Brian Walker – Page 29 – Slugger O'Toole

What lingers is Pope John Paul’s charisma, not his messages

Brian Walker on August 24, 2018, 10:49 pm

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Thirty nine years ago, I’d just completed a tour of the key sites for the momentous visit of Pope John Paul 11 in my role as commentator for the continuous coverage by BBC Northern Ireland. We were to comment off- air from RTE in Donnybrook. There was no way to get round the island in time between Dublin, Drogheda, Knock, Galway and Limerick. Swift movement from site to site was only possible by helicopter and flights were strictly restricted. Among …

London challenges Dublin: ” do you care more about the border than trade with GB”?

Brian Walker on August 24, 2018, 2:25 pm

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Brian O’Neill’s depressed view of Dominic Raab’s contingency plans for Northern Ireland amounting to “ask Dublin” is shared by many. But there is a slightly different way of looking at it. The Irish government are ready and willing to be asked. Join the flow of the Irish Times story. Checks on goods travelling from Britain to Northern Ireland would be carried out at British ports under fresh ideas to make the so-called backstop easier to agree. The Irish Times understands that, …

Could the lights go out next March?

Brian Walker on August 22, 2018, 8:46 am

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The inanities of managing Brexit reach new depths. Times exclusive Emergency Brexit energy talks as ministers hide no deal plans Greg Clark, the business secretary, has held urgent talks with officials in Dublin on an emergency agreement to keep the lights on in Northern Ireland after a “no-deal” Brexit. Downing Street wants to avoid publishing its plans for a worst-case scenario that include importing thousands of generators north of the border. The electricity industry has operated a single wholesale market …

Does recall purdah benefit Ian Paisley? Will it end up in court?

Brian Walker on August 11, 2018, 11:07 am

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Not only are there complaints that three centres are inadequate to cover the whole of rural North Antrim for recalling Ian Paisley and forcing a by election, but there are complaints about the purdah on comment it enforces too. This twitter dialogue from two leading commentators Michael Crick of Channel 4 News and Anthony Wells of YouGov covers the point. The 2015 Recall of MPs Act says that during the 30-day period NOBODY – journalists or anyone – …

Institutional discrimination is dead. Identity politics has become an entertainment

Brian Walker on August 10, 2018, 10:23 am

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Even the most inventive of columnists run out of material in the dog days of August. So Alex Kane treats us to a little rant in the Irish News. The constitutional question remains at the heart of all political debate here; yet that question is louder and more pressing than it has been in my lifetime. This point was always coming, of course. As long as there were nationalist choices for one community and unionist choices for the other the question …

Is a second referendum feasible? A dispassionate view from academics

Brian Walker on August 9, 2018, 3:59 pm

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The Constitution Unit of University College London headed up by Meg Russell has posed seven questions about a possible second referendum on Brexit in a blog post. Last month the Unit published the report of the Independent Commission on Referendums which can be read here. The summary… Would it be possible to hold a referendum in the time available? Isextending Article 50 feasible? How could a referendum be triggered? What might the options be? What form should the question …

Why do the DUP persist in ignoring the interests of their own supporters?

Brian Walker on August 9, 2018, 12:06 pm

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For decades, Barry White was a great part of the voice of the Belfast Telegraph, sometimes in his own name, as often in anonymous editorials. He was one of a trio ofsenior journalists, Roy Lilley, Ed Curran and himself who steered a difficult editorial path for the paper from 1970 arguing for the centre ground mainly from the standpoint of liberal unionism. The voice was that of reasonableness, by definition so often ahead of the real thing, although Barry wrote …

RTE’s celebration of John Hume feels like nostalgia for a time that has gone

Brian Walker on August 7, 2018, 8:59 pm

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RTE have just screened a documentary In the Name of Peace; John Hume in America by Maurice Fitzpatrick which the film maker has kindly drawn to my attention. Being in London I cannot access it yet nor have I read his accompanying book. But from the YouTube trail, this is a major celebration of John Hume’s life and work. Anybody who was anybody is in it, led by Clinton and Blair, although Jimmy Carter was not quite so dazzled. As …

Did Peter Robinson blunder into the border poll debate too early?

Brian Walker on August 6, 2018, 10:14 am

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Coming late to the Peter Robinson speech at Glenties and its aftermath, I’m struck by two elements of it, one of which has been hardly picked up. In the text I was offered, the discussion of a border poll which overshadowed the rest of it didn’t appear at all. Tommie Gorman of RTE has explained. I chaired the Friday evening session (27 July) in the Glenties Highlands Hotel where Peter Robinson was the guest speaker. The references to a united Ireland …

Even if they don’t quite love us (and who can blame them?), British and Irish leaders want to show they care

Brian Walker on July 28, 2018, 1:57 pm

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At a time when all parties in Northern Ireland are feeling isolated and sorry for themselves for some reasons beyond their control and others self inflicted, it’s worth noting the two recent visits to Derry by senior ministers of both states. While these differed in style, purpose and content, both emphasise the basic British and Irish engagement that continues despite present tensions and breakdown. Earlier this month the Tánaiste Simon Conveney visited the unionist Fountain estate as well as the …

Focusing on the bigger picture is how to prevent a Brexit disaster

Brian Walker on July 27, 2018, 11:03 am

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The Sun and the Guardian, raucous tabloid and campaigning broadsheet on either side of the Brexit trauma are united: Barnier has killed off the Chequers plan. The FT however is more circumspect. We have doubts it can be done without putting at risk the integrity of the customs union, our common commercial policy, regulatory policy and fiscal revenue,” said Mr Barnier. Mr Barnier and Mr Raab also said they had agreed to work on a model for financial services co-operation …

Never mind the wrangling. What can the Intergovernmental Conference achieve?

Brian Walker on July 25, 2018, 11:22 am

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We’ve never been that great about commenting on economics and finance have we? Unless they’re fodder for the same old, same old wrangle or we’re demanding more, more money from the Brits who never give us what we really deserve. We get far more craic (crack, old spelling) out of the antics of Paisley junior, the very epitome of a farcical son of a overwhelming father who also thought some rules weren’t made for him. No prizes for guessing that …

On the backstop, Theresa May’s “passion” for solutions and a bit more clarity seems to be paying off

Brian Walker on July 20, 2018, 3:02 pm

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Theresa May and Michel Barnier have spoken. Barnier has picked his way critically through the UK White Paper with its “facilitated customs arrangement” and common rule book, asking all the pertinent questions but turning nothing down. 80% of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU is now agreed, but the EU’s version of the backstop remains the bugbear. The black scenario is: no agreement on the border, no withdrawal agreement, therefore no transition and no deal. To be honest, nobody except …

Theresa May is playing well off a weak hand

Brian Walker on July 18, 2018, 3:04 pm

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Five Labour votes on Tuesday, plus really poor whipping on Monday night that allowed the Lib Dem leader and his predecessor to miss the vote are two crucial factors that helped save Theresa May’s bacon this week. The Commons will stagger on until Tuesday after all, as the government didn’t dare press for an early recess today after their hair’s breadth wins earlier this week. Internal opposition to May has come from both sides, first from Brexiteers opposing the Chequers …

Go further Theresa, even if it means splitting the party. And Leo, ease up on the backstop if she does.

Brian Walker on July 17, 2018, 12:32 pm

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Pressure may soon become irresistible for Theresa May to go against the habit of a lifetime and take a terrific political life or death gamble. Opening up beyond her bedraggled Facilitated Customs Arrangement unveiled at Chequers is Labour’s choice of a customs union – if not now, in the autumn. But this will mean a huge bustup and split in the Conservative party and require Labour support – official or unofficial – to pass. In the meantime, the Tainaiste is reconciled …

My bet still is that Theresa May will face down her overexcited critics

Brian Walker on July 15, 2018, 12:21 pm

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For MPs at Westminster, the long hot summer ends on Tuesday week. In the short time remaining, the government will scrape a majority for the Trade Bill. Over the next couple of days David Davis and perhaps Boris Johnson will make resignation statements in the Chamber that will fuel speculation about a coup. But time is tight to mount a leadership challenge against Theresa May before the adjournment. The political journalists’ lobby know this but want to keep the pot …

The bogey of a hard border is starting to vanish before our eyes

Brian Walker on July 8, 2018, 4:19 pm

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Majority reaction to the Chequers summit is cautiously optimistic, most reservations from all but the Brexiteer fanatics being postponed, using the alibi of next Thursday’s publication of the 120 page government White Paper before they fully respond. If you’re naturally positive, you’ll see it as an undoubtedly soft Brexit; if you’re a cynic whether Leaver or Remainer, you may call it a fake Brexit. The outcome can be summed up by saying that on goods and regulations, the UK will …

Defence Secretary Williamson revealed as private backer of an amnesty for soldiers

Brian Walker on July 6, 2018, 12:03 pm

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Despite this Sun ” exclusive,” the ambitious Defence Secretary – the man who as chief whip negotiated the Conservative-DUP parliamentary deal – will have other things on his mind today – like which way will he jump on Theresa May’s Brexit plan? GAVIN Williamson has secretly backed an amnesty for IRA terrorists — as the price for ending the witch-hunt of troops, The Sun can reveal. The Defence Secretary wants Theresa May to grant British troops who served in Northern …

The choice is shaping up between holding the Conservative party together and a Brexit that works, sort of

Brian Walker on July 2, 2018, 1:30 pm

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The FT reports Theresa May is to present a new post-Brexit customs plan to her cabinet this week, in an increasingly desperate attempt to find a solution that can unite her feuding ministers and find favour with a sceptical EU. Details of the new plan have not been set out, but its existence — confirmed by Number 10 — demonstrates that Mrs May has concluded that neither of the two customs options under consideration by ministers for almost a year …

As another crisis hits the EU, raging against the Brexiteers is not an adequate response.

Brian Walker on June 28, 2018, 12:48 pm

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Boats with EU, UK flags sailing in opposite directions

Try as I might I’m unable to understand the appeal of Brexit for the UK, never mind Ireland north or south. I say “understand “deliberately rather than “appreciate”, as it is possible to see where people are coming from even if you don’t join them on the journey. Therefore I’m often a humble passenger on Fintan O’Toole’s train of thought. The greatly admired Fintan is among the most sophisticated critics of Brexit on either island from the high vantage point …