peter robinson
Micheál Martin “there is a grave danger that policing in the North will be compromised because of this activity”
Tweet I’ve alluded to this in a post earlier in the week, but the Oireachtas record gives Deputy Gerry Adams a voice not captured on the Dail video. The exchange between himself and the leader of Fianna Fail is very instructive, not least as we face into another summer of discontent… The relevant section begins [...] more »
Seize the opportunities opened up by the Good Relations strategy. Don’t write it off
Tweet Mick’s last post is probably representative of the muted reaction to the long awaited initiative. All the same I’d rather take a more positive approach and - yes!- begin with accepting it at face value. So I’m asking: are critics justified in writing off already the Cohesion Sharing and Integration statement ( not yet a strategy and [...] more »
“during the Derry visit, Martin McGuinness and Peter Robinson were nowhere to be seen, surely mindful of their upcoming trade mission to China.”
Tweet According to an Irish News report today …OFMDFM has refuted any suggestion that the Stormont leaders snubbed the Dalai Lama when he visited Derry last month. A spokesperson for OFMDFM said the ministers were unable to attend “due to prior diary commitments”. Which is fine… After all, “diary pressures” was the same excuse Tony Blair [...] more »
Peter Robinson: in 50 years’ time the votes of the culturally Irish will help ensure union remains safe
Tweet Peter Robinson light-heartedly suggested that DUP’s first ever spring policy conference today in Fermanagh “means that the G8 Summit has now been demoted to the second most important event in Fermanagh this year!” The full speech is available from the DUP website. The DUP leader reassured delegates that Nigel Dodds “will be back at [...] more »
London using financial levers to remind Executive of its responsibility to address sectarian divides
Tweet East Belfast MP Naomi Long asked a long question [Q7] during Prime Minster’s Questions on Wednesday 13 March. She wanted to know what role he saw for the British and Irish governments “as joint custodians of the agreement” in progressing the outstanding issues of “reconciliation, unequivocal support for the rule of law, and to [...] more »
Imagine … TEDx talks by Peter Robinson, Martin McGuinness and others … under the gaze of Lord Craigavon
Tweet The Great Hall (the entrance hall) of Parliament Buildings up on the hill is a commanding setting for today’s TEDxStormont event. Seventeen speakers, three musical artists, the statue of Lord Craigavon basking in orange red light, and the portrait of Lord Bannside looking down on the couple of hundred delegates sitting below (with a [...] more »
Absentee OFMdFM leadership thawing out in Brazil?
Tweet Brilliant piece of’so-whatness’ from MalachiO’Doherty on an OFMdFM that seems not to understand yet that it is they who are in charge, or Matt Baggott, or anyone of a dozen favourite bogeymen… Have you been down to the beach? Copacabana? Pina Colada? That’s what you need, some chill-out time to talk over your wee [...] more »
How do Robinson and McGuinness explain their anti- EU stances to Brazilian and other would be overseas investors?
Tweet The Financial Times (£) have another report warning of possible dire consequences if the UK voted to leave the EU in a 2017 referendum, not least for Ireland north and south. An UK exit from the EU would produce huge complications to cross border trade – you can just imagine trying to put in [...] more »
The judges are right to speak out against coat trailing politicians
Tweet The sequence of empty complaints led by Peter Robinson about the “perceptions” of partiality in the granting of bail only risks creating more trouble for the police and the courts to deal with, witness Glengormley last night. The gurning is unlikely to have the slightest effect on the PSNI and the judiciary. This is not [...] more »
Will unionism’s long 2012 be seen as the year when the wave broke?
Tweet With the #flegs protests seemingly diminishing, it seems like a good time to wrap up where 2012 has brought unionism, although it can be pretty much summed up in one word – crisis. It was a year in which there were early signs of modest progress visible to DUP leader Peter Robinson in March and by November he felt confident to proclaim that the constitutional debate [...] more »
“it is a straight-forward politically motivated attempt to undermine the DUP as the voice of unionism”
Tweet And there’s more … Sadly, more violence around tonight’s “peaceful protests” in East Belfast, another trip out for the PSNI water cannons, and a further statement from the constituency’s MLA and DUP leader Peter Robinson. The tone has changed, the motives of the protest organisers are being attacked, and clear water is being put [...] more »
“I will work tirelessly with all parties to build a truly shared future for Northern Ireland”
Tweet From Peter Robinson’s New Year message: During 2013 I want to see the publication of the Executive’s CSI strategy. Those parties that walked away from the responsibility all politicians have to reach agreement on this issue need to come back to the table. The last few weeks has shown that a party political boycott [...] more »
Caption Competition
Tweet Things seem to have fallen a little silent on the Nesbitt front but let’s not let sleeping dogs lie! more »
Who really leads the DUP..?
Tweet “THERE is new political space developing in Northern Ireland,” Peter Robinson told the South Antrim DUP at the weekend. “It is the DUP’s aim that unionism will own it and lead it.” But it can’t. Tonight, “the new political space” will be seen at the front of the City Hall, where I doubt those [...] more »
Spare us a new long game of political numbers
Tweet More clearly than before as Mick observes, it is Peter Robinson’s medium term strategy and perhaps his personal legacy to enlist the support of enough Catholics to preserve the Union. But despite the superficial confidence in Peter’s leader’s speech it is loaded with insecurity. He has been forced to recognise the likelihood of an eventual [...] more »
DUP conference: dogmas, Mexican bandits, turkeys, opposition, outreach #dup12
Tweet The DUP is undeniably changing. Ten years ago who would have thought that purveyors of the trade organisation representing sellers of the devil’s buttermilk – Pubs of Ulster – would be sponsoring a drinks reception at the DUP conference? Who would have predicted that a Irish government minister would be welcomed to the DUP [...] more »
Cameron: “it’s local politicians who have to deliver on that”.
Tweet Prime Minister David Cameron was in Northern Ireland today, as part of a UK-wide tour to promote the Olympics. But despite their recent complaints, neither the NI First and deputy First Ministers appear to have been able to schedule a meeting. According to Martina Purdy, The first and deputy first ministers were not on hand to meet [...] more »
Robinson: “Only those who can adapt to changing circumstances remain standing”
Tweet The following is the body of a speech given this evening in Dublin by Northern Ireland’s First Minister and leader of the DUP, Peter Robinson… The Edward Carson Lecture, “Reflections on Irish Unionism” in Iveagh House in Dublin… Though a statue of Lord Carson takes pride of place in front of Parliament Buildings at [...] more »
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Books
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John Laird for Christmas?
Tweet John Laird (Lord Laird of Artigarvan) is unionism’s jester. His memoir A Struggle To Be Heard ” by a True Ulster Liberal” (from Slugger’s shop on Amazon here) might serve more as a heavy stocking filler than anybody’s idea of a main present. In it he wears the masks of comedy and tragedy to turn [...] read our review »
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Belfast 400: People, Place and History (Sean Connolly, editor)
Tweet Ten days ago I finished reading Belfast 400: People, Place and History, a book published to mark the four hundredth anniversary of the city’s charter. In the light of last week’s reawakened community tensions and violence, it is interesting to look back at the roots of the city and its journey into the twenty [...] read our review »
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Death of Dolours Price – opens up possibility that her taped oral history will be published (or not)
Tweet Dolours Price – sister, mother, bomber, prisoner and a thorn in Gerry Adams’ side – died in her Malahide home on Wednesday night. The Guardian’s Ireland correspondent Henry McDonald writes: Price was involved in a car bombing at the Old Bailey in 1973, which injured more than 200 people and may have led to [...] read our review »
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