Intelligencer

Bill Set for North?

MEANWHILE, Hillary's spouse, former President Bill Clinton, may well spend time in Ireland in the coming months.

Apparently the ex-president is anxious to see how the new power sharing government is panning out. That is not surprising really, given how much of the credit must go to the Clinton administration, especially in the early stages of the peace process.

Clinton keeps in close touch with the North and has frequently spoken to the principals, including Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness.

With Northern Ireland urgently seeking economic investment from the U.S., Clinton seems a natural to go there and give advice to the parties concerned. Certainly he can be assured of a warm welcome, even from Unionists who were so suspicious of his involvement in the peace process from the start.

To Catch a Spy

THE naming of an alleged high up Sinn Fein spy has become a sport in much of the online media over the past few days.

Reports have been circulating for some time of a high up spy in Sinn Fein ranks, but the story gained momentum when David Simpson, a Democratic Unionist member of Parliament said he would name the man under privilege in the House of Commons.

That began an entire cottage industry of speculation about who the high up person was. Of course the previous top spy, Denis Donaldson, was exposed in similar fashion and was later shot, almost certainly by IRA dissidents.

The latest name bandied about is certainly not that of a top level Sinn Fein operative, so the fond hopes among anti-Sinn Fein elements that somehow a major Sinn Fein figure would get caught in the web are misplaced.

Of course, all this is done without a scintilla of evidence being presented about the person and what he allegedly did.

Blog sites are stating that he was compromised because of sexual infidelities and that he became a spy for both MI5 and the RUC at the height of his career in Sinn Fein.

Again, it is vital to note that no one has produced any evidence at all, but that has not curbed the speculation. The person named is from the mid-Ulster area, and Simpson claims that he was also active in the Provisional IRA and took part in the murder of a relative of his.

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Nster.com