Chris Donnelly

Last Friday evening, another catholic family were forced to flee the village of Stoneyford following an attack on their home in which the elderly couple’s windows were smashed. The family concerned had been targeted by loyalists before, with one leading local loyalist subject to a restraining order following threats made to the female resident. Sinn Fein has condemned the attack and has noted how the incident came just days before the DUP in Lisburn decided to go against the earlier …

Read more…

It was rather fitting that, in the week Brian Feeney labelled the Robinson-led DUP as the ‘Nasty Party,’ First Lady Iris lays out her views on turning around homosexuals. Iris had called for the portrayal of gay people to be banned from TV only a week earlier- when she also complained about not being able to use the term ‘coloureds.’ Ahh, for the good ol’ days Iris, eh??? Chris Donnelly

The Ulster Senior Football Championship begins today, with Antrim facing Cavan at Casement Park in the preliminary round fixture. This year’s Ulster Championship promises to be the most open for many’s a seaon, with Derry’s National League triumph elevating them alongside perennial Ulster contenders Armagh and Tyrone as probable favourites- though Monaghan’s early form in the league suggests they’ll be in the reckoning. The BBC will be commencing their most impressive season of coverage to date, showing all but one …

Read more…

A Limavady grammar school has found itself at the centre of a sporting/ political controversy after allegedly reneging on an invitation to the GAA to provide a training session for school pupils in an extra-curricular capacity following apparent ‘complaints’ by parents and teachers. Limavady Grammar Headmaster, Sam McGuinness, has said he would like to see gaelic games being played at the school. Meanwhile, Ian Paisley has been paying a visit to St. Patrick’s College, Bearnageeha, where he was presented with …

Read more…

The exclusion of Donegal Celtic from the IFA’s new Invitational League has provided the icing on the cake for what has been a bit of an annus horribilis for the football authorities in the north in regards to their relationship with northern nationalists. Having first picked a fight with the nationalist community over the eligibility of Irish citizens to represent the Rep Ireland at international football level, the decision to dump the Irish Cup semi-finalists and team finishing 11th placed …

Read more…

Slugger’s second Fantasy Football Season has ended, and congrats are due to Richard Anderson, who pipped Gareth Murray at the post to win with a total of 2274 points (a very impressive 1,189th position out of more than 1.7 million teams worldwide.) Our league performed extremely well, ending up rated as the 228th best league overall amongst more than 113,000 leagues organised through the site. Well done again to all who participated- the final league table is below the fold.The …

Read more…

It’s now many years since my father-in-law first made me aware of the place of the Jumbo Breakfast Roll in modern Ireland- south of the border. As one who travels the length and breadth of the country in his job, he has been availing of the JBR for a long time now, with the expanding waistline to prove it (isn’t it as well my wife doesn’t read this site…) Now, it appears academic research has identified the JBR as a …

Read more…

In the aftermath of last week’s Investment Conference, Tom McGurk’s been examining just what the North has to offer potential investors and taking a longer look at how the new political and economic realities are likely to impact on traditional unionist attitudes to the border. Chris Donnelly

The father-in-law of Hugh McNally, who was viciously assaulted and left critically ill in hospital after the sectarian attack in Belfast city centre last weekend, has criticised the PSNI’s response to the incident. Seamus Davis, a well known Antrim town based community worker, has slammed the PSNI for failing to arrest any of the loyalist/ nazi gang involved, who were filmed calmly walking away from the scene of the attack immediately after leaving his son-in-law for dead and after having …

Read more…

Meet Hillary and Barack’s cousins. Read here for an explanation. I wonder what fascinating relations would be turned up if somebody here spent the hours researching the ancestries of our political leaders. Any ideas out there? Chris Donnelly

Veteran journalist, Robert Fisk, has been an eyewitness to many global conflicts. In his most recent article, Fisk observed that the war in Iraq- now claiming officially 4,000 US lives and many multiples of that number of Iraqi casualties– has shown the true value of neutrality. Chris Donnelly

It might have taken a bit longer than many believed would be the case, but today seems to have finally delivered the politics of The Mutual Veto to the power-sharing structures up at Stormont. From a republican perspective, patience seems to have finally worn out with the exiting from the scene of Ian Paisley bringing to an end the ‘holding tongue’ strategy in the face of DUP goading. Gerry Adams pointed the way, in the aftermath of Nigel Dodds’ Good …

Read more…

Culture Minister, Edwin Poots, has admitted to refusing to attend every Irish language event he has been invited to since taking office on the grounds that he was “not a speaker of Irish.” However, his lack of knowledge of the “wee dafty wean” lingo has not prevented him from attending five Ulster Scots events in his time as Minister. Before the Chinese, Polish and other ethnic minority groups rip up their glossy invites to the Culture Minister, his spokesperson did …

Read more…

The Dromore by-election victory for the UUP has led to much discussion on Slugger and elsewhere about the significance of the TUV vote. Is it a threat to the Executive? Can TUV deliver a stronger deal for Unionism? What were the reasons for the TUV vote? Of course, there are numerous unionist posters on this site with an informed opinion of the thinking within the various branches of unionism. So here’s my take on the significance or otherwise of today’s …

Read more…

I was personally delighted to see on Nuzhound that Jude Collins is back amongst the weekly columnists at one of our local dailies- this time, the Belfast Telegraph. In this column, Jude reminds readers that Sadiq Khan isn’t the first Member of Parliament to be bugged and provides plenty of food for thought about the ever-present role of surveillance in society today. Chris Donnelly

The long wait for Steve Staunton’s replacement as Rep. Ireland manager would appear to be over, with several media outlets suggesting that Giovanni Trapattoni agreed in principle to take the job once his current contract (with Austrian club side, Red Bull Salzburg) expires in May. The news will come as a relief to the supporters- and players- who had become increasingly vocal and agitated about the delay in finding a replacement, though I personally was disappointed in the manner in …

Read more…

The violent reaction of some within the unionist/ loyalist community to the efforts by Limavady Council to make the civic offices a neutral working environment expose once again the unwillingness of the unionist political leadership to cultivate a culture of mutual respect for the Irish nationalist/ republican identity of their neighbours. The dramatic language employed by unionist elements in the media, and political sphere, doubtlessly contributed to the presence of an angry mob at last night’s council meeting, which saw …

Read more…

The words ‘shared future’ have entered our parochial political lexicon in recent years, through official government policies and political statements from elected representatives across the board. Earlier this week, several Protestant clergymen in north Belfast spoke out about their concerns that the new Executive was failing to deliver on the promise of ‘a shared future,’ though their criticism of the Executive’s emphasis on equality immediately positioned them (fairly or otherwise) on the unionist side of the spectrum regarding the developing …

Read more…

Now that we’re in the New Year and well past the midway point of Slugger’s second Fantasy Premier League, I’d thought it about time I provided an update on the league table for those anoraks out there. Gareth Murrays’ Equipo de Juventudes are leading the way with 1183 points, followed closely by Kevin McCullagh (1167 pts) and Richard Anderson (1164 pts.) Slugger regular, Damian Okado-Gough, is putting in a strong showing in 5th place (1110 pts) with last year’s winner, …

Read more…

Brian Feeney has been thinking about the recent comments by various shades of unionism regarding the timing of the devolution of policing and justice powers, as well as the need- or otherwise- for a Bill of Rights for the north of Ireland. He argues that many unionists remain in a time warp, clinging to an imaginary Britain, and he offers this: “The current excuse for resisting devolution of justice and policing is that Sinn Fein will have a ministry. So …

Read more…