James Murray Brown

in the FT talks to John White, former spokesman for the now disbanded UDP, and close associate of Johnny Adair. In the course of his interview he says: “We understood that in a divided society there had to be compromise in the negotiations. But it’s anathema to think we can’t fly our national flag on public buildings. It’s anathema to see that republicans and nationalists are opposing loyalist parades in many parts of the province.” Murray Brown goes on to comment: “But Mr White believes one of the reasons for the current unrest within loyalism is the lack of a political platform. With no assembly representation, his organisation has had to sit on the sidelines watching what he calls a “steady stream of concessions” given by the government to the IRA.” Johnny Adair’s son was injured recently in a punishment shooting carried out by members of his own organisation.

Mick Fealty

Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty