OK, well not quite. A gangster style film set in Brixton will be filmed in Belfast this Summer. The BBC reports that the producers of the film, which will star Vinnie Jones, are having open casting sessions today for anyone who wants to be an extra. All you have to do is turn up to Maysfield Leisure Centre between 5PM and 8PM tonight.

Presumably due to the lack of ethnic minorities in Belfast (relative to Brixton anyway) the production company "would particularly welcome people from the black and Asian communities."

I'm not a big fan of Mr Jones's films, but will probably pop along to see this one - more to see what bits of Belfast they use than anything else. If Vinnie or any of his hard-men mates are reading this, I must suggest a black taxi tour of the murals of Belfast, taking in the Falls and Poleglass. I particularly recommend doing so in your England tops - I promise you'll get a first-hand experience of our local recreational activities.

I'm just glad for whatever help this film might be to the local economy and/or film industry. Not sure that Belfast needs any more of a reputation for gangsters though, English or not, we've got plenty of our own!

As I jumped into my car on Sunday night to return from my parents' house, the radio came on (Radio 5 obviously) and almost immediately announced that Richard Whitely had died, in hospital, of pneumonia.

The man was a legend and as popular with students as he was with pensioners. A regular feature of afternoon telly every day for 20 years; he was less a man, more a national institution.

I don't think I could do the guy justice to be fair, so I'll simply point you in the direction of a quite informative (I didn't know Richard Whitely had been the first reporter on the scene after the IRA bombed Brighton) tribute from Andrew McCann.

As I still haven't got my ADSL installed yet (tomorrow I hope - the modem's "in the post") I haven't been on since I left work on Friday, so here's what happened in Ulster while I was playing Resident Evil 4 (GameCube)*, buying Mortal Kombat Deception** and spending a quiet Saturday night watching Kill Bill, Vol 1 and The Great Escape...

Reg Empey elected new UUP leader
I must admit I was a tired bored with the whole 'campaign'. I don't see Empey changing things much (I hope I'm wrong) and the only candidate who seemed markedly different was likely to lead the party much closer to the DUP, which I don't think I'd want (esepcially not considering rubbish like this). That said, Empey has already set his sights on making the party a home for younger people and members of ethnic minorities in Ulster.

Whiterock Orange Order parade postponed
Apparently tensions were running high in north Belfast following violence from republican protestors at last week's Tour of the North parade. The Sunday Life this week ran with a sensationalist story about loyalist gunmen being "minutes away" from breaking their ceasefires had the police blocked the Whiterock parade. How much of this is true and how much is tabloid 'artistic licence' I don't know. The Orange Order decided to postpone the parade to avoid any trouble, while hundreds of people on the Shankill cheered on marchers at a protest march in support of the Whiterock Orangemen. Some carried a banner featuring the slogan "Equal Access to Shared Space." Catchy, no?

and last but not least...

Ulster Girl with funny name joins Big Brother
Belfast woman Orlaith McAllister (that's Orla to the rest of us) was sent into a secret room of the Big Brother house over the weekend wearing nothing but a (tasteful) figleaf bikini. Apparently some of her family felt slightly disappointed their girl would stoop to the level of appearing on Big Brother.

To be fair, she looked reasonably well, but I get the impression that should I catch her on the show in the next few weeks I will be led to cringe and possibly to throw things at my TV. Given 1 minute to find items from the house to take into the room she'd spend the coming days locked in, she spent the whole time searching fruitlessly for toothpaste (apparently didn't think it might be in the bathroom). Her Bio on one of the Big Brother shows said little more than "claims to have snogged Callum Best." Well there's an achievement. Her sister Bronagh didn't do her any favours either, going on Big Brother's Little Brother to tell anyone watching what a 'girly girl' (read airhead) her sister was, and how she was so into her makeup and tan. Should make riveting telly.

Orlaith was runner-up in 1999's Miss Northern Ireland, beaten by everyone's favourite law graduate and model turned Blue Peter presenter, Zoe Salmon.

* I got my own copy of Resident Evil 4 from Amazon.co.uk

** HMV link isn't a commission one, I just thought £7.99 was a great deal!

In an attempt to capitalise (a bit belatedly in my opinion) on the wristband craze that seems to be all the rage amoung "young people these days," the PSNI have launched their own multicoloured "Respect Difference" wristbands. The police hope the scheme will encourage children and young people to respect everyone regardless of "creed, religion, race, colour or sexuality".

An admirable sentiment but I can't help but questioning if they've left it too late. Fads like this are fickle and I'd say the popularity of the bands has probably peaked now that the market has been saturated. I'm also generally nervous about public bodies or government agencies "gettin' dan wif da yoof".

I hope my worries are unfounded though as it seems like a genuinely good idea to promote positive relations with young people in the community.

A spokesman said "Anyone can pop into their local station and pick up a wristband."

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Ulster is in dire need of someone to save us ... from Harry Potter apparently. A DUP Councillor for Ballymena, Roy Gillespie, has determined that Harry Potter is a dangerous 'cult' - a touch melodramatic from a man whose party leader is head of a church where line-dancing is considered a sin and Guinness "the devil's buttermilk" (disgusting yes, but surely that's a bit harsh).

Harry Potter and the half-blood prince is due out on 16th July at a midnight unveiling and Gillespie is urging people not to attend. He also said the timing of the release was 'suspicious'. (What the fuck? Based on this story, I've created a new category for posts called 'Local Wackos' - I can forsee more DUP politicians ending up in here before too long.)

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Following on from my earlier post, 'Shankill Bomber Re-Jailing "Reprehensible"' on Tuesday, I'd like to draw attention to some of the writings of Newton Emerson, which were drawn to my attention by a post at Slugger O'Toole.

In his piece in the Irish News he discusses the apparent Sinn Fein "Blame Everything on Securocrats" policy. Ignoring the lack of imagination shown by simply tagging the "ocrats" on to someone's job title, he argues that the excuse is wearing a bit thin, especially when trotted out by the IRA-Sinn Fein leadership over the re-arrest of convicted IRA multiple murderer, Sean Kelly.

Apparently, Securocrats (TM) and Unionists want to 'undermine the peace process'. Sinn Fein should know better than anyone that the people who will benefit most from peace will be Unionists and the British government. Unionists get their country up and running again, with a chance to prove that it can work and the British government can get back to getting down and dirty and sorting out schools and hospitals!

To Gerry Kelly's claim that "He [Sean Kelly] has played an invaluable and positive role in keeping the situation calm at interfaces in north Belfast,"
Emerson points out, in a stunning display of the most common sense, "There's nothing quite like a sectarian mass murderer running around to really take the sting out of a riot."

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... does it take to hold a country to ransom?

About 1,500 if the Irish Republic's justice minister is anything to go by.

Michael McDowell claims there are 1,500 members 'actively involved' in the Provisional IRA and that dissident republican terrorist groups (in practical terms, the Real IRA and the Continuity IRA) couldn't have more than 150 members each.

He said he beleives 'internal discussions', on whether to maintain the threat of violence against the population of Northern Ireland, is at an 'advanced stage'. He also warned that any IRA statement on disarming must be credible and that words alone aren't enough to convince the community, and especially "the community that has most to fear from them," that they are prepared to pursue their goal peacefully.

Apparnetly there is evidence that some paramilitaries are turning to what's become known satircally as "Ordinary Decent Crime" to fund their lifestyles. Today's just full of shock revelations, isn't it?

The IRA admitted to killing someone today. They killed a 14 year old schoolgirl, blamed the army and then proceeded to retaliate against their own heinous crime by killing a soldier. They apologised today, 30 years later - so I guess that's all OK then.

The girl in question was Kathleen Feeney from the Brandywell area of Londonderry. The IRA initially claimed the girl was shot by the army, which will come as a total shock to those of us who always believed the criminals and murderers in the IRA where trustworthy chaps who wouldn't lie to us.

The army maintained that although they came under attack in the Quarry Street area, no soldiers returned fire.

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(Did you see what I did there? )

UNHAPPY with the increasing levels of anti-social behaviour in Belfast, traders have clubbed together to pay for 2 extra police officers to patrol the streets around the city centre.

Obviously the traders think that these measures will help attract people to the city centre and therefore result in increased sales. Similar initiatives have been used on the mainland.

A man who owns 2 chemists in the city-centre said that things in Belfast had improved in recent years but more could be done.

Criminal Justice Minister David Hanson said the extra police would help make Belfast city centre safer. "The police will be dedicated to tackling anti-social behaviour in Belfast and that partnership with the Chamber of Commerce means they will be focusing entirely on the city centre, which I think is a positive thing."

So who knows, with any luck the glue-sniffers at the back of Tesco might even get lifted!

It really is time the IFA sorted this out. At the minute, IFA clubs aren't allowed to play their competitive matches on a Sunday. It's the kind of thing you'd expect in 1950 but is more than a little outdated in 2005.

The vote was recently put to delegates from all the IFA-affiliated clubs who voted to retain the rule that football matches should not be played on a Sunday, but as it turns out this could land them in hot water with FIFA. According to FIFA's rules, FAs aren't allowed to discriminate against an individual or group of people based on ethnicity, gender, etc etc and religion. According to the Belfast Telegraph, that could leave the IFA facing expulsion if they don't change the rules.

Now the main argument I've heard online is that this is anti-Catholic. Ballocks. This is just another excuse for Sinner FAI supporters to have a go at the IFA and/or it's Northern Ireland team, which in their opinion, doesn't have a right to exist. These republicans have decided that because it's a part of Christianity that they don't like, it must be Protestant.

I'm not defending the rule. It's completely anachronistic. The IFA should ditch it at the next available opportunity - but it's not anti-Catholic. I suppose I could nearly see an argument that it's anti-Jewish, or anti-Atheist, since neither of these religions believe Sunday is a sacred day. However as Catholics also celebrate the Sabbath and their religion lays down the same laws as the Protestant one, I can only conclude this rule is a sign of Christian fundamentalism, not Protestant fundamentalism. Any self-respecting 'good Catholic' wouldn't work on a Sunday anyway.

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