I don’t normally post on a Saturday, but as the Belfast Telegraph doesn’t generally update it’s Friday stories till late in the day, I thought I’d just have to post Gerry Anderson‘s column to lighten the atmosphere round here. Elsewhere: …

Interesting overview of the history and position of Ulster Scots, by Lord John Laird arguing that Ireland is nowhere less an island than in the North East, where there is only 13 miles of open sea between it and Scotland. …

The funeral of Gerard Lawlor took place yesterday. Meanwhile the pressure on Trimble is palpably coming from all sides of the UUP, thought it is clear no final action will be taken until the Party meets in September. The Belfast …

The House of Lords has rejected Peter Robinson’s challenge to the legal status of the First and Deputy First Ministers. The appeal claimed that John Reid should have called fresh assembly elections last November because a time limit of six …

As Nigel Dodds was welcomed to the home of Gerard Lawlor, Denis Bradley called for greater protection of Catholic areas. Suzanne Breen asks if anyone cares about the fate of any of the working class of North Belfast – Catholic …

Phillip Murphy has a new definition of political opposites. According to his post on 13th July, we are either shaken or stirred!

David Trimble leads the comment on the Government state with his own article in the Daily Telegraph this morning. He suggests that Reid’s words are a hint of positive action, but that it falls short of specific action to be …

Thanks to fellow blogger Brendan O’Neill for featuring the Letter at the top of his short piece on Irish weblogs. Our stats software has packed up for the rest of the week apparently, so I have no idea how many …

There is some cautious optimism that today’s statement by Tony Blair will have the desired effect, though Jeffrey Donaldson holds on to the hard bottom line: “Anything that falls short of an effective exclusion mechanism is not worth the paper …

Today’s expected statement from the British Prime Minister is not expected to end the on-going crisis in the political process. It looks like Blair will offer a tightening of the criteria of what constitutes a breach of the ceasefire. It …