Patsy McGlone
SDLP chooses Patsy McGlone to contest Mid Ulster…
Tweet This is worth noting since it’s a smart choice. And the SDLP have not been known for those in recent years. McGlone has a sound rural base of voters, and a decent local machine. You can almost certainly rule out a win against SF veteran Francie Molloy. In the last Assembly elections Sinn Fein’s [...] more »
The SDLP leadership candidates, ranked on internet use and internal organisation
Tweet The SDLP elects its fifth leader this coming weekend, with four male candidates in the running (the deputy leadership has been filled, without contest, by a woman). Since 1998, when the party topped the first preference tallies for the first Assembly election, the SDLP has lost votes and seats at almost every election cycle [...] more »
McGlone throws his cap in the ring, with a call for pluralist nationalism
Tweet So Patsy McGlone is in: “The SDLP has revolutionised Irish politics. The founding principles of the party are as relevant today as they were during the civil rights campaign. The unity of the people of Ireland, a unity built on trust, along with practical social democracy – being there for people through the good [...] more »
Rumbles in the SDLP over November’s leadership election…
Tweet Patsy McGlone has been keeping his counsel to himself ever since ever since he was overlooked for the one Ministerial post open to them, but the SDLP’s deputy leader was not happy at being overlooked. Now the BBC is reporting speculation that Mr McGlone may declare his candidacy as early as next month. Given [...] more »
Sinn Fein suffers another memory loss at the PAC?
Tweet There’s much to be said about where the PAC’s investigation of NI Water leaves us all. As noted previously there is plenty of material to draw out from the final report. But there’s one wee detail worth noting in passing. Mitchel McLaughlin had this to say on Monday: It was revealed during Ministerial questions [...] more »
McGlone rallies the faithful at opening night of SDLP conference
Tweet There was relatively little Twitter traffic from the SDLP conference on Friday night. This could just point to the party being gathered together and meeting face-to-face. But given the opportunity for putting out positive messages about their party’s thinking and plans, the low level of news might just point to a much smaller gathering [...] more »
NI Water: “As for the minister, he’s not commenting…”
Tweet I see Senator Mary White’s husband Padraic is taking on the role of Chair for NI Water. I hope he has a guarantee that he cannot be sacked for failing to address a problem he’s not been told about until he’s actually under investigation. Okay, back to the main story. There’s a nice piece by Martina [...] more »
NI Water: DRD kept their ‘demonstrable independence’ hidden from Commissioner
Tweet Yesterday’s written answer from the Minister of DRD to Patsy McGlone’s AQW will bring some disquiet, particularly in light of the aribitrary manner by which his department dealt with the last Board at NI Water. What DRD understands by the word ‘independent’ is not something many people in business or the wider world would recognise. [...] more »
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Books
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Robert Kee, hero of journalism and the television history of Irish nationalism
Tweet Slugger should note the passing of Robert Kee, historian, TV and print journalist and RAF bomber pilot, who has died aged 93. In this age of revisionist debate, his TV history series first shown in 1981 and The Green Flag, the written history of Irish nationalism which accompanied it, were well timed and still stand [...] read our review » -
Review: To Kill a Mockingbird
Tweet Somehow I escaped reading this essential school text, with its story of racism in 1930s American South. Living in Northern Ireland, I draw parallels with sectarianism, with its similar bigotry and prejudice. To Kill a Mockingbird was part of a Unite Against Hate campaign event at Parliament Buildings in Northern Ireland, which I’ve [...] read our review »
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“I loathe Ireland and the Irish.”
Tweet In the Irish Times, Brian Cosgrove takes up temporary residence in An Irishman’s Diary in the hope that, with the lifting of European copyright restrictions on James Joyce’s major works, a greater familiarity with Joyce’s ”sometimes ruthless realism” may change the nature of the “annual Edwardian charade” that is Bloomsday. From the Irish Times The devastating cultural [...] read our review »
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