Slugger Team

One of the foundational aspects of democracy is the right to protest. People must be able to demonstrate to the powers that be that they are unhappy with either decisions made or intolerable circumstances and to be able to call for those in power to change course. Autocracies tend to ban protests, or heavily circumscribe them, precisely because they are a way by which disenfranchised populations can challenge the power of regimes that have long since dispensed with the ballot …

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The BBC has a new podcast out dealing with the topic of the border called ‘Borderland- UK or United Ireland?‘ which pits former Sinn Féin MP Michelle Gildernew (who lost her job with Sinn Féin earlier this year) and former DUP MP Ian Paisley (who lost his seat in the 2024 election) against each other as they advocate for a united Ireland and maintenance of the union with Great Britain respectively. Both former politicians seem to be taking advantage of …

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The former giants of northern politics have not had a good time of it in recent years. Once the dominant parties in Unionism and Nationalism, the Ulster Unionist Party and the SDLP have increasingly been pushed to the margins of relevance. At the last Assembly elections in 2022 both parties fell backwards, shedding seats and voters alike. It was particularly catastrophic for the SDLP, which lost 4 of their seats. In the aftermath, the usual conversations began about where these …

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An intriguing letter in yesterday’s Irish News from DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley in which he made a pitch on behalf of his party to Catholic working class voters. (The letter itself is paywalled, but the full thing is well worth a read). In the article, Buckley wrote that “Let me be clear: the DUP is the only Executive party consistently standing for the ordinary individual, including the working-class Catholic nationalist who is too often ignored by those who claim to …

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Normally, this is a story we would leave to our daily posts. But the recently concluded Ryder Cup, in which Team Europe (including local man Rory McIlroy) clinched victory yesterday made the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Team Europe was subjected to an unprecedented level of abuse by American fans at the venue as this report in the Independent records… “Shane Lowry fired a two-word expletive towards an American fan at the Ryder Cup as tensions spilled over in the Saturday …

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Iain Gray in the Newsletter is reporting on a pilot scheme that aims to tackle the scourge of mobile devices in classrooms. “Around 8,000 young people attend the nine of the province’s schools involved in the government-run pilot scheme, which has pupils magnetically sealing their phones in special pouches at the start of every day.The pouches can only be opened with a specific unlocking device, meaning pupils can’t get at their mobiles. Education Minister Paul Givan says the scheme will allow …

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Fourth (or is it fifth?) times the charm it seems as London and Dublin have revealed their new framework to tackle the festering wound of legacy issues in Northern Ireland. We have of course been here before. We had the Eames-Bradley report in 2009 which faced a wave of criticism for its suggestion that the relatives of the nearly four thousand people who perished in the Troubles should receive a one-off payment of £12,000, even if the person who died …

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Last night it was revealed that Kieran Kennedy (a former boss of O’Neill’s Sports) had resigned from the board of Invest NI, claiming the organisation had not done enough for the north west. As Davy Wilson writes in his report for the BBC… “(Kennedy) has resigned from the board of Invest NI after alleging Northern Ireland’s economic development agency discriminates against the region. Kieran Kennedy…quit in June, five years after he first joined in March 2020. Minutes of that meeting …

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MI5, Britain’s internal security agency, yesterday admitted that it had acted illegally when it accessed the phone of former BBC journalist Vincent Kearney as this BBC report from Mark Simpson makes clear… “…In documents submitted to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, MI5 conceded it obtained the data from Mr Kearney’s phone on two occasions in 2006 and 2009. In a statement, Mr Kearney described the admission as “unprecedented” and said it was “deeply concerning” for himself and other journalists. Mr Kearney …

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RTÉ has announced it will not participate in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest (to be held in Vienna) if Israel participates… “In a statement, the broadcaster said that “it is RTÉ’s position that Ireland will not take part in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, if the participation of Israel goes ahead, and the final decision regarding Ireland’s participation will be made once the EBU’s decision is made”. RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst said that “RTÉ feels that Ireland’s participation would …

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One of the lessons we here in Northern Ireland hoped the rest of the world would have heeded is that political change driven by violence is rarely worth the cost. But I don’t think anyone is especially surprised that that lesson is never learned and less so in a world consumed by wars raging on three continents. Still, it doesn’t mitigate the horror and grief that follow in the wake of someone making the unilateral decision to bypass the democratic …

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This story began a few days ago when the British Army revealed it had applied to attend a jobs fair in Derry/Londonderry in a bid to speak with anyone interested in a military career. This, of course, led to a row as the BBC report makes clear as Nationalist politicians on Derry and Strabane Council were vehemently opposed… “Sinn Féin’s Christopher Jackson said his party “fully opposed” the military’s attendance and they would “not be welcome” at the event, run …

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Today the ‘Belfast Newsletter’ highlights that Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA Deborah Erskine is stepping back from her role as she prepares for the birth of her first child. The paper quotes her as saying “This week I received a health reality check and, on medical advice, I’ve had to step back from Stormont duties earlier than planned. While MLAs don’t have formal maternity leave (except a recent mechanism whereby I can allocate someone to vote on my behalf during …

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An interesting article from Suzanne Breen (it’s behind a paywall but worth reading if you have a subscription) in ‘The Belfast Telegraph’ as our political parties grapple with the recent Lucid Talk poll results which saw the TUV reach third place behind Sinn Féin and the DUP but, crucially, ahead of the Alliance party. As Suzanne writes “Alliance has problems, and it knows it…on 12%, it’s been relegated to fourth position by the TUV which is now one point ahead. “The poll …

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Bonfires don’t play the same role in Republicanism that they do in the Loyalist and Unionist celebrations around the Twelfth. An earlier tradition of lighting bonfires to celebrate the Catholic feast of the Assumption became the basis of anti-internment pyres used to mark the introduction of internment but they were never really embraced by the wider nationalist community. Anti-social behaviour at many of the events over the years alienated local communities, and they lacked support from mainstream nationalist and Republican …

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For the past few weeks the moderator team has been reviewing our comment policies. The new guidelines have been developed taking account of our experiences as well as feedback we have received in the past few months such as Brian’s ‘Ask me anything’ post as well as the ‘Questions and suggestions’ post the mod team hosted last November. It’s worth going over the new guidelines, even though a lot of it is common knowledge, though the two key points are …

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Some recent conversations have raised questions about why fewer unionist voices are active in the comments. This article reflects on that and invites everyone to consider what helps make debate more open and worthwhile for all. While this isn’t a new issue, and there’s no simple fix, it deserves attention. So it’s worth saying clearly, unionist perspectives are welcome here. There are regular OPs from across the political spectrum, and no editorial policy excludes any tradition. The difficulty mostly shows …

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Yesterday Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald popped up on ‘Good Morning Britain’ to make her case to the English, Scottish and Welsh publics on the need for a referendum on Irish unity. Those of us who live in Northern Ireland and visit this blog are of course well familiar with her case but she surely saw the value in being given a platform to articulate those arguments to people who normally wouldn’t give Northern Ireland and its issues much thought. …

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Some seven months ago a legal challenge was lodged against the Executive decision to proceed with the A5 upgrade by legal representatives of the Alternative A5 Alliance (AA5A). The move provoked considerable anger at the time, as the AA5A’s long-standing argument that the existing road could be upgraded had been refuted by the public enquiry as cited in the ministerial statement last October approving the upgrade… “The 2023 public inquiry examined in detail schemes put forward as alternatives to the …

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With President Higgins term in office drawing to a close, people have been looking ahead to the election for his successor which must take place by the 11th of November of this year. After months of fevered speculation, the bearded former leader of a northern Nationalist party does indeed seem poised to throw his hat into the ring. No, not that one. The other bearded former leader of a northern Nationalist party. Former SDLP leader and current Foyle MP Colum Eastwood …

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