One of the ironies of the elections and the posters that are put up is that sometimes irony is just round the corner. It’s hardly an open secret that Sinn Fein are very very good at dealing with the media and have been for quite some time. In conversations I have had with working class loyalists (ex paramilitaries) they all to a man agreed that Loyalism was behind in the media game (though they wouldn’t repeat that in front of …
Hmmm…Guido has news of a prospective Labour candidate who seems to have lost the run of himself with his Twitter account… As I nearly said on Evening Extra the other day, Twitter strikes me as being more of a journalists tool than a politicians… Good if you know how to handle it… Not, if you don’t… Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and …
By my limited reckoning the Tories are ahead in the buzz war in Britain, but as for Northern Ireland, well… Here’s another DUP mash up with Theresa May really struggling quite badly to remember where her party is running and ducking the Adrian Watson (ahem, Chris Grayling) question… Adds: The link to the whole thing courtesy of commenter 2two below… Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and …
Unlike Peter Robinson (who “wants to cling on”), Sir Reg Empey tells the BBC that he will stand down if elected to the Westminster seat for South Antrim: “If I win I will cease to be an MLA…” And a minister to boot… It remains to be seen with his run at South Antrim is a viable one… Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider …
The Reverend William McCrea took the South Antrim seat in a by election in 2000, fter the death of the UUP incumbent Clifford Forsythe, and then promptly lost it again in 2001 to David Burnside, thanks in part to a swell of anti DUP sentiment that stretched as far as some Alliance and nationalist voters. McCrea then took the seat back in 2005 winning by just 14,507 to 11,059. As announced by Ivor last night, this may Sir Reg Empey’s …
AND so, at last, Reg Empey grasped the bull by the horns and decided that he too will enter the election fray. It might paint over the cracks in the South Antrim Association – since Watson was prepared to stand aside for Reg – but can he do the business? Of course, if he actually wins, Reg can’t be a double-jobbing unionist party leader given his opposition to such shennanigans, which would mean a new UUP Assembly leader (Danny Kennedy …
Rather than the Sinn Féin president, Gerry Adams, using “this blog” to call on “the media” to allow “a cross cutting debate on the [bread and butter] issues that are important to citizens” in this election, perhaps he should have a quiet word in the shell-like of his former comrade-in-arms associate in North Belfast, Gerry “the only candidate in the field who can win the Westminster seat for nationalism” Kelly. But does Gerry Adams really want his record on those …
THE Northern Ireland Assembly Members Bill has just been rushed through in the ‘wash-up’ before Parliament is dissolved. UTV’s headline is misleading – Bill to end ‘double-jobbing’ passed – as it will merely encourage members not to become MPs by only paying them one salary. They do, I think, have the ability to draw expenses if they are both an MLA and MP, and so, it is with great pleasure, I hand it over to Northern Ireland’s top experts on …
Partly to keep a weather eye on some of the big ticket issues in the British General Election, I’ve thrown my cap in with TalkIssues.org. The whole idea is to take a closer look at some of the actual politics of the campaign, rather than the gossip, scuttlebutt and air punching that grab so much of the big media’s attention. My first piece is a quick pass on the issue none of the main British parties want to say too …
With the Westminster election campaign due to be officially launched later today, I thought I’d steal in with a post predicting what I believe will be the key outcomes of the intra-nationalist contest. Sinn Fein will safely coast to victory in four of its five seats, with Fermanagh South Tyrone providing the only real challenge- and expect the pressure within nationalism to mount if, as expected, unionism fields single candidates in Fermanagh South Tyrone and/ or South Belfast. The focus …
Well, they’re off. Timetable below, courtesy the FT. Just under a fortnight to the nominations deadline. Locally, despite the Ucunf fiasco. what’s the betting that unionism can’t get its act together, with all those distractions added? Just as the powersharing coalition has weathered its latest storm, they’re all set to fight the bit out again. Who is the real enemy and who is merely the opponent? Will the DUP and SF leading roles survive the contest? There’ll be plenty of …
