I’m not quite sure why I resisted viewing Katie Hannon Upfront on RTÉ for so long. Perhaps it was because Katie H had been around for some time and wasn’t the fresh face I expected to succeed The Claire Byrne Show. It may have been because its format was almost identical to Byrne’s : a […]
May, 2023
A weighted border poll?
I nearly crashed my car this afternoon but I have only my own naivety to blame for it. When I started the car the radio was on Raidio Uladh/Radio Ulster’s Talkback and Crawley was giving people an opportunity to say what they understood by the word ‘majority’ in the Good Friday Agreement. Ian […]
Some basic numbers for the constitutionally agnostic – by Carl Duffy
In the wake of the local election results it has become clear that Sinn Féin and Alliance – albeit to a lesser extent – are two parties in ascendancy. Some Unionist commentators have suggested that this election is a poor gauge in determining support for Irish reunification as it was more to do with […]
Unionism in Decline – by Michael Lagan
Are these past council election results enough evidence for the detractors that a border poll is inevitable? Sadly we’ll see in due course (as we always do) that it isn’t but what we do see now is why the DUP have been pushing hard for a […]
PAT+JUDE TALK ABOUT THE LOCAL ELECTION RESULTS, WHAT THEIR FUTURE SIGNIFICANCE – AND WOMEN BOXING…
What are Pat and I talking about today? Oh come on – you know what we’ll be talking about – the local elections in the north. In many ways it was the reaction of different groups to the election results that were interesting. Take the DUP – yup, we do look at their response. And […]
FROM REASON TO TREASON? THE FINAL REJECTION OF DE VALERA, AIKEN AND RATIONAL ETHICAL DEOMOCRATIC POLITICS? – by Donal Kennedy
Eamon de Valera once declared that he was not a doctrinaire republican. He was described as a firebrand by Britain’s Anthony Eden, when in Geneva at the League of Nations he demanded that all nations there honour its Covenant and apply effective sanctions against fascist Italy for its attack on Abyssinia. Mussolini, dubbed a […]
The Political Landscape is Changing – by Michael Lagan
The local Council Elections is a topic that has garnered a significant amount of attention in recent days, mostly because it was overshadowed in recent months by the anniversary of the GFA, Biden’s visit, the Windsor Framework, and the coronation of Charles. It was brought into sharp focus in the past week and days by […]
Nothing succeeds like success
Well now – that went rather well, didn’t it? Looking more and more like the Manchester City of Irish politics, Sinn Féin swept aside opposition in this week’s local election and will almost certainly be the party with most council seats in NEI. You could see how pleased Michelle O’Neill and Mary Lou McDonald were […]
PAT+JUDE TALK ABOUT COUNCIL ELECTIONS, THAT VIOLENT VIDEO, REFUGEES & LOCAL PEOPLE, AND BREXIT.
As you’ve probably noticed by now, they have begun counting the votes for local councils here in NEI. Everyone agrees that the powers of local councils have nothing to do with the constitutional question, except that they have loads to do with the constitutional question. Stop swearing, be patient – Pat and I […]
Inniu/Aujourd’hui/Today
Here’s a story for the day that’s in it. There was this woman who’d fallen on hard times. Her husband had left her, she was struggling to raise three children, it was becoming increasingly difficult to pay her mortgage. Distraught, she went into a church and knelt. “Oh God, I’m really up against it. […]