Here’s Arlene Foster on telly a while back: “If there was direct rule in the morning, it’d really be joint rule between London and Dublin”. Which is reasonable point to make. Ever since the Anglo-Irish Agreement allowed Dublin to get its foot in the door, things have changed. The presence of the Taoiseach when the […]
February, 2018
What – us sign up to an Irish Language Act? Can’t remember that…
It’s really irritating when you see something on television and then later can’t remember details such as the names of those involved in a discussion. I find myself in that prickly state this morning. Yesterday I watched a programme on BBC News 24 where several guests, including the Guardian’s Polly Toynbee, discussed the impasse in […]
Trying to get empathetic with opponents of an Irish Language Act
The Revs Norman Hamilton and Martin Magill were on Raidio Uladh/Radio Ulster this morning, talking about political division. Martin Magill focused particularly on social media and specifically Twitter, and suggested that people often put up statements attacking opponents in a personal way; instead of arguing a case they were intent on getting retweeted or Liked […]
Last Saturday at the RDS
Last Saturday was an interesting day for me. I travelled on the Enterprise train from Belfast to Dublin. Even though two extra trains were laid on, our train was filled with cheerful rugby fans, many of them wearing Ulster Rugby tops/jackets/fleeces. They were on their way to support Ireland against Italy and were […]
The secret they hid
As faithful readers of this blogsite will know, I’ve stopped doing guest blogs (and comments) for a range of reasons. However, I feel compelled to reproduce this piece with the kind permission of its author, Richard Irvine. In my judgement, it is an outstanding piece of writing in both content and form. My mother […]
Mary-Lou’s first foray
In her first significant act as president of Sinn Féin, Mary-Lou McDonald has shown she possesses a vital political skill: in a dispute, get your retaliation in first. The fact that just about every reporter and commentator agrees with her version of events leading up to the talks breakdown also helps. So though Gregory […]
Arlene gets spooked
Stormont Milan Railway Station OK, guess who said this: “The Unionist community must make it resoundingly clear that […]
Arlene does a Paisley
Yesterday, Arlene Foster dipped deep into her political bag of tricks and produced a very old, tried-and-trusted Paisley technique. Readers who remember the Big Man at his roaring, rampaging peak will remember how he liked to warn ‘Ulster’ that the civil rights movement was a front for a united Ireland in which the population would live lives steeped in poverty […]
Theresa and Leo: they came, they saw, they were embarrassed
When in 1987 Stephen Roche won the Tour de France, Charlie Haughey didn’t turn up a couple of days beforehand to cheer him on. Charlie waited until Roche had done the business, then like a fly to a honey-pot Charlie appeared in Paris, sucking up some of the Irish cyclist’s success. Which is why […]
Gerry Adams: his legacy
So. What legacy has Gerry Adams left ? Was he, as many southern commentators claimed over the years, a ball and chain on Sinn Féin’s progress? Or was he a driving force for republicanism in Ireland since the mid-1960s, transforming the movement’s position? Gerry Adams was many things. He was a massively popular figure among republicans, […]