Chris Donnelly On The Nolan Show this morning, Alex Kane and myself had a brief discussion about his recent article regarding Irish Unity. On Slugger last week, Barton and David chatted at length on the topic of Irish Unity, so I’ve decided to put a few thoughts out there on the subject for others to pick over. ________________ A united Ireland has never been as close as it is today. Before anyone gets worked up, it’s not particularly close. In fact, it’s …
The weekend provided another example of how far ahead nationalists remain of political unionism in the tolerance stakes and just why it remains all too easy to drive the proverbial horse and cart through unionist politicians’ pronouncements on tolerance and all things shared, space and future. The past week was the occasion for two commemorative events of historical conflicts in Irish history: the Siege of Derry (1688) and the Battle of Antrim (1798). On Saturday, 35,000 loyalists descended upon the …
I am a long-time admirer of the British. The British codified many of the sports we all enjoy (and I love sports). Nearly everyone in Ireland supports one British-based football team or other, and a culture of fair play has always defined a British attitude to sports. The British provide us with the richest of contributions to all aspects of the Arts. Many of our most cherished stars of television, film and theatre are British and the offerings of the …
As all strands of political unionism and loyalist paramilitarism assembled in an east Belfast Orange Hall to sign a new PUL covenant yesterday, it is worth reminding ourselves of the pertinent facts. The political leadership of unionism, from the DUP First Minister, Peter Robinson, to the UDA and UVF-aligned political representatives and the anti-Agreement TUV leader, Jim Allister, have united as one to endorse a programme of ‘graduated’ action intended on raising communal tensions and putting the shared political institutions …
If “the right to freedom from sectarian harassment” promised in the Good Friday Agreement is to mean anything, then the newly appointed PSNI Chief Constable, George Hamilton, will shortly be directing his officers to remove the loyalist flag erected inside the grounds of Our Lady and St John the Evangelist Church in Dervock. The Irish News reported earlier in the week that loyalists had erected a flag from the same lamp post last weekend when also painting the church gate …
Can you hear it? We’ve bridged the months to July, the rather expensive bonfires (but only for ratepayers!) are under construction and the once faint but now increasingly detectable sound of the Big Drum beating can be heard far and wide. In Dervock, they hear it, and so did the parishioners of the Church of Our Lady and John the Evangelist where local loyalists erected a flag inside the grounds of the church before painting the gates and kerbstones at …
The Ballymena Times is reporting that loyalist leaders and Unionist political representatives have met to agree a code of conduct for bonfires in the greater Ballymena area. One Protestant clergyman in the Ballymena area, John F.A. Bond, the Dean of Connor and Rector of St Patrick’s Church of Ireland Broughshane,has written to the Grand Lodge of Ireland asking them to “issue a statement to ban all tyres and furniture that are known to emit toxic fumes at bonfires on the …
The five World Cups since 1998 (including 2014) have involved 32 international teams who qualified through their respective confederations. Examining the performances of the representatives of the differing international continent-based confederations allows us to look at how competitive the differing regions have been. Key Statistics: Escaping the Group Stage Europe (UEFA) has seen only 6 of its 13 sides qualify for the 2nd Round in each of the last two World Cups (2010 and 2014.) Before that, 10 sides made …
As a teacher, I’ve always had an interest in tracking the football loyalties of the boys I teach. (Before I’m accused of being sexist, I’ll state that I work in an all-boys school in which the most knowledgeable and dedicated football fan by some distance is a Cliftonville & Arsenal-loving female teacher.) I can recall a time when a smattering of Blackburn and Leeds United fans were counted amongst the pupils assembled before me, but they have been replaced by …
In an earlier article, I looked at the religious background of our students who annually fail to cross the line and secure the basic grade standard of 5 ‘good’ GCSEs (A-C), an issue which has unfortunately defined the discussion on educational underachievement in our local context. Below, I will look at the very real distinction that exists between underachievement and low attainment in a school setting (which is oft-confused) whilst also sharing my personal experiences of working in a school …
As of this weekend, Sinn Fein can proclaim themselves to be the most popular political party in Ireland. Discuss. All-Ireland European Election Results May 2014 Sinn Fein 483,113 – (21.2%) Fianna Fail 369,545 – (16.2%) Fine Gael 369,120 – (16.2%) Independents 328,766 – (14.4%) DUP 131,163 – (5.7%) Green Party 92,056 – (4.0%) Labour 88,229 – (3.9%) Ulster Unionists 83,438 (3.7%) SDLP 81,594 (3.6%) TUV 75,806 (3.3%) Alliance Party NI 44,432 (1.9%) Socialist Party 29,953 (1.3%) UKIP 24,584 (1.1%) DDI …
The team behind the always entertaining Gift Grub at the Ian Dempsey’s Breakfast Show have produced a sketch which captures much of the election story playing out over the weekend….. Chris Donnelly
The 2014 Local Government election belongs in the past tense, with all of the 462 seats now occupied by councillors elected to the new eleven ‘super’ council framework. At this early stage, ten observations stand out from our latest electoral outing: 2014 LOCAL COUNCIL RESULTS Party 2014 Seats Equivalent seat tally in 2014 (/462) +/- on Equivalent tally 2011 Seats (/582) SDLP 66 69 -3 87 SF 105 109 -4 138 UUP 88 79 +9 99 DUP 130 139 -9 …
With the European ballots on ice until Monday, we have turnout and local election results to pore over in the next 48 hours to provide some direction on speculation regarding the destination of the third European seat (let’s just agree that Sinn Fein’s Martina Anderson and the DUP’s Diane Dodds are in the clear at this stage.) I think Alex Attwood has run a decent campaign, but I don’t believe the perfect storm conditions existed in this electoral outing to …
If ever an episode captured the reason why faith remains weak in the PSNI’s ability or desire to perform its duties on a consistent, non-partisan basis, then it is this. The PSNI arrested and charged, on the count of disorderly behaviour, a man on March 23 for shouting ‘Tiocfaidh ar la’ in the direction of PSNI officers. The judge who found the defendant guilty stated that his words met the criminal test of annoying members of the public. Let’s dwell …
The elections to our new local government councils are only a few days away, but there are a number of observations that can already be made about the significance and likely implications for our political parties from the changing local government model which has seen our 26 councils amalgamate into 11 larger councils. Firstly, the new council framework means this is akin to a baseline election, with parties knowing they are only really able to begin to get a feel …
One of the interesting aspects of the local government elections of May 2014 will be the performance of the UVF-linked Progressive Unionist Party. The fringe loyalist party was once regarded as a potential electoral and political rival for the two main unionist parties, but whatever capacity it had for punching above its miniscule weight was lost before the passing of David Ervine. Since then, it has largely been reduced to fulfilling the role of sabre rattler for the UVF, shedding …
15 months ago, I made a decision to start taking my (then) 5-year old son to football matches. I’d always thought it would be a fantastic hobby to develop with my boy but was somewhat reluctant to start him so young- partly as I thought he’d not have a clue about what was happening on the pitch, and partly due to the history of sectarianism associated with the local football scene. My own experiences of being a pretty active Cliftonville …
The illegal loyalist protest camp at Twaddell (hitherto rebranded ‘A Camp Called Malice‘) has been the site for regular parades, rallies and political speeches from the full range of loyalist and unionist representatives since last summer. Last Saturday, it was the turn of the Ulster Unionist Party’s Belfast councillor, Chris McGimpsey. His speech is worth watching and listening to in its entirety, for it effectively encapsulates all that is wrong with the political leadership of mainstream unionism- never mind the …
Since the publication of the third Peace Monitoring Report by Paul Nolan earlier this month, the issue of the educational performance of working class protestant boys has been centre stage. Yet the two inconvenient but still overarching statistics that should define the parameters of this discussion have largely been ignored: Firstly, that the actual attainment gap between Catholics and Protestants is quite small, with 63% of Catholic pupils and 60% of Protestant pupils securing 5 ‘good’ GCSEs (more on that …
