David McCann It is 15 months away, but lockdown boredom and messing around with numbers, he is the lay of the land going into the next Assembly Election. Alliance The happiest people looking at this are the Alliance Party, gains to be seen across Northern Ireland and on numbers, none of their 8 seats are under threat. Around 10 target seats are there for them, with varying degrees of effort required. The low hanging fruit are places like North Belfast and South …
The UUP Leader, Steve Aiken sat down with Brendan Hughes from Belfast Live recently to discuss a range of political issues. If you are interested in the full exchange, you can watch it here. One thing that caught my eye was this part of the interview where Aiken signals a shift away from the approach of his predecessor, Mike Nesbitt, whom readers will remember said he would give his second preference to the SDLP. However, the current leader, Steve Aiken …
DUP MLA, Edwin Poots has announced he is standing down tonight as Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to facilitate medical treatment. He will be replaced by former Junior Minister, Gordon Lyons. Who will in turn be replaced by Gary Middleton from Foyle. The First Minister, Arlene Foster said; “We give Edwin our best wishes and assure him and his family of our prayers. This is a temporary change, and we look forward to having Edwin back at work, …
A Lucid Talk poll has surveyed residents of Northern Ireland’s attitudes towards travel restrictions. As some of you have become aware there has been a topic of growing debate as the Northern Ireland Executive and the Irish government disagree over the level of cooperation between the two administrations. For those of you needing a catch up, the Irish government have since the new year started messaging their support for an all island approach for travel restrictions but the politics in …
The East Belfast DUP MP, Gavin Robinson spoke to the Irish News Political Correspondent, John Manley about Unionism and the issue of a border poll. For context, readers will remember the former First Minister, Peter Robinson argued that Unionists should prepare for the possibility of a poll at some point in the future. Speaking to Manley he said; Asked by The Irish News about his namesake’s remarks, Gavin Robinson said the former DUP leader was correct to urge unionism to …
A few weeks ago I did this segment with William Crawley on Talkback but a few of you have been in touch with me to ask for a written copy.Here you go. The Killing Season-The Killing Season is a 2015 Australian television three-part documentary series which analyses the events of the Rudd–Gillard Government of 2007–2013, a turbulent period of Australian political history. You don’t need to have a great knowledge of Australian politics to watch this. Labour-The Wilderness Years which …
Last night the Executive announced a two week circuit breaker lockdown. You can read more about the Executive’s measures here along with comments from the relevant ministers. David McCannDavid McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs
From BBC’s Jayne McCormack; In an interview with BBC News NI, Mrs Long said the device “shows the farce that is these structures”. “I have been reconsidering my position – it would be hard to imagine anyone around the executive table with an ounce of sanity or scruples wouldn’t have reconsidered their position, in light of the debacle that took place this week,” she said. “On balance, I still believe it is important that those of us who want to …
It’s nearly election night. We are getting ready to see who will win between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. But, what should we be looking out for? When do the polls close? Being the public service that we are on Slugger, I have gone through all 50 states and converted the poll closings into British-Irish time. I have highlighted in yellow the key states and when their polls will be closing. It’s important at this juncture to point out to …
The Sinn Fein President, Mary-Lou McDonald has accepted the resignations of party officials, the most senior being former Foyle MP and Senator, Elisha McCallion. This is the statement below; “Over the course of Monday and Tuesday of this week, the Sinn Féin leadership established that three party offices incorrectly received lodgements of £10,000 under the Small Business Grant scheme established by the Department of Economy in March 2020. “The payments were not applied for and were automatically received as part …
Yesterday I sat down with Fianna Fail TD, Jim O’Callaghan to discuss the new Shared Island Unit announced by the Irish government, Irish Unity, the relationship with the SDLP and the performance of the government during the pandemic. Analysis O’Callaghan takes a more forward line on the issues of unification and a border poll than many other TDs. In the interview he was up front in his view that not just the conversation around a border poll is happening but …
The News Letter has a new columnist, former First Minister, Peter Robinson. In his first column for the paper he writes about a border poll and why unionism should be ready for one. He writes; Advocating for the Union should be the routine duty of those who cherish our link with Great Britain, but beyond the routine lies a much greater task in preparing for the predictable showdown. I know there are border poll deniers who think such a referendum …
The Department of Health have released some of the evidence bank showing how they have made some of the decisions around lockdowns. You can read it here and it’s important to note that other aspects of it have not been released. There was a good debate about this on todays first hour of Talkback which is worth listening to. Some of the evidence bases that caught my eye were; Second Lockdown I cite these as the first one has gotten …
This was a fun programme I recorded last week with Democratic Strategist, Ian Russell. If you want to have a bit of fun and predict yourself, you can do so here. David McCannDavid McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs
Events are moving pretty fast this week as we try to work out how to deal with surging case numbers and rising hospital admissions. Another grim set of statistics are the rising numbers of unemployed people, particularly under the age of 35, as we deal with the recession brought on by the pandemic. Times are uncertain and in this fourth episode of Slugger TV to tie in with The Reset series, we turn our focus to the economics of the …
How can Belfast City Centre adapt to these changed times and thrive? Colin Neill (chief executive of Hospitality Ulster), Glyn Roberts (chief executive of Retail NI) and Suzanne Wylie (chief executive of Belfast City Council) joined David McCann in the latest episode of Slugger TV.
Our latest episode of Slugger TV looks at how the local tourism industry can be reset. Brona Moffett (National Museums NI) and Michael Stewart (hospitality consultant) joined David McCann to discuss the sector which is worth 4.9% of Northern Ireland’s GDP, sustains over 40,000 jobs, and has taken a real battering since March.
The First and Deputy First Minister have made a televised address following Boris Johnson. There was nothing new announced from yesterday, it was a restatement of the message they have been giving for the past 24 hours. The new thing was how the form of communication. Looking back through the records (Slugger readers will correct me if I am wrong) this is the first time in nearly 52 years that this has happened. A leader(s) of a devolved administration …
The Northern Ireland Assembly Commission has published a new determination which amends the determination taken in 2016. This is what governs how the staff costs for MLAs and other associated costs with running an office. The headline from the latest determination is that salaries of staff members working for MLAs are set to rise. This change brings staff employed by MLAs into line with other staff members in the Assembly. Grade one staff will see their starting salary rise from …
A spokesman for @PhilHoganEU has confirmed Ireland’s EU commissioner is resigning… — Tony Connelly (@tconnellyRTE) August 26, 2020 David McCannDavid McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs
