Donald Trump, the Israeli Defence Forces and the banality of evil…
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I don’t normally write in this blog about international affairs: about Donald Trump or Israel/Palestine or Ukraine. There are thousands of commentators far more qualified and knowledgeable than me to do that. But I am a simple person in many …
The Architecture of Tragedy: Hubris, Empire, and the 67 Words of Balfour…
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109 years ago today, on the 2nd of November 1917, as the mud-mired battle of Passchendaele dragged on, as bankruptcy beckoned, a 67-word declarative statement from the British Foreign Secretary, Arthur Balfour, was hand-delivered to the banking magnate Lord Rothschild. …
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.
Open sunday – politics free zone…
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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.
“Saying Nothing ” was a great poetic theme but the time to speak out is now. A lament on a society ” based on lies” by Paul Muldoon
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Paul Muldoon the boy from the Moy ( I can still see the youth in him at 75), is probably the last living survivor of the group of poets who were the best and brightest of the age of the …
Weekly Bulletin 31/10/26
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The fallout from Drumcree continued to dominate at Stormont this week. Calls within the DUP for Michelle O’Neill’s removal grew louder, led by Carla Lockhart, who now looks set to leave the party altogether. Even so, Gavin Robinson stopped short …
Evidence, not inevitability: the Taoiseach’s plan for Ireland’s futures…
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The Taoiseach’s new constitutional research body will examine three futures for the island: a unitary state, a devolved united Ireland and the status quo. Rather than staking everything on a border poll that may never come, it builds an evidence base, and a set of tools for future taoisigh, that will be useful whatever happens.
A choice, not a crisis: why Stormont still has no budget
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Seven months into the year, Stormont still has no budget, and this time there is no collapse to blame. Ministers are sitting and a £1.5bn offer is on the table, but the Finance Minister has made more money from London a precondition. That is a choice, not a crisis.
Diehards Under Pressure: The DUP and Education…
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Helen Armstrong lives in the North West and is a psychotherapist, executive coach and trainer. Well, here I go again on the campaign path to help end our system of academic selection as the next round of tests is looming: it’s …
One Road, Two Perspectives: Hughie Beag and Macha on Drumcree
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Fellow Slugger poster Hughie Beag and I have crossed swords a few times in the comments section, particularly over my attempts to understand unionism and his challenges to how I’ve approached it. We’ve occasionally managed to get under each other’s …