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I can confirm that early this afternoon I, in my capacity as the commonly acknowledged leader and most respected person on this Board, had a face to face meeting with a Senior OWC Representative. The meeting was cordial and a number of areas of mutual common ground and agreement were discovered and explored. It was agreed that in future the debate would be amicable and based on logical argument and not be allowed to degenerate into hostility and mud slinging. It was also agreed that further meetings would take place and as a result of this development I have decided to call a ceasefire with effect from midnight tonight, and resolve not to send further correspondence to the printed press on the subject.

Signed PO'Neill sorry T.Fearon

On the contray SS2. Whenever I post here it tends to extract the crass hypocrisy of some, not least of which is SammyG.

There is an even better play about Windsor Bigotry, to do with Belfast Celtic's decision to withdraw from the Irish League in 1949. See it and it will become clear how little, if anything, has changed at Windsor Park over the last 6 decades

The team must have disobeyed Ramsey then, given it was Hurst and Peters who got the goals

Sad news. Saw him play for England, in the famous game when George Best scored "that goal" against Gordon Banks at the Stadium of Hate. Not bad for an ex Goon I suppose.

I have in my possession a 1966 replica England jersey signed by 10 players (Bobby Moore is the missing one) with certificate of authenticity. I assume it has appreciated in value

For what its worth, the Chief Economist yesterday said that Housing Prices in the 26 counties will stay steady but those in the North have another two years of significant rises ahead at which point they will tail off as well.

Best news of all was his view that there will be one,and only one, further interest rate rise in sterling this year

I think the union officially ended when Paddy Mayhew declared the Brits had no strategic or selfish interest in the 6 counties, in 1993 (in otherwords get us out quick!), we are currently experiencing the longest burial in history.

I suspect with the recent actions of Paisley and Empey, that even they know the game is up, and the future of them and their people would be much brighter in a united Ireland.

My own view (endorsed by yesterday's seminar) is that there will be no additional handouts from London, in which case the new executive will find it impossible to compete with the 26 counties, and in a few years down the line everyone with a titter of wit will realise what a letter writer recently stated in the Irish News "the union is the road to nowhere"

Sammy you do talk some bollix.The fact here is that 3/4 of this island enjoys a prosperity level substantially higher than the remaining quarter and the people in that remaining quarter (or a misguided deluded majority of them) deny themselves access to the same level of prosperity all to do with one way allegiance to a sectarian throne that neither needs nor wants them

For the record I think both governments are working in harmony towards the reunification goal, and even the likes of Ken Bloomfield has acknowledged recently that a united Ireland is the best solution for all the people of this island. With the substantial shift in the DUP (still scarcely credible) and Empey's pledge to move the UUP away from its sectarian bolt hole, I would say that Martin Mc Guinness isnt far off the mark with his 1916 forecast.

Was a guest yesterday of one of the four main banks at a business breakfast which was addressed by their chief economists North and South. The main gist of what they both said (although neither used the actual words) was that there is now no logical economic reason or advantage for the partition of this island. The 26 counties has an economy to envy and a prosperity level we can only dream of and neither saw much hope of any significant financial intervention from London and both expressed concerns about the ability of the new Northern executive (with its two dominant left of centre parties) being able to grasp economic realities much less successfully meet the challenges. I wonder is this the British Government's subtle ploy to rid themselves of the North and allied to this will people up here finally get the message that the union with Britain is an impediment to prosperity and vote accordingly.

One thing which amuses me no end is the call from Business leaders up here for a reduction of the rate of Corporation Tax to a level of parity with the 26 counties. The obvious and easiest way to achieve this is to end partition, are they afraid to say this?

Sure what was the point(er) of jailing him? Mickey Harte and Fergal Logan would have appealed successfully and got him released.

The big question given his stated role model status, is will Tyrone do the decent thing and set(ter) an example by excluding him from their panel sine die?

Such bollix. The sectarian behaviour at Windsor Park that night was deplorable and involved the vast majority of those in the attendance,and was shamefully led by the North of Ireland manager and goalkeeper who conducted those mocking the greysteel atrocity etc. Packie Bonner said it was ten times worse than anything he'd experienced at Ibrox and Eamon Dunphy switched his allegiance from unionist to nationalist/republican in 90 minutes. Once again it emphasises the unwillingness and inability of those who claim to support football for all to recognise the depth of the problem, instead they adopt the nutter with a 20p piece or a few dozen Ranger supporters excuses. That is the reason why I consider the FFA campaign to be a complete sham and unworthy of any credit whatsoever. I have no doubt whatsoever that if the FAI team was to play at Windsor Park tomorrow it would encounter the exact same level of sectarian abuse as in 1993. The old adage about leopards and spots holds true.

What this play explores is the deluded supremacist mindset (that thinks taigs never wash, nor work, breed like rabbits etc) that pervades those who attend Windsor Park and by extension the unionist community in general. It is a chord which anyone from the North, especially a nationlist reared and living in a loyalist area, will surely find familiar.

To that extent it is a drama well worth seeing and I hope Kielty doesn't obscure the message by trivialising it. He more than most knows well the tragic outworkings of such naked bigotry

In actual fact, this play could be improved with a little bit of updating, eg the Lennon death threat incident.

In my view the author got the mindset of the average N.I bigot spot on and the play's revival is an appropriate mens of counteracting the propaganda (see SammyG) that it is all been eradicated now.

How many catholic/nationalists go to N.I games?

Paddy is to make his serious acting debut in the famous and superb play by Marie Jones "One Night  in November" dramatising the unprecedented levels of sectarianism on display at the Stadium of Hate when  the 6 counties V Ireland World Cup qualifier in 1993, this August at the Grand Opera House in Belfast, in a role made famous by Dan Gordon.

I saw this play in Dublin and thoroughly recommend it as precise illustration of Windsor Park bigotry and the deluded superiority complexes that fuel it. I can only hope that Kielty can do the role justice and not let the comedic aspects of the play override the sombre realities of Windsor Park bigotry which is but a microcosm of unionist bigotry  in general.


It is fitting that this powerful drama is being revived at this time, to counteract the deluded propaganda that sectarianism has been eradicated from Windsor Park