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Books
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Christopher Hitchens, 1949 – 2011
Tweet Writer Christopher Hitchens has died aged 62. He was as contrary as he was brilliant. Here is a brief In Memoriam from Vanity Fair (his outlet of choice since 1992) and, here, a longer tribute from his friend Christopher Buckley Stanley in The New Yorker. Better, perhaps, though to post one of Hitchens’ own writings [...] read our review »
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The First Shades of God (Jamie Bryson): unremarkable theology, but an insight into the mind of the protest-organiser
Tweet Jamie Bryson has come to prominence recently as one of the leaders of the flag protests across Northern Ireland. As Chris Donnelly pointed out in his post (and was echoed later in the Belfast Telegraph), Jamie Bryson is a well known loyalist in North Down where he unsuccessfully stood at the council elections under [...] read our review »
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The Written World
Tweet Here’s something to keep you occupied over the weekend. [Will there be a quiz? - Ed] Possibly… The BBC magazine has an short and interesting, but un-embeddable, audio slide-show of Melvyn Bragg’s Radio 4 five-parter, In Our Time: The Written World. The British Library has more online information about the texts and technology featured in [...] read our review »
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Comment on After Mid Ulster: What lessons for the SDLP?
on 12 March 2013 at 11:15 am
zep
According to you and Mick their is no party which is not ““enslaved to the ‘ethnic vote’. As Mick has given me his view that as Jim Nicholson the “conservative” who had very few if any Nationalist votes one could afterwards call the conservatives “enslaved to the ‘ethnic vote’ .
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Comment on After Mid Ulster: What lessons for the SDLP?
on 12 March 2013 at 10:24 am
Mick
When (if) FF get elected representatives in Northern Ireland and if no “Protestants” vote for them does that change the nature of the FF party?
Jim Nicholson the “conservative” no very few if any Nationalist votes. I wonder would anyone normally call the conservatives “enslaved to the ‘ethnic vote’ ?
http://www.conservativeeurope.com/meps-northern-ireland.aspx
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Comment on After Mid Ulster: What lessons for the SDLP?
on 12 March 2013 at 10:17 am
zep
“Surely Irish nationalism, like unionism or Marxism or any other political stance, is an informed choice. ”
Zep how many people do you know act politically out of informed choice? Most people do not even read the election literature that is stuffed though their letter box.
Being Irish in West Tyrone is no different than being Irish in East Donegal. The only real difference is that Orange men in East Donegal cannot get a British passport but go to the sea side in Donegal. Orange men in Castelderg can get a British passport and go to the sea side in Portrush.
I am curious what are the range of “choices” that I should offer an Irish person from Castlederg?
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Comment on After Mid Ulster: What lessons for the SDLP?
on 12 March 2013 at 9:17 am
zep
You objection to the sdlp is that they are a “Irish nationalist party”. Which is a perfectly reasonable position.
Using terms such as “enslaved to the ‘ethnic’” or “‘trad’ baggage” for me is “sectarian “.
A lot of the people are Irish nationalists. Its not a lifestyle choice. The sdlp is a nationalist party in the same way Alliance is a Unionist one.
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Comment on After Mid Ulster: What lessons for the SDLP?
on 12 March 2013 at 8:48 am
tmitch57
“In the mainland UK i.e. in Britain, the differences among the Tories, LibDems and Labor are not primarily ethnic but rather ideological as in the U.S. ”
I think you raise and interesting question how ” ideological” driven are Irish political parties? I don’t think the DUP are any more ideological driven than FG? UUP/FF/SF are as much political movements than political parties. The sdlp I would contend is strongly ideologically driven.
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Comment on After Mid Ulster: What lessons for the SDLP?
on 11 March 2013 at 10:51 pm
“Mick Fealty (profile) 11 March 2013 at 10:04 pm
“He’s on a yellow, shortly to go red for this particularly thran habit of going literalist”
Language matters! Thoughtless rhetoric, stereotype mixed with assumption is dangerous.
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Comment on After Mid Ulster: What lessons for the SDLP?
on 11 March 2013 at 10:27 pm
Zep
“We are voting on the flag, always the flag”
I cannot say for greater Belfast but in places like Tyrone its not an issue. (1: examples that I know off)
The current Belfast flag dispute has been a cause of jokes and great discomfort by those who should have been supporting it.
” flag-waving antics of the majority of our local politicos”
I have never seen the sdlp as particularly flag waving?
Your “without the ‘trad’ baggage that the SDLP seem unable to lose.” makes me think my view of your original post was correct.
Mr McGlone speaks and promotes “Irish” is that part of the ‘trad’ baggage the sdlp need to leave behind?
1:
The only current example is UUP v DUP election offices in Omagh which are funny as there Flags get bigger by the day.
I do remember Bridge Rodgers running for MP and putting on the Tyrone strip. (any GAA supporter would tell you she should have worn the Donegal strip.)
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Comment on After Mid Ulster: What lessons for the SDLP?
on 11 March 2013 at 9:37 pm
Rory Carr
“I see speculation from time-to-time (most recently on an earlier thread on this topic) that perhaps Mid-Ulster could be saved (if not from Sodomy or Satan) at least from the dreaded Shinners if the unionists got all clever and did not stand a candidate:”
I would agree that is what they should have done.
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Comment on After Mid Ulster: What lessons for the SDLP?
on 11 March 2013 at 9:34 pm
zep
“our electorate is largely tribalised”
All electorate are “tribalised” that is why we have different political parties.
“nationalism of any shade does not appeal to me”
Even the Greens suffer from nationalism.
The only party that I know off that meets your criteria is the pirate party.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_Party
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Comment on After Mid Ulster: What lessons for the SDLP?
on 11 March 2013 at 9:23 pm
Mick
I will make it simpler for you people form east Tyrone were very much in action during the battles that you claim was “the south of the country successfully revolted”.
I am left to wonder how it was a success when a Nationalist majority county Tyrone did not actually get away and Donegal gets to be part of the “south”?
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Comment on After Mid Ulster: What lessons for the SDLP?
on 11 March 2013 at 9:11 pm
zep
” Ray McCreesh park, Gerry McGeough/Sammy Brush, flags”
I honestly cannot think of a single political party who’s local councilors deal with such issues? These are not old battles but ones that come up with any input from the sdlp. You may not like how the local councilors voted on those issues but any party elected would have had to have a potion.
“I’m not attracted to Irish nationalism”
I have no issue with that just your “enslaved to the ‘ethnic’”. Would you call a French political party being French “enslaved to the ‘ethnic’”?
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Comment on After Mid Ulster: What lessons for the SDLP?
on 11 March 2013 at 7:50 pm
Mick
“the south of the country successfully revolted”
As you keep going on about your connections to Donegal you do know they were not in the “south” at that time…..
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Comment on After Mid Ulster: What lessons for the SDLP?
on 11 March 2013 at 7:05 pm
zep
“My objection to them is that they are still fighting the old battles”
?
What old battles are they fighting?
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Comment on After Mid Ulster: What lessons for the SDLP?
on 11 March 2013 at 6:22 pm
zep
“enslaved to the ‘ethnic’ (for want of a better word)”
So you objection to them is that they are an “Irish” (for want of a better word) political party?
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Comment on After Mid Ulster: What lessons for the SDLP?
on 11 March 2013 at 5:02 pm
tmitch57
“wrecked the place” ? The sdlp was founded because Northern Ireland never worked?
“NI is stuck in one of two competing ethnic narratives” that is very much an Alliance view of the world. In places like Mid Ulster a lot of the population just get on with being themselves.
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Comment on Ulster Presbyterians and the endurance of principle…
on 11 March 2013 at 2:43 pm
Otto
“I’ve never really understood know why the reformation was so fervently adopted in Scotland and so rejected in Ireland. Were social structures all that different for the pre-reformation catholic Scots and the catholic Irish?”
Thank you for the question. I do not have the answer for you but its something I must read up on.
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Comment on The judges are right to speak out against coat trailing politicians
on 11 March 2013 at 8:32 am
Viridiplantae
“and only 5% are “Irish” is a nonsense in any objective sense”
I have been in Belfast city hall but only in the visitor section. I did have a discussion with Naomi Long a few years ago in which she acknowledged a lack of “Nationalist” symbols in the building and how she wanted it fixed by adding more Nationalists symbols.
“crown RUC badge was replaced with a shamrock, harp and crown PSNI badge”
If you look at the two different badge you will notice on the RUC the crown is over the harp but in the PSNI the crown and harp or on the same level.
“If we really are going to have a “culture war” over symbols I can certainly see it descending into all kinds of nonsense.”
People may get so crazy that they would have to march were people do not want to see them.
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Comment on The judges are right to speak out against coat trailing politicians
on 10 March 2013 at 9:46 pm
Viridiplantae
I found you post interesting and a bit sad. Emblems are interesting but one must see them in their context to get a understanding of their meaning. For example the putting of a “crown” over the Irish symbols is that age old trick of using what is already their but changing its meaning.
Your contention that the “Irish Football Association logo” does not have a ““balancing” symbols of Britishness”. If the Shamrock is no longer part of the “British” symbols then their is nothing left but the British “Cross of Saint Patrick “?
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Comment on “The Undertaker Who Resurrected Unionism”
on 8 March 2013 at 3:56 pm
“The real winner last night? Mike Nesbitt”
“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”
Or as Mike has it.
To lose two birds is better than one in the bush. (That being a shared bird in the bush which you still don’t get.)
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Comment on The political vacuum is compromising the standing of the PSNI
on 8 March 2013 at 1:46 pm
Mister_Joe
“I offered my opinion which is based on general knowledge and specific knowledge of English, Scottish and Welsh people ”
You did give facts
” only European nation whose rulers never persecuted those of the Jewish faith,”
Wrong in fact they even persecuted/discriminated against Christians as well.
“welcomed refugees from anywhere.”
The problem with “Palestine” is that the UK did not want the Jews in that it only took 20%, 70,000 instead of 350,000 Jews who want to live in Britain.
“White Paper of 1939″
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