Mick Fealty – Page 13 – Slugger O'Toole

Getting a more unmuddled sense of Brexit through a larger set of perspectives.

Mick Fealty on February 14, 2022, 11:57 am

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mountains, sun, clouds

This is an excellent (and fairly non judgemental) outline of the Brexit process and why and how it got messy quite so quickly from Professor Anand Menon, Director of the UK in a Changing Europe… I think the non judgemental bit is important if we are going to stand any chance of un-muddling things even if it is very hard to achieve… Anand breaks it down to the following… Leaving is hard Division is difficult The constitution is complex Trade …

A functional new start would not be difficult to engineer, but will enough people vote for it?

Mick Fealty on February 9, 2022, 6:02 am

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hands, thumb, promise

When the Belfast Agreement was set up there was supposed to be a review to see how it was working and to make adjustments accordingly. But with the stop start nature of the way the institutions went at the very beginning it slipped off the table. What we got instead was s power play at St Andrews and a settlement in favour of the two biggest parties: think sectarian headcount (a “keep us all in jail” card for the DUP) …

Standing strong or standing alone: Donaldson’s calculated gamble…?

Mick Fealty on February 3, 2022, 6:00 pm

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So I’ve listened to Paul Given’s short resignation speech and the much longer one from the DUP leader, Jeffrey Donaldson. Judging from the emotion in his speech, it would seem unlikely that when we come back Paul will be the FM. That’s not because the party is anticipating coming second to Sinn Féin (though insiders accept that’s certainly possible given the limited polling we have on the subject), but that I doubt anyone other than Jeffrey will be a candidate. …

“and subsequently defending the carefully choreographed show-funeral of former IRA enforcer Bobby Storey”

Mick Fealty on February 2, 2022, 7:05 am

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It’s curious the British PM should get into such hot water over what to more dispassionate eyes might be seen as people at the centre of a national crisis letting off steam. But in Johnson’s case, he’s been cursed by a doggedly disgruntled former insider. The stream of revelations (and its drip, drip, drip effect in the news media) is forcing even his own party to look again at what was only just over two years ago Johnson’s formidable vote getting …

“…we need public leadership to nurture a new relationship of respect and rapprochement”

Mick Fealty on February 1, 2022, 4:13 pm

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geese, goose family, goslings

I think I feel pretty much the same Fionnuala O’Connor does about politics in Northern Ireland (not sure if that is a good sign for either of us ;-)), when she writes… The centre ground flits in and out of sight, and fashion. A mirage that only causes frustration, a destination whose possible existence wins kind words from outsiders? In the narrow, over-ploughed north the centre’s dimensions are dubious, occupied over time by comparatively few hardy souls, present-day inhabitants hard …

Loud and fiery Dail exchanges, but gripping the south’s housing problem requires perseverance, resolve and patience…

Mick Fealty on January 28, 2022, 12:53 pm

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house, abandoned, urban

Well, the sparks certainly flew in the Dail this week. That’s probably to do with the fact Irish government regulations (which have been, with the exception of Christmas 2020, excruciatingly tight throughout the Covid period) are lifting. Like melt water freed from the glacier out came the key issue of the 2020 election: the ongoing disastrously acute rental housing shortage in the south. This Newstalk video (as did much of the southern press) focuses mostly on the passionate bits (and Mary …

Poots [to] halt all checks on the East West Border…?

Mick Fealty on January 27, 2022, 3:01 pm

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As this is breaking news, and I have no time to develop a hot (or even a cold) take, I’m putting this here: FM @paulgivan confirms that @edwinpootsmla will now act to unilaterally halt protocol checks at the ports. Says civil servants would be “absolutely obliged” to follow his instructions. “We believe that the checks continuing would be unlawful.” pic.twitter.com/OzhlJvIKzc — David Young (@DavidYoungPA) January 27, 2022 UPDATE: In David’s report in the Irish News… In September 2020, ahead of …

Sinn Féin’s Operation Delete Tweets goes into overdrive (under cover of a media blackout)…

Mick Fealty on January 27, 2022, 11:22 am

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For those who are sceptical of my argument that there is a Sinn Fein shaped hole in our political media coverage, you’d need to take a magnifying glass to find reference to the unsavoury tweets from three SF MLAs revealed in detail on Nolan yesterday. There’s a story in the Bel Tel about Doug Beattie needing help (and we will continue to look at how those tweets may continue to affect his prospects as a leader of the Ulster Unionists), …

How Twitter “incentivises, rewards and then destroys intimacy”…

Mick Fealty on January 27, 2022, 7:07 am

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children, win, success

To presumptuously answer Kellie’s question about what Doug Beattie might eventually learn from his experience of the last few days, I hope one of the things he learns is to stay off Twitter for a while. And some of his colleagues could do the same. I don’t think many politicians understand what this micro blogging platform is good for. It’s not even that good for making money for its owners. And it has not just made a fool out of …

Maybe Jeffrey has a point? Dual mandates could even benefit those leading the charge against it?

Mick Fealty on January 17, 2022, 4:07 pm

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sherlock holmes, brexit, london

Not hard to see the motivation of those politicians Brian documented lamming into the DUP for (using their influence with London) to change the rules on double jobbing. The DUP’s embarrassment is everyone else’s opportunity, it seems. It is an odd arrangement, the temporary nature of which seems to be doing a favour for the DUP leader… The details of the move are outlined in a letter from Northern Ireland Office junior minister Lord Caine to members of the House …

Echo chamber politics in the US is also now in the Republic too…

Mick Fealty on January 12, 2022, 5:48 pm

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art gallery, paintings, fantasy

In the US Republic determined anti constitutionalism (better here) has never been more popular. But one price of ignoring the rules that bind as Donald Trump did on 6th January last year, is a burgeoning ignorance of what those rules actually are. A large chunk of the US Republican Party flipped in one day from being the traditional (at least in recent times) party of States rights to many of their senators demanding that the federal legislature quash the right of states to …

We do need more Unionist voices, but please no more proxies for the privileged big guns of NI politics, please

Mick Fealty on January 7, 2022, 6:07 pm

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Well, I hope we’ll have a couple of cold takes (from different angles) on the Kate Hoey story next week, but I wanted to share some of her platform piece for the Irish News today (please remember the civility rules that apply here on Slugger). I confess to being puzzled by the outrage from people of my own cultural background, since the average Brian Feeney column is routinely far more dismissive and insulting (with the dry wit of a well …

The tourist stories of the surviving Shankill Bomber are unlikely to be doing his own community much good…

Mick Fealty on January 5, 2022, 3:47 pm

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Before Christmas I was on Nolan to talk about whether it is right for a bomber (who killed 9 civilians) to be making money by taking tourists around Belfast telling them the story of the Troubles? You can get the whole segment here: Victims and survivors of the Shankill bomb hit out after it emerges bomber Sean Kelly is giving Troubles tours in North Belfast@mickfealty | @Phil_Kelly_ 🎧 https://t.co/FKmohB3Tqu pic.twitter.com/4HwaQ923HZ — Stephen Nolan (@StephenNolan) December 22, 2021 Without labouring it, I …

What would NI be like if your mum has just been made sole joint FM/dFM?

Mick Fealty on December 31, 2021, 9:57 am

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light, lamp, warm

Staying the lighter side of things, lets all assume our mum is put in sole charge of Northern Ireland? What five major changes would she make? It’ll work best if you think about what she would say, rather just expressing your own view. Mine was methodical in how she went about things, and was never slow to inform me that I wasn’t, so much. This is supposed to be fun, so only comment if you’re going to play. There’s no …

Seán Ó Riada tapped into a deep well of local culture and found a rich pool of universal experience

Mick Fealty on December 30, 2021, 8:30 am

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cherries, fruit, sour cherries

Keeping to the chilled theme for the holidays, I promised a second musical treat. It’s Doireann Ní Ghlacáin’s documentary on her grandfather, C20 Irish composer Seán Ó Riada. He died in 1971 leaving behind haunting pieces like the score to Mise Éire: If there’s a comparison to be made between Ó Riada and Barenboim it’s not in the music so much as their commitment. Seán’s Ceoltóirí Chualann was a presage to The Chieftains both of whom transformed Irish music (and language). And …

“There are no checkpoints in the orchestra, there are no passport controls….”

Mick Fealty on December 28, 2021, 9:02 am

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violin, music, fiddle

Just to keep things light this week, this is the first of two musical features I want to highlight. They’re both about an hour and fifteen minutes long and both take as their subject a figure from music who’s been extraordinary. Today it is Daniel Barenboim. The programme went out on BBC Four but n the UK it is still available on BBC iPlayer. It’s cribbed from previous materials edited to give full of human insight into Barenboim’s approach to …

Sound Walk up the Glen River to the top of Slieve Donard

Mick Fealty on December 27, 2021, 9:01 am

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I’ve been up Slieve Donard maybe three or four times in my life, the most recent about three or four years ago. As a kid I remember being awed by its height as it seemingly rose up from sea level to dominate the town of Newcastle. Each time there’s a special feeling that derives from being at the top of your seeable world, everything else you know below you. From its height you glimpse NI’s tiny snatch of wilderness And …

If Ireland as an island is two places in one surely we can afford to relax and let natural ‘unities’ emerge?

Mick Fealty on December 22, 2021, 1:10 pm

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few, together, swamp scratch thistle

For me growing up, the border felt like a fault-line in our family’s life. I grew up in North Down but the place I most related to was the tiny Atlantic side farm on the north coast of Donegal which had been my dad’s family’s home for over 100 years before. In the early 60s you only slowly filled in the clues that this place was somehow different to our northern home (some considerable distance to the south of the …

Paddy Kielty: an honest, faithful story teller, who should be listened to…

Mick Fealty on December 16, 2021, 2:35 pm

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lightbulb, idea, creativity

It’s been a week in politics where one politician tried (unsuccessfully) to be a comedian and a comedian very much succeeded in sign posting the way towards a better future. But I’m going to let Richard Buckley, editor of Business Eye magazine, do the formal introductions via his monthly newsletter… Paddy Kielty has long been one of our more erudite, balanced and intelligent exports. He’s a whole lot more than the comedian most of us know him as. In his …

“He’d probably be the one roaring “Shots! Shots! Shots!” and dropping Jägerbombs into their pints…”

Mick Fealty on December 15, 2021, 2:44 pm

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Troubles legacies are never far from the news. Cases of victims from 50 years ago still throng the courts system and many others suffer in silence with barely any attention from the media. On Sunday this week, Mairia Cahill wrote about those (admittedly few) cases in which the bodies of the victims have been “disappeared” and have never been found. In the same week, the WAVE Trauma centre posted the names of four on Facebook, with a song specially written …