Slugger Team

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt dramatically resigned yesterday amidst a policy clash with his party leader Jon Burrows. As per the Belfast Telegraph   Confirming his departure tonight, the UUP said Mr Nesbitt “leaves a significant legacy”. His decision to quit comes amidst a clash with party leader Jon Burrows over retaining emergency general surgery (EGS) at Causeway Hospital in Coleraine, a senior source said. The Northern Trust had recommended its closure. There is widespread local opposition to such a move… …

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From the FT: Israel should be killing “30 to 40” people each night in Gaza and should build Jewish settlements in the Palestinian enclave, the country’s far-right national security minister has said in an interview. Itamar Ben-Gvir, a hardline settler previously convicted of incitement to racism, made the comments on a podcast hosted by Rom Braslavski, who was taken hostage by the Palestinian militant group Hamas during its October 7 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the war in Gaza. …

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It’s been nearly two weeks since Chris Bryant was appointed the new Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and it seems he has already got stuck into the job as he ruled out the possibility of a border poll any time soon. As per the Belfast Telegraph from a news conference yesterday, Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant has said that an Irish border poll is “not top of my list of priorities”…Pressed on whether he believes a united Ireland …

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The new UK Prime Minister has wasted little time in assembling his new cabinet, but of particular interest to those of us resident in Northern Ireland would be his choice of Secretary of State. Any suggestions that Hilary Benn would retain the role were swiftly dealt with as Benn confirmed yesterday in a post on X that he was leaving the government. It has been a great privilege to serve as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and to work …

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Taoiseach Micheál Martin has announced that the Irish government will establish and fund an annual peace prize honouring the late John Hume. Speaking in Strasbourg, the Taoiseach said “John was both a visionary and an immensely practical man. He saw obstacles, but he also saw how to move them out of the way. To honour his legacy, later this year we will be establishing and funding a new annual prize in his name. This will be awarded to a European …

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Last night Sinn Féin brought a Private Member’s bill before the Dáil that would have established a Citizen’s Assembly on Irish Unity. From the RTÉ report The party has tabled legislation which, if accepted, would compel the Taoiseach to produce a Green Paper examining the implications of constitutional change within 18 months. It would also trigger the establishment of a Citizens’ Assembly to examine the implications of Irish unity. There have been several suggestions through the years for a Citizen’s …

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Casement Park’s redevelopment may be reaching its endgame at last. On Friday it was reported that the GAA has decided that the Stadium will not be built to the hoped for 34,000 capacity due to a shortfall in funding and that it will have to be scaled back. According to Enda McClafferty reporting for the BBC…. As a result it will not be able to stage Ulster senior final matches but will instead be used for other provincial fixtures…Rebuilding the …

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It is well known that Northern Ireland has an issue with the flying of paramilitary flags, one which our police service has been struggling with for many years. Last week the Belfast Telegraph reported… East Belfast Alliance MLA Peter McReynolds hit out at the latest banners which were placed next to a new housing development completed last year. Such flags are seen as a means of controlling who moves into the properties. “Alliance has always strongly condemned the placement of …

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Back in January, Sinn Féin minister John O’Dowd put his proposed three-year budget out for consultation. His statement on the consultation highlighted what he saw as a key issue in terms of the contributions from the British government and finished with a warning to his Executive colleagues… “There is no doubt the ongoing under investment in public services by the British Government means that both the Resource and Capital DEL funding position remain extremely constrained. Our public services are facing …

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Artificial Intelligence doesn’t exist as a ghost in the machine you know, living like digital spirits in the cloud alone, oh no. The Chatgpts, Co-Pilots, Claudes and Groks of the world require physical infrastructure. And this infrastructure is, to put it mildly, controversial. A recent poll from Gallup shows that Americans for example are less than enthusiastic about the prospect of having a data centre built in their local areas… Seven in 10 Americans oppose constructing data centers for artificial …

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DUP’s Tracy Kelly hands over chain of office to new Belfast mayor Róis-Máire Donnelly from Sinn Féin. pic.twitter.com/VqZ9m8ckNd — Mark Simpson (@BBCMarkSimpson) June 2, 2026 This exchange seems to have resonated with a lot of people, and it’s easy to see why. As DUP councillor Tracy Kelly hands over the chain of office to Sinn Féin’s Róis-Máire Donnelly, the genuine warmth of the exchange is hard to miss. Why do moments like this seem to strike a chord? Does our …

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It was nearly two years ago that Doug Beattie resigned as UUP leader after losing an internal debate over who would fill the Assembly seat vacated when Robin Swann was elected to Westminster in the 2024 General Election. Since then, various snippets of news have indicated all was not well in relations between Beattie and his UUP colleagues. A few weeks ago, there were rumours that he was poised to be deselected by his constituency association in favour of local …

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According to ‘The Belfast Telegraph’s’ report on the matter, our leaders at Stormont believe Northern Ireland is racing towards something of a fiscal cliff… ‘Devolved ministers in Northern Ireland have yet to agree a budget for the current financial year and have insisted they need more financial support from the Treasury to plug an estimated £1 billion hole in their balance sheet and deliver spending plans that avoid dramatic cuts to public services. On Thursday, DUP deputy First Minister Emma …

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Readers may be aware that today marks the beginning of the trial of former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson. The PSNI have posted a warning about online commentary on this case A police spokesperson said: “As legal proceedings are ongoing in a high-profile sexual offences case, we are reminding the public that speculation and commentary online may prejudice proceedings. “Publishing information which could directly or indirectly identify complainants is a criminal offence.” Slugger O’Toole’s stance on this matter is clear. Do …

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Last February the High Court ruled that Marie Anderson, the Police Ombudsman, had (as per this article in the Irish News written by Alan Erwin) … exceeded her legal powers in making findings of collusive behaviour by RUC officers in a series of loyalist murders, the High Court has ruled. A judge held that Marie Anderson acted ultra vires by reaching conclusions in public statements which amounted to determinations of misconduct. The verdict represents victory in a legal challenge by …

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The most successful political party in the history of the Republic celebrated its one hundredth birthday this week. If you would like, you can visit the party’s website and read their own accounting of their journey… It was visionary, idealistic, and committed men and women who founded Fianna Fáil, in the La Scala Theatre, Dublin, in 1926, under the leadership of Eamon de Valera. What followed was a momentous national movement encompassing the ideals of a united Ireland, social and …

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The past Autumn and Winter were dark, wet and cold and the cold in particular had seemed to linger long past its welcome. So I think most people will agree that the recent spell of good weather has been nothing but welcome. Being able to go for a walk in the afternoon without having to put on a thick coat and to look up into blue sky was almost a novelty again! It’s not all good news. The good weather …

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The Springhill Inquest delivered its findings yesterday. As per the BBC article by Kelly Bonner, Hayley Halpin and Claire Quinn… An inquest into the shooting of five people in west Belfast in 1972 has found that the Army “lost control” in a number of cases and “overreacted to a perceived threat”. Fr Noel Fitzpatrick, 42, father-of-six Patrick Butler, 37, 15-year-old David McCafferty and 16-year-old John Dougal were killed by the same soldier in the Springhill estate on 9 July 1972. …

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The crisis in Northern Ireland’s public service seems to regularly top the local news here in one form or another, usually when one of those services experiences a failure that brings them into the media glare for a time. One of the primary drivers of the crisis is the lack of funding provided by Stormont (a recent slugger post covered that Stormont’s tax intake is the lowest in the developed world). However, a Treasury review conducted after the Executive overspent …

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Did you know that Northern Ireland experienced its wettest January in a century and half in 2026? If you live here, of course you do, you endured that particular misery. And February and March offered little respite from the wind and the rain. Many of us look forward to our summer break where we take a temporary leave of our shared and soaking island and head for sunnier climes with Spain, Portugal and France being favored destinations. Unfortunately, this year, …

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