Government

It’s not a ‘peace’ process.. it’s a political process

Pete Baker on October 31, 2004, 11:23 pm

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According to the Irish Times, the Irish and British Governments have decided not to allow the party election strategies of the DUP and SF to take precedence over political progress – Ahern says North deadline is November 25th: The Taoiseach has said talks between the parties in the North cannot continue beyond November 25th. If no deal is agreed by then, the Irish and British governments will present a joint proposal for implementing the Belfast Agreement, writes Denis Staunton in …

Census begs political re-assessment

Mick Fealty on December 24, 2002, 10:30 am

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It seems that after the announcement Unionist commentators have been much quicker to print their analysis of the Census results than Nationalists. The Newsletter sees it as sealing the bottom line of the Union and Graham Gudgin concludes: Nationalist expectations of a future Catholic majority have risen so high it will take more than a single census to bring them back down to earth. Sooner or later, though, there will have to be a re-assessment. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor …

Robinson’s plan:summary

Mick Fealty on December 9, 2002, 6:13 pm

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In conversation with Frank Millar, Peter Robinson outlined the conditions for his party’s willing engagement with the peace process. He outlined what he believes to be fundamental flaws of the current Agreement. He returned to a theme his colleague Sammy Wilson outlined in more detail a few weeks back – the unaccountability of the institutions. He did not rule out working with Sinn Fein, but this would entail (amongst other things) finding a system that would allow all players to …

Sovereignty change?

Mick Fealty on December 5, 2002, 11:03 pm

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Mitchell McLaughlin in a speech in Balbriggan, Co Dublin, challenged Unionists to declare whether they support the transference of sovereignty in the event that a majority in the North vote for it. On the face of it, it is hard to see the relevance of this concern. Particularly since the Belfast Agreement states in its first clause: “The participants endorse the commitment made by the British and Irish Governments that, in a new British-Irish Agreement replacing the Anglo-Irish Agreement, they …

Religious figures in the census

Mick Fealty on December 4, 2002, 10:30 am

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Are due to be published this month. Though the Census office has not given a date, latest reports suggest that it is on schedule to reach the public before Christmas. In light of this, journalists, politicians and policy makers will be dusting down the many words written on the political demography of Northern Ireland, in preparation for copious amounts of their own wise words on the subject. No doubt John Adams’ Political Demography of Northern Ireland will prove an invaluable …

Blair speech: The benefits

Mick Fealty on October 18, 2002, 1:21 pm

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The focus changes to the political and economic benefits the Agreement has brought: “…there is still violence, but at a far, far reduced rate – in 1972, 470 people died. This year, so far, ten. Ten too many, but let us recognise the progress made. The transformation in the economy has been enormous: unemployment at its lowest since 1975; long-term unemployment, down 65 per cent since the Agreement; manufacturing up 15 per cent, uniquely in the UK. New jobs, new …

Suspension; eye witness

Mick Fealty on October 15, 2002, 11:28 am

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In the subscription only Irish News Newton Emerson, editor of the satirical website Portadown News was in Stormont on the last day of business. One thing that consistently erks the reasonable middle ground parties is the way that most commentators rarely talk to them: “The Women’s Coalition are first to brave the spotlight. Cruelly, several reporters take this opportunity to make final adjustments to their cameras and microphones. There are no questions. As they leave, the DUP arrives and the …

Suspension; winners and losers

Mick Fealty on October 15, 2002, 8:28 am

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Malachi O’Doherty is the first one I’ve seen to evaluate the gains and losses made by each of four main parties through the events of the last fortnight. It’s an interesting exercise, but one that may prove misleading in a process that has become more long term, where many expected early closure. Indeed it is these parties that O’Doherty pinpoints as the main losers. The winner, he declares is the DUP, repeating his observation of last Sunday that Peter Robinson …

Economics.

Mick Fealty on September 20, 2002, 12:29 pm

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James Kelly in the subscription only Irish News, is getting fed up with the seemingly endless series of constitutional crises, and suggests that NI Plc is being seriously neglected in all the furore. Meantime, out in the real world away from the political hothouse, voices are being heard protesting about the political stranglehold which is choking economic growth here. One such voice is that of Jim Berry, a specialist on planning and development at the University of Ulster. He is …

More Catholics than Protestants support the Police

Mick Fealty on September 18, 2002, 12:46 pm

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Extraordinary headline, but one borne out by this study for the BBC. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty

Unionist backroom

Slugger O'Toole on September 18, 2002, 11:51 am

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The public conversation within Unionism (see here) continues in the Belfast Telegraph. This time it’s Jeffrey Donaldson. He asserts, in apparent agreement with David Trimble, that this crisis is entirely of Sinn Fein’s making. Like the Trimblite academic Paul Bew yesterday, he highlights violence as a point of concern: Levels of violence on our streets are higher now than they were at the time of the Belfast Agreement over four years ago. The Assistant Chief Constable, Alan McQuillan, has declared …

Priomhoide briste as a phost

Mick Fealty on July 31, 2002, 3:19 pm

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Dhearbhaigh an Foras Pátrúnachta cinneadh bhord bainistíochta Ghaelscoil Thulach na nÓg Tomás Ó Dúlaing a bhriseadh as a phost. Mar a duirt ceann den a na tuismitheoirí na scoile, i mBearla: “I feel sickened. We wanted to give our kids something different. We wanted them to learn more about religion than we ever had. Now bloody religion has come along and divided us and the school after all. What hope do those in the North have?” Dearainn Ian Malcolm, “Níl …

Census 2001: Some preliminary thoughts

Mick Fealty on July 17, 2002, 6:01 pm

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There’s only weeks to go before the results of the 2001 census are announced, we’ve not heard much in recent times about the demographic timebomb that awaits the Northern Ireland electorate. Though the proportion of the electorate voting Nationalist has risen exponentially in the last 30 years, the implications are not as clear-cut as it may seem on first sight. One Unionist politician I spoke to recently was at pains to point out that everyone is behaving as though the …

Stormont implementation group meets…

Mick Fealty on June 27, 2002, 5:18 pm

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The meeting of the pro-agreement parties at Hillsborough today seems to have had a mixed reception. Some are complaining that David Trimble is not showing it the regard he should, in leaving it to his Stormont Environment Minister Dermot Nesbitt. However this may have the more mundane (and hopeful??) explanation that this group will be meeting more regularly to more effectively manage the implimentation of the Belfast Agreement. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on …

Nascanna níos láidre idir Fianna Fail agus an SDLP?

Mick Fealty on June 25, 2002, 10:50 am

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Fiafraíonn Robert McMillen an bhfuil baill áirithe d’Fhianna Fáil ag breath chun nascanna níos láidre a chothú idiru féin agus an SDLP, de bhri go bhfuil Sinn Féin ag éirí níos láidre mar pháirtí? Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty

Tuesday, June 25, 2002

Mick Fealty on June 25, 2002, 10:13 am

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Whilst the controversy over collusion between the security forces and loyalist paramilitary death squads continues, there is a new wave of more skeptical coverage of the story. From Malachi O’Doherty who suggests that pushing further is a serious form of illogic for Agreement parties who have already accepted an amnesty on all paramilitaries, to Eilis O’Hanlon who suggests that if such investigation is good enough for one side it is valid for the other. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of …

Wednesday, June 05, 2002

Mick Fealty on June 5, 2002, 10:14 pm

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New Lord Mayor of Belfast Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty