You gotta love Greg. Taxpayers money really at work there.
However it ain't gonna be called Provo...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-21678741
That is just fantastic. Honestly the hardest I've laughed in ages.
You gotta love Greg. Taxpayers money really at work there.
However it ain't gonna be called Provo...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-21678741
DID YOU NOTICE A SIGN OUTSIDE MY HOUSE...?
So if Kia needs a differnet name for the UK and Irish markets, I reckon we should help them out. In Australia we have the Toyota Kluger, maybe Kia could have the Kia Marger created out of the names Gerry and Martin. Less controversial and a great acknowledgement of two great men!
Kia Ora is surely the cross-marketing opportunity they've been missing for decades.
Even simpler solution: keep the Provo name, but only sell it in orange.
Hello, hello? What's going on? What's all this shouting, we'll have no trouble here!
- E Tattsyrup.
Pure Derry's latest update: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...4862719&type=1
REVEALED - FIVE MORE CARS THAT UNIONISTS DIDN’T WANT THE WORLD TO HAVE
Following the DUP’s well documented meltdown at the proposed new Kia ‘Provo’ concept car, we look back through history at five other car projects which failed after complaints from Northern Ireland Unionists.
1996 - The BMW .32 County Series
The usually efficient Germans made a balls of this car branding exercise, when they found themselves getting death threats from Mad Dog Johnny Adair over the naming of their new rural saloon line. He later tried to order one just so he could key it and smash the headlights in with a hammer.
1998 - The Ford Cemtex
This nippy family car was due to roll off the factory floors in the mid 90s until Big Ian Paisley kicked up a fuss in the House of Commons. It was later re-branded and released as the ‘Focus’, but unionists never forgot, owing to the statistically poor sales of this otherwise popular model in East Belfast, especially in green.
2002 - The Peugeot Punishment Beating
A bit of a risqué choice for the French car makers landed them in hot water with NI politicians over this otherwise unassuming large saloon car. It was planned to have blacked out windows, spacious back seats and removable Velcro number plates. Gregory Campbell actually busted a blood vessel in his temples whilst on the phone complaining to them.
2007 - The Vauxhall C’mon The Hoops
Originally planned as a fun, about town vehicle for young professionals, this controversial car was scrapped after the DUP complained to UK consumer council. The prototype was reportedly stolen by joyriders and found burnt out in Creggan.
2013 - The Lamborghini Taig
The classy Italian sports car manufacturer were shocked to find 350 Fleg protestors outside their headquarters at Bolognese, Italy after announcing this new car - forcing them to scrap £100million worth of R&D on the project. The DUP have never forgiven them though, advising members to avoid buying Diablo’s & Gallardo’s in favour of executive Skoda Octavia’s or Volvos.
Red Honda Ulster was the best I've seen so far.
Sometines you have to despair at the cost of democratic processes. At least Bryson will be happy as it will probably get him elected to parliament.
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news...-29116278.html
Last edited by gastric; 08/03/2013 at 5:27 AM.
The chief constable's comments are somewhat odd. Perhaps they're in line with the official mentality of "normalisation" of society north of the border, but in a perverse, warped sort of way, it's as if he's normalising or legitimising certain types of disorder or crime - those that "matter" or occur in a "normal" society - whilst distinguishing or stigmatising others as "abnormal", or as a "waste" of resources - those from which people perhaps "should have moved on" - simply because he disagrees with the sentiment behind them or personally feels they shouldn't matter. Clearly, they do still matter to many people, as demonstrated by the fervency and longevity of the flag protests. Not that I necessarily agree with the sentiment behind the flag protests myself either, but it just seems a peculiar, if not false, or agenda-driven even, distinction to make. The police are there to deal with all types of crime and disorder, whatever the reasons for such disturbances may be."£11 million of that has been new money that we have had to provide, the rest has been (the cost of) police officers' time not being spent on the things that matter," Mr Baggott explained afterwards.
"I think that it's a sadness. That money should have been spent on tackling drug dealers, it should have been spent on officers patrolling in the heart of our most disadvantaged areas, it should have been spent on people trafficking, it should have been spent on new technology, it's been wasted dealing with disturbances and disorder that should never have happened in the first place."
From the perspective of a chief constable, why should flag protesting be stigmatised but drug dealing not, for example? The implication is that the flag issue isn't or shouldn't be a "real" or "serious" issue. There are social reasons for the occurrence of both, however; the flag protests did not erupt out of an alien bubble. I mean, for the sake of argument, you could attempt to arbitrarily isolate drug dealing or some other declared social ill in a similar vein and argue it's a waste of police resources/shouldn't matter because people should know better than to be dealing/purchasing/using drugs or whatever. It doesn't take away from the fact it remains a genuine issue, by the very fact of its existence, with which the police are obliged to deal with by law. Who is a chief constable to tell citizens which issues should and shouldn't matter to them? If anything, at least the peaceful elements of flag protesting adhered to democratic principles.
I'm not sure how coherently all that reads as I wrote it in a bit of a rush before work this morn prior to this edit, nor am I attempting to justify certain types of crime over others, but I think it gets my point across; just thought it an interesting observation.
And is Bryson actually planning on standing for election?!
Last edited by DannyInvincible; 08/03/2013 at 1:54 PM.
Francie Molloy unsurprisingly wins Mid-Ulster by-election.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0308/375...r-by-election/
DID YOU NOTICE A SIGN OUTSIDE MY HOUSE...?
'British Legion rejects Belfast cenotaph flags proposal': http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-22200174
The Royal British Legion has said it is opposed to moves to fly the union flag at Belfast City Hall's cenotaph every day of the year.
In a statement, the legion said its Garden of Remembrance was "sacrosanct" and it did not want it politicised.
The legion was responding to a DUP proposal to fly the flag at the cenotaph daily.
The BBC revealed on Wednesday that the legion was among interest groups with concerns about that proposal.
Last December, the council voted to restrict the flying of the union flag over city hall to designated dates.
This followed an equality impact assessment. But loyalists were outraged by the move and weeks of street protests, sometimes violent, ensued. A number of police officers were hurt during disturbances, several politicians received death threats and homes and property were damaged.
In a statement on Thursday, the British Legion said it did not want its Garden of Remembrance being drawn into the flags debate.
"As the nation's custodian of remembrance, the legion is committed to helping everyone understand the importance of remembrance, so those sacrifices are never forgotten," the statement said.
"Remembrance of all who have fallen should unite, not divide. It is sacrosanct and should not be politicised in any way.
"We would therefore oppose the Garden of Remembrance becoming involved in the flag debate for that reason and, in the interests of keeping remembrance free of controversy, cannot agree to any change to the current policy of flag-flying at the cenotaph."
Next we will be getting a statement from the KKK condemning the DUP + Union Flag dogmatists over their extreme politics, inflexible attitudes and anti-social actions.
'Protestant Coalition emerges as NI's newest political party': http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-22279352
Bizarre stuff.A new political party has been registered in Northern Ireland.
The Protestant Coalition's website states it is an "anti-politics, political party" whose priority is "the empowerment of the PUL (Protestant Unionist Loyalist) community".
The party's electoral profile lists the party's leader as James Dowson.
Mr Dowson, a former British National Party fundraiser, is currently on bail over protests connected to the union flag's status at Belfast City Hall.
On its website the coalition said it has "no political ambitions" and is constituted for three years.
Bookmarks