I don’t think any of us regarded the possibility of playing a Champions League qualifier in San Marino next month as likely, but after La Fiorita left Belfast with only a single goal deficit, the prospect of playing the next round in an historically dubious territorial entity remains real.
Linfield were right to make provisions for the possibility of facing Celtic in the next round, but smiling executives and comments of making £1m on the tie is asking for it. The lesson for all of us is take care of the next game.
Football in June and July is a random lottery. We’ve learned this lesson often enough, but it’s worth reminding everyone again.
Yesterday we learned that the Supreme Court will publish its verdict on Rangers’ Big Tax Case next week. This one has had so many twists along the way it’s impossible to call. Whatever the outcome, there will be no surprise.
We may discover that Rangers tax affairs were not legal, not open to other clubs, and therefore bestowed an unfair sporting advantage. Or it may be that Income Tax was optional all those years. Place your bets.
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Turkeybhoy
Gene
Its drab, dreary, and p,ing with rain here:(
HH
WHITEDOGHUNCH
He was here for the day B on his way to Berneroberland, spent a lovely day with him and his good lady, good conversation and insights for me into different subjects back home.
But being Scottish they brought the rain with them.))
SFTB yer a jinx!!!
Always good to meet other CQN’ers and a real treat for me, canny wait till we draw a Swiss team again, that’ll be a real laugh:))
HH
Mighty Tim,
Must have met you if you worked in the Rabbie Burns….very orange/ Masonic till the Flannagans moved in. My Da’s pub was across the road, locally known as the Little. Vatican.
If anyone intends to act on MIT’s gut feeling. A draw is 7/1 with PP.
Hmmmmmm. Think I might have a bit of that.
I agree that there’s too much negativity regarding the transfers so far. I’d rather sign no-one than sign more bench-fillers. I’m sure Brendan has identified targets, and there is work going on to make this signings he wants. We’re not known for doing our negotiating in the tabloid pages, and long may it continue.
I’m also happy with the policy of trying to sign young players with potential. we all know that they’re using us as a stepping stone, but if we can unearth another Mossua or VVD every couple of years, it’s free money….nothing at all wrong with that.
Turkeybhoy,
it’s about the same temperature here in Aberdeen today – only difference is, it’s F not C :-)
Well done to Ronny Deila telling it like it is.
No messing about:)
HH
48,000 Gullibillies at the game tonight paying,I think 15 quid a ticket,some more,to see a team who finished 4th in the Luxembourg league.They class this as being “Back in Europe””Back where we belong”they cry.Against this opposition,they are probably right.
On a sensible note,I was talking to my mate over in Cyprus.I was saying I hope we get Apoel Nicosia,so I could get over.He said that would be the hardest of the play offs.Got me in two minds now.
starry plough
I live close to him and have the pleasure of bumping into him at a local but not often enough
a Gentleman.
Weather ?
18 degrees in Marylebone .. Overcast / occasional showers .
Phoned home earlier ( checking re my dogs ) — Scorchio 39 and rising. .
A night on the razz tonight . Shebeen in Willesden ( a place with Patsy Cline on the jukebox and no Radiohead ) and then a roots reggae night in Ladbroke Grove . -Yee Hah !!!.
THE GREEN MAN SAYS SACK THE BOARD on 29TH JUNE 2017 12:52 PM
Turkeybhoy
Gene
Its drab, dreary, and p,ing with rain here:(
You can bet your life it wont be on Saturday though.Just when we want it to be.
WHITEDOGHUNCH
Aye he did mention that, a Celtic Toff for sure..
SOT
my pal Isaacs place couple of miles from you for some caffeine, think may have posted before
https://luca.restaurant/
starry plough
I’ve moved round the corner mair Hell’s Kitchen now
Oumar Niasse from Everton – rumour we’re in for him
HH
And now for something different – Lurking Huns GIRFUY
Demographics are shifting towards a united Ireland – we must have a plan
In a highly thought-provoking article, economist McWilliams claims the 2011 census in Northern Ireland tells a story that many do not want to absorb
Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams along with Michelle O’Neill (left) and deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald (Brian Lawless/PA)50
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Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams along with Michelle O’Neill (left) and deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald (Brian Lawless/PA)
By David McWilliams
June 26 2017
Co Down is one of the most beautiful counties in Ireland. It’s a pity so few of us in the Republic head up the M1 to witness the hauntingly empty beauty just a few miles to the north.
Sitting in the Slieve Donard Hotel, Newcastle as the sun is going down behind the vertiginous Mournes, it’s difficult to imagine a more peaceful place on the island. However, this being Northern Ireland, I can hear in the distance the local Orange pipe band practising ahead of the ‘Glorious Twelfth’.
For about three hours last night, the band belted out their top ten marching tunes, making sure no one was under any illusion about what this time of the year signifies to some people around here. But Newcastle is a broadly nationalist town as evidenced by the large Palestinian flag at the roundabout on the way in. So maybe the band belted out the tune more loudly just to remind local people that they haven’t gone away.
Not to be outdone, a few miles down the road in Kilkeel, the Israeli ’Star of David’ flies proudly on the main street beside the Ulster Scots Heritage foundation. Quite what the link between the Ulster-Scots dialect and Hebrew might be is anyone’s guess. But this is Ireland— or at least a certain corner of it.
The sectarian division of Co Down is stark.
North Down is overwhelmingly unionist and South Down is overwhelmingly nationalist. For the uninitiated traveller, the flags are a good pointer. When you cross from Palestine to Israel, you know where you are. If you drive down the beautiful Ards Peninsula, flags change from village to village.
In economics, geography is as important as history. Proximity demands attention. Much as we Southerners might like to ignore what is happening in Northern Ireland, we can’t ignore it indefinitely. The demographic sands are shifting towards a United Ireland; Brexit and the attendant political car crash in England have accelerated this process immeasurably.
The demographics in Northern Ireland from the 2011 census tell the story that many in Dublin don’t want to absorb.
The most interesting statistic shows the proportion of Catholics and Protestants in various age groups. Of the elderly, those aged over 90 in Northern Ireland, 64% are Protestant and 25% are Catholic. A total of 9% had no declared religion.
This reflects the religious status quo when these people were born, in the 1920s, and more or less reflects the realities of the Treaty.
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How did your town vote in our United Ireland border poll?
When you look at those children and babies born since 2008, the picture changes dramatically. The corresponding figure is 31% Protestant and 44% Catholic. In one (admittedly long) lifetime, the Catholic population in the youngest cohort has nearly doubled, while the Protestant cohort has more than halved.
Even given the fact that 23% of parents of infants declared themselves as having no religion, we seem to be en route to a united Ireland.
Up to now, it has always been argued that a significant number of Northern Irish Catholics believe that staying with the UK was the right thing to do for their back pocket. But when you look at the numbers, you can see that this would be a bizarre choice.
It is unfashionable to say it, but the Union has been an economic disaster for both tribes in Northern Ireland.
If we go back to 1920, 80% of the industrial output of the entire island of Ireland came from the three counties centred on Belfast. This was where all Irish industry was. It was industrial and innovative; northern entrepreneurs and inventors were at the forefront of industrial innovation. By 1911, Belfast was the biggest city in Ireland, with a population of close to 400,000, which was growing rapidly. It was by far the richest part of the island.
Fast-forward to now and the collapse of the once-dynamic Northern economy versus that of the Republic is shocking.
Having been a fraction of the North’s at independence, the Republic’s industrial output is now ten times greater than that of Northern Ireland. Exports from the Republic are €89bn (£77.85bn) while from Northern Ireland, exports are a paltry €6bn (£5.25bn).
This obviously reflects multinationals, but it also underscores just how far ahead the Republic’s industrial base is. Producing 15 times more exports underscores a vast difference in terms of the globalisation of business.
Immigration is a good indicator of economic success. People move to places where they feel their kids will have a better life.
Today in the Republic one in six people are foreign-born. In Northern Ireland it is one in a hundred.
If immigration tells you about foreign people’s choices, direct foreign investment tells you about the choices made by foreign capital. Since the Good Friday Agreement, American corporations alone have invested close to $400 bn (£312bn) in the Republic. This is equivalent to 56 years of the British Government’s annual subvention to keep Northern Ireland afloat!
The dependent nature of the NI economy has become endemic, with handouts from Whitehall replacing the urge to pay for itself. This is evidenced again by the DUP’s approach to propping up May’s government which has nothing to do with making Northern Ireland self-sufficient — in fact, it is nothing more that a subsidy junky’s shopping basket. This will make Northern Ireland’s economy more, not less, fragile.
At the moment, the Republic’s budget deficit is 1% of GDP. If Northern Ireland had to pay for itself in the morning, the budget deficit would be about 22% of GDP!
We in the Republic can’t ignore this because we have a dog in this fight. Our dog, whether we like it or not, is the Hound of Ulster. In time, demographics will deliver the North to the South and we will need to have a plan.
The unionist population in a United Ireland will be no more than 14%, that’s considerably smaller than our immigrant population at the moment.
The issue won’t be one of physical absorption but of economic direction.
Whether it’s a ‘hard’, ‘soft’ or ‘Mickey Mouse’ Brexit serves to focus our mind on the future of this island.
Here in Newcastle, as the pipe band belts out its tunes, wouldn’t it be nice for once, to think about the future not the past.
Belfast Telegraph Digital
Hunderbirds @ 12.57
A draw in Govan tonight?
Better odds than PP…
10/1 skybet
11/1 betfair
19/1 betfair exchange
HH
If HMRC loses then can we ask for our money back for Juanhino (sp) ?
Full name El Hadji Baye Oumar Niasse[1]
Date of birth 18 April 1990 (age 27)[2]
Place of birth Ouakam, Senegal
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Playing position Striker
Imatim
Very informative, thanks
Back in Glasgow to see my consultant today but heading back to Newcastle soon. I want away before the currants start parking their cars.
All I can say is it’s fu fu fu fureezing here.
DESSYBHOY on 29TH JUNE 2017 1:44 PM
Imatim
Very informative, thanks
…………………
You’re welcome comrade
If HMRC lose the BTC then they might as well pack up and leave. I know we go on about the Masonic cabal but free masonary in the other parts of the planet is not about anti-Catholicism.
They are still a crowd of self serving bassas mind you.
POGMATHONYAHUN AKA LAIRD OF THE SMILES on 29TH JUNE 2017 1:53 PM
If HMRC lose the BTC then they might as well pack up and leave. I know we go on about the Masonic cabal but free masonary in the other parts of the planet is not about anti-Catholicism.
They are still a crowd of self serving bassas mind you.
Quite a fine perspective on the width and scope of knuckle crunching.
Save your money.Gala fairydean would turn this mob over tonight.4th in the Luxembourg league.Good God.
WHITEDOGHUNCH.
Thanks for the heads up / reminder re good caffeine . It’s in my wee mental wee black book .
Did some mighty fine eating last night . . A no bookings / no frills/ small place called Hoppers ( Soho- Frith Street ) . Sri Lankan . Wowee good guinea fowl curry.. Well worth the 45 minute wait for a table.Highly recommended !!!!
If HMRC lose this case why should anyone pay tax ,rather seek to aviod it as there is NO penalty, unless you are the guy in the borders who spent 500K in PAYE and NIC from his company and got 5 years, If it goes HMRC’s way why shouldn’t the recipents be facing jail terms as they concealed information letters and saught to evade not avoid paying?
So…Thats a player from Ipswich, and one from Everton.
Who else are we signing, no room for Aiden :)
HH
Hello this is WEE BGFC. Is the rapid vienna game pay-at-the-gate?
Scaniel must have came across each other mate. I worked moat weekends for about 2 years and on my breaks would nip over to the criterion then athletic. Then a chippy out of zavaroni’s. Great times .
HH
KTF
UTLR
or the slavia praha game
South Of Tunis
if you are swishing about Soho here is one that an old friend opened many years ago and might be worthy of a visit, did a tour of Sri Lanka many years ago elephants and fish is all I remember
http://www.andrewedmunds.com/
theirs supreme scottish guinea fowl farmed healthily just a few miles from me !
Rapid Vienna ticket news for Celtic fans in Austria
By: Newsroom Staff on 29 Jun, 2017 13:41
HOOPS fans over in Austria who don’t already have tickets for Saturday’s game against Rapid Vienna in Amstetten could snap them up if they get to the stadium early on the day.
There are a small amount of tickets reserved for Celtic fans priced 15 Euros on a first come, first served basis.
They will be available at the Ertl Glas Stadion between 3.30pm and 4.30pm on Saturday prior to the 5pm kick-off (all local time).
Get all the latest pre-season updates from Austria, the Czech Republic and Ireland by following @CelticFC on Twitter.
Spaniel and the Mighty Tim
Lot of Rothesay history between you.
I’ll be down for the weekend so watch for an update on Monday.
Btw – u was the Barman on the Glen Sannix in sunny ’76!
Sorry ‘Scaniel’ – see predictive text!
the green man. ihear kyle laffertys available.lol.
Big Packy
Dont forget Steven Fletcher and John Terry.
Cant wait until they sign:)
HH
big packy on 29th June 2017 2:49 pm
the green man. ihear kyle laffertys available.lol.
========
Signed for Hearts after all, apparently. Completed and paraded when he was due to be meeting Neil Lennon to discuss a move to Hibs. Once a hun…
HH
In 76, year of punk, I was busy running the pub summer football league. Was the best of times, was the worst of times. Used to fair like the Glen Sannox when it did the Arran run.
TRADITIONALIST88/E GREEN MAN SAYS SACK THE BOARD .would you have aiden back