February, 2026

There are few things guaranteed to clear a unionist room faster than the phrase “strategic conversation about constitutional futures.” You can almost hear the chairs scraping and the kettle being switched off mid-boil. For many unionists, talk of planning for a border poll — as provided for under the Good Friday Agreement — carries the […]

by Joe McVeigh    Even though Sinn Fein has now achieved much electoral strength in the 6 counties, their power is still limited – thanks to the Orange Order, the Masons and the other secret societies that have held sway in the north since Partition. These Secret Societies still hold a lot of power and […]

There are photographs, and then there are Photographs — the sort that attach themselves to a public figure like a burr to tweed. The much-circulated image ofex-Prince Andrew  — red-eyed, chin receding into the lower hemisphere, camera angled somewhere near his sinus cavity — has been declared “iconic.” Iconic! As though it were the Mona […]

There are few spectacles more delicately choreographed than politicians debating their own salaries. At the the NEI Assembly at Stormont, the proposed increase in pay for MLAs has been presented, with commendable composure, as a matter of fairness and recognition. Currently, an MLA earns in the region of £51,500 per year. The proposal under discussion […]

Here are four solid reasons why controversy surrounding the man. once known as Prince Andrew  is very unlikely to spell the end of the British monarchy: 1. The Monarchy Is Bigger Than One Individual The British monarchy is an institution that has existed in evolving form for over a thousand years. Individual royals have caused […]

In a purely hypothetical Britain — the sort that exists somewhere between constitutional monarchy and late-night panel show — news breaks that Prince Andrew , Duke of York  has been arrested. Not charged by destiny, mind you. Arrested. The palace corgis are said to be “monitoring the situation,” which is palace code for “chewing something […]

Ah yes, nothing says “peace and stability” quite like a robust annual shopping spree in the global arms aisle. Let’s begin with the ever-modest USA. In 2024, it spent roughly a cool $997 billion on defence. Just a whisker under a trillion. Pocket change, really. That’s not a military budget; that’s a Marvel Cinematic Universe budget […]

It is perfectly possible to like George Mitchell. It is also perfectly possible not to. Neither sentiment has the slightest bearing on whether he was effective    George  Mitchell did not broker the Good Friday Agreement because he was cuddly, avuncular or possessed of a disarming Maine accent. He succeeded because he was patient to […]

For years in polite Irish discourse, the word “socialism” has been handled the way one might handle an unexploded device: carefully, nervously, and preferably with gloves. It was the term Michael McDowell liked to reach for when he wanted to suggest fiscal recklessness, Venezuelan grocery shelves, and a sudden shortage of sensible shoes. “Socialism,” in […]

Fintan O’Toole, rummaging industriously through the moral attic of history, has emerged clutching the Spanish Civil War and waving it accusingly at modern Sinn Féin. In his telling, there is something faintly scandalous about the fact that a movement which once supported republicans fighting fascism in Spain now hesitates to vote billions into the welcoming […]