It’s the Cheltenham Festival, and the first big race, the Champion Hurdle, has eight Irish horses in a field of fifteen. Reuters reports the police are on the look out for IRA money. Paddy Power has the odds for all today’s races! Mmm. Maybe selling a decent tip or two might help kick start a fund raising drive for Slugger!! Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and …
UNBELIEVABLE! Westminster’s ‘Father of the House’ Tam Dalyell has apologised to the people of Northern Ireland after 44 Labour MPs voted in support of tuition fees for students here. A year ago, they all voted against the introduction of these fees in England. Thanks guys. We know you care, honest.The News Letter reports: Veteran parliamentarian Tam Dalyell apologised to the people of Northern Ireland yesterday after a controversial vote supporting the implementation of university fees in the Province. The Scots …
For those who can’t stand the tension, here’s an ice breaker on the imminent abolition of the Smartie tube! Thanks to Alan2 for the heads up! 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
DR JOHN COULTER is a Northern political columnist with the Irish Daily Star. He controversially argues that Charles and Camilla’s wedding could signal the end of the English Monarchy as we know it, with the UK becoming a republic before the end of the century.By John Coulter The announcement of Prince Charles’ engagement to his very long-time partner, the divorcee Camilla Parker Bowles, was wonderfully timed in terms of a PR stunt to take advantage of the traditional St Valentine’s …
Interesting snippet on the fading fortunes of Tribune magazine and left leaning publications in general from Nick Greenslade at the Observer.Having the Labour government in power actually seems to have damaged the intellectual base of the left in Britain, judging by the popular sales of its magazines: The circulation of the New Statesman might stand at a relatively healthy 25,000, but in the Sixties it was selling 94,000. Meanwhile, Red Pepper, launched to much fanfare 10 years ago, has failed …
Boris Johnson with a thoughtful piece on why liberal Tories are strangely drawn towards Blairism, whilst Bruce Anderson has the sharpest piece of pro-Tory analysis we’ve seen in a long long time:He certainly tells it like it is on the perception that Margaret Thatcher was able to cut spending: As so often, however, the Tories’ task is complicated by the legacy of Margaret Thatcher. On both taxes and public spending, her rhetoric frequently bore no relation to reality. In her …
Unlikely, yes. But there are some straws in the wind blowing that way. Ruth Dudley Edwards summed up the Tory problem last week, when she suggested that the party when faced with an open goal had no football with which to score. A tidy performance by Treasury spokesman David Laws on the Week in Westminster (just over a quarter way in) on proposed tax rises, and Andrew Rawnsley believes neither of the two main parties have yet worked out how …
According to proposals by the new home secretary Charles Clarke, teenagers in Britain are to be asked to pledge their loyalty to the Queen on their 18th birthday. The story makes no mention of whether it’s compulsory or not. 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
Yep, there’s a discussion starting over Hari’s site. 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
For those of you in London, next On Wednesday (12th January) the British Labour Party’s Irish Society is holdling a public meeting at 7.30pm in the Wilson Room of the rather grand and modern Portcullis House, opposite the Palace of Westminster. Guest speaker will be Pat Rabbitte TD, Leader of the Irish Labour Party, and discussion will focus on issues around Irish Emigrants in Britain. Not sure yet if I’ll be there but if you can make it there will …
Apparently Mohammed has entered the top 20 most popular names in England and Wales, according to the Office for National Statistics. Apparently Keira is one of the fastest rising girls’ names. 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 Scotsman reports that Dr Paisley has lashed out at the way passengers flying from Edinburgh to Northern Ireland are segregated and made to wait in the cramped conditions of Gate 14 because of security arrangements that date back to the 1980’s. “Heathrow and other major airports have abandoned their special arrangements for flights to Northern Ireland. Of 20 airports in the UK with flights to Belfast, only five segregate Northern Irish passengers: Newcastle, East Midlands, Blackpool, Stansted and Edinburgh. …
The BBC has announced that Independent Conservative MP Andrew Hunter, who is standing down at the next election, is joining the DUP and will become their first English MP. Tory MP Andrew Hunter joins DUP Ambrose Uprichard
In the current context of Northern Ireland, with some many illegal arms still in circulation, this emotional argument (in the wake of the horrific killing of a neighbour) from friend and fellow blogger, Perry de Havilland comes as a bit of a radical departure for what few in Northern Ireland have given too much thought to – the liberalisation of gun law. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on …
Charles Moore believes that the English pro-hunting lobby is too emotional in terms of how it’s planning to fight the recent parliamentary ban: “Extraordinary that English people now need to learn lessons from Solidarity in Poland, the anti-apartheid struggle and the Civil Rights movement in the United States”.He suggests beginning by getting the facts of the case straight: “First, work out the nature of the injustice. This does not consist in the desire of Parliament to regulate hunting, but in …
Apologies for the late arrival of this short, personal tribute to the late John Peel. I had hoped it would find a home beyond Slugger before now, but I guess it didn’t fit anywhere else. I hope it’s not out too much out of place here on Slugger.When I heard the tragic news of John Peel’s death at 65 whilst on a working holiday with his wife Sheila in Cuzco in Peru I was also on a working holiday; a …
In last week’s column, Alex Kane’s argues that Boris Johnston was wrong to go to Liverpool and make the apology his political leader ordered, declaring, “A political column which doesn’t regularly provoke and offend, is a column which isn’t worth reading!” PS: I’m still away from Slugger Central but still contactable at mick_fealty[at]hotmail[dot]com.By Alex Kane I met Boris Johnson very briefly at a Conservative Party Conference about five or six years ago. It was before he had been elected to …
Spotted in the Guardian Science and Technology jobs section, now there’s a target market, GCHQ are recruiting! Heard but not seen – Careers in British Intelligence – Computer Science, Electronics & Communications Cheltenham. The advert points out that they “prefer on-line applications”.. Really?Where to begin? Well I’m not doing any ‘oxymoron’ jokes for a start. But anyone thinking of submitting an unauthentic application on-line should consider that “GCHQ’s role is to provide intelligence from the interception and exploitation of foreign …
I just found this story about the first Irish theme pub in Britain, which began in Liverpool (where I spent my first year in Britain) in 1984.It opened just after I left. Perhaps surprisingly there weren’t many Irish pubs in Liverpool compared with Manchester, Leeds or Birmingham back then, even though a large proportion of the population considered themselves of Irish origin. There were plenty of reminders of home in the familiar paramilitary slogans on the streets. The Orange Order …
We have a old friend who visits from Liverpool every year. He’s planning to come down to Dorset (ie Slugger central) again this November. However, he won’t be taking his usual direct route to by Virgin Trains. He’ll be flying from Liverpool to Dublin to Bournemouth. It’ll be cheaper and it’ll get him a lot quicker. He reminded me too of the campaign to restore the Liverpool Irish Centre. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers …
