In the Sunday Times (not online), Peter Robinson, the almost certain favourite to take over as DUP leader, has been outlining what he considers the future direction of the DUP. He repeats the commitment to a ‘corporate leadership’ as it would be impossible for one person to fulfil the same role as Paisley and emphasises again the key points from his Castlereagh speech in October 2007.
With perhaps the longest title of any book I’ve read this year, The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday: Unexpected Encounters in the Changing Middle East gives an insight into the lives of people living in Middle East through the eyes of journalist Neil MacFarquhar. MacFarquhar’s father was a chemical engineer [...] read our review »
It’s the quiet ones you have to watch, they say. When I last saw Eamonn Namcarrow, back in the mid 1980s he was a congenial, good-natured and highly sociable young lad. The next time was 26 years later, in Lavery’s Gin Palace in Bradbury Place. He’d just brought out his first book, Holywood Star about [...] read our review »
Colin Neill’s first novel Turas peeks into a world in which many Ulster Protestants feel uncomfortable. It’s 2020 and the Irish unification that unionists and loyalists confidently predicted would never happen has become a reality. President Adams is ensconced in Phoenix Park. The newsreader reported that … a short ceremony at Stormont had confirmed the [...] read our review »
f_d, here’s a direct link to Dourman’s speech.
“Our task must be to allow the private sector of our economy to grow and create wealth to allow the whole of our society to prosper.
The system of Government in Northern Ireland also needs reform. We succeeded in making significant improvements through the negotiations leading to devolution but there is still more to do. While I understand that it may be necessary to build confidence in the process before more radical changes can be delivered I hope that change will not be too long delayed.”
And it was that particular relationship with the private sector that precipitated the rapid fall of the house of Paisley. Does the house of Robinson have similar skeletons?
And any changes will be in the gift of the Brothers Grim, acting in consort. Can Dourman do a deal with the representatives of the ‘legitimate government of Ireland’?