Brief recap on the Blogger Awards

Below I have pasted the early comments from Slugger so far. They are simply in the order in which they appear on the comment thread. So there is no subliminal suggestion of importance. I’ll keep pitching these up every so often, but there is no substitute for going out and reading them yourselves and forming your own view.

There are some great blogs out there. If you run a blog, give us a plug and get the conversations going. I want to link outwards fairly aggresively. If you start to get nominations on your blog, drop me a line and we’ll co-opt the best comments into the notes for the Judging Panel as well as sending you a back link.

And don’t just stop at bloggers! You can pick up the links to all the Awards Categories on the left hand side of the Awards site here.Splintered Sunrise: “Should be a runaway winner, an eye for detail, humour and history. I want to be him.” And “Depth, variety and regular posts. And a bit of politics too!” And “a brilliant mix of humour, politics, and insightful analysis, not just of NI but of British left politics and beyond. Where else do you get postings in (what I assume is) Serbo-Croat beside Gail Walker Watch? And the photos attaching to the stories are usually hilarious. Although a disappointing absence of Girls Aloud as naughty schoolgirls of late.” And “very well written and an original voice”.

Your Friend In The North: “For its unusual socialist outlook on Northern Ireland (and wider) politics. His is the perspective of someone who feels (not unreasonably) that the present party political system leaves his left wing views unrepresented. As such he stands aside from the traditional NI partisan discussions. A refreshing, interesting, and nicely written blog.”

Three Thousand Versts of Loneliness: “Is written with a certain amount of linquistic flair. This is a blogger who clearly enjoys his English. He also enjoys reading and gives us book reviews and cultural pieces. His political position is self-described as liberal unionist, but his views are not entirely predictable and the items rather eclectic, including a fascination with and dislike for ethnic nationalism in its East European manifestations.” And ” Chekov really has a penchant for writing in a way that really grasps the reader.” And “for its broad outlook, good analysis and varied links.” And, “I hate to say it but Chekov does write well. ”

A Pint of Unionist Lite: “For highlighting a lot of nationalist-related issues from (slightly) further afield that might otherwise slip under the radar.” “Passionate unionism epitomising the pan-UK unionist approach. O’Neill synthesises an incredible amount of material for this blog. A blogger with a genuine grasp of his subject.”

The Belfast Stoop “For the fact that he is in public office and combines Council business and interesting outlooks generally.”

El Blogador: “But only since Pol [O’Muiri] came on board, since then it has moved beyond a party political platform to something more considered and interesting.” And, “a group blog fairly closely associated with an identifiable political party is quite a good thing as it provides a picture of that party’s ‘id’ as well as a space for them to develop their thinking about issues that they will (sometimes) have to answer for their stance on soonish.”

1169 and counting: “A wee part of the blogosphere where I can be found and I shamelessly do so because it will permit me to state that the blog in question has been nominated FOUR times in ‘Political Blog’ categories. And lost FOUR times….” And “I agree with its tone and attitude regarding the North of Ireland situation.It’s a refreshingly straight forward blog – what you get is what you’d expect from a republican point of view. ”

Everything Ulster: “Diverse articles and lively commenting zones. Beano writes with a tone of barely contained exasperation which I find hugely entertaining.”

Redemption’s Son: “Ignited has a grasp of the nuts and bolts of politics which I envy. Reading his pieces always make me view my own stuff as a bit conceptual and airy fairy. A blog which is in touch with the unionist grass roots.”

Our Kingdom: “Fair Deal is one of the very few bloggers delivering a DUP standpoint in a thoughtful manner. I rarely agree with what he says, but he’s always worth reading. Damian O’Loan is an excellent new addition, writing coherent and temperate analysis from a liberal nationalist perspective. An encouraging indication that moderation is not dead.” And “Fair Deal, Damian O’Loan, Tom Griffin, Patrick Corrigan and (very occasionally) Ian Parsley all are delivering thoughtful and coherent articles analysing different areas of political life here.”

Burke’s Corner: “Almost intimidating erudition from Brian Crowe as he examines the world from communitarian conservative perspective.”

Faoiseamh: “Where language, literature and politics intersect. Some thoughtful musings on identity in relation to Northern Ireland from an Irish ex-pat.”

The Dreaming Armadillo: “A Tyrone ex pat’s whimsical blog where politics is viewed through the filters of sport, travel, identity and more recently, fiction.”

Irish Left Review: “a new collaborative venture by a number of bloggers braodly on the left. It deals in political, social and cultural issues, as well as some humour.”

Irish Pirate Review: “funny and left-wing, but not updated regularly enough.”

Cedar Lounge Revolution: “possibly the most impressive blog. There are serious and thoughtful pieces virtually every day, on a huge range of topics.”

Draw Breath: “His analysis is always well thought out and remains studiously calm.”

NALIL: “Semper fidelis: pertinent, precise, well-written, immaculately-researched and therefore an opinion-leader. His deserves credit for any one of his greatest hits: the Causeway and Runkerry House saga(s), the Paisley premises empires, the continuing Rathlin Island ferry shambles… And that’s only the activist side of an all-round site. A good man, doing good deeds, in a decent way, in a tight little corner of a naughty world.” And “serving up an interesting mix of investigative journalism and local interest.”

A Tangled Web: “David Vance really out-posts the other contributors and he’s from the north, though I’d say that his focus is a good deal wider, but his stuff on NI is quite astute.”