Brian O’Neill

A day of reckoning for the Labour Party and Keir Starmer as Britain goes to the polls…

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Will today be the last day of Keir Starmer’s Prime Ministership? With voting to the Scottish and Welsh assemblies and also the English Council elections, it is a crucial test of the popularity (or lack thereof) of the Labour Party …

Brian O’Neill

She lived her life like a candle in the wind….

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The Guardian reports on unearthed interviews with the playwright Arthur Miller about his marriage to Marilyn Monroe. Some of the quotes are quite revealing: He was one of the greatest playwrights of the 20th century and she was one of …

Soapbox

New Report: Improving Government in Northern Ireland: Towards a Programme for Reform…

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The Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly are under fire for their record in delivering public policy and services. In a new working paper published as a Constitution Unit report today, Alan Whysall argues that their under-performance threatens the stability of …

Brian O’Neill

Why do we have so many anti-social young people?

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It’s always been a thing for as long as I remember. Anti-social kids or wee spides, as we call them in Belfast. They do tend to have the same look: the skinny body drowned in an oversized tracksuit, that side-shade …

Brian O’Neill

The death of the early houses pubs…

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Early house pubs tend to be mythologised in Irish culture as what could be better than drinking a pint at 7 in the morning? I joke, of course, anyone drinking at 7 in the morning these days needs to question …

Obelisk

Echoes of Líofa

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When unresolved tensions and collapsing relationships in the Executive reached boiling point, the very last thing that was needed was for the DUP Communities Minister Paul Givan to push things over the edge by withdrawing funding related to the the …

Brian O’Neill

Open Sunday – discuss what you like…

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The idea for Open Sunday is to let you discuss what you like. Just two rules. Keep it civil and no man/woman playing. Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday.

Brian O’Neill

Open sunday – politics free zone…

2015

In addition to our normal open Sunday, we have a politics-free post to give you all a break. So discuss what you like here, but no politics. Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday.

Slugger Team

The Return of Summer Brings Wildfire Season To Northern Ireland

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The past Autumn and Winter were dark, wet and cold and the cold in particular had seemed to linger long past its welcome. So I think most people will agree that the recent spell of good weather has been nothing …

Houdi McCabe

Storytime with Houdi – All Cried Out…

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A miserable Sunday afternoon, hailstones bounced off the single glazed windows like crystal bismuth, the house colder than a Cavan-man’s wallet. The coal supply exhausted mid month. We had burned the last of the orange crates taken from the supermarket …