EU – Page 34 – Slugger O'Toole

“…if you want trouble again in the north play that game. It’s a dangerous game”

Pete Baker on May 1, 2017, 4:04 pm

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There’s been some focus on the comments at the weekend by former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern warning about any attempt to “force” a border poll in the aftermath of the Brexit vote. His remarks are placed in a wider context by the fuller quote in the Belfast Telegraph. Speaking on Newstalk radio, the former Irish prime minister said: “The idea of a border poll… was put there when when I was conceding Articles two and three of the constitution and we were giving …

The devil is in the detail for softening a hard border and terms for a good trade deal

Brian Walker on May 1, 2017, 12:51 pm

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Here are a couple of Big Ideas. On the border…. It reads as dryly as any piece of euro-bureaucracy you could ever imagine. But here is a potential magic bullet that could ease the non-trade cross border problems of Brexit. It’s spotted by Dr Janice Morphett a planning expert currently with University College London writing in the Centre for Constitutional Change blog. It could be developed tight away, she says. Governments and local parties please take note. There are …

Inside the May/Juncker Dinner about Brexit

David McCann on May 1, 2017, 10:05 am

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A German Newspaper FAZ has an extensive report on the meeting between the European Commission President, Jean Claude Juncker and Theresa May just last week. It has been reported that the meeting did not go well but just how bad was not know until yesterday. Jeremy Cliffe of the Economist in Berlin has very kindly transcribed the meeting on his Twitter feed and here are the total exchanges from the article as transcribed by Forbes where you can find the extensive …

Citizens’ assemblies in Northern Ireland planned to influence the Brexit debate

Brian Walker on April 29, 2017, 11:41 am

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Three academics, John Garry and John Coakley of Queen’s and Brendan O’Leary of the University of Pennsylvania are planning citizens’ assemblies to feed into the Brexit debate in the absence of the elected Assembly. Good idea. We await an announcement which I hope will not be confined to academe, which is where I picked it up – you know, the liberal elite and all that. Their pitch is: How NI voted in the EU referendum – and what it means for …

On Enda’s fondness for the precedent of German reunification, be careful of what you wish for

Brian Walker on April 29, 2017, 9:36 am

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The Irish government are entitled to congratulate themselves on their achievement in persuading the EU 26 to declare that if the North joined the Republic the new state would automatically inherit the Republic’s membership. Dublin hastens to add that this incorporates the consent principle enshrined in the GFA and they are opposed to an early border poll. But the future of the open border is a completely different issue. Irish Times coverage ranges from euphoria about the declaration to nervousness …

Westminster’s reply to the SNP’s case for remaining in the single market was taken seriously after all. So why did May allow Sturgeon to claim she’d been ignored?

Brian Walker on April 29, 2017, 12:14 am

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Here’s a strange thing. There we were, led to believe that Theresa May had dismissed almost with contempt Nicola Sturgeon’s carefully considered case for the UK, or at least Scotland, to remain within the single market. It turns out it wasn’t like that at all. We know that because the Scottish Government itself has just published a reply to the SNP’s paper Scotland’s Place in Europe, from the Brexit Secretary David Davis in a letter dated 29 March. It lists …

People Before Profit to campaign against “Tory-Brexit”

David McCann on April 28, 2017, 12:16 pm

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Interesting article from the Irish News Political Correspondent, John Manley on the People Before Profit MLA and Westminster candidate, Gerry Carroll’s views on Brexit. From the article Many commentators attributed the decline in the People Before Profit representative’s vote to his pro-Brexit stance. But now Mr Carroll has said he will fight the general election on an “anti-Tory Brexit” ticket. He told The Irish News his party was as opposed to “Theresa May’s Tory Brexit” as it was to the …

The EU summit’s declaration on a united Ireland exposes British isolation

Brian Walker on April 28, 2017, 10:11 am

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EU prepares for post-Brexit united Ireland membership Summit endorsement would raise fears over fragmentation of UK The Financial Times is getting excited about today’s EU summit endorsing special treatment for Ireland in the Brexit negotiations and raises “ fears for the fragmentation of the UK “ The Irish Times political editor Stephen Collins is equally excited that a declaration on Ireland gives Enda Kenny the dignified farewell he’s been seeking. What does it amount to? The Irish Times gives a …

Another curious Brexit side effect. Companies may get grants to move jobs out of the UK…

Brian O'Neill on April 27, 2017, 3:40 pm

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Nestlé has announced that they are to axe 300 UK jobs and move Blue Riband biscuit production to Poland. More than likely this is about cost saving and has nothing to do with Brexit but it does introduce some interesting questions. Under EU rules member countries are not allowed to give subsidies that encourage companies to move jobs from one member state to another. So in the Nestlé example, Poland could not give grants to Nestlé. You can only grant …

John Bruton; “The terms for Brexit, as set out so far by Mrs May, will do incalculable damage to this island, politically, emotionally and economically”

David McCann on April 27, 2017, 11:44 am

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Some interesting evidence from former Taoiseach, John Bruton today; “While I believe it may seem impossibly optimistic today, I believe conditions can be envisaged in which, eventually, the UK voters might either decide, either not to leave the EU at all, or to decide, after it has left, to rejoin. Ireland should try to keep that possibility alive. “The terms for Brexit, as set out so far by Mrs May, will do incalculable damage to this island, politically, emotionally and …

Is Northern Ireland’s cross-community case against Brexit trundling off to hell in handcart?

Mick Fealty on April 27, 2017, 11:25 am

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So is this election about Brexit? In fact, it is much more about each of the parties and their direct needs. Mrs May, seemingly unassailable in England and Wales is using it to break back into Scotland, and it will double nicely as that second referendum the Blairites have been calling for. The 48% will become considerably less than it has been since the election. In Northern Ireland, the demise of the majority Remain opinion is almost assured. Brian Feeney thinks …

“The peace process always has to be broken down, has to be in a state of crisis for it to be protected.”

Mick Fealty on April 24, 2017, 5:55 pm

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Sinn Fein continue to throw every last stick of furniture at the wall in order to keep attention. Declan Kearney had this to say about the DUP and the British Government: …both want the political institutions back up again, of course; but they don’t want to have to tackle institutionalised bigotry, sectarianism or intolerance within the North. In recent weeks they and others have been maliciously saying publicly and privately, that in the absence of Martin McGuinness, Sinn Féin does not …

The story of François Fillon’s suits tells you why the French establishment may be facing the guillotine

Brian Walker on April 22, 2017, 1:30 pm

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Assuming you are a conservative minded Catholic would you vote for this man as your natural champion? With only a week before the first round of voting, the revelation by the investigative website Mediapart will further embarrass the conservative candidate, who lost his place as frontrunner in opinion polls after being placed under investigation for allegedly giving his British wife a “fake” job as his parliamentary assistant. Mr Fillon received three suits costing €13,000 from Robert Bourgi, a Franco-Lebanese lawyer, …

Northern Ireland still languishing at political ground zero and far from “self-actualisation”…

Mick Fealty on April 21, 2017, 9:58 am

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For all the protests from Colum Eastwood and Michelle O’Neill over the calling of this election, Theresa May is not ignoring Northern Ireland. She’s merely taking care of business according to her own political version of Maslow’s pyramid of needs. So where does Northern Ireland (our periodical losses of political power and will largely spring from the internal prohibitions of our covetous and beggarly political culture) fit in? Sadly for us, perhaps, in these post-conflict days, Northern Ireland is no longer an …

Out of respect to the voters, the governments and parties must spell out in detail where they stand on the Assembly by next week. Otherwise the election is an insult to democracy.

Brian Walker on April 20, 2017, 11:04 am

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Although only one of 13 MPs to deny Theresa May the green light for calling a Westminster general election, Mark Durkan MP surely got it right for Northern Ireland. I was not asking for an election last week or the week before; I was arguing that any move to an election in the near future would not help the negotiations in Northern Ireland. My mind has not changed, so why should I pretend that it has? Of course, this …

Why a Unionist pact is almost certain

Brendan Heading on April 19, 2017, 11:19 am

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The new Ulster Unionist leader, Robin Swann, will have had rather less time than he would have liked to shape his party’s attitude to the idea of pacts and co-operation with the DUP, not least while the UUP are still licking their wounds following the disappointing assembly result of six weeks ago. Both parties face a rather stark set of circumstances. Both are financially depleted, facing their third election within 12 months and looking to the prospect of a further …

So how will Purdah and Brexit mix in the upcoming elections/negotiations?

Mick Fealty on April 18, 2017, 1:56 pm

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A short follow-on thought from the post before (via my old friend David Steven)… Purdah and Brexit. Discuss. — David Steven (@davidsteven) April 18, 2017 If you’re not sure what Purdah means, try this… 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

Brexit means “Business as usual” for Donegal Tourism

David McCann on April 14, 2017, 11:15 am

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Earlier in the week, I ventured out West to Gweedore in County Donegal with a few journalists/bloggers to visit the town and see some of the local sights. Yet one issue that was on my mind was Brexit. We have heard many business leaders North and South give their views over the past year about the UK leaving the European Union & the possible economic consequences for many industries locally, particularly tourism. Gweedore is less than 50 miles from the …

Brexit bites as EU workers start to say screw you UK we are outa here…

Brian O'Neill on April 11, 2017, 1:05 pm

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time to move on

If there is one advantage to having kids it is that it does increase your circle of friends. Humans need social contact, especially when going through the misery joy of having your first child. We compare notes with other parents, we sympathise when they tell you their baby is not sleeping even though inside we are delighted that at least our kid is not as bad as there’s. We force a smile when another parent tells us how their little …

Monday Cartoon: At last, Brexit is triggered…

Kyle Patterson on April 10, 2017, 6:25 am

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Kyle PattersonCurrently studying for a software development MSc at Queen’s University, Belfast. I also draw political cartoons. Find me on the internet: Twitter: @TheAuthority88 Facebook: facebook.com/KylePattersonCartoonist/