All MLAs on deck!…Oh OK, 60% of you then.

It looks as if Peter Robinson has been restored, if not to rude health, at least to the leadership of the DUP. The announcement that he’s gone back to captaining what looks suspiciously like a political Titanic also made it clear he did so on the advice of his solicitor, Paul Maguire, who says he […]

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Déja vu, Pierre?

This is Groundhog Day, and if you’ve seen the movie you’ll be tempted to draw parallels between Bill Murray’s repetition of the day until he got it perfect and the repetitions up at Stormont. Well, turn your back on temptation because the comparisons are false. The repetitions in the film had a valuable purpose – […]

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Déja vu, Pierre?

This is Groundhog Day, and if you’ve seen the movie you’ll be tempted to draw parallels between Bill Murray’s repetition of the day until he got it perfect and the repetitions up at Stormont. Well, turn your back on temptation because the comparisons are false. The repetitions in the film had a valuable purpose – […]

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A lull rather than a resolution?

With things political on the verge of a breakthrough, it’s probably churlish to be gloomy but I am. That’s because in my interview on BBC Radio Ulster’s ‘Sunday Sequence’, I stressed the importance of respect between partners. It applies to any partnership, be it man and wife or a business partnership. If you have one […]

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A lull rather than a resolution?

With things political on the verge of a breakthrough, it’s probably churlish to be gloomy but I am. That’s because in my interview on BBC Radio Ulster’s ‘Sunday Sequence’, I stressed the importance of respect between partners. It applies to any partnership, be it man and wife or a business partnership. If you have one […]

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Speaking of sectarian…

I was on ‘Sunday Sequence’ this morning with former Presbyterian Moderator John Dunlop, who accused me of being sectarian. At least I think he did. It was after I’d been asked my take on the on-going (ever-going?) Sinn Fein-DUP talks. I said that many nationalists/Catholics were more than dismayed that the DUP should have chosen […]

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Speaking of sectarian…

I was on ‘Sunday Sequence’ this morning with former Presbyterian Moderator John Dunlop, who accused me of being sectarian. At least I think he did. It was after I’d been asked my take on the on-going (ever-going?) Sinn Fein-DUP talks. I said that many nationalists/Catholics were more than dismayed that the DUP should have chosen […]

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The view from Dublin

Strewth – will this never end? They’re still up in Hillsborough – or is it Stormont? – locked in verbal battle. Which unfortunately encourages the simple-minded to say ‘They’re just like a bunch of children! Why can’t they get their act together?’ In fact, of course, there are those, particularly south of the border, who […]

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The view from Dublin

Strewth – will this never end? They’re still up in Hillsborough – or is it Stormont? – locked in verbal battle. Which unfortunately encourages the simple-minded to say ‘They’re just like a bunch of children! Why can’t they get their act together?’ In fact, of course, there are those, particularly south of the border, who […]

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The dog with the Orange tail

As I write, I’m listening to the voice of Alex Attwood of the SDLP speaking on the radio. He’s saying he figures that a deal is near and likely. When someone as obscure in his phrasing as little Alex can come out and say that, the end must indeed be nigh…Oh, hold that. He’s just […]

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