Chris Donnelly

Brian Feeney’s been looking at the ‘weighted majority’ speech by DUP leader Peter Robinson in his weekly Irish News column. After initially musing about whether the speech was timed to coincide with the anniversary of SDLP Leader Mark Durkan’s, ahem, ‘misquoted’ Oxford speech last year, in which he suggested something similar, he concludes that Robinson’s speech was about buying into the “perceived consensus within unionism:” “That perceived consensus is that unionists don’t like sharing power but especially they don’t like …

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Prediction time. No need to rehearse what’s at stake tonight. Republic of Ireland fans will be hoping the Italians and Bulgarians play out a draw, but it’s Northern Ireland and the Scots who have it all to play for tonight. My prediction: 1-0 with Paterson the hero for Northern Ireland, setting up a tense encounter with the Czechs in Prague with first and second- and third- still up for grabs; 2-1 to the Dutch. No time for Scottish dreamers tonight, …

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Peter Robinson- that’s the DUP Leader, not First Minister…has certainly courted controversy with his Ulster Hall speech calling for an end to the current legislative process in the Assembly. His speech is best interpreted as the start of a Westminster election campaign and actually fits in quite neatly with the appointment of the hardliner’s hardliner, Nelson McCausland, to the DCAL Ministry, who has excelled to date at his brief of seeking to annoy themmuns and rally the doubters and those …

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All-Ireland Champions, Tyrone, will look to book a return place in the Senior Football Championship Final today against either Kerry or Meath, but a determined- and to date impressive– Cork stand in their way. Kerry apart, no team has secured two consecutive final appearances since Armagh in 2002 and 2003. Meanwhile, the Minor semi-final matchup will see Armagh take on Kerry for a place in the final. Chris Donnelly

Splintered Sunrise has a recent thread regarding the persistence of sectarianism in the post peace process era. Hardly a surprise, I hear you say, but the interesting observations relate to what the author regards as a ‘geographical displacement’ which has developed through the New Dispensation (author’s term.) Splintered Sunrise: The peace process, you see, has really been geared very much towards pacifying Belfast and Derry. Tensions do persist in Belfast of course, mainly in interface areas, which is to say …

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The voice of middle unionism and one time self-proclaimed ‘National’ (sic) newspaper, the Belfast Telegraph, has editorialised in support of the Deputy First Minister’s call for the devolution of policing and justice powers by Christmas. Describing the arguments made in an interview in the paper with Martin McGuinness as ‘compelling,’ the paper’s editor suggested that The Government at Westminster will fund the transfer of powers, but its patience on the issue is wearing thin. So is the patience of people …

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Paul Cullen at the Irish Times has been charting the journey from Rip Off Ireland to Cheap Ireland, peppering his account with a few of his own memories of the time when the Celtic Tiger roared loud enough to distract the consumer whilst his/her pocket was well and truly picked- like the 15 euro baby formula, now costing him 8.50 euro. Niall McHenry of saveafewbob.ie speaks of a new paradigm in which people in the South expect to get value …

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Sporting fanatics will know there is no shortage of sporting action this weekend. The next 12 hours or so will see if Paddy can hold off the advancing Tiger, while England look set to throw away their one-game advantage in the Ashes; Mayo look favourites to claim a spot against Kerry in the last Four of the All-Ireland Football Championship as The Cats prepare to take one more step to Five in a Row glory in the Hurling. [To the …

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Given the range of opinions being expressed on the current predicament facing Sinn Fein, I thought it useful to post a thread linking many of the pieces which have appeared in the media in recent weeks (though a number of articles of a slightly older vintage have been included due to their relevance to the discussion.) Some of those penned are, in my very humble opinion, not worthy of further comment, owing more to political hang-ups with the Sinn Fein …

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Gerry Adams has responded to the Orange Order’s refusal to meet with Sinn Fein at a leadership level with an open letter to the Order carried in the Belfast Telegraph (though currently access only to the related story.) In the letter, he quotes from the King James Version of the New Testament whilst making the obvious hypocrisy charge regarding the Order’s stance on refusing to talk to republicans ahead of an apology for Order members killed during the conflict. As …

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Another Twelfth gone, several more families across the North looking for new places to live and others cleaning up after their homes were targeted; members of Orange Lodges, Hibernians and GAA members picking up the pieces after more attacks; church congregations in fear that the return of attacks on their places of worship will bring a return to the bad old days. Oh, and the inevitable rioting where the interfaces were infringed, with dissident republicans kicking into the open goal …

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DCAL Orangefest Minister, Nelson McCausland, has inadvertently provided possibly the quote of the year. Chris Donnelly

The UPRG in Derry and North Antrim have announced they no longer support the PSNI and political institutions (that’ll get the flag bandits excited!). They are blaming ‘demonisation’ and political apathy of social issues affecting protestants for their decision and make no reference to the recent loyalist decommissioning. Whilst the temptation to ridicule this stunt is great, it should be remembered that members of this organisation were involved in the sectarian murder of Kevin McDaid only a matter of weeks …

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The appearance of the Williams’ sisters, Venus and Serena, in today’s Singles Women’s Title match at Wimbledon got me thinking about successful sporting families. The feeling of seeing one child reach the pinnacle of a sporting discipline must be a wonderful emotion in its own right, but to witness two- or more- children scale the heights of sporting greatness is surely a feeling which few parents will have the pleasure of experiencing. Some will argue over whether ‘nature’ or ‘nurture’ …

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In the aftermath of last month’s European election, it was noted by some political observers- here and elsewhere- that Jim Allister’s biggest problem in developing a party which can provide a genuine challenge to the DUP at an Assembly/ Westminster election was the absence of competent candidates for the party. News stories carried in the last couple of days have confirmed the accuracy of the assertion. Firstly, there is the case of TUV Ballymena councillor, Robin Stirling, who was ejected …

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It is becoming increasingly clear that the DUP have been thrown into crisis mode by the result of the European Election. The last two weeks have brought the bizarre ministerial reshuffle by Peter Robinson, which led to the promotion of the hardline Nelson McCausland (he who opposed playing pitches for St. Malachy’s College on the grounds that they would eat into a protestant area) to DCAL and the unexpected arrival of Robin Newton to the Ministerial table, a consequence of …

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Antrim’s 0-13 to 1-07 victory over Cavan at Clones tonight has set up an Ulster Senior Football Championship Final pairing that few- if any- would have predicted only a matter of weeks ago. Antrim produced a superb attacking performance and solid defending to see off the Breffni men, though a number of jittery moments ensured that the Saffrons’ clear dominance was not fully reflected on the scoreboard and ensured the game went down to the wire. The victory secures Antrim …

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BBC Newsline is reporting tonight that more than 100 Romanians have fled their homes in south Belfast following yet another series of racist attacks in the area (earlier attacks were reported here and here on Slugger.) One family home had been attacked five times in the past eight months and twice in the previous 24 hours. A public rally organised last night, in the aftermath of a number of attacks on homes occupied by Romanians, was attacked by a gang …

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Now that I know Peter Robinson is in the mood for some advice, I think I’ll continue where I left off… Dear Peter, I know yer girl Diane didn’t show my lady any love after the count, Robbo (can I call you that, now we’re friends?) but I’m not gonna charge you for the pearl of wisdom you picked up earlier, nor those to follow. But after that, I’ll be expecting some cash to change hands, brown/ white envelope I …

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The strong (anticipated) TUV vote in the European election will lead to the collapse of the power-sharing Executive at Stormont. Discuss (my early thoughts below the fold.)It is, of course, still early days in the count proceedings, but with tally figures from a variety of parties suggesting a definite trend indicating a 12% plus turnout for Allister’s Traditional Unionist Voice, there is no doubt that the political consequences will be fairly dramatic at Stormont. The DUP campaign was mounted on …

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