“willingness of political leaders to step away at times from the tight chains of their tribe…”

Emily O’Reilly speaking at the BIPA in Kilkenny this morning with a useful reminder of how the Belfast Agreement came about: As a journalist from the early 1980s until 2003, I covered major events from the 1985 Anglo Irish Agreement through to the 1998 Good Friday or Belfast Agreement and for several years after that as the Agreement became embedded I covered its ebbs and flows. I lived in Belfast for a period in the late 1980s and witnessed too …

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Brexit will strengthen the Union

Brexit will strengthen the Union, not weaken it. The vast majority of Scottish & Ulster trade is far and away with the rest of the UK. Scottish trade with the EU is down 20% in the last year with the USA being Scotland’s single biggest export country. The Republic of Ireland accounts for only just over 4% of Northern Ireland sales (which is more than Northern Ireland sales to the rest of the EU put together) A report from Barclays …

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Football Eligibility: An Issue for the Misinformed and Those Seeking to Deny National Rights?

The matter of the eligibility of northern-born Irish nationals to play for the Football Association of Ireland was raised again recently at a panel discussion on sport and reconciliation during the 50th plenary session of the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly (BIPA). It was co-chaired by Frank Feighan of Fine Gael, who told us that the “trend… deserves careful consideration”. This dispute has long been resolved, however, with football’s governing body, FIFA, providing ample clarification as to the correct application of their …

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BIPA and facing the difficult politics of a common history….

The British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly  delved deep into history to commemorate the centenary of the Great War and to highlight the long hidden and shared contribution of soldiers – Catholic and Protestant, Nationalist and Unionist – as a means of overcoming present differences. Many cite the comment by Churchill at the end of that war that “The whole map of Europe has been changed … The mode of thought of men, the whole outlook on affairs, the grouping of parties, all have encountered violent and tremendous changes in …

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British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly: Recommendations on GFA…

This session is in Dublin at the Royal Hospital. Panel Discussion currently underway is on the theme ‘Future of Work’… Senior Vice President of Londonderry Chamber of Commerce – Gerry Kindlon Science Foundation of Ireland – Ann Riordan, Chairperson IDA – Frank Ryan, Chair Of particular interest to Slugger readers is the Assembly’s recommendations on the Belfast Agreement: a formal public reporting mechanism on the implementation of the Agreements be put in place every effort be made to bring the …

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Is the UK government serious about the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly?

There have been 47 plenary sessions of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly and its predecessor body since 1990. They usually take place in Ireland or GB. Many Taoisigh have addressed the meeting and underlined their support for its work. But never has a British Prime Minister done the same. Being in London it would have been a golden opportunity for the British PM, David Cameron to break the mould. Or Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister with formal responsibility for the …

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Ever heard of “Operation Irish” in Wales?

The Sh!t hit the fan, literally, at the end of this week’s British Irish Parliamentary Assembly in London today. A group of Welsh and Irish parliamentarians urged the Assembly to condemn the offensive use of the term “Operation Irish” as the code for a South Wales police operation to persuade schoolchildren to clear up dog mess. The police have apologised and say that “operational names are randomly assigned to policing operations for administrative purposes.” This rather misses the point which is …

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BIPA at 21: Has its day come?

At the end of its recent plenary in Brighton Irish Co-Chair Joe McHugh quipped that that the low profile of the Assembly had been changed by press coverage of its decision to hold the plenary in the Grand Hotel 27 years after the Provo bomb that nearly killed Mrs Thatcher. Some Conservative MPs were angered by the decision which was taken for practical rather than political reasons. Northern Ireland ministers unusually stayed away pleading a conflicting diary engagement. Reservations about …

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BIPA: Some heat and light in Brighton…

The pebbley beaches in Brighton deprive me of using the metaphor that the tide is about to overcome a carefully constructed sand castle But there is a sense here in Brighton at the 43rd plenary of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly that the tide may soon come in on a body that has done much to foster good relations in these islands but is now searching for a role I am hearing strong suggestions that the British Government may call time …

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