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Alluring myth of `Black Irish' may be a sign of hope
I was writing last week about the strange historical relationship between Ireland and ideas of racial identity and suggesting that it may contain some kinds of ambiguity that might be useful in the search for a more generous and open-ended ended sense of Irishness in the years to come. I promised, or, as some readers may feel, threatened, to return to the subject this week. p

Mitchell review must not permit unionists to renegotiate agreement
From the signing of the Good Friday agreement in April 1998 until the UUP prevented the transfer of power and the establishment of the institutions two weeks ago, the peace process has limped from one unionist-induced crisis to another. This is not a blip, but the possible meltdown of the political conditions that led to the agreement. p

EU must transform itself from an introvert body into an all-European political project
The Kosovo war should force the European Union to rethink its future. As the new commission chaired by Romano Prodi takes over, it should seize the opportunity to move the EU from an inward-looking institution consumed with an economic agenda to an all-European political project. p

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS

Corrections And Clarifications
On yesterday's front page, reference was made to the auction of a house in Killiney, Co Dublin, for £1.9 million. As the Property supplement made clear, the house was sold for £1.19 million. p

AN IRISHMAN'S DIARY

An Irishman's Diary
Two reports in this newspaper on Wednesday: one, an 800-word account of how four Travellers were refused service in five different pubs after a wedding in Waterford. The other, a single paragraph describing of how some 40 gardai had to prevent a violent confrontation between 100 feuding Travellers in the public enclosure at the Galway races at Ballybrit. p

APPRECIATION

Tom Canavan
Tom Canavan enjoyed life and his enjoyment was infectious. All of us who were in his wide circle of friends had our lives enhanced by his company, particularly his humour. Tom had the quintessential wit of Dubliners but few could match his quick-fire dead-pan responses, a feature that was almost a mark of his entertaining personality. It made him an alluring companion at work and play. p

IN TIME'S EYE

Corduroy Breeches And Waistcoat
It seems like a tall story, but it's a fact - well, anyway a personal opinion - that one of the most intriguing bookshops in Dublin is the Government Publication Sales Office in Molesworth Street. All sorts of odd corners in Ireland are explored in a series of folders containing a huge variety of documents on many aspects of life in the past. For example, one entitled "The Landed Gentry": maps, sketches, photographs, household bills made out in copperplate handwriting. We are told what papers and magazines they read. The London Times, of course, and, after its foundation in 1859, The Irish Times. They liked the Illustrated London News, which covered in detail many facets of Irish life and history: O'Connell's campaigns, The Famine, the Land Agitation, and had this over any rivals - it sent artists around with its reporters to sketch and paint illustrations for its articles. There is a notice from Charles Domville of Santry House to all in his employ. If you have had a strict sergeant-major over you at any time, you will get the tone. "I require every Labourer," the printed notice ran, "to keep his Clothes clean and well mended, and to wear laced Boots, Leather Gaiters to his knees. Corduroy Breeches and Waistcoat, Neck Tie and Smock Frock, with Black Felt Hat. I expect that any small Repairs - his Cottage, etc., may require, he will himself make, such as nailing a Rail, or colouring a Breach in the Plaister, or repairing a Pane of Glass. And also that he will keep his Garden, Cottage, Offices etc. and the road along his Garden, or outside the Gate he has charge of, clean. p

EDITORIAL COMMENT

Jaw Jaw And All That
Sinn Fein's continuing commitment to the terms of the Belfast Agreement and its decision to seek a series of formal and informal meetings with the Ulster Unionist Party over the course of the summer are positive signals emerging from the political gloom of Northern Ireland. The favourable response by the UUP to that overture must also be welcomed. A lack of trust between the two parties, linked to the twin difficulties of decommissioning and the establishment of an executive, is the single largest obstacle to progress. Detailed discussions at such meetings, in public and in private, could go some way towards addressing the concerns of both parties. p
Fate of East Timor
A lethal political and psychological game is being played in East Timor between the United Nations and the Indonesian government as its people prepare to vote in a referendum on autonomy or independence. The UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, has once again postponed it, to August 30th, in recognition of grave defects in providing for a fair vote - prominent among them the fact that the Indonesian army has prime responsibility for ensuring security. Tens of thousands of people have been forcibly displaced from their homes by pro-integration militias close to the army in an attempt to sway the result. This makes it difficult or impossible for them to register as voters, despite the valiant efforts of the United Nations Assistance Mission in East Timor to ensure a fair process with unacceptably limited resources. Thus supporters of independence face an agonising dilemma over whether to call for a more prolonged postponement - effectively to allow a renegotiation of the agreement between the UN, Portugal (the colonial power) and Indonesia which would prevent such abuses taking place - or to press ahead with the referendum while doing their best to bring these abuses to international attention. p

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Alluring myth of `Black Irish' may be a sign of hope

Mitchell review must not permit unionists to renegotiate agreement

EU must transform itself from an introvert body into an all-European political project

Corrections And Clarifications

An Irishman's Diary

Tom Canavan

Corduroy Breeches And Waistcoat

Jaw Jaw And All That

Fate of East Timor

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