I was listening to the Nolan Show yesterday as I drove to the meeting of the British-Irish Secretariat yesterday and the difference between the two events couldn’t have been more marked. In the MAC Theresa and Eamon were all sweet reasonableness, feeling good about what’s been achieved and hungry to achieve more. On the Nolan […]
April, 2013
The Orange Order: marching to a different drum?
I was listening to the Nolan Show yesterday as I drove to the meeting of the British-Irish Secretariat yesterday and the difference between the two events couldn’t have been more marked. In the MAC Theresa and Eamon were all sweet reasonableness, feeling good about what’s been achieved and hungry to achieve more. On the Nolan […]
Eamon and Theresa: dancing in the dark
There was a meeting of the British-Irish Secretariat today. It was held in the MAC in Belfast and it had two big political beasts (metaphorically speaking) performing: British Secretary of State Theresa Villiers and Irish Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore. Theresa said that British-Irish relations had never been better than they are now. And thanks to the […]
Eamon and Theresa: dancing in the dark
There was a meeting of the British-Irish Secretariat today. It was held in the MAC in Belfast and it had two big political beasts (metaphorically speaking) performing: British Secretary of State Theresa Villiers and Irish Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore. Theresa said that British-Irish relations had never been better than they are now. And thanks to the […]
David Cameron – just a dad. Honest.
When you hear David Cameron weaseling on about football, you begin (or continue) to be worried about his reasoning abilities as a prime minister. Before ever the FA had delivered its verdict on Luis Suarez and Teethgate, Cameron was in there like a shot announcing that the normal three-match ban would definitely not be enough. […]
David Cameron – just a dad. Honest.
When you hear David Cameron weaseling on about football, you begin (or continue) to be worried about his reasoning abilities as a prime minister. Before ever the FA had delivered its verdict on Luis Suarez and Teethgate, Cameron was in there like a shot announcing that the normal three-match ban would definitely not be enough. […]
Micheal Martin: a far-seeing bird?
Micheal Martin reminds me of the Skibbereen Eagle. Not in appearance, more in tone and self-image. You remember that newspaper’s famous declaration in 1914: “We give this solemn warning to Kaiser Wilhelm: The Skibbereen Eagle has its eye on you”. Micheal is a wee bit that way too. In his speech at Arbour Hill last […]
Micheal Martin: a far-seeing bird?
Micheal Martin reminds me of the Skibbereen Eagle. Not in appearance, more in tone and self-image. You remember that newspaper’s famous declaration in 1914: “We give this solemn warning to Kaiser Wilhelm: The Skibbereen Eagle has its eye on you”. Micheal is a wee bit that way too. In his speech at Arbour Hill last […]
Let’s reconcile but don’t forget we’re British
What does ‘reconciliation’ mean? In everyday language it suggests that people who for a short or long time weren’t getting along together have now made up their differences. Does it mean the same thing in politics? Presumably. Sinn Féin is pushing forward with a reconciliation programme headed by Declan Kearney. It’d be fair to say […]
Let’s reconcile but don’t forget we’re British
What does ‘reconciliation’ mean? In everyday language it suggests that people who for a short or long time weren’t getting along together have now made up their differences. Does it mean the same thing in politics? Presumably. Sinn Féin is pushing forward with a reconciliation programme headed by Declan Kearney. It’d be fair to say […]