Soapbox

Were Protestants forced out of southern Ireland?

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Terraformer is a learning designer from Offaly, residing in Dublin. Headlines in recent months concerning the digitisation of the 1926 Irish census records painted a stark portrait of Protestant decline during the revolutionary period. The Protestant population of the 26 …

Brian O’Neill

Shankill Road Defenders band praise Fleadh organisers…

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From the Irish News: The Shankill Road Defenders are founding members of the Belfast Bands Forum, set up last year to coordinate and promote local marching band culture. The forum was represented on the organising committee of the Fleadh. Mr …

Frank Schnittger

Irish rugby in decline heading into the 2027 World Cup?

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The depth chart above is not intended as a forecast of who will play for Ireland in the 2027 world cup but rather give a rough snapshot of current pecking orders in every position based on Ireland squad and training …

Brian Walker

Gloria, Queen of the entertainment shows. A career celebrated

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A bit late but still time to catch up with  Gloria: my life on TV on iPlayer, the ultimate accolade of a  Gloria Hunniford Night on BBC FOUR  last Saturday. It features a set of shows including an interview with …

Ian Malcolm

Striking the right “tone” – a Prod at the Fleadh

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One of my proudest ever moments came during Fleadh 26 when I walked on to the stage in Writers’ Square to do a couple of songs in Irish on the Raidió na Gaeltachta stage. As a Protestant and Unionist, I …

Mick Fealty

Ten things we learned about the Belfast Fleadh?

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Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann came to Belfast for the first time and drew a crowd that may make it the biggest ever held. It also put Ulster Scots music in front of an all-island audience and got a DUP deputy First Minister speaking Irish. Ten things the week told us, and one it didn’t.

Frank Schnittger

Leinster Rugby being set up for failure?

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This is the fourth of a series of articles on the prospects for the Irish provinces for the 2026/7 season. Also published here are the previous three articles on Connacht, Ulster and Munster. Compared to last season, Leinster have lost …

Chambré Public Affairs

Northern Ireland: The Wild West for Gambling?

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Between 1865 and 1895, the American frontier was a place of rapid expansion and lawlessness, forever immortalised in popular culture by the spaghetti westerns of Italian director Sergio Leone. Settlers and speculators raced into new territory faster than the law …

Chambré Public Affairs

Chambré Weekly Bulletin- 10/08/2026

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What you need to know This week, the frailties of the Executive were exposed as the two main parties accused each other of undermining policy development and legislative delivery and risking the stability of the political institutions. My colleague Kurtis …

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster)

‘Parental choice is an illusion’: the gap between integrated education demand and provision

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As part of this year’s Féile debates and discussion programme, the Integrated Education Fund (IEF) hosted a public event at St Mary’s University College in Belfast, to launch new research into the reality of parental choice in school selection in Northern Ireland. The event was chaired by Amanda …