If there was ever a suspicion that there might be any softening within the no camp of the Ulster Unionists Jeffrey Donaldson dispatched it to the boundary in this afternoon’s Belfast Telegraph – to the obvious dismay of some of his colleagues. 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: …
Right, this the last mention of anything to do with St Patrick’s DAy for another year, if we can help. One of the blogcritics has tracked a place in the US that in homage to one of Ireland’s broadest and most comphensive literary minds, is willing to sell you Joyce pizza or even a Joyce steak. That’s got to be everything now! Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on …
This piece by Fintan O’Toole is worth reading for the first paragraph alone. He goes on to suggest that most of the historical issues between Britain and Ireland are over and that as such, the conflict has very little substantial left to fuel it. 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 …
Terry McMenamin has tracked down an online translation of St Patrick’s confession, said to be written by the man himself. 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
As we reported last week, Ireland has seen a thriving growth in its Islamic population. Current estimates put the total at something like 18,000 people. However, as Michael Roddy reports in this piece, Irish Jewry have not fared so well in the last fifty years or so – the current estimate is about 1,100. Thanks to Emily for the heads up! Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics …
Gary Kent considers the forced movement of Northern Ireland’s young working classes. 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
The professor of Irish History at Oxford’s St Patrick’s Day op-ed for the New York Times was well timed to co-incide with the publication of his latest book, which shows a degree of marketing nous if nothing else. Richard Eder reviews Roy Foster’s latest contribution to the revision of the tangled mass that passes for history in Ireland. Eder highlights the literary focus of Foster’s work which suggests the conflation of story and history is a peculiarly Irish trait: ”The …
Henry McDonald believes that the killing of a member of an IRA squad last week could presage the most serious split within that organisation to date. 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
Gerry Adams has not allowed himself to get caught in the same difficulty as David Trimble by the editorial board of the Chicago Sun Times last week, coming out instead with some fairly bland but upbeat remarks on the possiblities of having a successful outcome of the current negotiations. 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 …
Eammon McCann is livid at the lack of concern anywhere on the political spectrum at the momentous events now taking place in the Middle East. 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
Ian Paisley Junior kicks of the run up to St Patrick’s Day with a spirited attempt to claim St Patrick for the reformed religion. 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
The BBC two part television drama written by Ronan Bennett finally comes to America to a reasonable review in the New York Times. 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
Marion McKeone casts a laconic eye of the ballyhoo in Washington yesterday. 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
The political analyst Simon Partridge responds to Christopher Hitchens’ piece in the Atlantic magazine, with an attack on the basic tenets of the political ideology underpinning ethno-nationalisms. Read on. “Partition” is not some Deus Ex Machina which descends on unsuspecting states. It is usually a direct product of the romantic national-ism which emanated chiefly from the German reaction to the irredentist, militant secular republicanism of the French revolution which at one point threatened to over-run the whole of Europe. It …
Brian Feeney explores a Catch 22 conundrum surrounding the imposition of sanctions. 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
With the impending war in Iraq looming George Bush has taken the unprecedented step of shifting St Patrick’s Day celebrations to the 13th from the more customary 17th March. 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
It looks like the Irish government has beaten its Swiss counterpart in the battle to host Google’s European Headquarters. 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
Rosie Cowan talks with the one time IRA bomber about politics, past and present. It’s clear that she has little time for either Sinn Fein or the current peace process: …democracy is an illusion, particularly in the western world. Ultimately, the most powerful decide. I don’t believe Stormont is a stepping stone to a united Ireland. If Sinn Fein wanted to administer British rule in [Northern Ireland] there were easier ways to do it than fight a 25-year war. They …
Though it’s set in the sphere of international journalism, there are obvious parallel’s to be drawn from Jake Lynch’s engaging essay on how one might define and set about peace journalism over at OpenDemocracy. Peace Journalism is in favour of finding creative ways to illuminate processes that help to construct the course of events in a conflict � structural violence as part of the explanation for direct violence. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on …
We continue after a short hiatus with some of the reports from the ground on Unionism. We met a small group just outside the town of Portadown. Slugger spent an evening talking to a small group of Unionists in Portadown – a town with a poor reputation for community relations but one also bursting with an entrepreneurial energy of the type likely to bring high growth companies like Galen Pharmaceuticals which will probably help to reflate a weak private sector …
