Buffallo Bill shoots to kill, Never missed nor he never will

Anger in Northern Ireland is unsurprising, Belfast is the most political city I have ever visited. The contemporary scene is evidently complex, and as I see it the 'peace process' is an active one, involving the formerly antagonistic parties to war. My interpretation of events is that this is a new phase of nationalism, violence has shifted to a new set of actors acting within the political framework of the now relatively respectable Sinn Fein. It is amazing how the media portray this part of Ireland as being 'fixed', when the problem is evidently so much more mind-bogglingly complex and immersed is historical representations of grievance that bubble over into the gloom of depression. I do hope that the militant republican movement realise that their best hope of a united republic is in the full functioning of a devolved parliament and the cessation of violence on all fronts. Roy Hettersley wrote a very engaging piece in the Guardian on this, and I felt the need to revive it quickly: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2005/aug/01/northernireland.northernireland2

"I bear no hate to a living thing, But love my country beyond the king". (Ulysses, James Joyce).

I want to remember all of those who have suffered this political conflict in Northern Ireland. I have seen the film 'hunger' and was moved deeply by the passion and sadness of Bobby Sands. I cannot understand the full extent of the political grievance of the Irish people, but I hope no more lives are blighted by this dreadful bloodshed.