Brian Walker

Former BBC journalist and manager in Belfast, Manchester and London, Editor Spolight; Political Editor BBC NI; Current Affairs Commissioning editor BBC Radio 4; Editor Political and Parliamentary Programmes, BBC Westminster; former London Editor Belfast Telegraph. Hon Senior Research Fellow, The Constitution Unit, Univ Coll. London

Advance on abortion law reform and the treatment of women generally is now inevitable in the Republic. But will it go the whole way?

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For readers catching up, the Times (£) has a good pull together on the prospects of seismic change to the Republic’s abortion law. In a series of votes over the weekend, the citizens’ assembly, set up to consider the issue, recommended that abortion should be available up to 12 weeks after conception “with no restriction as to reason”. The vote for change was overwhelming, by 52 to 29. The Irish Times passes a qualified verdict Despite the recommendation from the …

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The saving grace of electoral pacts is that they’re short lived. There’s a longer and bigger game to play afterwards

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One sign of changed times is leading commentators  such as  Alex Kane Tom Kelly and Newton Emerson ranging across newspapers that not so long ago  would have stuck to simple uncomplicated messages for  well  understood and stable readerships. Times have indeed changed for us all. From my remote position in London however, Alex and Tom are making very heavy weather of the issue of electoral pacts on both sides of the divide.  They’re doing so for the best of reasons, …

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Colum Eastwood has offered to turn Brexit into an opportunity for the local parties. But the two governments must solve their underlying differences first

| Readers 2052

It would be easy to dismiss SDLP leader Colum Eastwood’s bid to create an “anti-Brexit axis” as a fig leaf for an SDLP survival strategy in the Westminster general election.  On the analysis, you pays your money and you takes your choice between Chris Donnelly and Daithi McKay here in Slugger.   In contrast, Arlene Foster needs no fig leaf at all. She’s going bare- faced for a straight pact with the UUs on the DUP’s terms to campaign for the …

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Signs of dramatic Tory revival causes new headache for Sturgeon’s Indyref 2 strategy

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From the Sunday Times £ SNP set to lose 11 seats according to shock poll The Panelbase survey of 1,029 voters in Scotland — the first Scottish poll since Theresa May called a snap election — points to a surge in support that would take the Conservatives to 33%, up 18 points from two years ago. It amounts to their strongest showing north of the border since the days of Sir Edward Heath’s government in the 1970s before the steep …

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The story of François Fillon’s suits tells you why the French establishment may be facing the guillotine

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Assuming you are a conservative minded Catholic would you vote for this man as your natural champion? With only a week before the first round of voting, the revelation by the investigative website Mediapart will further embarrass the conservative candidate, who lost his place as frontrunner in opinion polls after being placed under investigation for allegedly giving his British wife a “fake” job as his parliamentary assistant. Mr Fillon received three suits costing €13,000 from Robert Bourgi, a Franco-Lebanese lawyer, …

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Out of respect to the voters, the governments and parties must spell out in detail where they stand on the Assembly by next week. Otherwise the election is an insult to democracy.

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Although only one of 13 MPs  to deny Theresa May the green light for calling a Westminster general election, Mark Durkan MP surely got it right for  Northern Ireland.    I was not asking for an election last week or the week before; I was arguing that any move to an election in the near future would not help the negotiations in Northern Ireland. My mind has not changed, so why should I pretend that it has? Of course, this …

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If they let it drift too long, we could be back to 1969

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Brian WalkerFormer BBC journalist and manager in Belfast, Manchester and London, Editor Spolight; Political Editor BBC NI; Current Affairs Commissioning editor BBC Radio 4; Editor Political and Parliamentary Programmes, BBC Westminster; former London Editor Belfast Telegraph. Hon Senior Research Fellow, The Constitution Unit, Univ Coll. London

Left to themselves, the parties won’t agree. The time has come for the governments to bring forward solutions which involve the people directly

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Observed from London, the political atmosphere at home is surreal.  The volume of comment on the talks is in inverse proportion to hard information. Expectations of agreement by Good Friday are so low that  the local media can barely be roused from torpor. Emergency action for feeding the Stormont cats occupied more space in the Belfast Telegraph the other day.  Further emergency action to fund the regional government must be taken within a week followed by the crunch decision to …

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Bertie’s separate agenda should include warming Theresa May’s ear about the Human Rights Act

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Following in Bertie Ahern footsteps what should the  two governments negotiate about bilaterally as the Brexit talks proceed? In the Irish Times Noel Whelan argues that “ Ireland and UK must renegotiate Belfast Agreement” The EU has been described as a cornerstone of the Belfast Agreement. This is more than just constitutional flannel. The agreement specifically provides, under stand 2, article 17, for the North-South Ministerial Council to facilitate co-operation and co-ordination in EU matters. The council’s remit in this …

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Bertie Ahern the voice of sanity on a border poll and Brexit

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It’s the prerogative of elder statesman  to tell it as it is without looking over their shoulder at the opposition inside and outside their own party.  Bertie Ahern gave a reminder of just how good he could be.  He spoke the language of stability in the fevered atmosphere of Leinster House. Micheal Martin please note. Speaking in the Seanad: The last thing I want out of Brexit, the last thing, the very last thing, is anyone on about border polls. …

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Will unionists ever imagine a more generous vision than Orange culture to match Sinn Fein’s on unity?

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Showing good timing and a big bunch of confidence, a warm house for Unionists in a united Ireland within the EU has been imagined once again by Matt Carthy of Sinn Fein. Political positioning, based solely on opposition to Irish unity, is unsustainable. Although he can hardly expect an immediate favourable response,  his pitch   is directed  towards  the other participants in the interparty talks. People in Belfast, Derry or Fermanagh need answers to everyday social and economic problems. As the …

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Can the bar on disclosure on national security grounds be lifted to boost the chances of agreement in the interparty talks?

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Proposals for lifting the bar on official disclosure on the grounds  of “national security” have been made by Prof Kieran McEvoy and  the group of human rights lawyers with established reputations in dealing with the past.  For nationalists in the interparty talks this issue  is holding up progress and is a bone of contention with the DUP and the British government.  Although keeping their heads down, this is one issue where the Irish government are not at one with the …

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Identity politics is the enemy of good government. Can they be reconciled?

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Banging on so much about culture and identity politics is like debating the Resurrection with a famine victim, at best a momentary distraction, at worst an insult. In politics and too much comment,  political rhetoric is easy  macho stuff.  It produces a quick high and the tunnel vision born of  long-term self-satisfaction, while the practical business of government is played out on a sectarian battlefield or put on automatic pilot to look after itself.  At the back of their minds, …

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The Assembly crisis is costing £300 million a year in Health alone

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The Belfast Telegraph has an exclusive on the depth of the health crisis. It shows the real world  gap between the obsessive zero sum game that dominates politics and the practical need for regional government  of some sort. If the RHI scandal broke the Executive, will the long-term health scandal remake it? Northern Ireland’s health service is facing a potential overspend of more than £300m this year – which will worsen already unacceptable hospital waiting lists, a former Northern Ireland …

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Gerry Adams dons the mantle of McGuinness and holds out his hand to unionists

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  In an interview with Sky News on the eve of the resumed interparty talks, Gerry Adams addresses familiar charges levelled against him by more than unionists. In a move clearly designed to  win greater trust, the Sinn Fein president is  at pains to deny that  he is raising the bar so high as to guarantee that the talks will fail, with the  ulterior motive of abandoning the Assembly and exploiting Brexit to pursue a strategy of Irish unity based …

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At last! The British and Irish governments have produced an agreed plan to put to the Assembly parties from Monday 3 April

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Not before time, a detailed talks plan agreed between the two governments has been presented to the Assembly parties and will form the basis of talks over a 10 day period beginning tomorrow.  Brian Rowan, former security correspondent and Assembly candidate, has got sight of it and has summarised it in EamonnMallie.com   As I’ve been arguing for weeks this is the essential move if the talks are to stand any chance of success. At worst it shifts part of  any …

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The political parties should not deceive themselves that the lessons from demographic change are simple and obvious

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“ The morning after the Brexit vote, the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party said that “the constitutional question has been reopened, and we now have people who were content in Northern Ireland thinking again about a united Ireland” Has  this development become  the new driver of politics or is it  still in the background? At this moment the answer cannot be known. Yet it has set the climate for the interparty talks which resume on Monday. The words come from …

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New powers for Stormont? That’ll get’em going!

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James Brokenshire has solemnly warned that if Stormont is to receive new powers as result of Brexit, power sharing must be restored. This blatantly original statement puts him in line for a Nobel Peace Prize or a slot on Pointless. It’s just the sort of threat that will have them rushing to the conference table next Monday. It  puts a small cart before a big horse that is out there somewhere roaming the range. Who cares about powers when what …

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Equality in Death

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https://www.derrynow.com/obituaries/death-notices-wednesday-march-22nd-2017/152099 Brian WalkerFormer BBC journalist and manager in Belfast, Manchester and London, Editor Spolight; Political Editor BBC NI; Current Affairs Commissioning editor BBC Radio 4; Editor Political and Parliamentary Programmes, BBC Westminster; former London Editor Belfast Telegraph. Hon Senior Research Fellow, The Constitution Unit, Univ Coll. London

Do tell please DUP. What’s this about a “Culture Act”?

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It would be good to hear more from the DUP about the “Culture  Act”  Gerry Adams told the Dail yesterday  was “meaningless” He’s not necessarily the best conduit for the proposal.  May we decide for ourselves please DUP?  . Most of his speech was an uncanny repetition of Michelle O’Neill’s latest. From Dail Eireann debates Regrettably, the DUP’s approach throughout the talks was to engage in a minimalist way on all of these key issues. There was no substantive progress on …

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