It’s easy to forget the mistakes of the past. It’s even easier if you are too young to remember them. And that’s part of the problem with the British government and Northern Ireland. There is collective amnesia in much of the current British political generation about a century mostly of neglect for Northern Ireland since it was created in the 1920s – neglect, until the bombs and shootings started.
That neglect from Westminster allowed representatives of the Protestant majority in the Stormont parliament near Belfast to discriminate against the Roman Catholic minority for generations. It blew up – literally – in the violence of the Troubles from 1968 until the Good Friday Agreement of April 10, 1998.
During the Troubles about 3,000 people were killed, around 300 of them police officers. British government indifference towards Northern Ireland was disastrous then and it could be repeating the same mistake now. The shadow of a gunman - as the Irish playwright Sean O’Casey once called it – remains.
Treating Northern Ireland differently from England, Scotland and Wales is a red line for unionists
I lived and worked in Northern Ireland during the Troubles and knew people who were murdered, brutalised, kneecapped, jailed for crimes they did not commit and traumatised.
Kneecapping, by the way, was a punishment for supposed offences used by illegal paramilitary organisations to terrorise the public. The knees of those considered to be offenders were shot off with a variety of weapons. Some never walked again. I am mentioning these horrors because after a generation of (mostly) peace, Northern Ireland’s cities and towns are thriving and unrecognisable from the places where bombs were going off almost daily, destroying shops, offices and lives. But that peace looks increasingly fragile.
The roots of the current problem lie in Brexit. Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU but former UK prime minister Boris Johnson’s government made unionists – those who want to remain part of the UK – feel badly treated. That’s because he agreed – in effect – to move the Irish border in trade and customs terms into the Irish Sea.
Treating Northern Ireland differently from England, Scotland and Wales is a red line for unionists. It led to the collapse of the power-sharing government at Stormont, with the biggest unionist group refusing to work with the Irish republican party, Sinn Fein.
Beyond this political vacuum and a lack of energy at Westminster there is now an urgent problem. The massive data breach of information revealing the identities and personal details of 10,000 officers and civilian support staff in the Police Service of Northern Ireland puts lives and therefore peace at risk.
Dissident republican terrorists – those who believe they can somehow "unite" Ireland by killing people – now have information which can enable them to strike terror into the forces tasked with keeping law and order. Despite the ceasefire from the Provisional IRA, those dissident republicans have continued a sporadic campaign of terror in which police officers have been attacked and shot.
Politicians from both Protestant and Catholic communities are trying hard to prevent further violence and to find those responsible for the data breach but that is not enough. The British government needs to get a grip. Yet many politicians in England think there are few votes for them spending energy on Northern Ireland.
The British government needs to get a grip
Mr Johnson as prime minister was particularly cavalier. Unionist politicians who passionately want to be part of the UK spoke of Mr Johnson as an “English nationalist”, who only thought about England (where most of his voters live) and had little interest in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales.
In the autumn, I’m heading to Belfast, a city I love. Friends there often reflect on how British government carelessness is an unwelcome tradition. Nature proverbially abhors a vacuum and the political vacuum at Stormont is loved only by those disruptive dissident terrorists.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak doesn’t even seem to have Northern Ireland on his political "to do" list. Yet this is a moment which demands leadership, and Mr Sunak should lean hard on unionist politicians to push them to return to some kind of Northern Ireland government. He also must provide whatever resources are necessary to ensure that police officers and their families can feel safe in their homes at night and even be moved elsewhere if necessary.
But Mr Sunak’s Conservative Party is beset by other problems and internal divisions. For months it has trailed way behind the opposition Labour Party in popularity with a general election thought likely in autumn 2024.
Mr Sunak is confronted with economic difficulties, failing infrastructure, migrant boats, the Brexit mess, industrial disputes, profound dissatisfaction with the National Health Service and a long list of other gripes and grievances.
But instead of the Sunak legacy being that of a caretaker prime minister achieving very little and perhaps losing badly – as the polls seem to predict – in 2024, he could use his energy and influence towards ensuring peace and tranquility for British citizens in Northern Ireland who, (rightly), often feel they are ignored. The alternative – endless political stalemate coupled with a return to violence and instability – is too grim to contemplate.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Disability on screen
Empire — neuromuscular disease myasthenia gravis; bipolar disorder; post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Rosewood and Transparent — heart issues
24: Legacy — PTSD;
Superstore and NCIS: New Orleans — wheelchair-bound
Taken and This Is Us — cancer
Trial & Error — cognitive disorder prosopagnosia (facial blindness and dyslexia)
Grey’s Anatomy — prosthetic leg
Scorpion — obsessive compulsive disorder and anxiety
Switched at Birth — deafness
One Mississippi, Wentworth and Transparent — double mastectomy
Dragons — double amputee
ALRAWABI%20SCHOOL%20FOR%20GIRLS
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Company%20profile%20
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Napoleon
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20Ridley%20Scott%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20Joaquin%20Phoenix%2C%20Vanessa%20Kirby%2C%20Tahar%20Rahim%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%202%2F5%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
MATCH INFO
AC Milan v Inter, Sunday, 6pm (UAE), match live on BeIN Sports
RESULT
Al Hilal 4 Persepolis 0
Khribin (31', 54', 89'), Al Shahrani 40'
Red card: Otayf (Al Hilal, 49')
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: seven-speed auto
Power: 420 bhp
Torque: 624Nm
Price: from Dh293,200
On sale: now
Kill%20
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Miguel Cotto world titles:
WBO Light Welterweight champion - 2004-06
WBA Welterweight champion – 2006-08
WBO Welterweight champion – Feb 2009-Nov 2009
WBA Light Middleweight champion – 2010-12
WBC Middleweight champion – 2014-15
WBO Light Middleweight champion – Aug 2017-Dec 2017
Heavily-sugared soft drinks slip through the tax net
Some popular drinks with high levels of sugar and caffeine have slipped through the fizz drink tax loophole, as they are not carbonated or classed as an energy drink.
Arizona Iced Tea with lemon is one of those beverages, with one 240 millilitre serving offering up 23 grams of sugar - about six teaspoons.
A 680ml can of Arizona Iced Tea costs just Dh6.
Most sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, five teaspoons of sugar in a 500ml bottle.
MEYDAN RESULTS
6.30pm Baniyas (PA) Group 2 Dh125,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner ES Ajeeb, Sam Hitchcock (jockey), Ibrahim Aseel (trainer).
7.05pm Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner Galaxy Road, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.
7.40pm Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner Al Modayar, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
8.15pm Handicap (TB) Dh170,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner Gundogdu, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer.
8.50pm Rated Conditions (TB) Dh240,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner George Villiers, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar.
9.25pm Handicap (TB) Dh175,000 (D)1,200m
Winner Lady Parma, Connor Beasley, Satish Seemar
10pm Handicap (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner Zaajer, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
NYBL PROFILE
Company name: Nybl
Date started: November 2018
Founder: Noor Alnahhas, Michael LeTan, Hafsa Yazdni, Sufyaan Abdul Haseeb, Waleed Rifaat, Mohammed Shono
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Software Technology / Artificial Intelligence
Initial investment: $500,000
Funding round: Series B (raising $5m)
Partners/Incubators: Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 4, Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 6, AI Venture Labs Cohort 1, Microsoft Scale-up
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
RESULT
Liverpool 4 Southampton 0
Jota (2', 32')
Thiago (37')
Van Dijk (52')
Man of the match: Diogo Jota (Liverpool)
General%20Classification
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Spider-Man%202
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World Cricket League Division 2
In Windhoek, Namibia - Top two teams qualify for the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, which starts on March 4.
UAE fixtures
Thursday, February 8 v Kenya; Friday, February 9 v Canada; Sunday, February 11 v Nepal; Monday, February 12 v Oman; Wednesday, February 14 v Namibia; Thursday, February 15 final
65
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INDIA'S%20TOP%20INFLUENCERS
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TOUCH RULES
Touch is derived from rugby league. Teams consist of up to 14 players with a maximum of six on the field at any time.
Teams can make as many substitutions as they want during the 40 minute matches.
Similar to rugby league, the attacking team has six attempts - or touches - before possession changes over.
A touch is any contact between the player with the ball and a defender, and must be with minimum force.
After a touch the player performs a “roll-ball” - similar to the play-the-ball in league - stepping over or rolling the ball between the feet.
At the roll-ball, the defenders have to retreat a minimum of five metres.
A touchdown is scored when an attacking player places the ball on or over the score-line.
Juventus v Napoli, Sunday, 10.45pm (UAE)
Match on Bein Sports
Result
Arsenal 4
Monreal (51'), Ramsey (82'), Lacazette 85', 89')
West Ham United 1
Arnautovic (64')
Adele: The Stories Behind The Songs
Caroline Sullivan
Carlton Books
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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PROFILE
Name: Enhance Fitness
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 200
Amount raised: $3m
Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
Arctic Monkeys
Tranquillity Base Hotel Casino (Domino)
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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