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Books
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Hearing the Other Voice from the Grave: Why Should we Listen to David Ervine’s Stories?
Ed Moloney’s Voices from the Grave: Two Men’s War in Ireland has received considerable attention in the press and in the public realm since its publication earlier this year. Although the book relates the experiences of the Provisional IRA’s Brendan Hughes and the PUP/UVF’s David Ervine, much of the discussion has focused on Hughes’ stories [...] read our review » -
Help me with the West Wing: Essential viewing or Party Political Broadcast?
Having somehow managed to avoid watching a single episode of the widely praised West Wing TV series I was delighted to discover the entire Box set in my Christmas stocking – and with enough spare time over the holidays to give it a good lash. But with 10 episodes of the first series under my [...] read our review »
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Of the Old North and other Vanished Kingdoms..
I’m currently trawling through Norman Davies’s fabulous new tome – “Vanished Kingdoms” – Five stars in the (London) Telegraph’s review from Ben Wilson: All the nations that have ever lived have left their footsteps in the sand,” writes Norman Davies. “The traces fade with every tide, the echoes grow faint, the images are fractured, the human [...] read our review »
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Comment on Ending co-terminosity
on 30 April 2012 at 12:38 am
If you follow the rough numbers for the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly, for our population we “need” about 30 MLAs.
That’s if you accept that we need Stormont at all. I’d argue we don’t as it achieves little, costs a lot, and is full of no hopers and convicted criminals there but for one purpose – to extract a pay packet from it.
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Comment on For Unionists Only: What would you relish in a United Ireland?
on 19 April 2012 at 5:34 pm
Billy Pilgrim
“The south’s economic woes are attributable chiefly to cowardly political leadership.”
Sure. Politicians and economist types have a lot to answer for but the people were all too happy to play along with the charade and now gripe about it after the fact. It was the greedy populous who thought house prices would rise forever. It was the construction industry and speculators who ran a building program that was far beyond reasonable levels. It was the people who believed they were entitled to unsustainable wage levels (and large welfare expectations now that it’s gone sour) even though the Republic has generally been a poor country for most of it’s existence. To the people who thought joining the euro (and the EU as a whole) was a good idea but didn’t realise (and still don’t, alarmingly) that it is a noose.
A basket case that is hiding from view simply because Greece, Italy and the Iberian countries are even more farcical.
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Comment on For Unionists Only: What would you relish in a United Ireland?
on 19 April 2012 at 4:24 pm
Billy Pilgrim:
Subsidy dependence? Were you actually referring to the ROI there?
Elected Head of State? The Queen is just fine thanks.
For unionists like myself there is little to be gained and much to be lost. A wiser course of action is for the ROI to re-enter the union.
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Comment on “Such arrangements are commonplace in cross-border rail operations across Europe.”
on 17 April 2012 at 10:14 pm
Next thing you’ll be demanding to vote in their elections or vice versa…
Maybe suggest you are entitled to their welfare payments?
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Comment on The Siege of New Forge: Unionism’s latest pyrrhic triumph.
on 24 March 2012 at 5:02 pm
A better idea would be to rename the real bit to the RUC again.
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Comment on John McCallister: future leader of the Opposition?
on 24 March 2012 at 4:51 pm
“But, when pressed on whether he would rule out talks with the DUP about an electoral pact, the former UTV news anchor said that he was “for gaining us more power”
More power eh…Not interested in actually doing something then…just having power.
An obvious route for Nesbitt though. All show and no business. Hasn’t even been an MLA for a year and thinks he’s the man to run the show?
Clown.
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Comment on “We cannot impose; this has to come from within Northern Ireland.”
on 11 March 2012 at 11:40 pm
Have the vote tomorrow.
It’ll be spectacularly funny. A landslide I’d imagine…and not for joining that other functionally bankrupt economy on the island.
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Comment on Robinson seeds a slow merger for the UUP?
on 20 January 2012 at 2:38 pm
andnowwhat (profile)
Simple questions to unionists:
There’s got to be enough of you that think like Raven. Why don’t you start a party or movement of non religious, non “fenian hating”, non tory supporting unionists?
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Why would we need to? The “union” is not the issue. It’s perfectly safe and secure for another century.
People should be interested in the economy, jobs, education etc.
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Comment on Tories and the UUP go their separate ways…
on 6 January 2012 at 5:28 pm
What we need is a “Unionist Party”. Singular. One.
Jobsagoodun
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Comment on Can racism only be against a minority?…
on 6 January 2012 at 5:12 pm
Unicorn
“She should be able to say what she wants and the voters in her constituency should be the judge.”
Quite.
The problem is it’s Abbott. If the shoe was on the other foot she’d not be far from the front of the queue of gurns having a cry about it.
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