George Bush to David Cameron: don't derail Northern Ireland peace process

[Newsjock]

Source: The Guardian

The former US president George Bush has made a direct plea to David Cameron to support the Northern Ireland peace process, amid widespread concern in the US about the Tories' new electoral pact with the Ulster Unionists.

In his most active intervention since leaving the White House, Bush took the rare step of calling the Conservative leader to ask him to use his influence to press his unionist partners to endorse the final stages of the 15-year search for a settlement.

The intervention by Bush, in a telephone call last Friday, appeared to have failed last night (Monday night) when the Ulster Unionist party confirmed that it would vote against the devolution of policing and criminal justice powers to Belfast.

... "There was a feeling that a conservative to conservative conversation was the right way to go about this," said one source familiar with the transatlantic negotiations. "This conversation was borne out of the concern that Empey is holding out." Another source familiar with the contact said: "This is the most active thing George W Bush has done in his post-presidency period. He has been incredibly restrained and diplomatic since leaving the White House. He has maintained radio silence."

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/mar/08/george-bush-david-cameron-ireland

[sakabatou]

1. What does Bush know about peace?

[marmar]

2. Now that's RICH.....

nt

[McCamy Taylor]

3. Looks like the gov't in UK needs a new phantom menace to keep the folks down.

I guess Muslim terrorism just isn't scary enough in England. So, they are going to start repressing Catholics in Northern Ireland which will cause a response which can then be used to keep folks in Great Britain docile while their corporate fascist masters take over the country (even more than they already have).

Look to Barclay's to start doing a Goldman Sachs to the British economy, and when people there are scared and poor, they will be like meek little lambs to the slaughter.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Have you even a clue what you're talking about here?

This is about an agreement that has been reached by Sinn Fein and the DUP, and that everyone, apart from the UUP, wants to go through - those 2 parties, the SDLP, the Irish government, the British government, Secretary of State Clinton, the Friends of Ireland in the United States House of Representatives and the Ad Hoc Committee on Irish Affairs. It's only the UUP that is holding out. Amazingly enough, Bush is on the side of the good guys here/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8554906.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/mar/08/uup-mcguinness-meeting-policing-breaks-down
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0206/1224263886670.html

This is nothing to do with any 'menace' of terrorism. It's nothing to do with repressing Catholics (you think Sinn Fein has made an agreement to do that? What planet are you on?)

Please, it's time you found out what is going on in Northern Ireland in the 21st century.

[LeftishBrit]

9. You are a little out of date here

There is no current terrorist threat from either side. This is all about maintaining a power sharing agreement between the parties in Northern Ireland. It had become a bit shaky, but it looks now as though it will continue.

And if several decades of the Troubles didn't turn most Brits 'scared and poor', this power sharing issue certainly won't, whatever else might. It was Thatcher who crushed the unions in Britain in the 80s; and nothing to do with Northern Ireland or terror threats.

Not everything can be reduced to some sort of analogy with George Bush and his reaction to 9-11.

[CBHagman]

11. Looks like someone needs to start reading the Guardian.

You can start right here.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/

On this particular news story:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/mar/10/uup-ulster-unionist-party-conservatives

[vadawg]

4. probuably not the best thing to devolve the policing of ulster, better if whitehall controls it

you just know if it gets devolved then it will become a political football and end up being abused by whatever coalition controls the province..

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. Stormont votes to take over Northern Ireland policing powers

A 15-year search for a political settlement in Northern Ireland cleared its final hurdle today when unionists and nationalists voted to transfer policing and criminal justice powers to Belfast, creating the province's first justice minister since the Troubles erupted four decades ago.

Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist party (DUP), who were barely on speaking terms a few years ago, joined forces with the nationalist SDLP in the Northern Ireland assembly to endorse a deal on policing, hammered out last month.

Northern Ireland's justice minister will be appointed on 12 April and is likely to be David Ford, the leader of the centrist Alliance party.

The breakthrough was marred by a row when the Ulster Unionist party (UUP), which governed Northern Ireland for five decades until the imposition of direct rule in 1972, voted against the deal.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/mar/09/stormont-northern-ireland-policing-vote

[LeftishBrit]

7. On the one hand, Cameron isn't an American Republican and shouldn't be getting his orders from Bush

On the other hand, this must be the first time in recorded history that Bush has actually come out it in favour of the reasonable side on something.

[truebrit71]

8. Which means he, or someone he owes, will make money from it...

...no clue who or how, but he wouldn't lift his finger if there wasn't something in it for him...

[TheDebbieDee]

10. STFU *. It doesn't matter which * you are, you know nothing about

peace. Just STFU and stop reminding people that you still exist!