THAT there are still people naive enough to believe that the Labour Party will depart from British state orthodoxy on the past never fails to surprise those of us who have paid attention to the party’s record in power down through the years.
THERE may be one or two people observing the events of the past fornight-plus who still believe that the object of the latest attempt to get Orange feet down the Garvaghy Road was the defence of tradition and cultural rights.
Whatever the verdict from this week's court challenge against the iniquitous decision to force an Orange march down Garvaghy Road — and at the time of writing, no ruling has been handed down — one thing is clear: the peace will be defended.
There has been a hilarious irony in having the beleaguered residents of the Garvaghy Road lectured on the merits of the law by assorted DUP dullards over the past week.
IF Paddy Power was laying a book on the imminent Parades Commission decision on the Orange Order’s latest application to march along the Garvaghy Road it is likely the company would have paid out early by now.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin must have thought he had succeeded once again in negotiating a tricky meeting with the mercurial President Trump when a British journalist lobbed a hand grenade.
Poor Andy Burnham must be pulling out his dyed hair trying to understand the barbarous Irish — and no doubt he brands both Planter and Gael as Paddies — after his first funding offer to the Executive was stamped 'return to sender' and dispatched back across the Irish Sea.
ANYONE who believes for a second that the renewed focus on the Garvaghy Road is about religious freedom and inalienable rights needs to focus a little bit more on the dramatis personae of this bleak new production of a grim old drama.
The glee among loyalism at this week's court decision on the Orange march down the Catholic Garvaghy Road in Portadown was more evidence, is such were needed, of the cul-de-sac of sectarianism in which the unionist parties now find themselves.
THIS weekend marks the start of Belfast Mela, our biggest celebration of diversity. The programme is once again full to bursting with exciting and fascinating events which underline the richness that our new communities bring.
Hats off to those two momentous summer celebrations, the World Cup and Mayo's All-Ireland victory, branded by sports fans and media commentators alike as unsurpassed moments of unbridled joy.
One wag remarked, after the spectacular success of Sunday's Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann opening ceremony at City Hall that, "we should do this every week".
Primary criticism of the Irish Government's Shared Island initiative is that cross-border projects approved for funding must pass, in the words of one Dublin diplomat, 'The Jeffrey Donaldson smell test'.
