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Ground-breaking British drummer Mitch Mitchell
2008-11-13 07:24:07
Obituary: Sir John Hermon
The longest-serving chief constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary during Northern Ireland's Troubles, Sir John Hermon, who has died aged 79, led the force through the 1980s - a decade of unrelenting terrorist violence. His time in the UK's toughest policing post was dominated by controversies over the supergrass system of informers, "shoot to kill" operations and the fury of loyalists denouncing the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement.Protestations by Hermon that he was an impartial upholder of law and order did not prevent republicans and civil rights campaigners from portraying him as the embodiment of the establishment, selectively bending security rules. Unionist leaders turned on him following the Hillsborough Accord as they attempted to suborn the police service.But Hermon was a forthright defender of his officers, having been steeped in the constabulary's embattled culture since his earliest professional life. In the ranks, he was known simply as "Jack" or "JC".Born in Larne, County Antrim, and educated locally, Hermon trained and worked as an accountant for four years until he joined the RUC in 1950. In 1963 he became the first RUC officer to attend what is now the Police Staff College, Bramshill in Hampshire. On his return, promotion was rapid. He was appointed district inspector and, in 1967, deputy commandant of the RUC training station in Enniskillen.By 1976, he had risen to deputy chief constable. Attachment to Scotland Yard in 1979 was a further sign of approval and he became chief constable the following year. His era opened with a sharp escalation in the level of IRA violence as H-Block hunger strikes further polarised the divided province.Hermon had little love for politicians, whom he blamed for tearing society apart. That distrust dated back to a critical incident in 1964 when the Rev Ian Paisley inflamed opinion over the presence of an Irish tricolour flag in republican west Belfast. The ensuing riot embittered relations between the police and nationalist community.Perceived by critics as an abrasive disciplinarian, Hermon fell out at times with both the Northern Ireland police authority and the Police Federation, which passed a motion of no confidence in him after he upbraided them for discussing revival of the disbanded B Specials. He was knighted in 1982.His reform of the RUC, which transformed it into a more independent force, shorn of its worst sectarian sympathies, enabled it to resist the onslaught of loyalist violence against officers and their homes in the aftermath of the Anglo-Irish Agreement. That resilience protected the developing political process.But it was the row over police "shoot-to-kill" operations in County Armagh during 1982 and the subsequent inquiry by the deputy chief constable of Manchester, John Stalker, that overshadowed his period in office. The two senior policemen clashed repeatedly. Stalker later claimed that during their first meeting Hermon sketched out Stalker's family tree on the back of a cigarette packet, highlighting the Irish Catholic ancestry on his mother's side - some of whom Stalker himself did not know.The Stalker Affair, which fuelled allegations of official cover-ups and conspiracies, degenerated into a vendetta between the chief constable and the media. Despite efforts to dissuade him, Hermon privately pursued three legal actions to clear his name.In 1984, Stalker had been appointed to investigate the shooting by police of six men - five of them republican suspects. He had striven to obtain access to a secret MI5 tape recording of one of the shootings. But he was abruptly removed from the inquiry and suspended for supposedly consorting with criminals - only to be reinstated three months later.Hermon was said to have tossed Stalker's report across the room in fury when he read the document. Stalker later revealed that, for five months, Hermon had refused to allow him to send a report, recommending the prosecution of a number of officers, to the director of public prosecutions.But he did not believe Hermon had been entirely responsible for the obstructions. "I think the architects of my removal were on this side of the water," he told a court in 1995.Hermon's well-publicised views on the work of the murdered Belfast lawyer Patrick Finucane, shot dead by loyalists in 1989, added to his unpopularity with the civil rights lobby. The chief constable later insisted: "Pat Finucane was associated with the IRA and he used his position as a lawyer to act as a contact between suspects in custody and republicans on the outside."Hermon was ahead of his time in calling for the police to renounce their powers to adjudicate on parades during the annual marching season. In 1986, following violence in Portadown, he reported: "Unless parading organisations face the reality that population changes can result in areas once receptive becoming hostile, then the public order tasks of the RUC will become increasingly difficult."According to his autobiography, Holding the Line 1997, he left his bomb-proof office in east Belfast disillusioned. The appointment of his successor, Sir Hugh Annesley, commended as a team player, was seen as a reproach to his style of leadership.On retirement in June 1989, he became a consultant to Securicor. His first wife, Jean, had died from cancer, but he subsequently married Sylvia Paisley, a law lecturer at Queen's University. They had met after she wrote a paper criticising his refusal to allow women officers to carry firearms.In 2001, she was persuaded to stand as the Ulster Unionist Party candidate for North Down. She held the seat again in 2005, becoming the sole UUP representative at Westminster. Lady Hermon declined, however, to lead the party because her husband was suffering from Alzheimer's disease: she felt she could not "let him down in his hour of need". She survives her husband, as do two sons from their marriage, and a son and a daughter from Hermon's first marriage.Northern IrelandPoliceNorthern Irish politicsguardian.co.uk &ampcopy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
2008-11-08 02:21:40
Peter Bills: Talking rugby
Jerry Collins is 28 years old today. It seems absurdly young to pen an obituary of an outstanding career.
2008-11-07 00:02:32
Obituary: Jacques Piccard
Obituary: A Swiss marine explorer, he made history with his 1960 descent of the Pacific
2008-11-06 01:40:21
Obituary: Michael Crichton
The late Michael Crichton's prescient works of futuristic fiction made him one of the world's most successful authors.
2008-11-05 13:39:10
IANS TOP STORIES AT 10
INT121International/NationalIANS TOP STORIES AT 10INTERNATIONAL Obama wins White House; night to remember for US - Night Lead moved at 2050 Obama's leap of faith fired by Mahatma Gandhi - Profile moved at 0950 Andhra techie Arpana was strangulated to death: US police - Lead moved at 0901 France clears technology transfer for Rafale fighter: Dassault - Moved at 1241 NATIONAL What Obama presidency means for India - Moved at 1205 World's largest democracy hails Obama's historic win - Movedat 2017 Indian Army officer in police custody for Malegaon bombing - Second Lead moved at 1942 RSS activist gunned down in Kandhamal - Lead moved at 20:27 BUSINESS Now private banks promise to cut interest rates - Moved at 1737 ENTERTAINMENT Legendary filmmaker B.R. Chopra dead - Lead moved at 1259; Obituary moved at 1420 SPORTS Gagan Narang shoots to world record, wins World Cup - Moved at 1141 191 Words05112204
2008-11-05 12:03:10
Modern day celeb culture's roots traced back to 18th century obituaries
London, Nov 5 ANI: Obituaries from the 18th Century sparked 'modern celebrity celebrity', researchers from Warwick University have claimed.They say that public fascination with celebrity figures can be traced back to the rise of newspapers and magazines in the 18th Century and their popular obituaries section.Obituaries gave an account of the lives of high profile personalities, who became the objects of scandal and public fascination, or the first "celebrities".It is widely believed that the 'modern celebrity' was born with the Romantic movement of the early 19th century, but now researchers have challenged that notion, insisting the cult of the celebrity began a century earlier. "Celebrity - short-lived fame - became a feature of British society, and the untimely or dramatic death began to create as well as test this new kind of fame," the Telegraph quoted Dr Elizabeth Barry, from the university's Engish department, who authored the paper, as saying."The obituary plays a key role in this process and represents an important mechanism for introducing modern notions of fame and celebrity into British society," she added.Barry identifies 'The Gentleman's Magazine' in 1789, which provided an insight into the life of Isaac Tarrat, a man who impersonated a doctor and told people their fortunes - wearing a fur cap and a worn damask nightgown. According to Barry, Tarrat's death notice was read widely.Barry added that people from all walks of life could now become famous for being eccentric, rather than for historically momentous achievements. "This period also witnessed a change in attitude towards fame that recognised the significance in a newly commercial environment of popular tastes and appetite," she said.The findings are published in the International Journal of Cultural Studies. ANI
2008-11-05 03:01:00
Edits
The deserted village Can yet spill blood Exactly a month after Singur fetched an obituary, Sundays CPIMTrinamul confrontation confirms that a deserted village can yet lead to the spilling of b
2008-11-05 00:50:01
Obituary: Soul singer Dee Dee Warwick dies at 63
Dee Dee Warwick, 63, the gritty soul singer eclipsed '” unjustly, in the opinion of some critics '” by her older sister Dionne and other vocalists who covered songs...
2008-11-02 20:21:26
Obituary: Jerry Garcia sideman Merl Saunders, 74
The Bay Area's Merl Saunders, who played with such notable musicians as Jerry Garcia and Bonnie Raitt, died Friday after long illness...
2008-11-02 20:23:26

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Obituary

Obituary: Sir John Hermon

Peter Bills: Talking rugby

Obituary: Jacques Piccard

Obituary: Michael Crichton

IANS TOP STORIES AT 10

Modern day celeb culture's roots traced back to 18th century obituaries

Edits

Obituary: Soul singer Dee Dee Warwick dies at 63

Obituary: Jerry Garcia sideman Merl Saunders, 74