Soapbox

Hannah McVeigh from Tyrone and is studying International Relations and Global Development Ties between Northern Ireland and Israel and Palestine have long been apparent. Many Unionists typically align with Israel, seeing parallels in their identity, sovereignty and security. Meanwhile, many Nationalists typically sympathise with Palestine through the lens of self-determination and resistance to the occupation. Murals, flags, and street demonstrations reflect these tendencies, though neither community is monolithic in its views. With clear parallels, could Northern Ireland’s Good Friday Agreement …

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DeBeer is a one-off essay writer with influences from all over Northern Ireland and slightly beyond…’Aye one-off all right’…one-off until the next time… I did a double-take recently when I read that Sarah Bunting, DUP group leader for Belfast City Council, was criticising the Council decision to erect Irish Language signage in Shandon Park, an affluent street in the outer reaches of east Belfast. The decision to erect signs was taken on the back of just 16.8% of residents in …

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FiFi Garrett is a politically savvy Essex native now rooted in rural Northern Ireland, living just outside Derry-Londonderry. Visit her site. On Tuesday, I went to a Féile talk held at Holywell Trust in Derry, it was a talk by Dr Paul Caplat of Queen’s University Belfast on the subject of Toxic Masculinity, and to say that it landed like a stone in a pond; ripples everywhere would be an understatement. His case was simple and devastating: from day one, …

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Slogger is a North Antrim retiree and latecomer to political discourse. I need to preface this wee article by stating that this is an entirely personal opinion based on personal experience of a long lifetime. My contention is that some of us Ulstermen are doomed to a life of loneliness. I was reminded of this recently when meeting with a male relative on a business matter. Once the business was concluded, we then engaged in some small talk. After about …

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El Cavador is a Slugger reader from Belfast With the nights already drawing in (sorry about that!), it won’t be long before the minds of parents and Primary School children returning to P7 turn to choosing a ‘big school’. This can be a fraught and confusing experience for all concerned – and nowhere more so than here in Northern Ireland. Or the North of Ireland… which brings us to the first decision, State (de facto Protestant) or Catholic sector? About …

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Andrew McClean is the Northern Ireland Advocacy Lead at Cycling UK All this week, both the media and social media have hailed the huge success of the Open Golf tournament, held in Northern Ireland for only the third time in its history. One major, yet underreported factor in its success, boils down to how they managed to move more than a quarter of a million supporters in and out of the town of Portrush. A town which normally hosts less …

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Originally from Chicago, Rus Bradburd is the author of five books, including “Paddy on the Hardwood: a Journey in Irish Hoops.” He has lived in Belfast for a total of four years and can often be found at local trad music sessions playing fiddle. This essay is excerpted from his newest book project, “Almost Like Belonging,” about immigrants and refugees in Northern Ireland. rus-bradburd.com The fishermen were freezing. Covid had shuttered the coastal fishing village of Ardglass, Northern Ireland, and …

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PillinPillin are Slugger readers living in Spain My Grandfather was a Private in the Royal Irish Fusiliers. He fought at Gallipoli and on the Somme. We learned the following from the RIF museum. Of the 16,000 who volunteered in Armagh, Fermanagh and Tyrone only about 600 survived. So my family´s existence hangs by a thin thread. In all at least 200,000 served and 49,435 Irish soldiers died in the First World War. The 10th Division was the first Division almost …

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Finley is a Slugger reader from Belfast Every year on July 12th, parts of Northern Ireland erupt into bonfires, parades, and political tension. For some, it’s a celebration of victory at the Battle of the Boyne; for others, it’s a reminder of centuries of conquest, colonisation, and subjugation. Beneath the surface of flags, drums, and slogans lies something deeper: a battle over moral memory and the ethics of history. The events commemorated on July 12th are only one thread in …

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FiFi Garrett is a politically savvy Essex native now rooted in rural Northern Ireland, living just outside Derry-Londonderry. Visit her site. Over the last five years twenty seven women have lost their lives to violence in Northern Ireland. The most recent is Sarah Montgomery, a mother of two who was expecting her third child, murdered in her own home. This afternoon I went for a walk in the rain hoping the rhythm of my footsteps and the hush of the …

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Finley is a Slugger reader from Belfast War is like weather. It emerges when conditions align. This is not a metaphor. It is physics. Despite widespread hopes and ongoing efforts to prevent war through diplomacy, moral progress, and institutional reform, conflict continues to recur across history and cultures. This persistence suggests that beyond human intention, deeper systemic forces shape the dynamics of peace and war. War has haunted human civilisation for as long as civilisation has existed. From tribal skirmishes …

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Hannah McVeigh from Tyrone and is studying International Relations and Global Development Once again Northern Ireland has made international news headlines for all the wrong reasons. I am ashamed and disgusted that people from my home have decided that they are entitled to spread hatred and fear through violence. It is no wonder we often feel stuck, trapped in cycles that hold us back from progress. Too often, we fall back on the very violence that traps us, instead of …

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Fr. William/Conswater is an Anglican Priest in England, but was born and educated in Belfast. In April (28th) of this year Donna Moore contributed a piece here on the subject of assisted dying.  It was a very useful contribution to the discussion.  Clarifying what is meant by assisted dying and raising a number of real concerns about the bill currently before parliament.  On May 29th it was reported that a second Liberal Democrat MP had withdrawn their support for the …

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Slogger is a North Antrim retiree and latecomer to political discourse. As I’m a total curmudgeon, this article could be part one of a series of Room 101 rants about the things that bug me the most. So I shall discuss that most odious of institutions – the so called “HONOURS SYSTEM”. As readers will be aware, the latest instalment of gongs has just been announced so I have been triggered yet again. Let me begin by clarifying that this …

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Adam Turkington is a freelance creative producer and consultant who as part of Daisy Chain Inc is part of the team bringing Culture Night back to Belfast this year. In early 2009 a meeting was called by a couple of arts workers who’d been asked if they fancied running an event in Belfast that had been a success in Dublin. It was the birth of Culture Night Belfast. I was in the Belfast Circus School for the meeting along with …

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Finley is a Slugger reader from Belfast. He does not staunchly identify as a Unionist or a Republican and he generally likes to talk sense as he sees it. He can be fairly generous in that regard. Why unionism must rethink its foreign policy tone—or risk alienation at home The support expressed by some Northern Irish unionists for Israel’s more hardline policies—especially those involving displacement or demographic control—raises a curious question: why align with a distant conflict whose dynamics only …

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An Fear Ciúin lives and works in the Irish midlands. He has a keen interest in medieval and early modern history. He’s actually fairly quiet if you met him, but is contrarian by nature, Catholic by choice, culturally nationalist, politically open-minded and philosophically anarchist.  Saving Israel  What has Athens to do with Jerusalem? Tertullian   Take neither Jews nor Christians as guardians, they are guardians of each other.  Surah Al-Ma’idah, 5.50   My heart ran forth … but wisdom halted it,  …

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Donna Moore is from Belfast, and works as an administrator. Many women can recognise the following situation – you’re dating a guy, and he seems so charming and polished. However, his behaviour constantly makes you feel confused, anxious, and stressed – and you can’t exactly figure out why, because the behaviour itself is so subtle. And by the time you do figure it out, the damage is done. It would be nice to have a guide that could help us …

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Dawn Harbinson is a Slugger reader from Belfast According to recent research, 80% of people without a disability in Northern Ireland are in work, compared to 36% of disabled people (Ulster University’s Economic Policy Centre, 2022). I experienced a stroke either in the womb, during birth or within the first 18 months of life, affecting the strength of my left limbs. My parents first noticed something was wrong when I was in my pram at around six or seven months old; …

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