Burnside, Donaldson and Smyth are threatening to split the Ulster Unionists apart, David Trimble warned in an interview on BBC Ulster yesterday. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
A party-goer gives Belfast the thumbs up as a fun night out with little trouble. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Kelly McBride, sister of Peter McBride who was shot dead by two British soldiers, has decided to stand for parliament in order to promote her family’s campaign to get the two soldiers dismissed. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
A four-member, independent commission is being set up in the hope it will play a role in the return to devolution. Lord Alderdice, Speaker of the suspended Assembly, has been asked to join the commission which is expected to ensure Members operate ‘within the Agreement’. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Frank Millar writes today that David Trimble will put his leadership on the line if he loses at the UUC meeting on Saturday, rather than subject himself to yet another expensive (politically and financially) meeting of the council. Interestingly Millar draws a parallel with John Major’s back me or sack me ultimatum to his party in the mid 90’s. He also goes on confirm speculation that a compromise alternative to Trimble may already be being worked out: It also coincides …
Another co-author of A Long Peace and regular in the comments fields here at Slugger, David Steven has been following the Hutton enquiry closely. Today on his own etecetera blog he comes up with an interesting perspective from the NI representative on the BBC’s board of governors on the issue of news management. 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 …
David Trimble’s former press secretary, Martin McNeely, has warned that although he regards the party leader as head and shouldrs above any of his rivals, his real failure to date has been his inability to impose party discipline and drive through the necessary changes to what he calls “an old-style political club”. He’s worth quoting more fully, because his views are close to a wider feeling within the pro Agreement Unionist camp: Whilst David Trimble is very good at addressing …
Hugh Orde gets an ear bashing on the Lisburn road for a range of domestic crimes that plague its citizens. However Chris Thorton argues, what might be embarassing for a Cheif Constable anywhere else, can be interpreted as a mark of success for Orde’s first year in charge of the fledgling PSNI. Indeed compared to this time last year, the issue of policing appears to have gone off the boil. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written …
In response to this post, and the discussion it gave rise to, which questioned the need for Unionism to seek some of form of unified cultural expression, political analyst Simon Partridge emailed us with the following response, which opens out the subject in a number of interesting ways. By Simon Partridge Roy makes the essential point that unionism is not an antithetical political category to nationalism (except as mistranslated in Ireland); indeed, the Union is something deeper and wider than …
Robin Wilson of Democratic Dialogue has the op-ed slot in tonight’s Belfast Telegraph. He focuses on four things he believes could be changed to help promote a less sectarian field of play for politics in Northern Ireland: the consent principle; move from STV to AV for voting; discard the designation system in favour of a weighted majority coalition; and fourth which follows from the last, is ditch d’Hondt system, which gives all parties a seat in cabinet. It might work …
I’m away from Slugger Central for the next two days, but there will be limited posting from the ubiquitous sluggerotoole. In the meantime a few recommendations: David Steven on blogging as journalism; the Portadown News is unmissable this week; Paul Dunne on crossed wires in and around West Belfast; Christopher Hitchens has a dig at Ian Paisley, whilst dishing it up to the ten commandments and religion in general; and if you haven’t been there already, Up the Lagan and …
Yesterday’s all Ulster All Ireland semi final was a tight fought affair. Armagh left it to the very end to edge out what should have been relatively easy opposition for them. One wit in the crowd organised a banner which read Garvaghy Road Orangemen on tour (the colour of the Armagh team). Armagh go on to face neighbours Tyrone in what will be the first all Northern Ireland final. At least one Irishman in Britain will be doing what he …
The Sunday Times managed to tease out material from an interview that Danny Morrison gave to a journalism student in Dublin, on how he tried to manage the news agenda in the on-going battle between hacks and flacks. �We wanted to control everything,� he admitted. �If journalists wanted access to the IRA they had to come through us and then we get into a relationship and quid pro quos develop. If people got exclusive stuff from us, then you had …
David Burnside joins a number of other possible bidders for Trinity Mirror’s Irish titles. Burnside seems particularly interested in the largely Unionist Newsletter title. Other players mentioned in the past include the Andersonstown News Group, which was considering taking on the largely nationalist Derry Journal. 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 …
Although this is a bit of a specialist read for lovers of Gaelic football, Tom McGurk lays out what he believes are the ways in which the Ulster teams have revolutionised the game by driving through the many ambiguities within the official rule book. 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 …
Marc Mulholland recalls a seminar in Oxford at which both Anthony McIntyre and Danny Morrison spoke about their differing views on the future of republicanism. Mulholland detected a substantive move away from the old rhetoric of national self determination. My own clearest recollection of the same event was Morrison’s view that during the troubles he had been a fundamentalist. How else, he argued, could one wage war in pursuit of a political agenda? The evolution began around 1977, about the …
Alex Kane is clearly getting frustrated with the air of unreality that has descended upon politics in Northern Ireland. But what exercises him most is the thick fog that appears to have descended upon the leader of his own party, the UUP. All members, he claims, want a final and lasting resolution to the party’s difficluties – whichever way it goes. The next UUC meeting is due on Saturday – a matter of months after the last one. By Alex. …
Slugger regular IJP is interviewed by Newsletter journalist Ian Starrett in his capacity as a language expert, and looks into the origins of the ubiquitous term that has been extensively marketed to tourists in particular as a keynote of the Irish experience. 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: …
David McKittrick hints that the quiet summer may help create the conditions for the return of local government. However, how quickly that happens is more likely to hinge on whether the UUP can resolve its difficulties around a broadly pro-Agreement agenda this Saturday. The suspicion remains that we are in for a long wait. 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 …
John Hunter laments the difficulties the Brice Dickson, but suggests that some of it has arisen from not effectively controlling the Commission’s agenda. 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
