'Spud' Murphy started his new job today ,Friday 25/10/02 , in this troubled isle of ours. His predecessor , a Mr Reid , served his time in the Six Counties and thus was rewarded with a cosy(er) position back on the 'mainland'(!).The Brits apparently use the North-Eastern counties as a testing ground for those politicians whom their PM considers to be on the way up -you know, "Test their mettle and all that,what".... For once , Gerry Arafat SORRY Gerry ADAMS was right- it makes no difference who assumes the role of 'British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland'(sic) ; whoever it is can only hope to maintain the status quo and try to keep a lid on the whole situation .And we've had nearly a thousand years of that BUT WHAT THE HELL maybe Spud Murphy , a good welshman, will surprise us all and call for an immediate British withdrawal........

Well thank God for that - it's 'official' ; we ARE good europeans !! A 'YES' vote on NICE TWO means that we have not upset our friends in the rest of 'Europe' . . . Christ Almighty-the shame if we had! Our politicians in Leinster House can breath easy now and plan for the future--THEIR future....more jobs oops - I mean 'positions' will be available(or made specially) for them and their like , and they can visit other countries without feeling that they have let their new-found friends down. The state of this little State we're in .....

I voted today(Saturday 19 October) on the NICE TWO issue; a 'NO' vote ! Then went to the RSF Ard Fheis in Dublin - stopped by the Special Branch on my way in and questioned re my business in that area,then searched by same .On leaving ,some six hours later, stopped and searched again ! We must be putting their kids through college !! Great money if you can leave your conscience behind.... Anyway- hopefully ,the 'NO' vote on NICE will prevail(again) and the money-hungry politicians will not further enhance their careers and pensions in Brussels .We should know on Monday-Slan Anois.

1169 and counting-- from what and to what? Those familar with this island will also be familar with its problem(s) implied in the above 'BLOG' address ; those not familar will probably not be interested enough to read on . And those that are familar but would not consider the date in question to be a problem might read this far out of curiosity but will be logging out about now!
As I write , the Stormont Parliament has just collapsed ,again,and people in the 26 County State are about to vote , again , on the NICE treaty . The politicians , employers , business class , the church's and most of the trade union leadership tell us that their is no alternative to the Stormont set-up and no alternative other than to accept NICE ; the British funded 'government' in Stormont was put together in 1998 - the problem has existed since the twelfth century ,so what was the alternative before then?
The NICE treaty was already voted on by those that bothered to vote in June 2001 and the EEC/EU did'nt collapse simply because the majority voted 'NO' ; this time , apparently, it will , if the establishment are to be believed. There are many who think that the 'Peace Process' is the only game in town and a 'YES' vote on NICE TWO is the only honourable answer to our betters in Brussels . I am not one of those - what do you think?