Arnold Carton

According to the Economist Magazine the term ‘Nanny State’ first appeared with the introduction of a 70mph speed limit on England’s motorways in 1965. More recently it has been used to express outrage at schools being asked to supervise teeth brushing for primary school children. The term is often used by people on the political right who object to the state behaving in a paternalist way, directing or encouraging people towards better life choices such as drinking less, smoking less, …

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The TV images that appeared on Saturday 7th October last year are seared into the memory of those of us who watched in disbelief on that afternoon. For many the grotesque display and abuse of the body of a German girl (Shani Nicole Louk), followed by the image of a female Israeli soldier, her trousers bloodstained, being lead away filled us with horror and anger. We don’t accept women being treated in that way and wanted to signal our disgust …

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A couple of thousand people (myself included) walked on Sunday’s ‘Peace in Gaza’ march to the US Consulate in Belfast. When I posted pictures of this on Twitter (@arnoldcarton) some of the more polite responses argued that seeking peace without destroying Hamas entirely is naïve, it is argued that seeking a ceasefire now and a negotiated settlement is unrealistic, that wars end when one side has won and the other know they have lost. This is worth exploring. Those who …

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Every country in the world has its founding myths or stories. America had the Pilgrim Fathers and the War of Independence, Sweden has its tales of the Norse Gods and Rome had Romulus and Remus raised by a wolf, What is the story of our country? If you ask this question in N. Ireland the response you receive will probably fit into three broad categories. Some will say that our story is long tale of linked island nations coming together …

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In the 1970’s there was a catchy Joe Jackson single with the lyric “Don’t you know that it’s different for girls?”. People back then already knew that females had a different experience of sex and relationships and the song surprises us by inverting our expectations. What is the connection between this and the Dublin Riots? For approx. 30 years I worked in the same large secondary school with approximately 45 teaching staff and like all large schools we employed roughly …

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It is almost December and the excitement is growing, will Santa Jeffrey make our Xmas dreams come true? When we unwrap our Xmas present, will the colourful wrapping paper hide an unchanged Windsor Framework Box, and when we open that will we find the NI Protocol inside with minimal changes? Or will it contain a ‘Supermajority’ for the Border poll? Is Emma LP still hoping to be the fairy at the top of the Christmas Tree or will Michelle get …

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Every now and then a film or TV series catches the mood of a nation and it’s viewing figures take off, it becomes an enduring classic. In the early 1980s, a time of massive unemployment in the UK we had Auf Wiedersehen Pet about migrant British workers and Boys from the Blackstuff with Yosser Hughes anguished cry of ‘give us a job, I can do that’ both catching the national mood. In the more prosperous 1990s the American import, Friends …

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Many Protestants of my generation (over 60) will have had a similar upbringing to myself, attending Presbyterian Sunday School each Sunday at 10:30 and then the main church service from 11:30 to 12:30. Despite the fact that attendance was compulsory (according to my parents) I enjoyed the experience, taking the words of ‘What a Friend we have in Jesus’ literally and feeling inspired by religion and later wowed by the 1977 Jesus of Nazareth series. Initially, I felt immune to …

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In the past 18 months we have seen the unpleasant side of male sexuality exposed many times. Andrew Tate was reportedly making significant money by promoting misogynistic ideas to young men through social media. Apparently, he was gaining in popularity with young men until Greta Thunberg caught him with her “[email protected]” response to his attack on her. Russell Brand is in the news again; he lost his job with the BBC back in 2008 over his shocking on-air comments about …

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I once believed the DUP would go back into Stormont in the autumn and the British government would provide them with some cover to do so, but this is looking increasingly unlikely, particularly in a week when the N. Ireland minister Steve Baker (Tuesday 12th Sept) said ‘where we are with the DUP is in the final stages of them letting us know what they need’. He then claimed the DUP is being pressurised by a small number of hardliners …

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If we discuss politics with our nationalist neighbours, most unionists will have had their attention directed to a map of Ireland. With or without a border, we have to accept that we were born on the island of Ireland and are Irish. We are asked, why don’t we stop being stubborn and accept the logic of this? The standard of living, the level of benefits, the education system and the health system in the Irish Republic are all better than …

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I have always been an optimist by nature and really hoped that the NI Assembly, set up after the Good Friday Agreement, would turn away from the divisive nature of identity politics and start focussing on education, social care and health. However, the Assembly has been suspended for over 40% of the time it has existed (primarily by SF and their partners in the DUP) and shows little desire to tackle difficult but essential tasks such as reorganising the NHS …

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Back in April 2014 the Belfast Telegraph published a letter from me that began with the paragraph: What have Sir Roger Casement, Billy Hutchinson, Gerry Adams and the Orange Order got in common? They all share a belief that importing guns and using the threat of violence to influence British policy in Ireland is something to be celebrated. At that time, I was concerned that the celebration of the UVF gun-running of 1914 through Larne, Bangor and Donaghadee that was …

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We hear them every morning, birds singing cheerfully, calling out across the gardens to welcoming the sun each morning – or at least that is what I was told they were doing when I was in primary school. The truth is a little less pleasant. The tunes those birds sing each morning are a warning to other birds of the same species to stay away, that this piece of territory is owned and that trespass will probably be met with …

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Symbiosis – A symbiotic relationship more or less means a mutually beneficial relationship between different species or groups. You will have seen examples of this on nature programs with birds such as oxpeckers perched on the backs of large grazing mammals such as wildebeest, rhinos and zebras. The grazing animals tolerate the birds because they eat parasites on the mammal’s body, including ticks and blood-sucking flies. The zebra or wildebeast have annoying parasites removed while the birds get an easy meal. Similarly, …

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