[Andy McDandy]

If it weren't for plain brand loyalty, they'd be nothing.

[Abernathy]

He can't. Donaldson is just about devoid of any kind of humour or cheer. Even among his usual associates like Gregory Campbell or Edwin Poots, he's a relentlessly dour, dull, prickly little wanker.

Seems to be standard part of the job description for the DUP.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

I used to do a good Ian Paisley (Snr) impersonation. If kids messed about I'd go Full Ian:

"Yew will be QUIET! And you will STAY QUIET until I tell you DIFF'RENT! There will be NO SURRENDER!"

I tried it on Spike when she was 5. She laughed...

[Spoonman]

You could never accuse the DUP of putting the "fun" into "fundamentalism".

[Bones McCoy]

FUN!!! Wicked Boy!!!

[MisterMuncher]

You could never accuse the DUP of putting the "fun" into "fundamentalism".

The "mental", now...

[Youngian]

I understood the UUP were the more thoughtful unionists with a foot in the 21st century. Am I wrong about that one?

[Spoonman]

The problem with the modern day UUP is that of its two major wings, one is on the outside little different to that of much of the DUP or even TUV in its hardline "not an inch" rhetoric of Ulster unionism, represented by the likes of Danny Kennedy in that clip, and the other being a much more liberal, semi-progressive (though still centre to centre-right) school of unionist thought that are happy to co-operate with the likes of the SDLP (Sinn Fein are still a bit much to swallow, but won't actively cut their nose to spite their face) and other non-unionist parties, that have been represented by the likes of their former leader Mike Nesbitt - but other than their staunch unionist position, this is itself little different on the outside to Alliance on policy.

Given that the UUP has over the last 20 or so years had trouble deciding as to wherever it is an entrenched hard-unionist & old-school conservative party or a socially liberal, community co-operating unionist party, then outside of a few pockets where individual candidates have strong personal mandates, voters don't seem to know what the UUP seem to stand for with the hardliners drifting instead to the DUP and the more liberal voters themselves moving to Alliance. It's the trouble it has being a traditional "big tent" party whose actual political influence in NI has been increasingly diminishing and hasn't moved to realign itself with a clear, focused identity other than not being the DUP.

As for Mr. Kennedy's comments, he should have in return been asked about the Ards & North Down council which out of 40 council seats has only one SDLP councillor and none from Sinn Fein or other nationalist/republican independents. But that's democracy.

[MisterMuncher]

I'd say this sorry sort of thing is going to become ever more common and flat election denial is going to become the default position of political unionism.

They're already at the "we would have won if the right people had voted" stage.

[Spoonman]

I'd say this sorry sort of thing is going to become ever more common and flat election denial is going to become the default position of political unionism.

They're already at the "we would have won if the right people had voted" stage.

Funnily enough with photo ID being required to vote at polling stations being the norm now for 20 years over here, certain unionists can't use the excuse of voter fraud (unless they try to provide evidence of it via postal votes), as opposed to a lot of Tories 'cross the Irish Sea.

Overall a great day out for Sinn Fein, a comfortably satisfying one for Alliance, a "meh" for the DUP which could be read several different ways, an okay one for TUV though they remain a fringe party (winning 9 out of 462 seats), a horror show for the UUP & SDLP, and also a disappointing one for other smaller parties like the Greens, PBP, Aontu etc.

IMO Sinn Fein managed to tap in very well into discontent on the behaviour of the DUP to keep boycotting Stormont among nationalist/republican leaning voters, whilst the DUP voter response was overall rather apathetic. SF even managed to make significant gains in councils where they already held a plurality of seats prior to the election, which was impressive IMO. When it comes to STV vote management, no one beats the Shinners (or at least their "northern" operation) - one fly in their ointment was in Limavady town, where they only ran one candidate in a five seater DEA yet she got almost 30% of first preference votes which would have given them an excellent chance of winning another had they fielded another candidate, their surplus ensuring the SDLP candidate got elected as well instead (behaviour that's more familiar with their "southern" operation as seen in the last ROI General Election).

Alliance will be happy going from 53 to 67 councillors, with representation in nine of the eleven councils including getting their first ever councillor elected in County Fermanagh. They've now solidified themselves as the "third party" in NI at the expense of the UUP.

[kreuzberger]

These posts are enlightening, more so than anything that is available in the shit-scared or merely disinterested main-island press.

Thanks!

[Yug]

I'm not a subscriber so this is all I can see

EXCLUSIVE | UDA leader Gary Fisher stood down as he fights for his life in hospital

‘Brigadier’ in hospital after collapsing on Eleventh Night

Veteran loyalist Gary Fisher has been stood down as leader of the South East Antrim (SEA) UDA — Northern Ireland’s biggest crime cartel — as he fights for his life in hospital.

https://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sunday ... 39361.html

I would like to wish him the shortest possible time until his condition is described as 'satisfactory'.

[davidjay]

Veteran loyalist Gary Fisher has been stood down as leader of the South East Antrim (SEA) UDA — Northern Ireland’s biggest crime cartel — as he fights for his life in hospital.
The 56-year-old’s ‘interim’ replacement is his long-time ‘2IC’ (second-in-command) and close friend, who is from the Ballyduff estate in Newtownabbey.
This individual has been effectively running the SEA UDA for the past year, along with two other loyalists, after Fisher announced he was taking a back seat due to intense police and media scrutiny.


UDA bosses in frenzy over crime agency’s crackdown on assets

Sources in the terror gang are blaming this pressure for Fisher’s collapse in his Greenisland home on the Eleventh Night.

He is currently fighting for his life in the critical care unit of the Royal Victoria Hospital, where he has been treated for the past 12 days.

His closest pals have been told that his health problems signal the end of his 20-year tenure as SEA UDA ‘brigadier’.

Until a few years ago, Fisher was considered a fitness fanatic and would spend his weekends cycling across the country, but in recent times his appearance has changed dramatically and he is looking increasingly gaunt.


An insider revealed: “Fisher wasn’t around for the [Eleventh Night] bonfire and wasn’t responding to any calls.

“People were worried and eventually someone climbed up to a window and saw him lying on the floor. The door was forced open and an ambulance was called.

“At first he seemed to be making a recovery, but he is seriously ill again.

“It’s been made clear to us that he isn’t going to continue on as brigadier and [name redacted] is taking over in the meantime.”

Fisher was pictured with his successor by Sunday Life at a 2021 SEA UDA commemoration in Carnmoney Cemetery.

The replacement, also aged in his 50s, keeps a low profile, shunning social media and going out of his way to avoid being photographed.
Loyalist sources say he is acutely aware of the police attention being identified in the media brings.

For years he has been the SEA UDA’s ‘money man’, controlling the millions of pounds it makes yearly from drug sales.

It was his job to help funnel this illegal cash into legitimate businesses such as bars and taxi depots.
These rackets have made Fisher a millionaire.

However, he has been too paranoid to touch his assets due to ongoing investigations by the National Crime Agency (NCA), which last month seized a holiday home in Ballyhalbert which was registered in the name of Fisher’s daughter, Naomi Lough.

Fisher has other properties bought with drugs money in the names of close associates. Prior to falling ill, his big fear was that these too would be targeted by the NCA.

It is because of financial investigations of this nature that his SEA UDA ‘brigadier’ replacement is so keen to avoid the media glare. He has also expressed doubts to other loyalists over whether he will take on the role permanently.

[Tubby Isaacs]

A university friend of mine told a story where he had to run away from the "Ballyduff boot boys". He jumped over a wall that turned out to be the Northern Irish version of Becher's Brook, with a big drop on the other side.

Now I know why he was running and jumping over walls.

[Spoonman]

Electoral Commission: "We've had a major data security breach..."
PSNI: "Hold our beers..."

PSNI: Major data breach identifies thousands of officers and civilian staff

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has apologised for mistakenly revealing details of all its 10,000 staff.

NI's Police Federation said the breach could cause "incalculable damage".

In response to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request, the PSNI had shared names of all police and civilian personnel, where they were based and their roles.

The details were then published online, before being removed.

Apologising to officers, Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd said the error was "unacceptable".

He added: "We operate in an environment, at the moment, where there is a severe threat to our colleagues from Northern Ireland-related terrorism and this is the last thing that anybody in the organisation wants to be hearing this evening.

"I owe it to all of my colleagues to investigate this thoroughly and we've initiated that."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-66445452

Aside from the obvious operational security aspect of the data released, at least one employee is gonna get fired hard for this blunder.

[Crabcakes]

I have some sympathy for whoever did it - it sounds like a 100% unintentional error that the source document was embedded in the released file.

That said, I suspect they’ve had a hairdryer treatment that could melt tungsten.

[MisterMuncher]

As the Tories prepare to ram through their legacy bill under the fog of "dirty war, bad times, plenty of blame to go round, sport are boys", it's worth remembering that plenty of lower profile, much less ambiguous cases are going to get filled away and the survivors fucked over
BBC Newsline, Evening News: 05/09/2023: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001qb7z via @bbciplayer

About 8 minutes in. Yeah, those are my folks

[Spoonman]

Wayhay! Stormont is back up and running again. For now...

(BBC Live feed - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-nort ... s-68181545 )

...though without a hint of irony in the past of complaining about "unelected European bureaucrats meddling in UK matters", the DUP have parachuted in Emma Little-Pengelly as DFM despite not being elected as a MLA at the last Assembly election (and the way she managed to get to be an MLA was disgraceful on its own).

In any case, there's a shitload for them to be properly getting on with - public sector pay is a big target, and if you think the state of the NHS in England is bad...

[Andy McDandy]

Little Pengelly.

Fnar.

[Spoonman]

Little Pengelly.

Fnar.

Nope.

In other related news, the SDLP have suspended the whip from one of it's MLAs after he left Stormont proceedings early on Saturday to attend a Gaelic football match in Wexford where he was the manager of the visiting team! FYI his team won by ten points.