The 2 men that were arrested for the McCartney murder last week, later charged with murder and attempted murder, have been remanded in custody until 1st July according to Irish state broadcaster RTE. According to the Press Association report (carried at UTV) the 2 men will appear via video link on that date.

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I had my first visit to Windsor Park in years yesterday to witness the Germans scrape a lucky 4-1 win against the mighty Norn Irn. It was a good night out, even if my memory of it is a little hazy thanks to a few pre-match drinks in Ryans (great wee pub!). Decked out in my brand new 125th Anniversary Northern Ireland kit, waving my Ulster Banner, I made my way down Tate's Avenue amongst a mass of fellow-fans, towards the Windsor Park entrance singing "We're not Brazil, we're Northern Ireland (but it's all the same to me)" at the top of my lungs.

Looking at the pitch I was stood (I say stood because I only availed of my seat for 5-10 minutes and that was at half time) in the right hand side of the west stand. Probably not the best view in the house but, I've been told, anywhere in the Kop (as the west stand is also known) you're guaranteed a lot of singing and generally a great atmosphere. I certainly wasn't disappointed on that front! It was a great atmosphere and I had a brilliant time. Northern Ireland did well for the first half and were even (very briefly) in the lead against a team ranked roughly 100 places higher than us in the FIFA rankings. It seemed like the GAWA never stopped singing, and as the German's slotted in their 4th goal we still sang "We're gunna win 5-4!"

The match itself was good, even if the scoreline flattered our European guests but that's not what I want to talk about. One thing I wanted to know about was the extent to which sectarianism had been reduced at Windsor Park, during Northern Ireland matches, thanks to the IFA's Football For All campaign and the efforts of the Green And White Army to create a welcoming environment.

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For those of you who aren't aware (where have you been?) Germany are taking on the mighty Northern Ireland in a friendly, tomorrow night at Windsor Park as part of the Irish FA's 125th Anniversary celebrations. The kick-off is at 7:30 PM.

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There has been speculation recently that some of the eurozone countries, those who have replaced their national currencies with the European currency or '€uro', may contemplate reverting back to their former national currencies. An Italian minister has called openly for a referendum on abandoning the project, while there have been rumours about the German finance minister harbouring similar views more privately.

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The Netherlands have added their voice to the small but growing list of countries who don't want to be dictated to from Brussels (or Strasbourg) as 62% of their voters rejected the EU Constitution yesterday. To me this is much more significant than the French 'Non' on Sunday, which, according to media reports was much to do with domestic economic conditions, dissatisfaction with the French president and the overly 'Anglo Saxon' leanings of the EU (are they having a laugh?).

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There's so much I've wanted to post about over the weekend:

• The French saying 'non' to the EU Constitution
• The Gardai shooting 2 Post Office robbers (blogged belatedly this morning)
• The next Celtic League (and what year it will be in)
• ID Cards costing 3 times the original estimate (£300 per person!!)
• The (IRA?) £200k robbery at Boots in Belfast

and so much more that I haven't been able to talk about. I know you all missed me! I'm only posting now because I'm back to work today and have internet access there. I won't have it at home for at least a fortnight - I'll go nuts!!

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Two men have been arrested this morning in relation to the McCartney murder in January. One arrest took place in Belfast, the other in Birmingham. The two men arrested have been taken to Antrim police station for questioning.

Some commentators seem to have the feeling that there is something more substantial to these arrests than the ten that took place months back where the detainees were released after refusing to answer questions. I for one hope they're right and I must admit that given the time between the previous arrests and these, one would be forgiven for assuming the police have been able to put together a decent case.

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Damn it seems like so much has happened over the weekend while I've been offline! I really wanted to post on the shooting dead of 2 post-office robbers at the weekend in Dublin and the response, but haven't had a chance until now.

Dublin Robbers Shot Dead By Police
Gardai apparently shot and killed 2 men taking part in an armed robbery of a post office in Dublin, and Amnesty are calling for an enquiry!! The men were part of a group of 4 raiders carrying out the robbery which the gardai foiled. The 2 who were shot by the police officers were transferred to hospital where they were pronounced dead.

Now these guys were armed and obviously dangerous. Now the Gardai, who from the sounds of it did a great job protecting the public from these scum, face an enquiry to see if they "had done everything possible to avoid shooting the men" - I ask you.

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Forgive me if there's less action at Everything Ulster in the coming days than there usually is. I'm moving house over the weekend and won't be able to report very often. As you can imagine, I'm pretty excited about the move but unfortunately this means I won't be able to get to the computer as much. I'll try and blog anything drastically important though. Please bare with me; normal service will be resumed shortly.

Tickets for the upcoming friendly with Germany went on general sale today at a price of £20 each. I've grabbed myself and my 'troops' 4 tickets in the West Stand for this 125th Anniversary match. Tickets are available from the IFA at Windsor Avenue and can be reserved by calling (028) 9066 9458.

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