tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5965333981619997978.post5214608900906262877..comments2023-11-03T08:40:03.424+00:00Comments on Jude Collins: Malachi and his moral high horseJude Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02255073034338282041noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5965333981619997978.post-36625248355715231232010-09-06T11:36:42.403+01:002010-09-06T11:36:42.403+01:00Launching his leadership bid in Belfast's Merc...Launching his leadership bid in Belfast's Merchant Hotel today, Mr McCrea will unveil five pledges:<br /><br />- No ministry until party success assured – "I intend to lead the party on the basis that the leader of the UUP will be the first minister. Until this goal is achieved I will not accept any other ministry."<br /><br />- The UUP will take the education ministry as first choice – "The party will fight the next assembly elections on the basis of 'A vote for the UUP, is a vote to remove Ruane'. We will remove the possibility of Caitriona Ruane doing yet more damage to the education system."<br /><br />- No electoral pacts with the DUP or anybody else – "We must convince those that no longer vote that there is something to vote for. We will stand on our own two feet, we will offer our own policies, we will select our own candidates."<br /><br />- All MLAs will face a vote of confidence at the end of each year – "All members will be given an opportunity to express satisfaction of all UUP MLAs by secret ballot. The results will be made public."<br /><br />- Discipline robustly enforced – "There are too many organs of the party. The party officer team will go. The executive will be revamped to include all MLAs. Attendance at executive meetings for elected representatives will be compulsory."<br /><br />In hard-hitting comments aimed at senior party figures, Mr McCrea will say: "For far too long this party, the party for all its faults we cherish has been choked by a culture of cronyism, of rule-bending intellectual poverty.<br /><br />"We have been dogged by would-be leaders; behind the scenes, string-pulling unelected leaders and responsible-to-no-one leaders.<br /><br />"Our message to the public has been blocked by too many voices and too many self-promotional messages.<br /><br />"It has blanked out the message when it comes to the screen of public opinion."<br /><br />Tonight Mr Elliott's campaign manager, Mike Nesbitt will be one of seven individuals hoping to be selected as one of three (eventually to be reduced to two) candidates to run in Strangford in next year's assembly election.<br /><br />Veteran UUP MLA David McNarry, who is also backing Tom Elliott, is also standing, as is businessman Bill McKendry, party officer Phillip Smith, former Ards mayor Jim Fletcher, long-standing Ards councillor Ronnie Ferguson and Andrew Cooper.<br /><br />Taken from the Newsletter.hoboroadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01474379737795624096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5965333981619997978.post-17483885764298163292010-09-06T11:36:29.853+01:002010-09-06T11:36:29.853+01:00Launching his leadership bid in Belfast's Merc...Launching his leadership bid in Belfast's Merchant Hotel today, Mr McCrea will unveil five pledges:<br /><br />- No ministry until party success assured – "I intend to lead the party on the basis that the leader of the UUP will be the first minister. Until this goal is achieved I will not accept any other ministry."<br /><br />- The UUP will take the education ministry as first choice – "The party will fight the next assembly elections on the basis of 'A vote for the UUP, is a vote to remove Ruane'. We will remove the possibility of Caitriona Ruane doing yet more damage to the education system."<br /><br />- No electoral pacts with the DUP or anybody else – "We must convince those that no longer vote that there is something to vote for. We will stand on our own two feet, we will offer our own policies, we will select our own candidates."<br /><br />- All MLAs will face a vote of confidence at the end of each year – "All members will be given an opportunity to express satisfaction of all UUP MLAs by secret ballot. The results will be made public."<br /><br />- Discipline robustly enforced – "There are too many organs of the party. The party officer team will go. The executive will be revamped to include all MLAs. Attendance at executive meetings for elected representatives will be compulsory."<br /><br />In hard-hitting comments aimed at senior party figures, Mr McCrea will say: "For far too long this party, the party for all its faults we cherish has been choked by a culture of cronyism, of rule-bending intellectual poverty.<br /><br />"We have been dogged by would-be leaders; behind the scenes, string-pulling unelected leaders and responsible-to-no-one leaders.<br /><br />"Our message to the public has been blocked by too many voices and too many self-promotional messages.<br /><br />"It has blanked out the message when it comes to the screen of public opinion."<br /><br />Tonight Mr Elliott's campaign manager, Mike Nesbitt will be one of seven individuals hoping to be selected as one of three (eventually to be reduced to two) candidates to run in Strangford in next year's assembly election.<br /><br />Veteran UUP MLA David McNarry, who is also backing Tom Elliott, is also standing, as is businessman Bill McKendry, party officer Phillip Smith, former Ards mayor Jim Fletcher, long-standing Ards councillor Ronnie Ferguson and Andrew Cooper.<br /><br />Taken from the Newsletter.hoboroadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01474379737795624096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5965333981619997978.post-74558424170257891152010-09-04T14:13:53.333+01:002010-09-04T14:13:53.333+01:00http://www.scotsman.com/news/Top-Tory-Andy-Coulson...http://www.scotsman.com/news/Top-Tory-Andy-Coulson-cited.6512913.jphoboroadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01474379737795624096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5965333981619997978.post-19114511897548063512010-09-01T21:55:52.894+01:002010-09-01T21:55:52.894+01:00http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/magazine/05hacki...http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/magazine/05hacking-t.html?_r=1&ref=global-homehoboroadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01474379737795624096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5965333981619997978.post-14929808865169311922010-09-01T19:59:36.127+01:002010-09-01T19:59:36.127+01:00The sad thing in all of this is the fact that Mr C...The sad thing in all of this is the fact that Mr Chesney is unable to defend himself but then when has that stopped so called 'political commentators' making baseless accusations?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5965333981619997978.post-61664090141023786902010-08-29T13:30:31.157+01:002010-08-29T13:30:31.157+01:00The distinguishing mark of modern society, G K Che...The distinguishing mark of modern society, G K Chesterton once wrote, is a hatred of religion. If that was the case more than 100 years ago, you could magnify it 100 times over for today. Hatred is the crucial word. Not apathy or indifference, but a violent reaction of the type that can lead to intemperate, illogical language even from clever people.<br />Such language was to be heard again this week following the report that a Catholic priest, Father James Chesney, had been suspected of organising an IRA bombing that killed nine people, some of them Catholics, in the village of Claudy in 1972. Here was yet further proof of the iniquity of the Church following hard upon the scandal of the child abusers.<br />Any believer, Catholic or no, will have found it profoundly shocking that a priest could have organised the taking of innocent lives. But no one, as far as I could see, considered it so shocking as to be improbable. It was pointed out that it was a long time ago and that Father Chesney was dead, but those of us who remember the events in Ireland in the early 1970s remember the endless saga of false accusations, the multiple cases of miscarriage of justice, the internment of countless innocent Catholics, the dirty tricks campaign pursued by British intelligence, etc.<br />That does not mean the accusations against Father Chesney are false, but I would have been more inclined to believe them if they amounted to more than just accusations. Mere suspicion will be enough for the God-haters, but we believers, remembering what happened before, would welcome something a little more substantial before we condemn.<br /><br />Taken from Richard Ingrams in the Independent.hoboroadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01474379737795624096noreply@blogger.com