Nicholas Whyte

Brussels (and Durban)

Nicholas Whyte on December 9, 2011, 6:52 am

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The EU summit is mostly over. A seven-page statement by the leaders of the countries using the euro outlines the solution: there will be a new treaty involving all the EU member states except the UK and Hungary, with the Poles Swedes (thanks for correction) and Czechs going away to think about it. (Edited to add: the Hungarians are with the Swedes and Czechs, apparently.) Participating states will enshrine a commitment to balance their budgets at “constitutional or equivalent” level. …

Thoughts from Brussels on the euro crisis

Nicholas Whyte on December 4, 2011, 3:29 pm

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I have been prodded – both by being on a radio panel discussion today and by the awesome Catie – to assemble some thoughts on the euro crisis and what it means for both parts of Ireland. There is a certain air of pessimism at present, driven largely by recent pieces in the Financial Times and the Economist predicting that the end is nigh and that the single currency is on the verge of breaking up. I must say that …

The SDLP leadership candidates, ranked on internet use and internal organisation

Nicholas Whyte on November 3, 2011, 11:44 am

| Readers 71

The SDLP elects its fifth leader this coming weekend, with four male candidates in the running (the deputy leadership has been filled, without contest, by a woman). Since 1998, when the party topped the first preference tallies for the first Assembly election, the SDLP has lost votes and seats at almost every election cycle (the one exception being a sliver of a gain at the last European election) and now runs consistently 10% behind Sinn Féin, whereas twenty years ago …