They haven't gone away you know

Meet Sinn Feins' Niall O Donnghaile who at the ripe old age of 25 was elected as Lord Mayor of Belfast in May this year. He is by all accounts what passes these days for a progressive politician in that part of the world. 

Fulfilling his civic duties earlier this week the Lord Mayor made a conscious decision to single out a 15 yr old girl refusing to present her with her Duke of Edinburgh Award - having discovered she was a serving army cadet. In the days when Sinn Fein's idea of politics involved bombs and bullets the young cadet and her family would have done well to have made it to the Town Hall in one piece - if at all. Progress of sorts then. 

Adding insult to injury in an attempt to defend himself the Lord Mayor at least displayed the one attribute you come to expect from all politicians no matter how old they are - the ability to talk absolute bollocks at the same time as lying through your teeth. It's called propaganda in his case and both Adams and McGuiness would have been proud of their young protege to come out with this . . . 

"I have never and would never go out of my way to cause offence to anyone. In any society moving out of conflict we all need to be very conscious of how we deal with sensitive issues.

Balancing these considerations is not simple. We all need to be tolerant of our different traditions and aspirations. I accept that my decision not to present an award to a British Army Cadet has caused genuine annoyance. I apologise to anyone who has been offended and in particular the young woman involved and her family. That was clearly never my intention."