THE legal situation in the case of the young Belfast boy Noah Donohoe is still not convincing. Some politicians have made the right decision to oppose the PSNI’s formal request that was granted by the courts that they hold on to sensitive information surrounding the death of Noah.  
 
Councillors in Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council passed a motion with no dissent that the public interest clause should be withdrawn from Noah’s case.  The police have consistently argued that the release of this information may harm public interest and therefore they asked the court to maintain something oddly called public interest immunity.

Noah’s mum and the rest of the family and a very wide section of the public are left wondering, why do the police think that when this information is given, even exclusively to Noah’s mum and lawyers, it will damage the case? What is this? Trying to play a legal discourse about whether or not to balance public interest against disclosure is holding off the justice that everyone wants for Noah. The longer this takes, the worse the predicament for the family. This is no way to implement justice. 


The rain, it raineth

THE rain, that favourite subject that brings everyone together, is back. The weather has turned for the worse and the better equally because we can’t do without rain – just as we like a bit of snow during or after Christmas. The rigours of an Irish winter are known, especially for us ‘foreigners’, so let us maintain our usual wait-and-see attitude because we cannot all be Michael Fish. This was the Englishman who once upon a time in 1987 infamously and wrongly told the British that their weather was unblemished and there was no hurricane coming. 

Meanwhile, in the Horn of Africa area and the east of the continent, they are still waiting for that rainy season to bless their crops. 
 
THE Irishman and woman can justifiably boast how difficult others find words like Ormeau, Ligoniel and Ballymacarret – they sound such a mouthful to us. 
To understand Ireland, we must begin to learn and appreciate the history of language – Gaelic, Irish words and Ulster-Scots. It should not be a question of how many people speak these languages but whether some people are there who speak it, especially the youth of today.

It is going to be on my bucket list that one day these languages are easier than English to speak because as you all know the English grammar has its diktats that are sometimes not acceptable, like grammar. Most languages are a means to an end and not an end in itself.

Ronald missing 

Ronald Hue
2Gallery

Ronald Hue


 

THERE is a missing person announcement in relation to Ronald Hue (above), a resident of Antrim who was last seen in the town on Monday, November 14. The public has  been asked to help with finding Ronald.  He is a very tall 6ft 3ins gentleman, of medium build and was wearing an orange raincoat and a pair of jeans. Hue is of black identity and well known to his local community. Let us all do what we can to spread the word because his family and friends are concerned about Ronald’s whereabouts one week on.