Three Thousand Versts of Loneliness

From Eamonn Mallie's Twitter feed , 'Martin McGuinness says he wants the Maze site to be "a shrine to peace and a shrine to the future"'.  The prospect of any type of 'shrine' at the former H blocks, endorsed by Martin McGuinness, will make many IRA victims' blood run cold. It's unlikely that the Deputy First Minister chose the word unthinkingly, which renders it provocative.  It will add incalculably to the anxiety expressed by those who suspect that any development at the Maze is likely to act as a rallying point for republicanism and its rewrites of history.

Irish rugby unveiled its new home on Saturday.  The Aviva Stadium, situated on the site of the old Lansdowne Road ground, is a gleaming glass and steel structure which, despite reservations about its capacity for Six Nations matches, instantly becomes Ireland's most impressive sports' venue. In Northern Ireland the chances of a multi-sports arena being built in the foreseeable future died with plans for a stadium at the Maze.   In today's Belfast Telegraph I anticipate the complaints that we too could've had a world class facility and I argue that the middle of nowhere was never a plausible location. a city centre arena, like the one unveiled in Dublin, was never on offer in Northern Ireland. The Government, backed by Sinn Fein and the DUP's former Culture Minister, Edwin Poots, repeatedly stressed that it was the Maze or nothing. The prevailing wisdom of town-planners, developers and academics was against an out-of-town development. Examples of similar project

“I wish I had listened to Malcolm's advice before pouring out so much undiluted advocacy for the Maze”, concedes Ed Curran. Seasoned local football journalist, Malcolm Brodie, had advised the former Belfast Telegraph editor that a multisports stadium on the former prison site was not viable. So does Curran’s rueful admission represent the beginnings of an apology for submitting readers to a barrage of ill-advised, senseless propaganda? Unfortunately not . He remains implacably convinced that a flawless project was sunk by sectarian prejudice, rather than practical objections and pragmatism. Curran has got it so wrong, yet remains convinced that he is so right, that it is almost poignant. None of the three sports governing bodies were half hearted in their commitments to a multisports stadium simply because it was to be shared, whatever the ex Tele supremo might insinuate. There was no significant undercurrent of sectarianism from supporters which caused the project to flound

The SDLP does not agree with Peter Robinson’s assessment that the Programme for Government remains applicable, no matter how economic conditions might change. The party has published a discussion document (PDF) which it claims would deliver an extra £400 million with which to tackle recession in Northern Ireland. I must confess that I do not have the stomach tonight to delve into detail contained within the report’s 65 pages. And I’m sure there will be latitude for other parties to dispute the SDLP’s sums. Casting an eye over the summary of bullet points, however, it is clear that the party has at least been considering how a PfG, altered to take into account economic difficulties, might look. There is also some evidence that Mark Durkan’s party recognises that expenditure must be cut, certainly if money is to be found to fund other spending priorities. The document seeks a moratorium on civil service recruitment and proposes freezing recruitment and promotion within the higher g

The BBC is reporting that proposals to build a new football and rugby stadium in east Belfast have already been discussed with DCAL. The plan would involve upscaling a smaller design which was set to complement an arena at the Maze. The business consortium, Eastonville Traders Ltd, wishes to construct a 20,000 seat venue on the Danny Blanchflower Stadium site, which is an existing facility for youth football. At an estimated cost of £66 million the project would weigh in considerably cheaper than the Maze scheme and it could be completed in three years. With its close proximity to Belfast city centre, good road links and an adjacent airport, Sydenham seems, prima facie, an ideal location for a new sports’ stadium. Fingers crossed this proposal might have legs.

It is encouraging to hear the IFA president, Raymond Kennedy, making a statement on a new stadium to house the international team, which echoes grassroots feeling amongst Northern Ireland supporters. For too long the game’s governing body here has ignored the viewpoint of its customers, who will actually patronise any stadium, and has instead pandered to the government’s notion that the Maze Stadium plans were the ‘only show in town’. Although Chief Executive Howard Wells remains wedded to the idea of an out of town, multi-sports’ white elephant in the middle of nowhere, Kennedy has expressed his support for a stadium in Belfast, specifically mentioning the Ormeau Park plans. "I would love to have a nice, spanking new stadium at Ormeau Park." Hear, hear Raymond!

If a good dose of sectarian bile is what you’re missing in your life, then Brian Feeney’s weekly Irish News column is a godsend. It is puzzlement to me that a reasonably good newspaper persists in publishing his hate-filled rants. Perhaps they do so out of amusement value. Perhaps people are entertained by the vein bulging derision Feeney heaps on unionists week on week. Those of us with more discretion will feel that Feeney epitomises a type of institutionalised bigotry that already gains far too much exposure in Northern Ireland. That joke isn’t funny anymore. Feeney turns his attentions towards the Maze stadium debate and concludes that anyone who might prefer a national sports stadium to be in Belfast, does so only out of unionist bigotry. It’s not so much this contention that makes Feeney’s piece so offensive, because his entire output consists of making unfounded and sweeping allegations against unionism, but the abusive language which he then persists in putting into the m

The Culture, Arts and Leisure Committee at the Northern Ireland Assembly has had a meeting adjourned due to the paucity of material provided to debate the proposed plans for a sports Stadium at the Maze. MLAs walked out of a meeting with developers having not been provided with a business plan or feasibility study. Using the functions of government to publicise aspirational plans without any substantive detail being produced is a clear abuse of process. It is little surprise that Edwin Poots is the minister responsible. With an eye for detail that rivals Catriona Ruane, he has adopted the half-baked Maze proposals as his pet project.

The leading Northern Ireland fanzine from a few years ago used to run a series of articles entitled Inept Farcical Absurd, highlighting the incompetence of the Irish Football Association. The series was a long one, sometimes running to several separate ineptitudes per issue, and if the magazine was still alive another couple would have been added to the “to do” list. Last night the IFA held an Extraordinary General Meeting in order to make much needed changes to the body’s archaic Articles of Association. Having previously failed to gain a 75% majority required to abolish the ban on Sunday football, thankfully the voters stepped out of the 19th century and last night carried the necessary amendment. No such common sense displayed when presented with proposals to cut the Executive Committee from 18 to 10 members. That would after all have complied with government recommendations which have been linked to a much needed £13 million injection into the sport. Unbelievably this funding

Not content with attempting to hound out Lawrie Sanchez, who achieved Northern Ireland’s best results since the 1980s, the Belfast Telegraph and its sister paper the Sunday Life have from the beginning, slavishly followed the government line on the proposed Maze Stadium. This constitutes a double attack on sanity and the best interests of the international team and its supporters. The Strife’s Jim Gracey has lead the pro-Maze campaign, but yesterday everybody’s favourite lining for the cat-litter tray printed an “ open letter ” from editor, Ed Curran, purportedly aimed at Northern Irish sports fans. The gist of Curran’s piece is the agenda the Telegraph has been advancing from the outset of this debate – i.e. you can’t look a gift-horse in the mouth. Ignoring the actual arguments against the stadium which centre on lack of infrastructure, the absence of a proper business plan, expert and academic opinion universally backing a city-based stadium etc. etc. Curran disingenuously reframe