Hope it succeeds

Spiegel Online:

Optimism, in other words, is in no short supply in Belfast these days. And neither is ambition. Ultimately, promoters of the 3 billion pound ($6.17 billion), 15-year development hope the Titanic Quarter, located just northeast of the city center, will generate 3-4 billion pounds of investment and 25,000 new jobs for the city....

But it's the next stage that has organizers particularly excited. In addition to providing a home for 450,000 square feet of restaurants, cafes, bars and hotels, and a new campus for Belfast Metropolitan College, the finished product will host a museum dedicated to the area's ship-building past. Out the front door of the museum, a vast park will perfectly mirror the slips where the Titanic and its sister ship Olympic were built.

"The Titanic is a big draw, but it hasn't been fully exploited," says Kerrie Sweeney, project manager for the planned Titanic visitors' center. "There isn't really anything for visitors to see."

Strictly speaking, that's not entirely true. Tour operators at present offer two-hour boat trips along the mostly defunct River Lagan shipyards. In addition to a historical narrative about the building of the Titanic -- launched on May 31, 1911 -- tourists have the opportunity to buy T-shirts with the slogan "She was alright when she left here." Another catchphrase plays on the fact that Titanic Captain Edward John Smith hailed from England: "Built by Irishmen. Sunk by an Englishman." The trips are full even on wet and blustery days in autumn.

A Troubled Era Ends

Irish Times:

THE withdrawal of British troops from the streets of the North represents an historic advancement following generations of an Orwellian nightmare of oppression, leading Belfast republican Gerry Kelly said yesterday.

But unionist politicians praised the contribution made by the soldiers in bringing political peace and stability to the North after being deployed there for 38 years.

At midnight tonight all military personnel will be recalled to their barracks, bringing to an end Operation Banner, the longest continuous campaign in British army history.

Guardian:

The British army's longest continuous military operation comes to an end at midnight tonight when responsibility for security in Northern Ireland passes to the police.

Operation Banner lasted 38 years and involved 300,000 personnel, of which 763 were killed by paramilitaries. The last soldier to die was Lance Bombardier Stephen Restorick, who was shot at a vehicle checkpoint in 1997.

From tomorrow there will still be a garrison of 5,000 troops in Ulster, but they will not be on active operations and will be available for deployment anywhere in the world.

Peace to the Londonderry Loyalists.


Peace to the Derry Bogside Republicans.

Some Goods News

Spiegel Online:

The Troubles in Northern Ireland led to the deaths of 3,700 people and injured thousands of others. Now the bitter enemies of the past have come together to form a power-sharing government.

First Minister Ian Paisley and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness are all smiles after being sworn in on Tuesday.
The new ministers in Northern Ireland's government wasted no time in getting behind their desks on Wednesday morning. As of midnight Tuesday, direct rule from London ended and the politicians were eager to get to work. What has been described as a "new dawn" was made possible by the pledging of the two sides in the bitter conflict to abandon the tactics of violence for good and to join together in the political process.

On Tuesday Ian Paisley, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), took office as Northern Ireland's first minister, forming an administration with his former foe, Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein, who now takes over as deputy leader. They will head a new 12-member administration which will take back control of government departments that had been run from London for the past five years. Allegations of intelligence gathering within Belfast's government buildings led to the collapse of the first attempt at devolved government back in 2002. Power-sharing had been the central goal of the Good Friday agreement of 1998, which had been brokered by the United States, Britain and the Republic of Ireland.

Shredder Futures Rising In Britain

Guardian:

MI5 and the Ministry of Defence are among government agencies demanding the return of secret documents from the Stevens inquiry in advance of four key inquiries which are set to expose the full extent of security force collusion with loyalist paramilitary figures in Northern Ireland, the Guardian has learned.

In some cases the organisations asking for the paperwork have successfully appealed for the return of the documents only to shred them, raising fears that vital evidence of collusion could disappear.

As a result, officers involved in the Stevens inquiry have begun making copies of all important secret documents to avoid crucial evidence being lost.

Londonderry

Derry