Brian Walker – Page 13 – Slugger O'Toole

A border poll yields pride of place to good government at Stormont. Will the parties get the message?

Brian Walker on February 18, 2020, 9:14 pm

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We’re told it’s the most thorough survey of political attitudes in years (what, more than the NI Life and Times surveys?). It shows the graph has tilted over a just a little more in favour of united Ireland, confirming that those who Don’t Know or declined to answer – an odd description of the middle ground – hold the balance. I’m caught between concern about growing tension as the day …

Sinn Fein deserve their chance to satisfy the huge expectations their victory has aroused

Brian Walker on February 11, 2020, 12:53 am

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Let’s stand back. With just one seat fewer than Fianna Fail but with quotas to spare, Sinn Fein’s claim to have gained the moral advantage has credibility in spades. Another reading is just possible. The two centrist parties outnumber them by rather less than 2 to 1. Twice in France the right and left united to defeat the far right in the second round of a presidential election, once by joining together and last time by forming a new political …

A way can be found between the EU rock and the GB hard place. But will Boris Johnson let us take it?

Brian Walker on February 4, 2020, 9:09 am

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Katy Hayward We are literally at sea over what Northern Ireland’s special status with the EU will mean in practice. Our Brexit guru – or should I now say, our Guru on Trading Relations with GB and the EU Katy Hayward writing in the Belfast Telegraph explains neatly why Northern Ireland is between a rock and a hard place In the past Katy was keen to repeat assurances that NI’s different economic relationship with the EU from GB had …

Martin and Varadkar and playing a game of chicken, with Sinn Fein trying to get inside the coop

Brian Walker on February 3, 2020, 11:49 am

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Now I may have got this wrong because I haven’t been catching Irish TV election coverage here in London. But am the only one thinking that the parties in the election are sleepwalking through the campaign? Varadkar and Martin are playing for margins as if they were German party leaders. Who in GB could imagine a party leader speculating about a grand coalition in the first week of the campaign? Coalitions can be deadly for its members and confidence and …

In the brave new world outside the EU, the DUP have no survival strategy for the Union

Brian Walker on February 1, 2020, 7:00 am

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The quivering projection of Big Ben onto the facade of Downing St accompanied by its tinny recorded chimes while the Brexit deliverer skulked inside, said it all. Boris Johnson did not want to be visibly identified with the big moment in case it all goes pear shaped. In former times retreats on such a scale were the result of war. That’s about best thing that can be said about Brexit; the worst is that it’s heading for a bigger reverse, …

The five billion pound man made a long term case. To fulfil it, the Assembly has to show unity, leadership and competence

Brian Walker on January 18, 2020, 12:10 am

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How was £5 billion arrived at? Blame or praise goes to the estimable Esmond Birnie, the PWC economist who was once a UU MLA. Yesterday I included the media in blame for what I think of as the policy paradox: knowing full well how important a policy is, but ducking it, or failing to give it enough attention because it’s too boring meaning incomprehensible, definitely non macho, but truth to tell, bloody scary. My point still holds good but needs …

Not a bad start – but the Assembly needs the people’s help with the big decisions

Brian Walker on January 17, 2020, 12:23 pm

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I err on the side of optimism. I don’t know about you but I’m constantly frustrated at how the media comment on every cough and squeak of political debate but skate over the actual details of the policies that affect real life. Political chatter is the easy bit; they’ve being doing for decades, ever since politicians insisted they weren’t responsible for anything like the terrible issues of life and death which were always down to somebody else, paramilitaries or the …

We have a piece of paper… it looks like a Stormont deal, tbc

Brian Walker on January 10, 2020, 12:51 am

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Have we got a deal that the DUP and Sinn Fein sign up to or not? By Thursday midnight, it wasn’t clear. Will all parties turn up to the reconvened Assembly? By the time you read this we should know. In the meantime we have – a document .. But Arlene Foster’s verdict looks favourable.. “On balance we believe there is a basis upon which the Assembly and Executive can re-established in a fair and balanced way… This is not …

Medical school plan for Derry Campus now “oven ready” if only an Executive minister signs it off, says NIO minister. Will it happen?

Brian Walker on January 8, 2020, 11:12 pm

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Andrew Adonis, the former Labour cabinet minister and senior adviser to Tony Blair is that rare creature, a British politician who having been introduced to Northern Ireland doesn’t turn away wearily after a short while. He has decided to champion our interests. He’s been mocked recently as a fanatical anti-Brexiteer who has had to face defeat. Undaunted, he has turned to other causes. His speech during a debate in the Lords about the Stormont standoff yesterday triggered an important statement …

The RIC commemoration is off. Was it a bridge too far to unionists?

Brian Walker on January 7, 2020, 8:36 pm

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Newstalk If you’re going to do a U turn, getting it over quick limits the damage (even to bloggers like me). It’s remarkable how long politicians usually take to face up to the inevitable. Wisely not this time. With only 10 days to go, it had to be quick, with only a weasel word “ “deferred” substituted for “ cancelled.” Was holding a commemoration in Dublin Castle for the RIC and the Dublin Metropolitan Police a revisionism of history too …

Commemorating the RIC and allowing an Irish Language Act are opposite sides of the same coin

Brian Walker on January 7, 2020, 11:58 am

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RTE The Irish government’s decision to commemorate the RIC in a major state ceremony is the right one precisely because it is as controversial as it is fundamental. There is no point in filling an entire decade with an orgy of self congratulation. The modern Irish state was born in insurgency and revolution is always controversial. But it is s also a reminder of that the state born out of revolution was part of a much longer continuum that is …

Whatever you do, don’t handle the debate on a border poll like the politics of Brexit

Brian Walker on January 3, 2020, 3:16 pm

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The decision of the two governments to publish “ the basis of an agreement “ on a return to Stormont next week as recommended here and by others is very welcome. Publication will either expose to your judgement and mine the reasonableness or otherwise of whoever is holding out against agreement, or it will constitute the agreement itself. While an atmosphere of optimism among the parties is being fostered (no pun intended) in the sketchy reporting, there is nothing objective …

In 2020, the fate of the Assembly will be one of the simpler issues

Brian Walker on December 29, 2019, 3:48 pm

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In agonising over terms for recreating a functioning Stormont, the old chestnuts of an Irish Language Act and the petition of concern could be the easy bits – which is one reason why the DUP and Sinn Fein if they have any sense at all, should grab at a deal. Truth to tell they are still in their comfort zone. Far more difficult issues are looming just a little way down the track. And it’s doubtful if the Assembly parties …

Looking forward to an early end to the Stormont deadlock. Christmas cheer, or only a Christmas truce?

Brian Walker on December 23, 2019, 9:07 pm

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How will the parties “reflect” on their stance towards Assembly restoration during the Christmas lull? Will it be peace on earth, good will to all or only a Christmas truce? The finger of fate is pointed at the DUP. Will their resentment spill over into resistance? How dare the secretary of state break precedent and single them out for blame just because all the other parties seem to have supported a deal? Even that is the wrong conclusion because as …

It matters that at last the range of Northern Ireland voices is restored and extended at Westminster

Brian Walker on December 20, 2019, 5:58 pm

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Claire Hanna, SDLP MP for South Belfast In the two days of debate on the withdrawal Bill, Northern Ireland MPs certainly made a difference. Having read or watched their very uneven contributions on the floor of the House even before the broadcasting of Parliament started with a radio experiment in 1975, this was a rare moving occasion. For first time in two of the most turbulent years of intense politics in which our affairs had unusual prominence, the other voices …

If one last heave after Xmas fails, the people should vote to dismantle the mutual DUP/ Sinn veto

Brian Walker on December 20, 2019, 10:13 am

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The Newsletter editorial is full of alarm and self pity. Its vehemence is slightly surprising as the paper has been no critical supporter of the DUP. It has been highlighting their weaknesses throughout. So it cannot be greeted just by schadenfreude. It needs a considered answer. For three years, no Conservative and Unionist (as they sometimes style themselves) minister or prime minister has uttered a word of criticism of Sinn Fein. Think about that. The crisis in the NHS …

Labour’s defeat was their own guilty secret. But Boris Johnson’s matters much more

Brian Walker on December 15, 2019, 3:00 pm

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Andrew Parsons i/Images Now they tell us. Labour moderates had been watching the growth of the Conservative vote in north east of England council elections for years. But so had the Conservatives’ evil genius Dominic Cummings and he knew how to act on it. Forget obsessions with social media, go knock on doors. As Tip O’Neill the old Speaker of the US House of Representatives memorably once said, All politics is local.” And we can add, it transcends ideology alone. …

This is no narrow nationalist victory. It is a demand to make power sharing work

Brian Walker on December 13, 2019, 9:50 am

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DUP 8 seats (-2), 30.6% (-5.4%) SF 7 seats (nc), 22.8% (-6.6%) Alliance 1 seat (+1), 16.8% (+8.9%) SDLP 2 seats (+2), 14.9% (+3.2%) UUP 11.7% (+1.4%) Let’s say it clear. This is a great result for Northern Ireland. It’s simplistic to call it a victory of nationalism over unionism. It shows that voters on both sides of the divide are capable of breaking out of the monolithic duopoly. The DUP and SF have been punished for Stormont deadlock and …

With the best will in the world, you can’t know what you’re voting for today

Brian Walker on December 12, 2019, 2:37 pm

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Let’s begin at (your) home. After all the mystery and muttering about tactics after the election, do you know which main party the DUP would support in government? I don’t. But Nigel Dodds sounds as if he’s nuzzling up to the Tories again with or without an overall majority There is no doubt that if we reach a tariff-free trade deal with the European Union, that will eliminate the need for most if not all customs checks..I sincerely hope …

While you’re waiting for election results, why not take a look at the state of Brexit from the Irish point of view?

Brian Walker on December 11, 2019, 12:32 pm

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Fairly dramatic conclusions about the future of the Union and stability in Northern Ireland have been produced in the third Brexit Status Report of the Dublin based Institute of European and International Affairs. Rather disappointingly the Report avoids discussing post Brexit strategies for restoring Stormont or if they fail, options such as direct rule, joint authority or an accountability mechanism for the Northern Ireland people on the future of the “frontstop,” assuming it is ratified by Parliament. A border …