It's a pity we have to come back at times.

Work is still mental, in fact it's going to get worse in the next couple of weeks.

I'll try and post more often than I have but it's all a matter of priorities at the moment.

That said with the European and Local Elections in the 26 counties coming up it is sure to be interesting, made more so with the seismic collapse of Fianna Fail.

While I would like to see Sinn Féin making more progress at this time of economic uncertainity I am content with the slow increase in first preferences.

For me it's more important that we attract preferences in greater numbers than before.

The great Balrog schism

I have decided for the good of Balrog and for my own reasons to cease discussing religious topics on Balrog.



This blog was set up as a political blog and as I am a great believer in a seperation between church and state so must it also be on Balrog.

Don't think however that I will no longer be discussing religion, faith or morals. I have just set up my second blog, The Flame of Truth, to serve this very purpose.

This will be primarily a religious and morality based blog where I can write free from the shackles of my own political scruples.

Everyone is welcome but I would appreciate it if we could keep the politics for Balrog and the religion for The Flame of Truth.

I accept that it will not be that clear cut but as far as possible I would like it to be.

The great Balrog schism has begun.

A new day has dawned..or has it?

Today marks the start of Barack Obama's term as President of the USA. His sobering words were apt in this dark economic and political time.



His election has brought hope to millions of people but hope can quickly change to despair.

From the very start of the Presidential campaign I have supported Obama. He has been an inspiration to many and has given strong indications that he will lead America on a more inclusionist road.

This momentum for change can become a milestone around his neck if he turns out to be all talk and no action.

I hate to view this momentous day through anything but rose tinted glasses but I also have to be honest.

His deafening silence in relation to the Israeli massacre in Gaza was difficult to accept. His choice of staff has also been a cause for concern.

I hope that my doubts are unfounded and that he becomes the President we all hoped he would be.

Words count for nothing though; it's only through actions that we discover the true nature of a man.

I wish Obama the best of luck, he's going to need it!

Faux outrage from Zionists

Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh has annoyed the Israeli Ambassador Zion Evrony and Blue Shirt Alan Shatter.

He did so by attacking their indefensible attempts to justify the Israeli murder campaign in Gaza.

He said “Goebbels would have been proud of the twisted logic and half-truths"

Now, as you can imagine there has been faux outrage from all the usual quarters not least the Zionist Evrony himself.

“What I think overshadows the discussion was this despicable analogy of the deputy of Sinn Féin,”

Why? I think it was a rather appropriate comparison considering the nonsense coming from Tel Aviv.

Evrony hit out at comments from some committee members criticising the proportionality of the Israeli response, claiming they had been spouting misinformation about Jewish history.

This really is starting to get really old. I don't care what religion Mr Evrony or Mr Shatter are; it doesn't pass me a thought.

What does anger me is their wanton disregard for the Palestinian people, their occupation of lands which are not theirs and the total instability that they bring to the region.

The Jews were persecuted during WWII, and many times before, and while I have great sympathy for that fact it does not excuse the recent actions of the Zionists or their actions for the last 50 odd years.

The fact that their family members were gassed 60 years ago does not justify them sending in missiles to refugee camps.

In fact it makes a mockery of the Jews killed during the Nazi regime.

It's a first port of call for any Zionist to accuse their opponent of being an anti-Semite, well I will no longer be responding to that kind of nonsense.

We oppose the Zionist murder campaign in Gaza, we oppose the occupation of Palestinian lands and we oppose their disgusting disregard for the Palestinian people.

I would like to applaud Aengus for his honest remarks.

The sooner Ireland takes the lead in Europe and expels Evrony and his motley crew the better.

"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act"-George Orwell

Sinn Féin-Change needs to happen

The last time I did an in depth and somewhat critical blog about Sinn Féin it created a bit of a fuss and some negative reaction, though on the whole I still believe it was a positive piece.



I see that Eoin Ó Broin has created another piece designed for conversation amongst the Republican base. As always I find great realism and common sense in his articles.

I also came across an excellent article from fellow Sinn Féin comrade Chris Donnelly across on Slugger. It's a very straight to the point article that should be read by as many Sinn Féin members as possible.

It's summed up quite effectively by Chris in his last paragraph

"In sum then, my proposals are simple. The party needs to invest in expertise and innovation, free itself of the shackles of laudable but otherwise counter-productive party rules and conventions and in the process equip itself with a refreshing and attractive policy platform to not only earn a place in government across the country but to utilize that position to transform the political scene in Ireland, in the process shifting others onto the ‘all-Ireland’ platform."

For my own part I am hoping this blog piece will give a general overview of where I see the party lacking as a whole. These suggestions for improvement are for the party as a whole, North and South.

Over the next week I intend to submit two further, more in-depth, articles in relation to the party in the North and the South, what's going well, what needs to change etc.

As I see it the party lacks in four general but key areas

1.Structure
2.Policy
3.Engagement
4.Professionalism

It is my belief that these suggestions cover most of those areas and while not exhaustive and not gospel are a reasonable beginning to a future conversation that must be had in order to advance both our movement and our goals.

1. Bottom-Up

It has long been my belief that as a movement we are too focused on what the leadership are doing, what they are going to do and what their strategies and plans are.

This is not the usual and tired critique that we always hear from the usual suspects about Sinn Féin being a leadership led organisation.

I have been a member of the Republican Movement for close to 10 years now and when ever we have a get together, discussion, meeting or whatever the topic invariably always comes up in relation to the leadership and what they are doing with regard to certain issues.

The leadership of Sinn Féin are only human and they don't have all the answers and never claim to have all the answers.

I also feel that too often the base don't exercise the initiative and demonstrate a bit of critical thinking by coming up with their own plan to resolve a certain issue.

We need to motivate the general base of the movement and make them a more politicised and engaged tool in our political arsenal instead of a reactive one.

The base must take the lead in this new phase of struggle.

To that end we need to radicalise the base, we need to energise the activists, politicise the community and the youth in particular. We need to ensure that a healthy stream of information and ideas flow up as well as down stream.

2. Community Engagement

This for me is highly critical and your Republican bread and butter.

We need to liberate and empower our communities. We need to be the lightning rod for change, both socio-economic and political, within our communities. This should not be about us providing them with solutions but about empowering them to come up with the solution themselves.

The first question that I ask when I hear about Republican involvement in the community is thus

"How are we advancing Republican objectives?"

Republicans should be at the very centre of the community. We should take lessons from the Catholic Church and the GAA in particular. Too often Republicans and Republicanism in general in not accessible to the people.

There is a world of difference between electoral and political power. I'm taking about community groups, PTA's, School Board of Governors, Public Funding groups etc

Our enemies dominate these positions despite the fact that in large areas of the country we are the dominant political force. This reality needs to change and change quickly.

We need an aggressive policy of engagement. We need to get out on the roads, in the community halls, in the pubs, in the houses. We need to be advancing these objectives at every turn.

3. Republicanise our way to glory

It's a very simple fact that we need to make more Republicans in the future. We need to foster and develop a Republican ethos in as many people as possible.

This can be achieved by many different and varied ways

In the media, both local and national, we need "Less Potholes and more Revolution".

I say this as any stoop or Fianna Failure worth their salt has that market covered and will claim credit even when the credit is not theirs. They also have their hands on the levers of power within the established media. This means that what media attention we do get needs to be focused, pro-active and above all "political".

We can spread the pothole stories through community engagement because we have one thing our opponents don't have, a very dedicated activist base.

Education must become our top priority both internally and externally. First of all we need to change our internal attitude towards education as just something for new recruits. Thomas Davis said "Educate so you may be free" and so must it be with us.

Education is our new weapon and every one of our activists must be highly skilled in this art in order to be effective within the community. They need to be able to present our arguments to both friends and foes alike. That means being more up to date on our political progress, activities, policies and positions.

We also need to educate our base and our communities so that they can identify with us and our objectives.

I hear a lot of talk about Unionist Engagement but I don't hear much about other types of engagement. I'm talking about engagement out of own area but still with the general Nationalist/Republican/Catholic/Progressive community.

We need to reach out to other elements of the Republican community. There will always be former comrades that are only motivated by hatred of personalities but a lot of former members simply differ from us on key areas. We need to find common ground where we can and develop that so as to advance our objectives.

We need to be challenging the Yellow and White voter at every turn. We should be engaging with them and challenging their perceptions about us in a proactive and positive manner.

We also need to reach out to new communities like the Poles, Latvians, Chinese etc. The first reason is because it's the right and Republican thing to do but also because it's an untapped resource.

In short our outreach needs to be more than just Unionist.

We should Republicanise every institution at every opportunity; every parish, every club or just one at a time if needs be.

3. Modus Operandi

The question I often ask myself is "Who are we?"

I know who I am; I am a Socialist Republican with a strong Catholic ethos. I also accept that what I am is not necessarily what the movement is or should be.

Socialism is more than a word and when you are implementing PFI's and PPP's those words ring hallow. If we are a Socialist/Left wing movement then we need to start acting like one, no matter if we suffer short-term setbacks as a result.

There is a sizeable left wing constituency out there but they expect and demand a lot more than words, they demand actions to back it up as well.

We need to have a serious and mature debate about who we are, where we have come from and where we are going.

4. Sinn Fein Structures

I'm talking about the Cumann, Chomhairle Ceantair, and Cuige structures that we currently have.

Are they working or are these types of structures holding us back in the 21st Century?

I have long argued that we should departmentalise our structures. Not everyone likes delivering papers, writing press releases, selling raffle tickets, canvassing etc. We need to have an internal audit of our people, their likes and dislikes and their general abilities and strengths.

To this end I would like to see us set up different groups inside the party to handle the different issues that we face.

So for example different departments to handle the following; Finance, Media, Local Govt, Political Action, Policy Formation etc.

In that way we encourage our people to give their best and lessen the likelihood that we lose people.

5. Professionalism

This is an area of critical importance and an area I believe that we are lacking in most in all aspects of our political activities.

To that end policy formation, media, legislative and other aspects of our political discourse must be looked at.

We need to end our long held suspicion of external bodies in this field. If an external body can help us in a certain area then we need to grasp that opportunity with both hands. The fact that they may not be Republican matters not, if they help to advance our objectives then that is all that matters.

University Members is an area that I have long felt we underuse and under develop. We have people in all disciplines that could be contributing so much to our development and we are not using them properly.

As such there is no such thing as a free lunch and as we strive to professionalise our movement, policies and our message we can no longer do that on a shoe string budget. The adequate resources must be made available.

6. Upcoming Opportunities

-Euro Elections
-26 County Local Elections
-Lisbon 2

All of these arenas provides us with an opportunity to advance on our current position. The changes that I suggested need to be looked at shortly in order for us to be ready for bigger and harder challenges.

Since I last posted about the party after the 26 County General Election I have observed a lot of changes but there are more that need to follow.

I'll leave specific Northern and Southern suggestions for my future articles.

We have a unique opportunity to grow and develop but as I see it we are limiting our development.

We can't do much about factors outside our control but we can do lots about those inside our control.

Are we ready or willing to make the necessary changes? Only time will tell!

Gerry Adams and Bloglaigh Na hÉireann

I see that El Presidente Gerry Adams has joined Bloglaigh Na hÉireann with his new "Léargas" blog for the Belfast Media Group.

I would like to wish him all the best with his new blog and encourage all Balrog readers to visit.

Balrog is four years old in March and we have had good times and bad times with this blog.

To the best of my knowledge I was the first person in Sinn Féin with their own blog shortly followed by Wednesday, Ogra Shinn Féin and then by two of our elected reps, Killian Forde and Daithí McKay.

Republicans have never been afraid of embracing new technology although I have found that some are nervous when it comes to new media due to a general mistrust for the media.

Blogging however is the people’s media and something which the likes of the Indo and the Times can't control. It's a very liberated media however many have tried to manipulate the media with the use of blogs.

Balrog has had a recent experience of this when certain criminal elements tried to use this Blog as a platform for spreading the dark arts.

Blogging is what you make it and I would like to encourage more of my comrades into blogging.

Join a blog or set one up yourself, it makes those winter months that little bit shorter.

Blogger defines blogging as

"A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world."

A blog is what you want it to be.

P.S. I don't know how I forgot to mention my erstwhile party comrade from Drogheda and her excellent "Random Rants" blog.

I first met Steph at the USI Congress at the time of the UCD "One Tory, One Bullet" scandal LOL.

Zionists invade Gaza

I see that Israeli land forces have entered Gaza in an escalation of their attempted genocide.

Close to 500 Palestinians, over 100 of which were women and children, have been murdered after almost 8 days of Zionist aggression.

A column of tanks entered the besieged Gaza Strip though the Beit Hanoun crossing shortly after nightfall on Saturday.

Israeli artillery had started firing shells into the Gaza Strip for the first time on Saturday, ahead of the ground offensive.

Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera's senior political analyst, said it best

"Israel can claim in various stages that it has won this or that war against Arabs but it is obvious since the invasion of Lebanon in 1982 that there is no military solution to Israel's security.

It cannot bomb its way into peaceful co-existence. Israel is trying to do all it can to destroy Hamas but with more than 400 dead, there will be more than 400 more new recruits in Gaza.

It has taken this path and will probably pay the price in the long term, short term it's the Palestinians who pay the price."

Khaled Meshaal, the political leader of Hamas, had this to say about the Zionist invasion

"If you commit the stupidity of launching a ground offensive, then a black destiny awaits you, you will soon find out that Gaza is the wrath of God. This battle was imposed on us and we are confident we will achieve victory because we have made our preparations. Our position is clear. We will not give in. Our resolve cannot be broken,"

Hamas and the Palestinian people have every right to defend themselves from this Zionist invader. The carnage that will beset the Zionists will be of their own doing, they and the world must remember that when the time comes.

You can't cage a people, deny them food and medicines, fire rockets in their community and then expect them to sit down and take it.

I see that Bush has finally broken his silence

"I urge all parties to pressure Hamas to turn away from terror, and to support legitimate Palestinian leaders working for peace,"

Legitimate Palestinian leaders??? Like Abbas and Fatah?

Hamas were democratically elected by the people of Gaza and they are the only legitimate leaders in that region.

The others that Bush refers to are corrupt traitors who deserve the justice of a traitor.

My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Gaza as they continue to endure this beast of fury.

May their resolve never falter!

Tony Gregory RIP

I was sad to learn the news that Independent TD Tony Gregory lost his battle with cancer today.

Tony was first elected as a TD in 1981 and started to set himself apart straight away by refusing to wear a tie, something he continued to this day.

He gained national prominence by negotiating the return of Charles J Haughey to power in exchange for a very beneficial and highly necessary support package for the North Inner City and Dublin in general.

The multi-million pound “Gregory deal” is now part of Irish political folklore. The Dublin Central TD received detailed written commitments from Haughey, in February 1982, which it was estimated could cost the Irish exchequer £80 million in a full year.

The written agreement included commitments to nationalise a 27-acre site in Dublin Port and Clondalkin Paper Mills. A total of £4 million was to be allocated to employ 500 extra people in the inner city, while 3,746 jobs were to be created over three years.

State funding would be provided to build 440 new houses in the constituency and another 1,600 in the rest of Dublin.

Tony was a fearless community activist who supported the Concerned Parents against Drugs group. He was an environmentalist, a Gaelgoir and an animal rights enthusiast.

Irish Politics will be the less without his influence.

I didn't agree with all of his politics and positions but there can be no denying his commitment to the North Inner City.

Tony Gregory was a beacon of integrity and honesty in a cesspit of corruption and cute-hoorism that was Dáil Eireann.

My thoughts are with his family and friends and the people of Dublin Central.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam

Persona non grata

The genocide continues unabated in Gaza and as it unfolds we begin to see the outlying dynamics of this election platform.

Israel has an election shortly and that corrupt traitor Abbas tries to use the suffering of the Palestinian people to press a political advantage against Hamas.

Ehud Barak told the Knesset that the Zionist death squads spent "months" preparing for the Gaza slaughter.

Israel has also rejected any calls for a truce as unrealistic!

"There is no room for a ceasefire," Meir Sheetrit, Israel's interior minister, said.

"The Israeli army must not stop the operation before breaking the will of Palestinians, of Hamas, to continue to fire at Israel."

They want to break the will of the Palestinian people? That will never happen!

Now we see the truth loud and clear.

This talk of rockets from Gaza was only a pretext for invasion and both factions in the Zionist cabal try to outdo themselves as war criminals before the Zionist electorate.

I wonder what the ratio is per votes/dead Palestinian.

Is one dead Palestinian child worth 10 votes and a mother worth 6?

I have no doubt that both Egypt and Abbas were complicit in this slaughter, it brings deep anger to my heart when I consider the ties that Sinn Féin has with Fatah.

Mubarak announced on Egyptian television on Tuesday that the Rafah crossing will not be fully re-opened until Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, regains authority in the territory.

"We will not deepen the division and that breach by opening Rafah border crossing in the absence of the Palestinian Authority and the European Union monitors,"

The other day he tried to claim that Hamas were stopping people from crossing but now it becomes clear that he is trying to use the suffering of the Palestinian people for political ends.

As it stands close to 400 people have been murdered by the Zionists, with close to 100 of those being women and children.

It comes as no surprise that the armed wing of Hamas has vowed to send rockets deeper into Israel than ever before if the Zionists continue their deadly bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

"We tell the leaders of the enemy - if you continue with your assault, we will hit with our rockets further than the cities we have hit so far," a masked spokesman for Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said in televised comments on Tuesday.

"If you think that Hamas and al-Qassam will be crushed, we will rise up from the rubble,"

The Palestinian people have a right to defend themselves and their homeland from these Zionists squatters.

I was glad to see that strong condemnation of Israel from the Irish government during the week but I would like to see them go further.

Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations Article 9, a receiving State may "at any time and without having to explain its decision" declare any member of a diplomatic staff "persona non grata".

I would like to see Ireland take a stand in Europe and suspend all diplomatic relations with Israel.

I was encouraged to hear that at least some political figures were suggesting this.

Richard Boyd Barrett of the Irish Anti-War Movement said that Ireland should “take the lead in Europe and end diplomatic relations with Israel”. He said Israel should be boycotted because it is “akin to apartheid South Africa”.

UPDATE:If anyone has an interest in the current slaughter in Gaza then I suggest you read this excellent article in the Observer by Johann Hari.

Lynch's Fifth Column

I have to say that I always find the "30 year rule" releases highly amusing as most of the important stuff is never revealed anyway.

What did catch my eye was the possibility that Jack Lynch may have tried to thwart Thatcher by calling on the Irish people in Britain not to vote Conservative.

I have to say that I couldn't have seen it being successful as most of the Irish people I know in England would sooner shoot themselves than vote for the Tories. By and large they always vote Labour.

Irish ambassador in London Paul Keating analysed the possible impact of calling on Irish people in Britain to vote against the Conservative party.

Mr Keating warned against the approach writing: “Since Parnell’s time attempts have been made to use it but they have rarely if ever been successful and generally the attempt to use it militates against the position of the Irish people here and creates ill-will in Anglo-Irish relations.”

Queen’s University Belfast historian Brian Hanley said: “Such a call would have been received by the right in British politics as an attempt by a foreign government to create an electoral fifth column."

Still not even close with the carry on of the British and their influence in a foreign country, i.e. Ireland.

Uncle Joe or Mass Murderer?

"The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything"~Joseph Stalin

I see that Joseph Stalin has come third in an all time greatest Russian poll commissioned by Rossiya, one of Russia's biggest television stations.

Stalin was beaten into third spot behind Alexander Nevsky who fought off European invaders in the 13th century to preserve a united Russia and reformist Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin, who was assassinated in 1911.

There has been widespread international unrest at "Uncle Joe's" supposed rehabilitation by the current Kremlin regime

Indeed the owner of the Television Station that commissioned this poll pleaded with viewers to pick a different candidate. It is for that reason that I believe the above quote is rather appropriate.

Stalin was one of the most controversial leaders of the 20th Century; many rank him on a power with Hitler due to his devastating purges of the 1930's.

Others view him as the undisputed leader of the Second World War after his country struck all the killer blows that led to the downfall of the Nazi regime.

I have to admit that the admiration that many on the left have for Stalin has never stood easy with me.

I have known members of my own movement who have considerable respect for this mass murderer. Indeed I know a well know Belfast SDLP Councillor who almost wants to have Big Joe's children with the amount of Stalin memorabilia in his office.

So the question that must be asked is who and what was Joseph Stalin?

There were some good points to Stalin and anyone who denies this denies a central part of his discourse.

Bearing the brunt of the Nazis' attacks, the Soviet Union under Stalin made the largest and most decisive contribution to the defeat of Nazi Germany during World War II. 4 out of every 5 Nazi soldiers who were killed were killed by the Red Army.

It was for that reason that Big Joe was declared the Times Man of the Year in 1942/43.

Under the Stalin Soviet government people benefited from some social liberalisation.

Girls were given an adequate, equal education and women had equal rights in employment, improving lives for women and families.

Stalinist development also contributed to advances in health care, which significantly increased the lifespan and quality of life of the typical Soviet citizen. Stalin's policies granted the Soviet people universal access to healthcare and education, effectively creating the first generation free from the fear of typhus, cholera, and malaria.

Soviet women under Stalin were the first generation of women able to give birth in the safety of a hospital, with access to prenatal care.

Education was also an example of an increase in standard of living after economic development.

The generation born during Stalin's rule was the first near-universally literate generation. Millions benefitted from mass literacy campaigns in the 1930s, and from workers training schemes.

Engineers were sent abroad to learn industrial technology, and hundreds of foreign engineers were brought to Russia on contract. Transport links were improved and many new railways built.

Under Stalin's rule, the Soviet Union was transformed from an agricultural nation into a global superpower.

While all these advances are laudable I must ask the question...at what price?

At what price did the Soviet Union become a global superpower?

"The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic."

The above quote for me symbolises all that was corrupt and evil about Stalin, the fact that he was factually correct does not diminish the evil behind it.

His forced Agrarian policies at the start of his rule cost the lives of up to 10 million Soviet citizens. Progress, either political/economic or cultural can never be justified off the back of suffering.

His demented paranoia lead to the "Great" Purge of the 1930's when millions of Soviet citizens were wrongfully incarcerated or flat out executed at Gulag labour camps for purely political reasons.

Stalin's leadership was reinforced by a powerful cult of personality and in the 1950's Nikita Khrushchev, Stalin's eventual successor, would denounce Stalin's rule and cult of personality, thus initiating the process of "de-Stalinization".

I have nothing but respect for the Soviet Union and the role they played in defeating Nazism through from my perspective this was achieved despite the role of Stalin not because of him.

His purges cost the country dearly and it wasn't until he left the war in the control of his General's that his country began to prosper against the Nazi enemy.

There are many things that I admire about the Soviet Union, not least its incredible anthem, however Stalin was not one of them.

What can be done to stop Israel?

As the Zionist War Machine wages on in Gaza I began to think about what could be done to stop, once and for all, this despot regime.

The Middle East is a tinderbox and the thousands of Arabs taking to the streets in Yemen, Ramallah, Cairo etc is testament to that fact. One of the interesting things is that they are not only condemning Israel but their own spineless leaders as well.

Khaled Meshaal, the political leader of Hamas, has already called for Palestinians to unite in order to wage a third intifada against Israel.

I don't think that anyone wants to see a return to suicide bombers but that will be the outcome unless action is taken by those in a position of responsibility and power.

The simple fact is that the Zionist War Machine is funded by the USA. One third of their Foreign Aid Budget goes to Israel.

It is America who must be influenced to stop funding this genocide and in my opinion that can only be achieved by turning off the oil.

In this economic crisis The Arab League have a unique opportunity to put the screw into the West.

The founding principle of the Arab League is to "draw closer the relations between member States and co-ordinate collaboration between them, to safeguard their independence and sovereignty, and to consider in a general way the affairs and interests of the Arab countries."

If the plight of the Palestinian people does not cover all of the above then I don't know what does.

What also has become clearer is the semi-motivation of the Zionists in this instance and it was let out of the bag by Ephraim Sneh, former deputy Israeli defence minister.

He said

"The fact that Hamas, for a year and a half, controlled Gaza and turned it into an Iranian base at the gates of Israel is a situation that is inconceivable and unacceptable to us."

"The blame is on Hamas... When they took over, they didn't bring in investors, they brought in instructors from the Revolutionary Guards of Iran.”

The Zionists are mobilising a land force at the gates of Gaza and the Arab League must act before it is too late.

If they shut off oil to any Western nation that gives succour to Israel then we would have an economic crisis of which the West could not withstand.

The Arab League has the power to make a great difference the only question is if they have the courage to take the steps that they must.

Israeli Massacre of Palestinians

I see that the Zionist regime has once again renewed its blood lust when it massacred over 200 Palestinians in the Gaza strip.



This has been the single biggest Palestinian loss of life since 1967.

Zionist Aggression Minister Ehud Barak said "it won't be easy and it won't be short. There is a time for calm and a time for fighting, and now the time has come to fight,"

It would appear that the Zionists will not be happy until every man, woman and child of the Palestinian Nation are wiped out.

Where have I heard of that kind of hate before...I wonder?

Mustafa Barghouthi, the former Palestinian information minister, said

"This is not an attack on the Hamas. It is an attack on the whole population and the free will of the people of Gaza."

That for me is self evident with this attack.

I have always been a supporter of Fatah as they seek a secular and socialist Palestine however the stench of corruption has surrounded them and the Palestinian people made their choice in the form of Hamas in Gaza.

Their choice must be respected!

My support for the Palestinian people in unconditional, the same can't be said for its political parties and Fatah in particular.

I see that the West continues to appease the Zionist aggressor

The Brit PM had this to say, "I am deeply concerned by continuing missile strikes from Gaza on Israel and by Israel's response today,"

So his primary concern is not the murder of 200 Palestinian Citizens? What a surprise!

The USA, Israel's biggest benefactor, was her usual benign self when US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice issued this despicable statement

"The United States strongly condemns the repeated rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and holds Hamas responsible for breaking the ceasefire and for the renewal of violence in Gaza,"

It was Israel that broke the terms of the Egyptian negotiated truce by refusing to open the border crossings and end their disgusting blockade against the people of the Gaza.

The most honest response I have heard thus far came from a Palestinian Housewife in the Jabalya refugee camp.

“Since six months ago, we have had almost no supplies through the crossings, no food, no medicine, no gas, no water. What truce are you talking about? I support the truce, but a truce that brings us basic rights as Palestinians, not a truce that is only good for Israelis ... this served only one side, Israel.”

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas would need to do a lot more than simply condemn the "aggression" in Gaza.

The PLO and other Palestinian Resistance organisations should avenge this attack with utmost severity.

I would echo the sentiments of my Bloglaigh Na hÉireann Comrade Julius Geezer when he said

"I'm of the opinion that I won't see a resolution to this conflict in my lifetime. If there is a Palestinian state based on the Camp David/Taba discussions it will quickly fail because it will be based on injustice, illegality, and the legitimization of land-grabbing criminality. The chances of a bi-national state emerging, based on equality for all, are not good to say the least.

In the short term the hapless Abu Mazen should show a grain of integrity and cut off all contact with Israel, and it is to be hoped that all Palestinian resistance groups will retaliate against this murderous aggression. There is a time for peace, but it's not when a clique of cowardly murdering thugs are slaughtering your people."

Peace can not be achieved while the jackboot of Zionist aggression is firm on the throat of the Palestinian people.

The Arab Nations must show common cause with the people of Gaza and wider Palestine and do all in their power to ensure that the days of Zionist expansion and aggression are a thing of the past.

Victory to the Palestinian people! Tiocfaidh Siad Lá!

UPDATE. The Zionists launch a second day of attacks and the death toll in Gaza is now up to at least 280.

It would seem that the once mighty Fatah party is now little more than a puppet when you consider the wimpering reaction of Mahmoud Abbas. Shame on him! I hope the electorate in the West Bank give him the answer that he deserves at the first available opportunity.

Judas is alive and well and living in Ramallah!

By their actions...

"The only valid censorship of ideas is the right of people not to listen". ~Tommy Smothers

I'm not one for Christmas Messages; the Pope didn't even get a look in our house never mind the English Queen.

That being said I had a sneaking regard for Channel 4 when they choose Dr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, for their "alternative" Christmas Message.

I don't agree with Dr Ahmadinejad on a lot of issues, his denial of the holocaust, treatment of Christians in Iran, Capital Punishment, treatment of women etc.

I am however a believer in Free Speech and Channel 4 has once again shown themselves to be against the grain in relation to the British Establishment line.



I found his message positive, even if his knowledge of Christ's teachings was a bit suspect.

I think that such positive engagement is necessary as we try to reach out the hand of friendship in the Middle East.

No doubt the Zionists and their friends in Whitehall will be appalled at this Muslim ( or any Muslim who isn't blowing themselves up for that matter) being granted airtime but that should just be a sign to Channel 4 that they are doing the right thing.

It's all well and good being a champion of Free Speech when it comes to causes and people you support; the true test is when you offer the same rights to your enemy and those you disagree with.

Beannachtaí na Nollag

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;.." or so the story goes.

It's that time of the year again and I have to wonder where the last 12 months have gone. It has been a mixture of good and bad, that's what life is though.

I have to say that Christmas does not mean to me what it once did. I know that it's the celebration of the birth of our Lord but that magic of childhood is no longer there. About 15 years ago I would have been going insane with excitement at this stage.

Christmas is a time for children and this will be the first year in our house when none of us are "for Santa", due to the fact that my youngest brother is now 11yrs old.

Christmas is also a time when we remember those that we have lost, grand-parents, aunts and uncles. I attended two wakes last night and a funeral today so I do think that puts life in perspective.

We often complain and think we have troubles, we only kid ourselves.

Even though some of the magic is gone in relation to Christmas I still love Christmas Eve, there is just something festive about it.

In relation to Balrog I have a lot of work to do over the next few months to restore it as a place of serious political debate. I don't like what it has become of late but I have put far too much work into this blog to allow it to fall.

I ask everyone to cut me some slack, I will be tough with the new rules in the short term but I hope it will be back to normality in a short while.

I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope you and yours have a nice break and enjoy some good company.

To those who will not be having a Happy Christmas I say to you that you will be in my prayers.

Now, time for an Irish Coffee...

Nollaig Beannaithe agus Athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh.

Holy Father must take action

I am disgusted but hardly surprised that the Church have "closed ranks" in relation to the scandal surrounding Bishop Magee in Cloyne.

His handling of child sex abuse allegations mark a return to the dark old days. His handling has been severely criticised by Children’s Minister Barry Andrews, Mr Andrews called on the former Papal secretary to "consider his position".

“In the education system in most other countries there would be lay people involved in the running of the schools and a report as damning as this would make their position untenable,”

“I’ve said I think the Bishop should reflect on that and I think it encapsulates my concerns.”

Bishop Magee's handling of this sad and disgraceful episode has also been criticised by an internal Church inquiry which found that child protection practices in the Co Cork diocese were "inadequate and dangerous", thereby potentially exposing vulnerable young people to further harm.

The explosive Cloyne report, compiled by the National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) and published on the internet last Friday evening, found Bishop Magee took minimal action over a series of child sex abuse allegations against two of his priests.

Newry-born Bishop Magee, who was private secretary to three different Popes, apologised to clerical sex abuse victims in the wake of the damning report but refused to resign.

The 'Voice of the Faithful' lobby, which campaigns for more accountability in the Irish Catholic Church, said that if Bishop Magee fails to step down, Pope Benedict should exercise his supreme authority by demanding his resignation.

Sean O'Conaill, the acting coordinator of 'Voice of the Faithful' said that this response from Bishop Magee was not good enough and he should go.

"The NBSC report on the management of two child protection cases in the diocese of Cloyne shows clearly that, three years after the Ferns report in 2005, an Irish bishop had failed to ensure that the safety of the children of his diocese was paramount in the minds of all those answerable to him for the safety of Catholic children,"

"Other children were thereby still being endangered at this late date -- despite the guidelines supposedly adopted by all Irish bishops in the wake of the Ferns report. We therefore call upon him to resign this office immediately. In the event of his failing to do so, we call upon the Holy Father, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, to exercise his supreme authority to request the resignation of Dr Magee."

I have to say that I am angered by the lack of response from Cardinal Sean Brady.

He is supposed to be the Primate of All-Ireland and a Prince of the Catholic Church however he has shown himself unworthy to occupy the seat of St Patrick and St Oliver Plunkett.

He should be operating a zero tolerance policy in relation to child protection policies.

I have to concur with Sean O'Conaill and "Voice of the Faithfull"; if Bishop Magee will not step down by his own choosing then the Holy Father should step in and demand his resignation.

Every moment of delay weakens the authority of the Church and damages the faith of those that the Church is meant to lead.

"But when Jesus saw, he was much displeased, and said unto them, suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God."
Mark 10:14

Better late then never

Danny McIlhone, one of the Disappeared, was laid to rest today by his family.

For the best part of 30 years his family have been denied this opportunity and it is with them that my prayers are at the moment.



I have spoken about this issue before on Balrog; the Disappeared is one of the biggest blights on the IRA.

I don't want to get into the whole "was he/she a tout" as for me it's a non issue at this stage.

Even if these people did something wrong their families should never have been denied the opportunity of a Catholic burial for them.

As a somewhat religious person this grates on my conscience a lot.

The families are innocent in all of this yet in some ways they have suffered the most.

I am glad that Gerry Adams has called on all those with information to come forward.

It's time to bring closure to these people; they deserve that much at least.

Bobby Sands MP

I see that Education Minister Caitríona Ruane has been reported to the police for telling children that Bobby Sands was "a local hero".

Caitríona was speaking at a prize-giving ceremony at St Colm's High School in Twinbrook last week.

What's the problem here? I can't see how telling the truth can be a criminal offence.

Bobby Sands was from Twinbrook and the people there are quite rightly proud of him, as are a great many more in Ireland and around the world.

Bobby joined a pantheon of Republican Martyrs like McSweeney and Ashe when he invoked that ancient Brehon legal convention, Hunger Strike.

He laid down his life for his friends, comrades and the struggle in general. He did this out of love, love of his country, her people and her future.

Just as a bit of perspective we can view how Bobby was and is viewed around the world.

The Global Reaction

Europe

In Rome, the President of the Italian Senate did what the Brit Speaker couldn't bring himself to do by expressing the Italian government's sympathies to the Sands' family.

In Milan, 5,000 students burned the Union Flag and shouted "Freedom for Ulster" during a march.

In Ghent, students invaded the British Consulate.

In Paris, thousands marched behind huge portraits of Sands, to chants of 'The IRA will conquer'.

In France, many towns and cities have streets named after Sands. Examples include Nantes, St Etienne, Le Mans Vierzon and St Denis.

In Oslo, demonstrators threw a balloon filled with tomato sauce at Elizabeth Windsor, Head of the British Crown Forces.

In Spain, the Ya newspaper said Bobby's death was "an act of heroism."

In Poland's Lech Walesa paid tribute, "Bobby Sands was a great man who sacrificed his life for his struggle."

Soviet Union

Pravda described it as 'another tragic page in the grim chronicle of oppression, discrimination, terror and violence' in Ireland.

In Liverpool a march in support of Sands took place from Upper Parliament Street to the Pier Head, chanting "Bobby Sands MP".

USA

The US Congress and state and local governments passed resolutions honouring Bobby's sacrifice and sent letters of condolence. The New Jersey state legislature noted his "courage and convictions”

The International Longshoremen's Association in New York announced a twenty-four-hour boycott of British ships.

Over 1,000 people gathered in New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral to hear Cardinal Terence Cooke offer a Mass of reconciliation for Northern Ireland. Irish bars in the city were closed for two hours in mourning.

In Hartford, Connecticut a memorial was dedicated to Bobby Sands and the other Hunger Strikers in 1997, Set up by the Irish Northern Aid Committee and local Irish-Americans, it stands in a traffic circle known as "Bobby Sands Circle," at the bottom of Maple Avenue near Goodwin Park.

Cuba

In 2001, a memorial to Sands and the other hunger strikers was unveiled in Havana,

Africa

The ANC not only sent representatives to the funeral but Nelson Mandela sent a personal message from his prison cell.

Asia

In Tehran, Iran, President Bani-Sadr sent a message of condolence to the Sands family and also sent a representative to the funeral. An official blue and white street sign was affixed to the rear wall of the British embassy compound saying (in Persian) "Bobby Sands Street" with three words of explanation "militant Irish guerrilla".

The official Pars news agency called Bobby Sands' death "heroic".

The Hindustan Times said Margaret Thatcher had allowed a fellow Member of Parliament to die of starvation, an incident which had never before occurred "in a civilised country."

In the Indian Parliament, opposition members in the upper house Rajya Sabha stood for a minute's silence in tribute.

The Hong Kong Standard said it was 'sad that successive British governments have failed to end the last of Europe's religious wars.'

A large monument dedicated to Irish protagonists for independence from Britain, including Bobby Sands, stands in the Waverly Cemetery in Sydney, Australia.

How could Bobby Sands not be a hero and inspiration to thousands of people, his self sacrifice is a shinning example of hope in the face of adversity

New Order

I have to say that I am more than a little angry at the moment. Certain posters on this blog have abused the platform that I provide for debate over the last couple of days.



Everyone is well aware of the rules I set in relation to posting.

Rule 1. Do not libel anyone on Balrog.

Deaddog has broken that rule and is now banned, if he appears under a new name I will be banning that person as well. I find it nothing short of cowardly for anonymous posters to cast aspersions over named individuals when they themselves lack the testicular fortitude to back up their allegations with their own name.

Some people seem to believe that they can use Balrog as their very own South Armagh version of the Sunday World. I will not be standing for that, if you want to set up your own blog then go ahead but you will not be hijacking mine in order to smear sound Republicans and their families.

Rule 2. No Sockpuppets

Deaddog/Camlough Republican/Blackrain etc are all the same person posting from the same unique IP. I don't allow sockpuppets on Balrog.

Rule 3. No derailing threads

I have warned Percy about this on a number of occasions, the warnings stop now. Percy is now banned from Balrog and any future post from him will be deleted.

Anyone who has read Balrog for any length of time will know how much I value Free Speech. I'm sorry that I have to curtail that right because of its abuse by people like Percy.

The Paul Quinn case is banned as a matter of discussion on Balrog unless there is a specific post on that topic.

I don't have the time to dedicate to Balrog that I once had, I hope for that to change in the New Year but until it does comment moderation will be in place.

I would rather delete the entire blog than have to deal with this kind of childish nonsense.

Out of the shadows

I know it's been a while since my last post and to be honest I don't know when I will be back to regular blogging. Work is mental at the moment, 60 hour weeks are the norm as opposed to the exception.

Added to that the fact that I have bitten the bullet and finally joined the gym, I know, it was a shock to me too at first. All of that is an aside though, I still managed regular blogging at Uni and at that stage I was doing 60 hour drinking!

My two biggest blocks towards blogging at the moment are a lack of interest and apathy towards politics.

My lack of interest towards blogging is interlinked with my apathy towards politics. This is a political blog first and foremost, that is why I set it up. I have been blogging for years and I feel it's time for a break.

My apathy towards politics is not too hard to understand. I have been an active Republican since the age of 15, 9 years at different levels of the movement.

This is the first year that we didn't have an election North or South and due to work and life commitments I have taken a step back from active politics.

At the moment I am seriously contemplating taking the New York Bar Exams but we will have to see what happens.

Although I will not be blogging as much I will be watching and any comment which engages in personal insult will be removed with no explanation given.

I'll too old for this childish nonsense anymore.

I would like to recommend the new BBC series Apparitions to anyone who hasn't been watching.

It deals with the darker side of the Church and the fight against Satan, an area that holds great interest for me.

My mother and Aunt have always been into Angels and angelic intercession, I seem to have inherited that side of my faith and so I will leave you with one of my favourite prayers.

A prayer I would like to see restored to the end of every Mass.

"Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil; may God rebuke him, we humbly pray and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen."

Falling on ones own sword

I see that prominent loyalist and tout Ihab Shoukri died of a drug overdose last weekend. Whilst any loss of young life is truly regrettable I shed no feigned, crocodile tears for Shoukri.

For years Shoukri and his cohorts tortured the Nationalist people of North Belfast with sectarian attacks. Indeed many decent working class loyalists will not be too sorry to see him go either. After all he unleashed a surfeit of drugs and criminality onto their community. He got mega rich from the suffering and pain of others.

Such was the irreparable damage derivative from his criminality that the UDA booted out the Shoukris and a few of their trusted lieutenants. It must take a lot for the UDA to expel someone for criminality, saying as how they are up to their eyeballs in the fucking stuff!

It is somewhat ironic that Shoukri, a noted drug dealer should fall on his own sword and die from an overdose. Many young people from North Belfast have died at the hands of these dealers of death and it seems that in this case karma caught up with the monster!

Many eyebrows were raised when Shoukri was released from prison after only a few weeks. The nonchalant approach of the judiciary to leading loyalists suspected of being on the payroll of Special Branch is beyond comprehension. No doubt their handlers are able to get them a little breathing space.

Not even Special Branch can save him from judgement where he is now.

To do or die

Tonight will see Celtic take on Aalborg and hopefully the Bhoys can eventually manage to break their away day blues.

An awful lot of people have been quick to deride Aalborg as a push over. However they gave a very good account of themselves at Parkhead and to be honest they pushed Villareal all the way too. Aalborg came out of the traps at Paradise and startled Celtic. Although Celtic missed a penalty I think Aalborg did well to achieve a point at Fortress Parkhead. Tonight Celtic will have to be on their best to take the maximum 3 points required.

Commentators many of them from the Brit media have been quick to point out that Celtic are effectively out of this years Champions League. This however is erroneous. Mathematically Celtic can still qualify, if they win their two remaining games and if Man Utd beat Villareal tonight (I never thought that I would be cheering for those smarmy bastards to win!). As Andres Hinkel put it Celtic still have a chance, it might not be a big chance but it is still a chance.

Celtic will have to be quick on the ball tonight and desist with the school boy errors that have plagued their performances away from home thus far. As Tam Gemmell put it Aalborg certainly fancy their chances and it is up to Celtic to take the game to them.

I am glad to see that Samaras returned to action against St Mirren. Although not a huge fan of the prolific Greek striker, I feel he adds a cutting edge impetus to the Celtic strike force, as his well taken goal on Saturday is testament to. Injuries have curtailed the effectiveness of the Hoops up front in away games in Europe this season. Samaras will go someway to restring a lethal touch up front.

I think Celtic might just shade it tonight. After all this is the anniversary of our last draw away on the continent ( to Barcelona if you will!) However the difficulty may lie in Man Utd having to beat Aalborg. This is the inherent danger in having to rely partly on others for qualification.

Ah well at least the forces of darkness have nothing to shout about except how they are going to win the SPL in the absence of any Euro commitments.

Dream on Darcheville…….

The price to pay for a quickie

I see that the two Brits caught with their panties down in Dubai will now be returning home rather than face imprisonment as first feared.

I must admit that I have been following this case attentively and that I always have a wry smile and chuckle every time it is mentioned. There is just something about the folly of the whole situation that amuses me.

Michelle Palmer and Vince Acors were caught having sex on Jumeirha Beach on 5th July. They had met a few hours earlier at a champagne party and decided to get jiggy ( conservative readers stop casting aspersions and making judgements already!).They were initially found guilty of having unmarried sex and of public indecency and handed a three month sentence.

The austerity of the sentence was supposed to represent an example to all other adventurous and horny holiday makers. However both lodged an appeal and now the only ignominy they will face is deportation and the thought that everyone back home knows of their licentious dalliance abroad. I bet that will be one awkward welcome home conversation with their parents!

As you will all know there is strict Islamic law in force in Dubai. However I think 3 months incarceration for a quick shag behind the sand dunes is a bit extreme. Not even a scorned missus would react in such a severe manner. I have heard of some unlucky bastards being caught horsing their girlfriend out of it by her old man, but this was above and beyond that.

Imagine how many people would be imprisoned in Ireland if we enforced offences like having unmarried sex! I think the debacle over the Long Kesh site would be solved rapidly as it would be needed to house all the horny fuckers caught in the act.

I suppose the only lesson we can really extract from this humorous episode is that if you are taking the missus away for a dirty weekend its probably better to stick to Dublin than going to Dubai.

Barack Buster set to destroy Old Warhorse

It's the night of the great event, American Election 2oo8!

A time when American citizens choose not only their President for the next 4 years but also their Congressmen and Senators as well.

I have supported Barack Obama from the Primaries and I hope that he succeeds tonight.

The key battleground states are the ones to watch, states like Virginia, Ohio, Florida and Iowa.

I have respect for McCain as a man, his experience in Vietnam and his refusal to leave before his comrades show the true measure of the man. He is a war hero but he is not the right man to lead America in my opinion.

I disagree with most of his policies, his foreign policy in particular.

Obama isn't perfect and I don't agree with all his policies but he offers hope in a time when it's in short supply.

I have often been accused of being anti-American which is untrue; I value many things about American society and politics.

I am anti-Imperialism and I hope Obama goes some way to restoring American standing in the world.

I would like to see the Democrats take the Senate by a majority of 6o plus, though I'm not sure how realistic that is, along with the House.

When Obama becomes President I hope he extends his hand out to all Americans to heal any hurts from this election.

I'm also glad that Joe Biden is standing as his VP as he is a man I have a lot of respect for.

I'll be up all night watching the vote and reading ATW; their coverage of the election has been fantastic.

"I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past"
Thomas Jefferson

Naughty Nelson

I see that DUP MLA Nelson Mc Causland was ordered to remove himself from the assembly to-day by fellow DUP MLA and Speaker Willie Hay.

Mc Causland was suspended after refusing to withdraw remarks he made about Gerry Adams during a debate on ‘the Disappeared’ in the assembly yesterday.

Mc Causland claimed that El Presidente had set up ‘IRA units’ to torture suspected informers and bury their bodies in secrecy. El Presidente has strenuously denied these allegations, and this is not the first time certain Unionists have sought to tarnish Adams with this claim.

Perhaps there are a few other issues Nelson could raise in the assembly in relation to justice. Primarily I think he should ask some prominent members in his party where the weapons that Ulster Resistance imported from South Africa are. Perhaps he could enquire into whether they were used to murder any innocent Nationalists? I think Nelson should also raise the issue of the UDA playing a major role in a certain DUP members election campaign in 1978. Maybe he could also ask his former leader for the names of the mob that burnt down Catholic houses on the Shankill after the said man delivered a provocative and fiery speech in the late 1960’s?

Let he without sin cast the first stone. Clearly not a lesson Nelson learned at Sunday school.

The needed vote for change

To-day is the day that history could potentially be made. It is of course the day of the US presidential election and with it comes the very palpable and real opportunity for America to elect their first ever black president.

Obama is already ahead in the opinion polls, yet many in the conservative media are already suggesting that he will be piped at the post by Mc Cain.

For me Obama represents a new face of monumental change. He is young, charismatic and one hell of an orator. Compared to an aging man there appears to be no contest. One is for progress the other for conservation.

It was interesting to see a tattooed, self confessed red neck openly state that he was going to vote for Obama. He even pointed out the folly of many of his associates that refused to vote for Obama on the basis of his skin colour. With such a conversion, one could very else suggest that Obama could indeed be onto a winner.

Personally I feel that this is the closest America will ever come to electing a black president. If Obama succeeds then the final nail has been hammered into the ignominious coffin of slavery and the denial of civil rights. If he fails I think the US will have passed on the greatest opportunity to make monumental progress.

Indeed the enormity of the decision taken by voters in the US will reverberate around the globe. It is not only the future of America, but indeed that of the world they hold in their hands. It is actually quite scary to think that voters in one part of the world could have such an impact on the world as a whole

I think Mc Cain may have fallen on his sword whenever he took Palin onto his ticket. What was touted as a stroke of master genius appears to have back fired spectacularly. Palin is far from being popular and has been in the news for all the wrong reasons in the run up to to-days election. It is interesting to note that the GOP appears to have fallen victim to its greatest ally, the media.

Personally I have no regard for Palin whatsoever. To me she appears to be precocious and false and I simply would not want her serving as the deputy head of my country.

It will be a few days before the result begins to emerge and a fuller picture emerges. Indeed I would not be surprised if there is a repeat of the dirty tricks that seen GWB ‘WIN’ the election against Kerry.

Playing for pride or for pay?

As many of you will already know Ireland claimed another victory over Australia in the Compromise Rules series. Ireland won the match 57-53 giving them victory in both legs, and over all on aggregate.

Needless to see this feat is amazing, considering that GAA players are amateurs and have managed to once again beat professional athletes one on one.

However yesterdays encounter has raised several issues,. These arise every time the event takes place. Foremost amongst these issue is the contentious issue of the GAAs amateur status. Do not get me wrong, I concede that there is no better feeling than pulling on your county or club jersey week after week. Playing for pride is in many ways a better motivational factor than playing for pay.

Personally I feel that this debate is largely a redundant, red herring debate, instigated to ease the worries of many of the traditionalists within the GAA. I personally feel it makes no difference whether players are paid an allowance or not.

Primarily I am of this view because the GAA is a multi-million Euro sports organisation. The revenue generated from gate receipts is astronomical. Add to this the ever increasing cost of merchandise, the range of which is ever expanding. I mean now you have everything from kits, to school bags to air fresheners to play station games. The monetary gains from such a range is unbelievable and I think it is futile to argue that a sport that can generate such vast amounts of revenue is genuinely amateur.

Furthermore I can not fathom why people in light of these vast amounts of revenue would begrudge players a slice of this very large and lucrative cake. Personally I know that I would feel more comfortable knowing that the players, the people who entertain the crowds week in week out, the people making the sacrifices, should reap the rewards rather than the suits at GAA HQ.

Secondly I feel that it is futile to argue that a sport is amateur in essence and spirit whenever some are very clearly profiting from it. It is categorical that some people are very clearly making money from their positions within the GAA. County managers receive monetary payments as do several club managers whilst some players receive travelling allowances. Add to this the money top players make from advertisements, TV shows and newspaper columns. They are all making money as it stands, so I do not understand how giving them a few pound for playing will drastically alter this.

I think that traditionalists advocating a retention of amateur status are living in the past and are quite frankly deluding themselves. They appear to be utterly oblivious to the fact that money is already being made in the ways outlined above. These are the same people who were arguing that the back door system was going to kill off the championship. In fact they have been proved wrong on that issue. The restructuring of the championship has only served to strengthen the GAA further, especially in the weaker counties that are no longer subjected to the ignominy of the invariable preliminary round exit.

The attraction of professionalism in sport is reverberating across the GAA. Just look at the ability of AFL clubs to poach at will the cream of the GAA’s young talent. Many are quick to lambast those tempted by the lucrative offers from AFL clubs, but personally I feel castigation is difficult to justify. Thousands of pound in a sunny climate to do something that entails sacrifice at home is difficult to resist. Martin Clarke, Kevin Dyas, and now it seems the young talent of Tyrone have been tempted away to sunnier climates. Some in the GAA in passing the buck have naturally enough blamed the AFL for the whole debacle. However if they addressed the issue of providing financial incentive to their own players they could remedy the situation themselves,

Paying players is hardly going to cause the GAA world to implode. Several issues have over the years been muted as a wreckers charter and yet they have failed to dent the GAA in any way. This is merely another bogey debate to ease the worries of the die hard traditionalists.