David McCann

David McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs

Rebellion and its availability in Northern Ireland

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GEO-BLOCK: A pet peeve of mine has long been that pesky geo-block on the RTE player that prevents me from watching certain programmes that I have missed. Last night, I noticed a few people on Twitter commenting about the fact that the 1916 drama, Rebellion was not available in Northern Ireland. In that spirit I decided to get in touch with RTE to understand what exactly was going on and why programmes like this were blocked for Northern viewers, despite RTE being available in Northern Ireland.

Pat McCarthy on accepting an MBE ‘It doesn’t make me any less Irish’

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Former Lord Mayor and SDLP councillor, Pat McCarthy has gain a bit of attention recently by accepting an honour given to him in the New Years list. The segment made the Nolan show this morning and  the debate between McCarthy and Jude Collins was interesting.   David McCannDavid McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs

New Years Addresses by the Party Leaders

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New Years Addresses are now becoming a thing that most parties here send out on New Years Eve. Here are some of the messages that our party leaders have been sending out today. (Updated with Arlene Foster address). In her first address as DUP leader, Arlene Foster says; The turning of another year is a time of reflection and hope. We reflect on what has passed.  The decisions we made. The goals we attained and those we didn’t. We also …

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The Political Year Gone By: What I got right & wrong in 2015

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PREDICTIONS: Okay it is the end of the year and one of us typically produces a piece looking over the past year and the notable political moments that defined our year. However, I wanted to change tack and look back over some of my predictions to see what I got right, but just as important, what I got wrong.

Mallon says Sinn Fein played Hume like “3lb trout”

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Seamus Mallon has been speaking to Talkback (interview to be played later today on Radio Ulster) where he reflects on his career and comments on his views about his then party leader, John Hume. Speaking to William Crawley, the BBC reports; John Hume was “no fool” but that Sinn Féin leaders played him “like a 3lb trout”. Mr Hume’s presence gave republicans a status almost validating what they did in the previous 30 years, he said. Mr Mallon reiterated previous …

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Merry Christmas to all of our readers.

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Parliament Buildings, Christmas tree with Paisley's portrait glaring down over the souls in the Great Hall

Well here we go again, it’s Christmas time. For Slugger, it has been a brilliant year, more than 4.3million page views on the website so far in 2015 and we hosted two pub quiz’s with the ever brilliant Amnesty International’s Paddy Corrigan, a head to head debate between Naomi Long and Gavin Robinson (trended at No.4 in the UK on the night) with the help of Chambre Public Affairs and our year end review with MCE Public Relations. Also want to give …

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Almost 30% of MLAs not seeking re-election

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A really interesting article by Sam McBride in the News Letter today highlight the number of MLAs standing down at the next election. In his piece McBride points out; Almost 30 per cent of MLAs elected in the last Assembly election are not even standing for election next year – and the turnover in Assembly politicians could end up being as high as 40 per cent. But goes on to say; On top of that, several MLAs who stand for …

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Lord Kilclooney: “I am impressed by the way Martin McGuinness has developed in recent years”

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Interesting interview from Liam Clarke with former UUP Deputy Leader, Lord Kilclooney about his relationships with former UUP leaders, his views on Same Sex Marriage and how he views the current Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness. Speaking about him he said;  The people who tried to kill me were the Official IRA, not the Provos, but they are all IRA to me. However, I am impressed by the way Martin McGuinness has developed in recent years. His support for the …

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Spanish Electorate give a collective thumbs down to their two major parties.

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SPAIN VOTES: Spain went to the polls yesterday in their tightest ever general election. The incumbent Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy was seeking a second term after his Partido Popular party swept to power in 2011. However, after a four years of high unemployment and continuing cuts more anti establishment parties such as Podemos, have began to gain traction in Spanish society, making the outcome of yesterdays election very messy indeed.

Foster says she wants a positive future for Northern Ireland & refuses to live in the past.

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SLUGGER INTERVIEW: Following her election as DUP leader, I sat down with Arlene Foster to talk with her about how she felt about becoming the party leader, how she views her relationships with Sinn Fein and the UUP and how she views herself becoming the first woman to lead the party. I began by asking Arlene how she felt about becoming the DUP leader so unexpectedly, when until just 10 days ago most of us thought it would be Nigel Dodds.

Foster: “I accept your nomination and endorsement to lead this party. Tomorrow the next phase of our journey begins.”

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NEW LEADER: Arlene Foster was officially elected as DUP party leader by the 46 member parliamentary party and ratified by the roughly 130 member party executive. The meeting lasted just over two hours.
Introduced by Lord Morrow, she gave a solid performance and set out her themes of strengthening the union, broadening the DUP base and making Northern Ireland a more comfortable society.

Ford: People give more consideration to their family’s Christmas budget than the Executive gave to Northern Ireland’s budget

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OPPOSITION FROM WITH IN: As Arlene Foster prepares to leave the Department of Finance, Alliance had a little parting gift for her on the day she becomes DUP. Following a meeting of the Executive, party leader, David Ford announced that both Stephen Farry and himself, voted against the budget before the Executive.

Kyle Paisley wouldn’t know who to vote for in Northern Ireland

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Interesting spot from the Nolan Show today who picked up an interview that the former DUP leader’s son, Kyle Paisley saying he wouldn’t know who to vote for if he lived in Northern Ireland. It should be said that did praise Arlene Foster as somebody with ability, but still the segment with Jon Tonge is worth a listen.   David McCannDavid McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs

Ulster University release new report on public attitudes to Peace Walls.

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PEACE WALLS: New research commissioned by the Department of Justice and carried out by Ulster University has revealed some interesting findings about how the public view peace walls. This survey follows on from similar research carried out by the Institute for Research in Social Sciences back in 2012.

North Belfast Christmas Peace Walk

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MARCH FOR PEACE: Two days ago more than 400 students from across the divide in North Belfast marched to promote peace as we move into 2016. The students were all from local secondary schools and included all sectors.

Fossil Free QUB stage a sit in to raise the issue of Fossil Fuel divestment

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SIT INS: This caught my eye last night, but over the past few weeks a group called Fossil Free QUB have staged a number of protests about the issue of the university investing in Fossil Fuels. However, last night the group have occupied the Administration Building on the campus and have vowed now to leave until the university acts on this issue.

Runners and Riders to be the next Finance Minister

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HAND ON THE TILLER: We have all been obsessed over the last few days with who will take the First Minister post. Yet, Arlene Foster’s promotion leaves an important vacancy that will have to be filled and lets not forget we have a budget to be presented at the end of January.

Simon Hamilton takes aim at smoking in cars with children

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BANNING SMOKING IN CARS: Simon Hamilton has proposed an amendment to the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) bill which will aim to ban smoking in cars with children. This proposal has been in effective since 1st October in England. I am not totally sure what the penalties will be if you’re caught, but some analysis from when it came in said

DUP Leadership Contest: Arlene’s Ascendancy

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ARLENE’S ASCENDANCY: As we approach the end of the Robinson era, the runner (s) and riders are now coming to the fore. But before we talk about the candidate, just who can vote in the DUP leadership contest?