March, 2010

So now the IFA has decided it had better get inclusive. It’s been inclusive all along, of course, despite the odd death threat against Neil Lennon and the fuck-the-pope chants at Windsor Park, but now it’s going to get inclusively inclusive. As a starting point it’s been suggested that they ditch the Queen (well, not […]

So now the IFA has decided it had better get inclusive. It’s been inclusive all along, of course, despite the odd death threat against Neil Lennon and the fuck-the-pope chants at Windsor Park, but now it’s going to get inclusively inclusive. As a starting point it’s been suggested that they ditch the Queen (well, not […]

Daithi McKay seemed to irritate Wendy Austin yesterday. The Sinn Féin MLA was on BBC Radio Ulster’s ‘Talkback’ explaining why he had asked for an inventory of all statues, paintings and symbols in the buildings and on the grounds of Stormont. It was, he said, to establish how many of those were devoted to unionist […]

Daithi McKay seemed to irritate Wendy Austin yesterday. The Sinn Féin MLA was on BBC Radio Ulster’s ‘Talkback’ explaining why he had asked for an inventory of all statues, paintings and symbols in the buildings and on the grounds of Stormont. It was, he said, to establish how many of those were devoted to unionist […]

What do Mike Nesbitt, Fearghal McKinney and a blonde draped across the bonnet of a car have in common? Quite a lot actually. The blonde in the advertisement for a 3.0 litre dream machine has nothing to do with engine efficiency or road-holding powers; she’s there to take your mind away from such things. The […]

What do Mike Nesbitt, Fearghal McKinney and a blonde draped across the bonnet of a car have in common? Quite a lot actually. The blonde in the advertisement for a 3.0 litre dream machine has nothing to do with engine efficiency or road-holding powers; she’s there to take your mind away from such things. The […]

Has partition worked? It all depends on what you mean by‘worked’. Judging by the responses in some quarters to Gerry Adams’s speech at the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis on Saturday night, partition has been spectacularly successful. ‘He kept talking about the north’; ‘He has such a northern accent’; ‘I hate when he speaks in Irish’: […]

Has partition worked? It all depends on what you mean by‘worked’. Judging by the responses in some quarters to Gerry Adams’s speech at the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis on Saturday night, partition has been spectacularly successful. ‘He kept talking about the north’; ‘He has such a northern accent’; ‘I hate when he speaks in Irish’: […]

I’m fresh from a very brief input to the Stephen Nolan Show on BBC Radio Ulster, where they were considering the question of whether the time is ripe for a visit to the south from Queen Elizabeth II (aka ‘The Queen’). Sam Smyth (late of this parish) was on from Dublin, providing the official Dublin […]

I’m fresh from a very brief input to the Stephen Nolan Show on BBC Radio Ulster, where they were considering the question of whether the time is ripe for a visit to the south from Queen Elizabeth II (aka ‘The Queen’). Sam Smyth (late of this parish) was on from Dublin, providing the official Dublin […]