EU – Page 50 – Slugger O'Toole

Paisley: Relic of the Past or Harbinger of the Future?

Gerry Lynch on October 26, 2015, 9:56 pm

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I recently chanced upon this 1987 review by Charles Townshend in the LRB of Steve Bruce’s God Save Ulster: The Religion and Politics of Paisleyism. It now reads as a fascinating period piece. Just the previous month, Paisley had performed the first of his major protests at the European Parliament, heckling Margaret Thatcher. She was congratulating the EEC on its expansion to Spain and Portugal when he stood up, brandishing an ‘Ulster Says No’ poster, and shouted, “I would like …

Will a #Brexit trigger an #IndyRef2?

Mick Fealty on October 26, 2015, 9:05 am

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Fascinating as ever John Curtice looks at what polling says about Scottish attitudes towards Brexit, and much of it hinges on the SNP’s nationalist pro EU outlook… …in Scotland, those wanting to remain substantially outnumber those who wish to leave. Survation reported as many as 51 per cent said they would vote to remain, while just 29 per cent would opt to leave. More recently in a poll published last week, YouGov have reported almost identical figures; 51 per cent …

Man wanted by German Authorities over 1996 PIRA Attack arrested in Kerry

Pete Baker on October 9, 2015, 9:25 pm

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About that bad smell… Here’s one to keep on eye on. The BBC report notes A [46-year-old] man wanted by German authorities over an attack on a British army base in Germany in 1996 has appeared in court in the Republic of Ireland on an extradition warrant. And from the Irish Times report James Anthony Oliver Albert Corry (46) was arrested in Killorglin, Co Kerry, on Friday on foot of a European Arrest Warrant issued by German authorities. Mr Corry is …

What are the issues for NI when imagining Brexit from the EU? (audio)

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on October 6, 2015, 9:40 pm

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BREXIT – Has Northern Ireland even begun to discuss the European Union referendum that is likely to be held in September 2016? Have we a handle on how the issues peculiar to Northern Ireland? Listen back to the discussion at QUB’s event earlier tonight.

Mother Angela & her Children

Paul Hagan on October 2, 2015, 1:09 am

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Addressing a special event in Brussels yesterday evening to mark a quarter century of German re-unification at he German President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz criticised Hungary’s government for their miserly role in Europe’s current refugee crisis and for re-erecting some of the border fences which most Germans had hoped had come-down with the Berlin Wall (he made no mention of Belfast’s “peace-lines”). The subsequent film at the event showed a montage of images on how the unified Germany …

“in which case, may I be the first to say well done Gerry.”

Pete Baker on September 28, 2015, 3:23 pm

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Aided and abetted by the right-wing nationalists of the Independent Greeks, Alexis Tsipras has been returned to power in Greece at the head of a New Syriza “experiment” to implement the EU bail-out, and associated austerity measures, that the Old Syriza experiment was once elected to oppose. Given the contortions Tsipras has put his party, and his country, through it was interesting to see the Sinn Féin president, Gerry Adams, quick off the mark to congratulate Tsipras [on his chutzpah? – …

As UKIP turns its own immigration policy on its head, something has changed…

Mick Fealty on September 4, 2015, 4:59 pm

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I’ll preface this #SluggerReport with a link to a personal story from an old friend Bernie Duffy (whose personal adventures in migration I suspect would fill several volumes over and over… It illustrates very well on a personal level the unexpected comprehensiveness of the migrant/refugee crisis, and how it has caught public discourse (in the UK and to a lesser extent Ireland) severely on the hop… And not just David Cameron, but the case of UKIP (a party capable of …

Labour’s Leaderships: Entertaining political psychodrama or a struggle with the protean reality of 21C Politics?

Mick Fealty on September 3, 2015, 1:51 pm

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So, normally I hate futuring. But leaving aside what the polls say, the betting markets are convinced Corbyn is home and hosed as the new Labour Party leader. He may even come in at anywhere between 60% and 70% of the party electorate. The party electorate as opposed to the party membership. As William Hague took rather too much delight in telling the Daily Telegraph’s readership, those aren’t the same: If there was an NVQ Level 1 in How To …

Cruddas’ report finds anti austerity POPULISM is NOT very popular

Mick Fealty on August 6, 2015, 8:24 am

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So, a quick break from holidays, to share this from Jon Cruddas on why Labour lost the last election: The first hard truth is that the Tories didn’t win despite austerity, they won because of it. Voters did not reject Labour because they saw it as austerity lite. Voters rejected Labour because they perceived the Party as anti-austerity lite. 58% agree that, ‘we must live within our means so cutting the deficit is the top priority’. Just 16% disagree. Almost …

The centre cannot hold? Don’t be so fainthearted! Revolution is not ahead

Brian Walker on August 1, 2015, 1:27 pm

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Some reflections on the state of the centre of politics culled from recent writing. We begin with a focus on Ireland in two pieces which reveal the underlying fear of the further rise of Sinn Fein, although the main topic in each case is wider. First, an excellent survey of the ongoing study of the period of the 1916 rising and its contemporary resonance by the English historian David Reynolds, in the News Statesman. Perhaps in 2016, a century on, …

Irish ambassador’s latest move in the Republic’s role in the campaign to keep the UK in the EU

Brian Walker on July 30, 2015, 3:10 pm

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The FT (£,unfortunately) reports a strategically timed interview with the Irish ambassador to the UK , the Yeats-loving Dermot Mulhall. Remember when the Irish people reversed their “ wrong” answer in the first referendum on the Lisbon Treaty? It was the bold Dermot who fund the way through, apparently. Now he’s recommending that the UK follows a similar route to avoid the calamity – for both islands – of Brexit . But eventually the rest of the EU agreed to the …

We need a national conversation

Paul Braithwaite on July 24, 2015, 1:00 pm

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A deep and wide process of engagement with citizens to co-create a future vision for N(n)orthern Ireland could help jolt our peace process and our politicians out of the stalemate we find ourselves in. I’m fortunate to have had the opportunity to work in a few far-flung places, including Pakistan, DRC and Rwanda – each of which have longstanding conflicts, many strongly driven by an inability to peacefully resolve issues over tribal, ethnic or religious identity. One thing that’s undeniably …

After Greece – where now for Cameron’s negotiating?

Paul Hagan on July 21, 2015, 10:46 am

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Donald Tusk has improved his English lately, which may have something to do with his employing of an Ulster-born speech-writer. The former Prime Minister of Poland took-over from Herman “damp-rag” Van Rompuy as the President of the Council of the EU last year, this was the job once sought by Tony Blair, but no British candidate had been in the picture this time around. Tusk made an executive decision in the early hours of last Sunday morning to cancel the …

Failure of anti austerity narrative and the political fallout of the ‘Greek Diktat’ in Ireland?

Mick Fealty on July 14, 2015, 11:38 am

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“There is nothing so practical as a good theory…” – Kurt Lewin (1890-1947) So here’s the pattern. You protest that the lot who are in power are corrupt and are letting the people down, and have not asked for what they would inevitably be given, if only they had asked for it. In the case of Greece, despite a long hard haul out from under an impossible burden, the Greek economy eventually clocked up a 2% rate. Not bad for a country …

What the Greek diktat says about the future of Europe.

Brian Walker on July 14, 2015, 10:39 am

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Away from the political turmoil, the bewildering complexity and the human misery at the root of it all, a couple of interesting overviews. First, the shock of final disillusionment from Fintan O’Toole. already scarred by the experience of the Irish bailout. What’s the difference between the Mafia and the current European leadership? The Mafia makes you an offer you can’t refuse. The leaders of the European Union offer you a deal you can neither refuse nor accept without destroying yourself. …

Greek deal: This Is NOT a Coup

Pete Baker on July 13, 2015, 4:48 pm

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Whether the Syriza-led government of Greece survives its own domestic democratic pressures remains to be seen following the deal struck at the Eurozone summit yesterday – in the end the 28 EU leaders didn’t have to meet… The Guardian live-blog on the Greek crisis notes one possible scenario Analysts at Eurasia Group suspect Greece could soon head towards a national unity government, if many government MPs refuse to back the bailout deal on Wednesday night. If Tsipras loses his majority and potentially even …

The Greek Deal…A final act of subversion?

Johnny Fallon on July 13, 2015, 1:14 pm

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John O’Donovan, Radio Producer, presenter and lecturer in media says that Greece now needs an election before any deal can be agreed. After a victorious referendum result that saw the Greek people defeat an austerity deal by a clear mandate of 61%, Greece has now been bounced into what appears to be an even more swingeing bailout deal. The third bailout deal will keep Greece in the Eurozone, if it is passed in the Greek Parliament by Wednesday, but at …

European Council President on Greek Crisis: “the final deadline ends this week”

Pete Baker on July 8, 2015, 12:13 am

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Following what the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is reported to have described as a “very long, intensive”, “very clear and candid discussion” at the emergency summit of Eurozone leaders in Brussels tonight, some details are emerging of the next steps in the continuing Greek crisis. From the Guardian’s live blog. Europe has given Athens one last chance to produce a credible economic reform plan that could underpin a new bailout. It has also threatened that Greece will leave the Eurozone …

#SluggerReport: Greece votes No (but does anyone here know what that means?)

Mick Fealty on July 6, 2015, 3:10 pm

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listen to ‘Greece Votes No, but what does that mean?’ on audioBoom Today, there was only one topic worth tackling. The result of yesterday’s Greek Referendum. Key reference today is Pete’s post from early 2011: “When it becomes serious, you have to lie.”? The #SluggerReport goes out on Periscope live 10am with a edited podcast appearing on Slugger’s audioBoo page later. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics …

Greek referendum: a lose lose for Europe

Turgon on July 5, 2015, 10:48 pm

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I have always tried to avoid making predictions as unlike Mr. Ashdown, I have few hats and no desire to devour any of them. It does seem, however, as though the Greek population have rejected the terms of the latest bailout. The saga of the Greek Eurozone experiment and its travails seems to have gone on rather longer than the Trojan War. How one analyses the blame depends to a large extent on one’s views on economics and the whole …