Horseman RIP…
I was very sad to learn yesterday of the death last Monday of Horseman, the blogger behind the brilliantly named Ulster’s Doomed blog… He was tenacious, intelligent, probing and utterly committed to bringing about the end of Northern Ireland by peaceful and largely intellectual means.
I never knew him personally, even though he was a very long time reader (and not always a fan!) of Slugger O’Toole. For his commitment, energy and, above all passion, he will be much missed, even by those with whom he so profoundly disagreed.
I can think of no better tribute than to link to his last post (Swedenise Us), which indicates the intelligent instincts of the man, when he suggested how we might judge the best in politicians:
In Sweden 43.8% of people have a ‘rather favourable’ opinion of their politicians, compared with an EU average of 12.4%. And only 18.4% of Swedes have a ‘rather unfavourable’ opinion, against the EU average of 55.4%.
Swedes are not foolish people, and are no more likely to be fooled by their politicians than anyone else, so what these results show is that Swedish politicians are simply better than any others. If their voters have a positive opinion of them it must be because they are more honest, more diligent, more representative and more efficient than any others.
And, of course, good politicians lead to good politics and good governance – and these lead, almost inevitably, to a more responsive state in which the needs of the people are served better than elsewhere. No wonder Sweden is close to the top of the list in almost every international comparison, whether it is looking at freedom, affluence, education, development or happiness.
Of course like many of the things we jibbed each other over it’s a case of ‘chicken and egg’ Horse, chicken and egg. But on this one at least, we finally got to broadly agree with one another…
Our thoughts are with his partner and family…
Fiona,
Condolences to you and family.
Geoff mentions Horseman in his Belfast Telegraph column – http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/columnists/geoff-mcgimpsey/saville-report-dominates-blogosphere-14844452.html
Even if you don’t find people to take on the blog (and there really shouldn’t be any need), it will hang around on that platform without upkeep. Though it might be an idea to archive it just in case it eventually disappears.
Another tribute from Splintered – http://splinteredsunrise.wordpress.com/2010/06/16/farewell-horseman/
A terrible loss, condolences to his family.
I hope he would appreciate the lines below and maybe smile at the source.
“Poet and sculptor, do the work,
Nor let the modish painter shirk
What his great forefathers did,
Bring the soul of man to God,
Make him fill the cradles right.”
W.B Yeats
[...] with some sadness that I learn, via Mick, of the sudden death of one of the pillars of our local blogosphere. I refer of course to Horseman, [...]
Folks,
Sad news indeed – I was a big fan of Horseman’s pragmatic and optimistic approach. He captured the essence of positive (true) republicanism in a unique way.
A word of caution on the blog though.
I’d love to see his statistical/sociological approach continued, but I think it is important to try to preserve his work in its completeness for posterity.
‘Ulster’s Doomed’ was his opus magnum. I hope people will be able to trawl back through it in the future to compare events of the day to his thoughtful predictions.
RIP Horseman
Sorry to hear about Horseman.
Shocked and very sorry to hear about Horseman. Sympathies to his family.
Opinionated, intelligent, polemical and scholarly. Maybe one day I might be half as good a blogger as Horseman. A loss to us all.
Safe journey.
Jud,
I don’t believe we could or indeed should touch the original website.
I think a successor site is the idea germinating here. Something, perhaps, similar to Slugger with a core of regular, like minded posters with an open mind to occasional contributors.
The central thesis of his site is surely worth developing and would, I believe, provide a valuable contribution to political and social debate.
I’d certainly be up for that anyhow.
Night all. And thank you all for the decency and quality of the comments here.
What a loss. The first thing that comes up in any discussion about Ulster’s Doomed is the demographic analysis predicting a future nationalist majority in the North, but I always thought that his most fascinating contribution was in arguing what everyone would gain by re-unification. Nationalists talk about this but rarely get beyond sound bites. He was a unique blogger, go ndéana Dia a mhaith air.
Great idea Bangordub!! If someone wants to guest post on it, be my guest!!
I’m sorry to hear that. My sympathies and prayers go to the family.
Thanks Mick,
Who’s up for it?
I’m happy to set it up and get the ball rolling.
Any ideas for a title?
I think ground rules should be established in line with Horsemans own exacting standards though.
Mick, I’m happy for you to share my mail address with any interested parties who have posted here over the last couple of days and if Fiona is happy with the idea.
Very sorry to hear this news about Horseman. It will leave a big gap in Irish blogosphere. His blogs have a rigorousness and quality that you would do well to even find in the work of acclaimed academics never mind what passes for the political commentariat here. He was always my first port of call for an insight into how the latest events would pan out in the greater scheme of things. He will be greatly missed and I’d just like to pass on my condolences to Fiona and the rest of his family.
Ar dheis de go raibh a anam
I like to help out. I think the ‘ulstersdoomed’ name should be kept with a tribute to horseman under the title. The demographic blogs are were done using data from elections, census data, yearly birth rates, yearly death rates, schools census, marriages in different churches etc. As this data becomes available in the future a blog would not be too difficult to compose if he’s previous blogs are used as a template.
anyone know how to get a website up and rolling. What about http://www.ulstersdoomed.ie
ulstersdoomed.wordpress.com is available.
€69.99 for ulstersdoomed.ie
.ie domains are pretty expensive.
The domain name is only part of it. Set up a blog somewhere for free (e.g. – http://wordpress.com/) or (htttp://blogger.com where the original Ulsters Doomed lived) then you can redirect another domain name there (optionally) if you want. It costs money to have your own domain though.
A great loss. A life well lived and by a man who shared his bounty with us all through the Ulster’s Doomed! site for which we are grateful.
Condolences to his family and friends.
set up a paypal account. a fiver a man and you will have the .ie domain. 70 sheets isn’t much
Mack, are you on board? Cash is the last consideration here
I’d be interested in helping, I’ve a good head for Excel and data analysis. I’ve often thought of setting up an interactive map, there are some great sites out there like ARK elections, but a really precise mapping site showing the data would be a bonus.
Hi Guys,
I’m very happy to pay costs associated with this. Ian has spent so much time, energy and passion on his blog that I know he would want it to continue and I know he would want to spend his money on it too!
I can’t follow up on this until next week as we are going to Ireland with him in the morning for the funeral…but please; please, if there is a cost just tell me how to pay it.
exactly forget about the cost. I think the .ie domain is what the man would want
Fiona,
it might be worth dropping a line to the Irish Times, they might be interested in doing an article on the blog. Someone on Slugger pointed out the notice in the Irish Times but it was just a death notice.
It seems a shame that he should not have a little bit of wider recognition for what really is an excellent collection of analytical essays.
I dont have any connections in the Irish Times but I suspect Mick Fealty or perhaps someone else here might have.
ps You might also try the Indo but I suspect Horseman would feel more at home in the Irish Times?
My condolences to the family at what must be a challenging time.
I’d be more than happy to contribute some photographs perhaps tailored to subjects.
Jud ,
‘I was a big fan of Horseman’s pragmatic and optimistic approach.’
Same here for the pragmatic approach I’ll confess he countered my innate pessimism on many issues and even watered down considerably my ‘repartitionism ‘ if not effecting a complete cure
.
‘ He captured the essence of positive (true) republicanism in a unique way.’
That he did no question .
Same here That he did no question.
‘A word of caution on the blog though.
I’d love to see his statistical/sociological approach continued, but I think it is important to try to preserve his work in its completeness for posterity.”
I could’nt agree more . It’s probably best not to rush into something half thought out or spur of the moment . Probably best to make no decisions until the family is ready . Their wish whatever it is should be paramount
‘Ulster’s Doomed’ was his opus magnum. I hope people will be able to trawl back through it in the future to compare events of the day to his thoughtful predictions.’
I could not agree more . Horseman was more than his numbers and demographic projections even if they formed the backdrop to his site . He stated in black and white what NI politicians have always studiously avoided commenting on both in respects of political demography and the economic realities .
‘His blogs have a rigorousness and quality that you would do well to even find in the work of acclaimed academics never mind what passes for the political commentariat here. ‘
Very true . And a point worth considering re any future plans for the site .
It is funny so many of us know one another in NI political blogging but of course we do not. It is sad for us that we have lost a sparring partner, someone to agree or argue with. However, the true sadness is for Horseman’s real world friends and family. They have lost a person, a friend and a soul mate not a name on a blog. Condolences to you Fiona and all the other relevant people.
God bless.
bangordub ,
‘I don’t believe we could or indeed should touch the original website.’
I agree .
The idea of a successor site sounds promising and worth considering . I’d make haste slowly on that one . Horseman’s unique perspective came from somewhere beyond the ‘normal ‘ confines of the ‘tribal ‘ divide . I suspect although I can’t be certain that his unique viewpoint might be shared or found only amongst some members of the ‘emigre ‘ intelligentsia of the NI ‘brains’ diaspora now resident in England or Scotland or even ROI or further afield . People who by temperament and inclination would have found political life in NI not to their liking . These people would also be averse to not just the DUP or SF but also the other parties though perhaps to a lesser extent .
More on this later .
Well said.
Horseman’s blog was almost voyeuristic, but prophetic.
He said what a lot of people thought about, but even in a divided society like NI, were too polite to talk about in
Condolences to his family. While naturally you will have fond memories of him, your father/partner has left a legacy behind him, to many people he has never met.
It should be preserved as it is. Others will continue on his work in their own way
I I would love him to have some recognition for his work, but I am very biased and I am not best placed to do this. Our son Emmet though may try and write something. For us we are delighted that you want to continue and develop his ideas and perspective.
Fiona,
I’d suggest waiting a while before considering passing the blog on to others. While some or many either agreed with Ian or appreciated his comment, most certainly won’t provide continuity of position.
Ensure the blog is archived, maybe ask those interested to set up a stats based tribute blog – don’t expect those lauding him and offering to continue his blog to actually promote it his views. They don’t have it in them.
Its mostly shinners lining up to take his blog over – I never thought it was a SF site.
All,
I Think there’s a commonality of purpose here. I suggest a meeting to take this forward. I am in complete agreement with the general thrust of comments regarding ground rules such as intellectual rigour and referenced statistics.
Fiona, thank you for your support, your insight into his thoughts is unique and very valuable.
Can anyone facilitate this if, indeed, it’s a runner? Mick maybe?
Fiona,
I have an archiving suggestion that Ian would like and would be a fitting longterm tribute – drop me a mail.
Thanks Mark; I’ll have to leave this until late next week. Trying to get my head around the funeral over the weekend so my focus will be elsewhere!
I really wish he was here to watch these comments…..
nordie northsider’
‘Nationalists talk about this but rarely get beyond sound bites.’
True . I always thought that Horseman was mainly addressing those ‘unionists’ who were concerned about the future and it’s constitutional uncertainties in respect of the demographic backdrop . Others here on slugger have commented on the same issue but Horseman did so with a piercing analysis that was at times withering in it’s scope and yet at the same time he never descended to the pits of what aboutery that is too often the case here on slugger .
Horseman in the end was an Irish ‘nationalist ‘ with a small n and a republican but not in the perceived narrow SF sense . Probably closer to the SDLP stance than to any other political party in NI I would think although he never came out in support for any party .
Horseman was an Irishman first and foremost and if I read his posts correctly wanted the best for ALL the people of this island and had a concern that Ireland would not be ‘united’ in any other than in a peaceful democratic manner and in that respect he is of the same view as 99% plus of the people on this island .
I regret never having posted on his blog although it was always one of the first I would go to to get a sound and common sense perspective on any issue re NI politics . Several times I almost did but invariably I found myself almost always in near total agreement with his posts and comments that it seemed superflous . Oddly enough in the past few weeks I did find the time to read some more of his material and was reconsidering whether I should or should not enter the fray and then after a few days of looking at stasis on his site I like others thought he was on holiday or taking a break . He started the site in early 2007 and from what I can see it took him a couple of years to build up to the present level . . He articles went from 28 in 2007 to 68 in 2008 to 213 in 2009 to 236 in the first half of 2010 . I have seen some of our regular commentators like Joe Canuck , Seymour Major and Sammy comments on the site and
These ‘articles ‘ were all first rate and written in a standard and depth and to a degree of precision and analysis that we rarely ever see written on the topic of NI even by the mainstream media nor even by our erstwhile slugger bloggerites
As for his ‘everyone ‘ would gain by re-unification I believe but I can’t be certain that it was to him a case of getting the damned thing out of the way so that the people of the entire country could focus on what ‘s really important in their daily lives in education , research , economic and environmental policies etc . I believe he wanted it to happen sooner rather than later but realised that it would not happen until the political demographics clicked into place and above all wanted a peaceful democratic resolution of this issue rather than by ‘catholic ‘ revanchism of the sectarian variety .
Yeah, I’ll help out.
‘I never thought it was a SF site.’
It was’nt . Horseman was a non party republican of the continental school and a nationalist with a small n , an internationalist with a big I and a European with a biggish E or at least so it seemed to me .
If I’m wrong in that assessment I’ll eat my hat
Probably best to wait a while until the sadness and loss of the moment is past before taking this any further . I think we can all see from the comments how much Horseman’s viewpoint was valued and regarded by all sides of the constitutional divide.
“Its mostly shinners lining up to take his blog over ”
That’s a bit rich Mark, especially when you weren’t exactly a fan of the blog youself.
Fiona, you have my condolences. Ian was a talented blogger who will be sorely missed. I was honoured to have had a brief but enlightening e mail discussion with him in the earlier part of this year.
Condolences to Horsemans family and friends.
His blog was very interesting and I am grateful for his efforts.
Ehhhh, wind your neck in Mark, it seems to me like the people who have been saying they’d like to continue work on his areas of interest have been fairly specifically pointing out what they thought Horseman would have wanted. And even if they are Sinn Féin supporters, that doesn’t mean they can’t address a particular topic with objectivity from time to time. And before you start tarring me, I have never voted or supported SF.
If youse are buying the .ie domain name I would be happy to contribute.
I’m up for lending a hand mate.
Pagasp.
RIP mo chara.
Condolences to Horsemans family and friends.
Chiming in a bit late here, but I share in the general grief and would also like to pass my condolences to Fiona and family.
I had not realised that Horseman and I were near neighbours during working hours. If my location in Brussels can be useful to the next steps of archiving his blog, please do let me know – my coordinates are pretty much public knowledge.
Very very sad to hear of the Horseman’s passing.
RIP