Soapbox – Page 27 – Slugger O'Toole

Will our protections for threatened species fall off a cliff edge come Brexit?

Soapbox on May 1, 2018, 4:43 pm

| Readers 546

Christopher McAteer, Nature Matters NI The potential effects of Brexit on Northern Ireland are so overwhelmingly varied – and often alarming – that it may seem a touch masochistic to consider yet more concerns. But if worries over tariffs, the fledgling economy, and a hard border aren’t enough for you, then the cliff edge facing our environment might be just up your street. A whopping 80% of the UK’s environmental laws originate from the EU, which will now have to …

Two “Communities” demographics: Don’t mention the Others

Soapbox on April 25, 2018, 12:01 pm

| Readers 7630

Roy Fisher does a deep dive into the census data, showing how it is almost impossible to opt out of the two communities model… “When I told the people of Northern Ireland that I was an atheist, a woman in the audience stood up and said, ‘Yes, but is it the God of the Catholics or the God of the Protestants in whom you don’t believe?’” – from The Wit and Wisdom of Quentin Crisp (1984) When the quotation above …

We can acknowledge Powell as a significant historical figure, without resurrecting his politics…

Soapbox on April 17, 2018, 9:33 pm

| Readers 2524

The decision by the BBC to broadcast Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech on Saturday was always going to be controversial. The speech, made by Powell 50 years ago on 20th April, had a long-term impact on British politics, and transformed the climate on race relations in Britain. In the speech, Powell spoke out against Britain’s liberal immigration laws, predicting dire consequences for the country if immigration was to continue unchecked. He also attacked the race relations legislation that the …

Framing Public Memory: What if a play park was to be named after Michael Stone, Wesley Somerville or Lenny Murphy?

Soapbox on April 11, 2018, 2:25 pm

| Readers 4583

Growing up I was very conscious of my nationalism. It wasn’t that I came from a very political family but my grandfather had nurtured in me a love for History, especially Irish History which I retain to this very day. I grew up with pictures of James Connolly, Patrick Pearse and Robert Emmet adorning my bedroom walls. My contemporaries had the Bay City Rollers and all the regalia that with that, I’d no comparative regalia so I fastened a tricolour …

Ireland and slavery, then and now, free event…

Soapbox on April 11, 2018, 8:13 am

| Readers 1673

We know that Ireland like most countries in Western Europe got caught up in the 18th-century slave trade and Irish merchants could benefit from the produce of the West Indies. Belfast was not exempt. The wealthy businessman Waddell Cunningham had a plantation in the Caribbean (called Belfast !) to take just one example. However there was a formidable opposition to slavery among the citizens of the growing late-18th century town, often involving radically-minded women – and a welcome was given …

Post Conference Retreat

Soapbox on April 10, 2018, 4:47 pm

| Readers 746

Dominic O’Reilly is a SDLP Member and attended the party’s recent conference I am a mess of contradictions! Some years ago I took the decision to join a political party. Meanwhile for the last fifteen years I have been actively involved in youth ministry within the Church. To the extent that some eight years ago I entered studies for the diocesan priesthood. While I did not see this through to completion it was an incredibly fruitful time and period of …

The Agreement. Ten Frames. Twenty Years.

Soapbox on April 6, 2018, 3:32 pm

| Readers 333

There’s going to be a lot of familiar and famous talking heads, looking back pensively, giving the ‘I was there’ definitive version of ‘what really happened’ at the signing of the Good Friday Agreement twenty years ago. We will note the wrinkles and the grey hair and we will see how they have changed, if only in their appearance. The usual role-call will be called. But what about artistic responses? What might an artist create that could ever contain the …

A united Ireland remains an uncertain unknown. If it happens, the country will need strong leaders who can lead the country into a better future

Soapbox on April 6, 2018, 10:15 am

| Readers 11022

A united Ireland is such a huge issue in Northern Irish politics that it’s hard to believe Tom Elliott hasn’t really thought about it. Ulster unionism’s raison d’être is to maintain the Union, Northern Ireland and avoid a thirty two country Republic. The prospect of a united Ireland drives and haunts unionists. It is never acknowledged as a possibility, but it is always there. During Patrick Kielty’s excellent programme, ‘My Da, the Peace Deal, and me,’ Arlene Foster said that …

The merits of Ancient Greek wisdom…

Soapbox on April 2, 2018, 10:36 am

| Readers 1258

In 2014 I retired after forty years of university teaching, first in England and latterly at Queen’s. My subject was – is — ‘ancient’ history, defined in almost all British and Irish universities as the Mediterranean-centred world of the Greeks and the Romans. All very long ago now. In the Greeks’ case (my speciality), several centuries B.C. ‘The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there’, says the narrator-protagonist Leo at the opening of The Go-Between. “Classical” Greece …

Twenty years on, the key challenge is how we can make changes that only are seen to be fair and balanced

Soapbox on March 29, 2018, 8:30 am

| Readers 1887

Peter Weir is a DUP MLA for Strangford, he writes for Slugger about his thoughts of the Good Friday Agreement. On Good Friday, twenty years ago, I found myself present at a central point in our history, not just as an observer but as a participant, albeit a minor one. I was in Castle Buildings as a junior member of the Ulster Unionist talks team. I was one of the so called baby barristers, a group of younger members of …

Naomi Long: Alliance still believes a positive vision, bold ideas and strong leadership is the only way to move forward and respect the spirit of the GFA

Soapbox on March 23, 2018, 10:28 am

| Readers 1220

Naomi Long is the Leader of the Alliance Party, ahead of her party conference she writes for Slugger about ways to break the current deadlock at Stormont Twenty years ago, nearly three out of four people in Northern Ireland stepped forward to support the Good Friday Agreement (GFA). Despite the huge challenges and deep divisions within society, and acknowledging the GFA was not perfect, it was recognised then the next steps forward could be positive for our community. People were …

This cannot simply be a numbers game. Unity will only occur peacefully through dialogue and co-operation with both nationalists and unionists

Soapbox on March 15, 2018, 3:06 pm

| Readers 5081

Cathal Haughey is Dublin Organizer of Ógra Fianna Fáil and committee member of DCU4UNITY From the 7th-9th of March, Dublin City University students voted overwhelmingly in favor (76%) for their Students’ Union to support Irish reunification. The campaign was run by ‘DCU4Unity’ and had cross-party support from the DCU branches of Ógra Fhianna Fáil, Ógra Shinn Féin and Labour Youth. I was delighted to be appointed to the committee of the campaign as chair of the DCU Ógra Fhianna Fail. …

20 years since the Good Friday Agreement – It’s time the value of women’s peace building work is recognised

Soapbox on March 15, 2018, 7:51 am

| Readers 1009

In the latest part of our sHERed Future series, Kellie Turtle (Feminist Activist and WRDA’s Women’s Sector Lobbyist) writes about the role of women in peace building in Northern Ireland In any discussion of women’s participation in building peace in Northern Ireland it is important to say that women have always been politically active agents of change here; from the suffragettes who were the first hunger strikers in our prisons, to the trade unionists who fought child labour and exploitation …

Evaluating the Peace

Soapbox on March 10, 2018, 1:23 pm

| Readers 1546

Seán Brennan, from QUB, evaluates the state of our current peace… As the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement (GFA) approaches, much talk will focus on celebrating or condemning – in other words evaluating – our ‘peace process’. When evaluating Northern Ireland’s experience of peace, it may surprise some to learn that our experiences are not universally viewed as a success. In fact, it would be fair to say the ‘liberal peace’ – which is what we have …

The Potential Leaders of the Post-Merkel Era

Soapbox on March 9, 2018, 11:52 am

| Readers 491

Leon Kohl is a graduate student in EU Politics at the London School of Economics and Political Science. The German Social Democrats’ ratification of the coalition agreement with the Christian Democrats paved the way for Angela Merkel’s fourth term in office. Her time as chancellor has overlapped with four British prime ministers and four Taoisigh. However, her conservative CDU’s poor performance in the September general elections and the length of coalition negotiations have weakened her authority, leading to calls for …

Alternative Ulster – five women who shaped Northern Ireland…

Soapbox on March 8, 2018, 7:46 am

| Readers 3241

Jenny McEneaney is a sHERed Future Co-Producer she writes for Slugger today about some of the women who have an important impact on local politics and society. Presenting five women who shaped the Northern Ireland of today Happy International Women’s Day! This year’s theme is Press for Progress in recognition of how far we (men, women, society) still have to strive before realising gender equality. This year’s International Women’s Day provides a degree of poignancy for Northern Ireland as we …

Engage with the Power of Reason

Soapbox on March 7, 2018, 11:47 am

| Readers 338

Peter O’Neill is the director and founder of the Imagine Festival of Politics and Ideas. Politics in Northern Ireland has had a tough year. With no Executive since January 2017, an election that changed little just over a year ago and the prospect of our departure from the EU firmly on the horizon, you could be forgiven for thinking that ideas on how to overcome these challenges are in short supply. One of the victims of the political impasse has …

DUP Councillor refuses to engage with Pro-Choice Group

Soapbox on March 5, 2018, 9:21 am

| Readers 3454

Emma Gallen is an activist for Alliance for Choice. Alliance for Choice had planned to be at several different International Women’s Day events last week. But the snow meant that many were postponed. As a result, a well meaning campaign, asking councillors at Belfast City Council to support Kate Nicholl’s motion to support the decriminalisation of abortion, gained more traction than expected. The debate at City Council was due to be on Thursday March 1st, but was also postponed due …