Brian O’Neill – Page 82 – Slugger O'Toole

SDLP and UUP wiped out as Sinn Fein and DUP take 17 seats…

Brian O'Neill on June 9, 2017, 7:53 am

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It was a bad night for the moderate parties as the SDLP have lost all three of its Westminster seats and the UUP lost all two of theirs. The DUP and Sinn Fein grabbed 17 out of 18 seats with Independent Lady Sylvia Hermon being re-elected in North Down. This will be a major blow for the new UUP leader Robin Swann as for the first time they lose all representation at Westminster. The SDLP will feel particularly aggrieved losing …

Theresa May’s gamble spectacularly backfires as she ends up with a hung Parliament and Boris waiting in the wings…

Brian O'Neill on June 9, 2017, 7:33 am

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Wow. Politics continues to surprise us. What many thought would be a walkover for the Conservatives has ended up costing them their majority and putting May’s leadership on the line. What will happen next? Will May resign? Will Boris be the new leader of the Conservative Party? Will Jeremy Corbyn become Prime Minister? Will there be a new election in the autumn? There is a lot of questions and not much answers. There will be much analysis over the next …

Join us on the 15th of June for Slugger’s Big 15th Birthday Bash!

Brian O'Neill on June 2, 2017, 5:28 pm

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15 years eh? Where does the time go? 35,934 Posts and 906,699 Comments later Slugger is still going strong. Join us in the Duke of York Bar to celebrate our Birthday. There will be food! There will be booze! There will be cake! There will be Tim McGarry! There will be a tired and emotional Mick Fealty! Tickets are free but to give us an idea of numbers please so register if you would like to go: Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of …

To celebrate the launch of our new Slugger TV show, we’re giving you the chance to win free tickets to our live election event this Thursday

Brian O'Neill on May 30, 2017, 1:03 pm

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It is a busy week at Slugger. Tonight the first episode of our new Slugger TV Show goes out on NVTV. You can watch it on Freeview Channel 7 or Virgin Media Channel 159, we will also be putting the video online tomorrow. It will be on tonight at 22:45, and will be repeated on Thursday at 19:45, Saturday at 19:15 and Sunday at 22:45. Also this Thursday we have our live pre-election event in the Dark Horse. Join Alex Kane, Chris …

‘The Germans are bad, very bad’ – President Trump…

Brian O'Neill on May 26, 2017, 1:31 pm

| Readers 2332

As part of his continuing programme of How to lose friends and alienate people, German magazine Der Spiegel quoted Trump at the G7 meeting as saying: “The Germans are bad, very bad. Look at the millions of cars they’re selling in the U.S. We will stop that.” A particular target seems to be BMW, from CNN: Trump has taken aim at German carmakers before. In an interview in January, he said Germany’s BMW (BMWYY) should reconsider building a plant in …

Happiness is not to be found in good public policy, but rather in the eternal love of Jesus…

Brian O'Neill on May 25, 2017, 1:37 pm

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Over in the Minnesota House of Representatives, Republican Abigail Whelan had an imaginative response to a question. As reported by Think Progressive. Pressed about her lack of support for an amendment that would close loopholes for offshore tax havens, a Minnesota Republican dodged the question in favor of talking about her religious beliefs. Minnesota Rep. Abigail Whelan, a second-term House legislator from suburban Ramsey, was responding to a question from Democratic Rep. Paul Thissen early Wednesday morning about whether she thinks “benefiting people …

Join us for Slugger’s Big Election Punt event on Thurs the 1st of June…

Brian O'Neill on May 10, 2017, 4:19 pm

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What an exciting year for politics. As we face yet another election join us to discuss the runners and riders in the race for seats. Who are the favourites? Who will be neck and neck? Who will be trailing the pack? Brexit, the impending collapse of the Labour Party and decades of Tory rule. Not to mention President Trump. Join our expert panel to discuss all these issues and more: Alex Kane – Political Commentator Chris Donnelly – Slugger Contributor & Political Commentator Patricia MacBride …

Another curious Brexit side effect. Companies may get grants to move jobs out of the UK…

Brian O'Neill on April 27, 2017, 3:40 pm

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Nestlé has announced that they are to axe 300 UK jobs and move Blue Riband biscuit production to Poland. More than likely this is about cost saving and has nothing to do with Brexit but it does introduce some interesting questions. Under EU rules member countries are not allowed to give subsidies that encourage companies to move jobs from one member state to another. So in the Nestlé example, Poland could not give grants to Nestlé. You can only grant …

It seems the Irish Catholic Church can now add slavery to its list of scandals…

Brian O'Neill on April 20, 2017, 3:25 pm

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Just when you think the reputation of the Irish Catholic Church can’t get any lower the Irish Independent reports on what amounts to slavery: A notorious industrial school in Limerick was paid to send boys under the age of 16 to work for traders, merchants and big farmers, according to hundreds of documents that have remained hidden for decades. Experts say the find demonstrates local communities were involved in the industrialisation and exploitation of marginalised children. There is no record …

She played tin whistle in an IRA band but fell in love with an Orangeman…

Brian O'Neill on April 14, 2017, 10:47 am

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The LAD chaps have surpassed themselves with this little ditty. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUurmhxkWBo&feature=youtu.be For those of you not up on your pop culture it is a spoof of Ed Sheeran’s Galway Girl song: Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When …

Brexit bites as EU workers start to say screw you UK we are outa here…

Brian O'Neill on April 11, 2017, 1:05 pm

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time to move on

If there is one advantage to having kids it is that it does increase your circle of friends. Humans need social contact, especially when going through the misery joy of having your first child. We compare notes with other parents, we sympathise when they tell you their baby is not sleeping even though inside we are delighted that at least our kid is not as bad as there’s. We force a smile when another parent tells us how their little …

So it turns out the UK’s economic record was pretty average even before Brexit…

Brian O'Neill on April 9, 2017, 12:21 pm

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Interesting report by the Centre for European Reform, BREXIT BRITAIN: THE POOR MAN OF WESTERN EUROPE? Contrary to what many would have you believe the UK economy is not exactly the dynamic powerhouse they make it out to be. Some details from the report: The UK has economic strengths, such as a flexible labour market, which ensures that unemployment is low even in many of its economically struggling regions. But contrary to much of the received wisdom, Britain has not been one …

Brexit to force Tayto Northern Ireland to stop selling their popular Cheese & Onion Crisps?

Brian O'Neill on April 1, 2017, 7:00 am

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Another casualty of Brexit is likely to be Tayto Cheese & Onion. The crisp is a popular delicacy locally and tops the list of things ex-pats miss about Northern Ireland (soda bread and potato bread take the number 2 and 3 positions). Tayto (Northern Ireland) was formed in 1956 by the Hutchinson family and licensed the name and recipes of Tayto Crisps in the Republic of Ireland. As part of the agreement only Tayto Northern Ireland could sell in the …

Will Spain demand Gibraltar back as part of a Brexit deal?

Brian O'Neill on March 31, 2017, 3:35 pm

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As I understand it all 27 EU member countries have to agree to any trade deal with the UK. As you can imagine many see this as an opportunity to screw a deal out of the UK. One long-running dispute is Spain wanting their territory of Gibraltar back. The Guardian reports: The EU has put the future of Gibraltar at stake in the coming Brexit negotiations, effectively backing Spain in its centuries-old dispute with the UK over the British overseas territory. After lobbying …

Department for the Economy release list of RHI beneficiaries…

Brian O'Neill on March 16, 2017, 8:05 pm

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After months of legal wrangling, the Department for the Economy has finally released the names of all RHI beneficiaries who are in receipt of payments over £5000. The released the data as a PDF but I converted it to a spreadsheet so you can filter it by who got the most. Which let’s face it is what we all want to know. Download an excel version | View a google sheet version Here are the top beneficiaries As expected there is a lot …

Former Bishop of Galway Eamon Casey dies…

Brian O'Neill on March 14, 2017, 4:47 pm

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Given all the scandals we have had in the Catholic Church since then, Bishop Eamon Casey fathering a child now seems a relatively minor indiscretion. But back then in 1992 it rocked the Irish Catholic Church and the State itself to the core. In fact you could argue that it was the turning point for the Catholic church – it was all downhill from there. Not long after in 1995 Fr Ted hits our screens and it was game over …

How to explain Ireland’s Brexit dilemma to your mates…

Brian O'Neill on March 14, 2017, 2:31 pm

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Brexit for Ireland as like when you’re out with all your mates on the sesh. Having a great time, Germany’s buying shots for everyone which is grand cause we only brought enough out for three drinks. Then England and Wales start getting in a huff cause Sweden and Germany invited Syria and Yemen along. England and Wales are going on that it’s not about who was brought along, they just thought it was gonna be the usual group who was out and they didn’t want to be getting into rounds with people who’ve only come along halfway through.

Get your free tickets for our ‘7 Ways to Make Northern Ireland Great Again!’ live event…

Brian O'Neill on March 13, 2017, 4:56 pm

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Next Thursday the 23rd of March we are running a live event ‘7 Ways to Make Northern Ireland Great Again!’. We are running it in association with Stratagem as part of the Imagine Festival. We are hosting the event in the Dark Horse Bar and the event kicks off at 7:30pm. Tickets are free and you can book them here… Opinion differs on whether Northern Ireland was ever great. But we’d like you to join the Slugger O’Toole team and our …

Join us for Slugger’s Big Election Punt event on Wed the 1st of March…

Brian O'Neill on February 7, 2017, 6:47 pm

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Join us on the eve of the Assembly Elections as we discuss the runners and riders in the race for Stormont. Who are the favourites? Who will be neck and neck? Who will be trailing the pack? We have put together an expert panel to give us their predictions on the big race to the hill. Alex Kane – Political Commentator Chris Donnelly – Slugger Contributor & Political Commentator Amanda Ferguson – Journalist & Commentator Brendan Mulgrew – Commentator & Founder of MW Advocate …

Free screening of ‘I am Belfast’ film this Thursday…

Brian O'Neill on February 7, 2017, 3:15 pm

| Readers 911

If you have not seen it yet, ‘I am Belfast’ is a visually wonderful and unique film. Mark Cousins’ tribute to his home city is both a treat for the eyes and thought-provoking. The basic concept is to imagine Belfast as a 10,000 year old woman. We follow her as she travels through Belfast and reflects on the history of the locations she visits. What I liked about the film was that it made you see Belfast in a whole different light. Locations …