Macha 
How persuadable people think seems to form a bit of a blind spot for those to whom it should matter most – people who are apparently invested in trying to keep NI in the UK and those who are set on achieving reunification. Both sides seem to prefer repetitive rhetoric laden arguments (with those who will never be convinced) and comfortable conversations with those of a similar persuasion. Many of us accept our unionism or nationalism as a kind of …
Each July my father made a choice not to erect a Union Jack outside our home, which was in a predominantly unionist area. This was out of respect to our neighbours, who were Catholic. However, this piece is not really about the flying of emblems from private property. Along many streets in various parts of Northern Ireland, flags of various sorts fly high and proud on public lampposts and there they can remain until the wind reduces them to tatters. …
I was grumbling to a friend a while ago about the commercialisation of Halloween and was picking on the ubiquitous pumpkin, a rather lurid American import in my opinion. She reminded me that the origins of Halloween are Irish and then a few days ago she sent me a photo of the turnip she’d carved “in honour of” her “Irish roots”. The pagan celebration from which Halloween originates is Samhain (pronounced Saw-when or Sow-whin), a Celtic festival marking the …
Are they fact or are they fiction? It doesn’t really matter, because these stories are what we believe and we are mostly hard wired to see them as the truth. Slugger is a platform for us to share our deep seated beliefs on a daily basis. When we read opposing viewpoints it is natural for us to feel pretty bewildered and even angry. Yet, in the context of NI we view history and what happened here through different prisms. This …