Shane Greer

Why Unionism Must Embrace Its Irishness in America…

Shane Greer on March 11, 2021, 11:01 am

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As I write this from my home in Washington, DC I’m 11 days into the Irish-American Heritage Month proclaimed by President Biden in this Centennial year for Northern Ireland: “Since before the founding of our Nation, Irish immigrants have arrived on our shores with an unyielding spirit of determination that has helped define America’s soul and shape our success across generations.” President Biden went on: “The fabric of modern America is woven through with the green of the Emerald Isle. …

#TheReset: Incredible opportunity to bring well-heeled consumers into the Northern Ireland economy

Shane Greer on September 25, 2020, 7:02 am

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As more companies move to downsize their office space and shift workers permanently to work-from-home status, an opportunity exists for Northern Ireland to take the lead in the post-COVID economy. In mid-April this year, my business partner and I took the decision to close our offices in Washington DC. Permanently. Only a handful of weeks after issuing a mandatory work-from-home order for all staff it became clear that remote work had not undermined productivity at all. If anything, productivity was …

The DUP must decide whether to lead… or follow Sinn Féin

Shane Greer on July 9, 2020, 9:09 am

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There has been little to celebrate these past few months. But as someone born and raised in Northern Ireland, and whose home is now across the Atlantic, I confess to having felt enormous pride recently at the Northern Ireland Executive’s handling of COVID-19, and the characteristic resolve with which the people of Northern Ireland have faced our viral enemy. But then Bobby Storey died and Sinn Féin raised a middle finger to all who have suffered through isolation to protect …

A Passport to Nationalist Insurrection?

Shane Greer on July 20, 2017, 4:57 pm

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I recently discovered Jamie Bryson, and as with the discovery of any hidden gem, I’ll confess I’m rapt. It’s not yet clear to me whether Jamie believes everything he says or whether he’s simply realised that hyperbole is a sure fire path to notoriety. But after his latest offering, I’d have to say the balance of opinion has to come down to the latter view. In my dalliance with Jamie’s pontification on all matters unionist, nationalist and fantasist, it is …

On the day after November 9th a titanic struggle within the GOP will begin…

Shane Greer on November 1, 2016, 5:40 pm

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It’s the first thing you notice. A physical manifestation of what you’ve come to understand on an intellectual level. When you walk into the Republican National Convention, as I did earlier this year, you’re met with a sea of faces. White faces. Like a statue of old in some great city, the GOP has stood stoically, unchanging in the face of rapid transformation unfolding around it. The demographic shifts in the United States have been profound, changing, in a very …

How do we unlock Northern Ireland’s tremendous potential?

Shane Greer on October 21, 2014, 8:00 am

| Readers 1802

I still remember the spring of 2001. The palpable excitement I felt about something I’d dreamed of since my adolescence and, with sixth form drawing to a close, was finally in a position to realise: leaving Northern Ireland. I was one of the almost 18,000 who emigrated that year, a number that rose to just over 25,000 in 2012-13. And whereas net migration in Northern Ireland was positive the year I left, it has since turned negative (and skews even …