I’d be lying if I said that my blog shines a favourable light on Labour. I’m against the party here and in the UK. However, one thing I’ve always liked about the British Labour Party was Tony Blair.

Blair’s time as Prime Minister had its ups and downs but overall I think we can say that Ireland has benefited greatly from his 10 years in office.

The first and most important contribution has to be the Northern Peace process and the Good Friday Agreement. While John Major laid a solid foundation for agreement, it was Blair who signed the deal and this must be acknowledged. Now the North is in relative peace with only a tiny minority of dissidents will to take up arms. The wounds are not yet healed but I’ve no doubt that without Blair they could be a lot deeper today.

Secondly there’s the low prices in Northern Ireland. While Gordon Brown made a balls of the UK’s budget, inflation remained stable over the past 10 years. Contrast this to Ireland where we’ve priced ourselves out of the global spotlight. While our attempts to bring prices into line are thwarted by unions and other vested interest, the low prices for all manner of goods and services in Northern Ireland has provided Southerners with a low-cost alternative to the rip-off republic.

This is also an unintended consequence of the peace process. Even with low prices, Southerners would not travel up North if there were regular checkpoints by army officers armed with guns just waiting to shoot at a possible IRA member. Peace and prosperity in the North, facilitated by Blair has benefited us all. There’s no doubt about that.

Now, while most people accept the peace that Blair achieved, many would say that he unravelled his good work by going to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. I disagree with this argument. Sometimes you have to go to war to achieve peace.

Yes, over 100,000 people have died in the middle east, BUT how many more would have died under Saddam’s tyranny? How large would the Taliban be without intervention in Afghanistan? How many innocent westerners, working in places like the World Trade Centre’s or commuting on the London tube will die if we just let extremists roam free in the world?

War is not pretty, however in most times it is the lesser of two evils. I think Blair was right to join the US war in the middle east. Iraq is now a democracy and in Afghanistan the power of the Taliban is diminishing every day. There are human casualties in the process, but I believe this is all for the greater good. (And not the cheesy greater good from Hot Fuzz, I mean a safer world for all people)

I’m sickened today to see anti-war and anti-British (thus pro-war with the UK) protesters attacking Blair with eggs and shoes as he signed his book in Easons. The hypocrisy of these groups is funny, if it weren’t so serious. On the one had you have Éirigí, an extremist republican organisation who are at best sympathetic to the violent cause of dissidents in the North and then you have the Socialist Workers Party, People Before Profit, Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Coalition and the Irish anti-war movement, all of whom condemn the war in Iraq and violence in general.

The majority of Irish people couldn’t care for these far-left organisations. Most people recognise the contribution Tony Blair has made to Ireland and I’m one of those people.

The Libyan man jailed for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing has been granted release on compassionate grounds.

Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, who has terminal prostate cancer, will now return to Libya, despite pressure from the US government to keep him in prison. He has served just eight years of a minimum 27-year sentence.

270 people died when Pan Am flight 103 came down over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988.

The decision was announced at lunch time by Scotland’s Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill MSP. Under the devolution of powers to the Scottish Parliament he had the final decision on the matter. I was very impressed with his words.

It is terminal, final and irrevocable. He is going to die.

“In Scotland, we are a people who pride ourselves on our humanity.

“It is viewed as a defining characteristic of Scotland and the Scottish people.

“The perpetration of an atrocity and outrage cannot and should not be a basis for losing sight of who we are, the values we seek to uphold, and the faith and beliefs by which we seek to live.

“Mr Al Megrahi did not show his victims any comfort or compassion. They were not allowed to return to the bosom of their families to see out their lives, let alone their dying days. No compassion was shown by him to them.

“But that alone is not a reason for us to deny compassion to him and his family in his final days.

“Our justice system demands that judgment be imposed but compassion be available.

“Our beliefs dictate that justice be served, but mercy be shown.

“Compassion and mercy are about upholding the beliefs that we seek to live by, remaining true to our values as a people. No matter the severity of the provocation or the atrocity perpetrated.

“For these reasons – and these reasons alone – it is my decision that Mr Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, convicted in 2001 for the Lockerbie bombing, now terminally ill with prostate cancer, be released on compassionate grounds and allowed to return to Libya to die.”

I agree with this justification of his release and it couldn’t be put any better. It would be cruel to deny this man compassion and we’d be as sinful as him in doing so. Mr MacAskill’s words are very touching and when he says that Scotland prides itself on humanity I’d like to think of Ireland in the same light.

Former Irish Senator Gordon Wilson was a man who will always be remembered for his compassion. His daughter, Marie Wilson, was killed along with 11 others in the 1987 Enniskillen Remembrance Day Bombing by the Provisional IRA.

He came to national and international prominence with an emotional television interview he gave to the BBC the same evening in which he described his last conversation with his daughter, a nurse, as they both lay buried in rubble. He expressed forgiveness to his daughter’s killers and pleaded with Loyalists not to take revenge for her death.

I welcome the fact that Mr. Al-Megrahi has been shown compassion as he only has around a month to live and his health has deteriorated significantly in recent days. No one disagrees with dignity in death however when it comes to prisoners the tables always seem to turn in the wrong direction. Mr. Al-Megrahi is currently on a plane back to Libya.

Most of us agree that sanctions need to be applied to Iran, as is needed to North Korea and Burma etc. However when these sanctions put at risk the well being of that nation’s citizens it’s clear that sanctions are not the right way.

Today 168 people died in Iran when an old Russian Aircraft from 1987 crashed into the ground creating a massive crater on impact. Much of Iran’s fleet is old and out of date. This causes huge risks for flyers. The oil rich nation could easily upgrade and improve its fleet if it wanted too however sanctions from the US prevents this.

As a result there are virtually no Airbus or Boeing planes in Iran.

The blame for this lies ultimately with the US who refuse to allow planes and their parts into the country. People have died because of this sanction and it has to stop now.