Government – Page 16 – Slugger O'Toole

Mini-Public Deliberation on Constitutional Futures – Launch Event…

Queen’s Policy Engagement on September 16, 2021, 4:58 pm

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On the 23rd of September 2021, the Institute for British-Irish Studies (IBIS) at UCD in collaboration with the Democracy Unit at Queen’s will host a launch event at which researchers will share findings of the Mini-Public Deliberative Forum on Constitutional Futures organised in the Republic of Ireland by the Constitutional Futures after Brexit Project. In 2019, IBIS established the Constitutional Futures after Brexit as a three-year project to conduct research on the implications of the UK’s decision to withdraw from …

Time to be bold, let politics work and “arrest the spiral of unlearning we seem to be on”…

Terry Wright on September 9, 2021, 7:23 am

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clock, alarm clock, time

Reconciling Ireland by Richard Humphreys which details and analyses 50 Agreements between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom received an official online book launch hosted by the Irish Association and Queen’s University on 31 August. Asked by facilitator Freya Mc Clements, Northern Ireland correspondent of the Irish Times, which of the Agreements he would describe as a favourite, the author opted to nominate the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. In addition to his personal association with the process …

If Populism is a rational response to how we chose to structure our political debates, we need to slow things down…

Mick Fealty on September 8, 2021, 12:01 pm

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photographs, lenses, photography

“In newspaper work you have to learn to forget every day what happened the day before. Newspaper work is valuable up to the point it begins to destroy your memory.” – Hemingway As my engineer friend Hugh puts it, for much of my time on Slugger, I’ve tried only to share what I feel is important, perhaps not obvious but nevertheless true. That’s increasingly important in a world abundant in information. If you can (and you haven’t already), I thoroughly recommend …

Finding Solutions and Enacting Opportunities: The Protocol

Mick Fealty on September 6, 2021, 3:57 pm

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align fingers, index fingers, hands

“Only connect, and the beast and the monk, robbed of the isolation that is life to either, will die.” – EM Foster Yesterday, I took the unusual decision (for me) to sign an open letter calling for some proportion and sense to prevail within the negotiations between the EU and UK over how the Northern Irish Protocol will work post grace period. It seems to me there’s been a failure of imagination around these issues, with Mr Johnson’s UK administration …

PSNI report: Credible attempt to anchor the policing service within the life of a Republican community.

Mick Fealty on September 1, 2021, 5:47 pm

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An interesting responses to a new report out from the PSNI, which makes several recommendations for changing how it polices south Armagh. There’s a lot of material in there, including performance comparisons with Newtonhamilton. Such as… 1,606 stop and searches were carried out in D District between April 2019 and December 2019. Within this period Crossmaglen LPT used stop and search powers on 6 occasions and Newtownhamilton LPT on 166 occasions. There’s a fair amount of emphasis on how despite …

Everything is wonderful / Everything is terrible…

Brian O'Neill on August 27, 2021, 7:16 am

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homeless, charity, poor

That we are living through strange times will not be news to any of you. Still, it is worthwhile considering the extreme positions Northern Ireland finds itself in. On one side we have economic hardship and food banks for some, and at nearly 30% we have the highest level of economic inactivity in the UK or Ireland. On the other side, we have full employment and massive staff shortages in many industries. We are the lowest wage region of the …

Climate Action Not Climate Doom

Soapbox on August 24, 2021, 6:34 pm

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hand, world, bullet

Stevie Maginn is the Green Party NI rep for West Belfast Earlier this month, the 6th assessment report of the UN International Panel on Climate Change was published. This is the 6th report by the IPCC since 1988, reminding us that the alarm bells on climate breakdown have been going for some time, and is more stark reading for people and policymakers. It suggests that under all projection models, the Earth is now likely to reach 1.5C of warming above …

Armagh bid to become UK City of Culture 2025…

Soapbox on August 24, 2021, 7:45 am

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Cllr Brian Pope is the Alliance Party Group Leader on Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon should be given all the local powers necessary to win the race to become UK City of Culture 2025. It is fantastic news that Armagh and the surrounding borough have been officially listed to compete for this coveted title. We share an impressive heritage both architecturally and socially, and the area has been a centre of cultural and …

Flooding is our canary in the coal mine for the impact of climate change, says Sinéad McLaughlin

Paul Gosling on August 20, 2021, 9:05 am

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Belfast, Derry, Strabane and much of Ireland have suffered severe flooding problems in recent days and weeks. We know this will get even worse – with flooding become more intensive and more frequent. A new report says that climate change will be a particular problem for the West of Ireland, with even higher rainfall, leading to even more flooding. These are not problems we can ignore. I am discussing with the insurance industry how to ensure homeowners, tenants and businesses get the …

Hain accuses Johnson, Cameron, May of NI ‘neglect’ – and Foster for ‘lapdog’ tendency

Paul Gosling on August 13, 2021, 6:00 am

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Boris Johnson, Theresa May and David Cameron must accept part of the responsibility for the continuing “gridlock” of politics in Northern Ireland, through their failure to engage in the political process here, argues former Labour secretary of state Peter Hain. He also allocates blame to Conservative secretaries of state, with the exception of Julian Smith. Hain says that prime ministers must recognise that their role includes strong engagement with the Northern Ireland parties, in order to keep political progress on track. “You …

Political legacy of distrust cannot be wished away, says Donaldson

Paul Gosling on August 6, 2021, 9:00 am

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The distrust between Northern Ireland’s political parties remains a legacy of the conflict and cannot be wished away or ignored, says DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson. He adds that the events of the Bobby Storey funeral and commemorations of dead members of the Provisional IRA mean that the Troubles remain a continuing source of tension between the largest parties. He was speaking in the latest Holywell Trust Forward Together podcast. Jeffrey argues that not only are the British government’s legacy proposals …

Promoting stability in Northern Ireland is a key national interest for the Republic…

Mick Fealty on August 3, 2021, 7:56 am

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Talking someone who is Catholic and actually cares about the Union (which doesn’t make him a unionist per se but someone of whom unionists should take note), he described Brexit as “a betrayal of the GFA”. Betrayal is an old familiar theme for us regarding matters Northern Ireland. Susan McKay’s new book majors on talking to what she has described in interviews as Lundys, Protestants inclined to stray away from the British cause. It’s also what fuelled the early rage …

Belfast Rapid Transit (Glider) Phase 2 announced

Brendan Heading on August 1, 2021, 1:25 pm

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This week, Minister for Infrastructure Nichola Mallon launched the public consultation for Phase 2 of the Belfast Rapid Transit (Glider) system. I think this is a welcome development and will improve connectivity, access to and uptake of public transport in the city. I remember when Glider was first launched on the east/west route a few years ago. Before it got off the ground, it was fashionable to dump on it (a common pattern for public transport projects on this island). …

NI Protocol: “Pragmatic and flexible leadership needed from Belfast, Dublin, London and Brussels…”

Mick Fealty on July 30, 2021, 3:29 pm

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giraffes, entertainment, discussion

“The beginning [of the new epoch] consists in the recognition of interrelationships. More and more, people will see that there exist no ‘specialised’ questions, to be identified or solved in isolation, since in the end, everything is interconnected, interdependent.” –Wassily Kandinsky With parliaments on both sides of the water in recess we might expect respite from the war of words that has displaced serious consideration of the Northern Irish protocol. However Brexit has eaten every summer since 2016. Just before …

The legacy of the past can still be felt in today’s political relationships, warns O’Neill

Paul Gosling on July 30, 2021, 9:05 am

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Legacy is being discussed at length at present, following the British government’s proposals to abandon prosecutions and investigations related to Troubles’ events. But there is another toxic legacy – the impact of past events on current political relationships. That aspect of legacy is discussed with Sinn Féin Vice President and Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill in the latest Holywell Trust Forward Together podcast. Michelle argues that political leaders must work hard to build trust, to enable the political system here to …

Slugger event at John Hewitt Summer School: What’s good for the economy, good for the environment and good for people?

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on July 23, 2021, 5:18 pm

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Slugger O’Toole returns to the John Hewitt International Summer School in Armagh next Wednesday evening (28 July at 7pm) with a panel discussion looking at the triangle between economy, environment and people. Is Northern Ireland keeping those three aspects in balance? Are we destroying people and the planet in the name of prosperity? Can we ensure that wellbeing, sustainability and justice benefit everyone? I’ll be joined by Steven Agnew, Dawn Purvis and Joanne Stuart to mull over what’s good for …

How Ireland Voted 2020: Certainly the end of an era, but the beginning of what?

Mick Fealty on July 23, 2021, 11:30 am

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I must confess, through a combination of not really having understood what happened in February 2020 and the long period of government formation and the onset of Covid I was thoroughly discouraged from delving into the south’s last election. Now, I have my copy of How Ireland Voted 2020. It’s a regular publication edited in previous years by Michael Gallagher and Michael Marsh now joined by UCC academic Theresa Reidy. The biggest talking point in the whole book is Sinn …

More truth and honesty needed in government, and in dealing with legacy, says Colum Eastwood

Paul Gosling on July 23, 2021, 9:05 am

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Truth and honesty must be at the heart of how we deal with the legacy of the past and in how politicians in Northern Ireland govern today, says Colum Eastwood, leader of the SDLP and MP for the Foyle constituency. He was speaking in the latest Holywell Trust Forward Together podcast and is the third political leader to be interviewed in the series, discussing how to make progress in Northern Ireland. Victims have been badly treated, stresses Colum, and they …

“He did not read the protocol, he has not read the bill, he does not know his stuff”…

Brian O'Neill on July 22, 2021, 8:41 pm

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As Labour leader, Ed Miliband’s awkward geekiness never found favour with the English voters but he has grown in stature over the years. His Reasons to be cheerful podcast is an entertaining and informative listen. In his day job role as MP and shadow Minister, he gave Boris quite the evisceration over his handling of NI Protocol. It makes for an entertaining watch. https://twitter.com/WinstonCProject/status/1417855877697179653?s=20 But all this is water of a ducks back for Boris. Very little sticks to our …

Finding Ways Forward for the long awaited Bill of Rights…

Soapbox on July 20, 2021, 12:29 pm

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Colin Harvey is Professor of Human Rights Law, Queen’s University Belfast. The prospect of comprehensive human rights legislation here appeared to have faded. The Bill of Rights process has been stuck since the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission submitted its final advice in 2008. The pattern is a familiar one. Political unionism’s objections ensured that the British Government did not legislate; a convenient excuse to avoid adopting a Bill of Rights worth that title. Instead the region is left with …