No doubt David Trimble is a happier man this morning than he was on Saturday morning. Mark Devenport believes it gives him a break, but the factionalised nature of the party means he still has much to do, before he will want to consider dealing with some of his more pressing external business. UTV questions the role of Reg Empey Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and …
Tom McGurk takes occasion to cross the political floor and offer his thoughts on the problems within the UUP. Considering his copy had to be submitted before Trimble’s victory on Saturday, some of his analysis will already have proved less durable than others. At a time when the DUP have been engaged in publishing often fairly populist policy outlines on details like rates, human rights and the need for constitutional reform, perhaps his most interesting thought is in his assertion …
Nick Cohen takes a considered view of the British Home Office’s new citizenship proposals. In the process he digs up some interesting thoughts on the nationality and it’s relationship to the state; in particular, should the UK firm up the concept of Britishness by adopting a written constitution. 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 …
This week Alex Kane believes that any alliance between the pro-Agreement Reg Empey and anti-Agreement Jeffrey Donaldson will end up as anything other than a comprehensive victory for the latter, and will lead to an implosion of the party, rather than unity. By Alex. Kane The key figure in the UUP over the next few weeks will be Sir Reg Empey. Normally a ubiquitous presence in the media, his silence over the summer months has spoken volumes. But is it …
Marc, the blogger behind Stray Toaster, has enigmatically announced the appointment of Sr Gloria Icilma David as the new minister for his church, in Gracehill just outside Ballymena. Sr David is both a woman and black. In an email he asks if this is a first for Northern Ireland? 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 …
Professor John A Murphy is something of a regular irregular commentator in the Sunday Independent. This week he argues that Sinn Fein has, since the signing of the Belfast Agreement, begun to systematically revise its own history; citing the recent proposal to wipe out ex-prisoners records as an example. 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 …
After the political slumbering of summertime the Belfast Telegraph’s London correspondent views what might be a more active Autumn with a mix of optimism and caution. Though he seems to hint that a deal may take until Spring to bring about, he is hopeful of seeing the opening bids by the end of this week. 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 …
John Naughton praises the Hutton Inquiry for making the evidence submitted to it comprehensively available at its specially constructed website, but is a bit puzzled as to where the idea came from. Maybe we can throw some light on it. It appears to be “son of the Saville Inquiry“, which is currently conducting an investigation into the Bloody Sunday and logs the resulting material on the net each day. Perhaps Lord Hutton’s NI background may have had some useful byproducts …
The redoubtable anti-Agreement Stormont Watchman is back at his post in the Electric Review with some vigour. He begins by arguing that Alex Kane (who features as a counter reference for much of the the article) has wrongly identified precisely who the political dinosaurs are in Northern Ireland. He warns against the idea that Trimble can continue by simply dropping the rebels: Alex Kane and others have come to the same conclusion about the current crisis, believing that their leader …
Well, was there news arising from todays’ meeting? Well maybe. It appears to be a modest shift towards Trimble in terms of proportions – a one point rise in what was seen by some to have been a hard ceiling to his support. And with nearly 100 delegates not turning up it seems the rebels support has peaked and is falling substantially. It has certainly weakened the rebels attempts to form an alternative leadership to David Trimble, as evidenced by …
This week Brian Feeney adopts more gentle approach in his ongoing controversialist critique of unionism, by asking, ‘why are there no liberal unionists?’ He begins by going much further than simply focusing on one side of the political equation: Last year people wondered at the meaning of the strange rash of flags fluttering at the interfaces of impoverished loyalist and republican urban districts. Fenian districts favoured Palestinian flags and Prod districts Israeli. The first questions a lot of people asked …
Following on from Brian Feeney’s assertion that Unionism is a non-Liberal political movement, a useful read in this context might be Frank Thompson’s The End of Liberal Ulster. The book plots a brief period (1868-1886) when issues relating to the rural economy mattered more than the National question. It was a time when the Liberal party effectively challenged the hegemony of Tory landlords by galvanising Catholic and Protestant rural voters in support of local land reform. Ironically, he argues, the …
The governments have announced the membership of the international monitoring body, and it seems, nobody likes them! The Irish Independent’s security editor is one of the few to focus on what the possible outcomes might be, perhaps in an attempt allay unionist concerns that this is simply another ruse to shoehorn Dublin into another part of Northern Ireland’s constitutional make-up. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and …
The Newsletter used it’s editorial space on Wednesday to give overall approval to the performance of police Ombudsman, Nuala O’Loan, and suggested that the fears many had that she would block all positive police action have proved to be unfounded. 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 Republican ex-prisoners group Coiste na n-Iarchimi, have argued that ex-prisoners should not be excluded from joining the PSNI. The organisations chair Raymond McCartney pointed out that they were barred from the Ambulance Service too. 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 Broom of Anger blog has the transcript of a letter published in the Andersonstown News yesterday from the rector of Clonard Monastry in the Lower Falls area of Belfast alleging the paper had wrongly asserted that a Real IRA activist had spent two nights within the confines of the monastry. This follows an controversy earlier this year involving the paper in a row over a columnist’s accusations in the US based Irish Echo newspaper. Addendum: We have tried to …
There are a number of ways you can help Slugger remain an effective presence on the net. You can hit the donation button on the left hand margin, and send us a small amount. Or more simply by hitting any of the links in the Google ads box. These contribute an average 70 cents a day, which goes directly towards the upkeep of the Slugger site. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts …
Spare a thought tomorrow for the delegates to the Ulster Unionist Council nearly 900 of whom will heading for a four hour, no holds barred meeting to decide whether or not the party leadership has the right to expell three of its most senior players for resigning the party whip. Rival parties will also be keeping a close eye on events in Belfast’s Ulster Hall. In the run up there have been warnings and counterwarnings of the consequences of an …
Meetings are reported to have taken place between senior Loyalist paramilitaries and members of the UUP. Update: Jeffrey Donaldson expresses his alarm at UVF talks Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Monica McWilliams, former Women’s Coalition MLA, called yesterday for the revival of the devolution process and a commitment from the British government to get the process back up and running. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
