Wednesday, April 13

Looking forward to the launch meeting tonight in the Glenowen Inn, Glen Road, at 7pm, when I will have the first opportunity to publicly outline why I'm standing as an independent Socialist in West Belfast for the Assembly elections on May 5. I hope all those who have interest in building an opposition to the Stormont Government will come along.

On other matters, I must strongly disagree with the column by Brian Feeney in today's Irish News when he argues that "neither the Assembly, nor all-Ireland bodies nor sharing power is an issue in this election".

As far as I'm concerned, the issue of the undemocratic Assembly with the lack of an opposition is a central part of my campaign.

Feeney also writes that Northern Ireland is "an ethno-political problem, which means it has to be resolved with mechanisms like Belguim's or Switzerland or Lebanon's".

The inclusion of Lebanon is not exactly a place to hold up as a solution for Northern Ireland. Lebanon had a civil war from 1975 to 1990 and has been subjected to numerous attacks and occupations from Israel.

But perhaps the two states, set up respectively by the British and French, are perfect examples of how imperialism can ruin a country with its systems of divide and rule.