EU – Page 56 – Slugger O'Toole

Is Northern Ireland ready to take on the challenge of collaborative open government?

Mick Fealty on May 1, 2014, 7:52 am

| Readers 66

One modern day illusion is that because we vote for an elected government to be in charge of what the writers of Yes Minister ryely termed ‘the real government’ (the Civil Service), we as citizens also assume they are in control of everything. Yet government remains essentially an 19th Century institution trying to operate in a dynamic and fast changing 21st Century environment which has seen the emergence of a networked public square, in which demands for transparency and openness become increasingly hard to refuse. Open …

[Positive] attitudes in the Republic towards immigration are plummetting

Mick Fealty on April 29, 2014, 5:22 pm

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One of the markers of the rise of the extreme right across Europe has been a concomitant drop in positive attitudes towards immigration. And, according to a new study of 12 European countries from the University of Limerick, the Republic has seen the most dramatic change: Ireland, with Greece, experienced the largest decrease in positive attitudes to allowing immigrants into their countries during the time [2002-2010]. Alongside this change, Ireland had the highest proportion of respondents (49 per cent) who …

Scotland, “England” and the post colonial struggle for warmth and freedom between porcupines…

Mick Fealty on April 10, 2014, 8:32 am

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Melanie McDonagh writing in London based Evening Standard thinks Michael D “…isn’t so much a foreign dignitary; more like a friendlier version of Alex Salmond”. Aha, now it would be tempting to go with the ‘well if Scotland was independent…’ line, but it’s probably better to point out that as President Michael D is supposed to stay clear of politics. In fact, London is probably the least advantageous point to understand the nature and perhaps even the merits of the …

Knock Euro election hustings #nieuro (+audio)

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on April 8, 2014, 10:12 pm

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Nine parties sent candidates or representatives to the European Election hustings organised by the Peace Group in Knock Presbyterian Church in East Belfast tonight. listen to ‘#nieuro Euro hustings at Knock Presbyterian Church – candidate 60 second summary at the end’ on Audioboo A little under 200 people turned up to hear a three minute pitch from the nine speakers. Gavin Robinson (DUP) standing in for Diane Dodds Martina Anderson (SF) Lord Empey (UUP) standing in for Jim Nicholson Alex …

McCann meets….@NI21Chair Tina McKenzie

David McCann on April 7, 2014, 4:05 pm

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This morning I met NI21’s newly minted European candidate, Tina McKenzie in the Europa Hotel for one of her first interviews as the party candidate. Bouncing in and full of passion we spoke for just over twenty minutes as she regaled me with her ideas and plans for the campaign to come. I know the Sluggerverse has been critical of Tina and NI21 for a lack of policies in regards to Europe, so, this is what I wanted to primarily …

NI21 announce their Euro Candidate @NI21Chair Tina McKenzie

David McCann on April 7, 2014, 12:00 am

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Ok, folks well the wait is over and it was really what we expected but NI21 have officially announced the party Chair as their European candidate. Speaking about being nominated Tina McKenzie said in a party press statement that; I want to maximise the potential of Europe and will focus on getting the best for Northern Ireland not the best for any one community. I want to represent and promote our people, their talents, skills, commitment and drive to improve Northern Ireland …

FSB Euro Election Hustings #FSBNIHustings

David McCann on April 4, 2014, 9:41 pm

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This morning the Federation of Small Businesses in Northern Ireland hosted the first debate amongst all of the European candidates (Jim Allister didn’t turn up and Basil McCrea was representing NI21.) The event was attended by around 80 people at the top floor of the Europa Hotel. The debate kicked off with each candidate setting out their pitch about what they can/are bringing to the European Union. There did seem to be a general consensus that Northern Ireland was not …

TUV European Selection Convention- Jim Allister is the candidate

David McCann on April 3, 2014, 8:39 pm

| Readers 160

So, I wandered over to the Park Ave Hotel in East Belfast tonight to see the TUV announce as their candidate for the European election. The party room meeting was comprised of around 170 people. The evening began with a speech by the party leader Jim Allister, followed by a Q&A were delegates got the chance to ask questions about the upcoming elections. I suppose the end result was never really in doubt but it was interesting to see how the …

McCann meets…Ross Brown #gpniconf14

David McCann on April 1, 2014, 1:39 pm

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Last in my series of interviews from the Green Party conference is the party’s European candidate, Ross Brown. I began by asking him about his ability to raise the £5,000 pounds necessary to run in these elections, but he assured me that the party along with his online drive to raise funds will allow his participation in the upcoming votes. Brown told me that he believes there should be some sort of public funding for political parties in order to …

Anna Lo- A United Ireland would be better placed economically, socially and politically

David McCann on March 20, 2014, 8:05 am

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Expect more things like this from Anna Lo-she is full of surprises and her interview with John Manley in today’s Irish News is no exception to this rule as she speaks about her position on Irish unity. In the piece she tells Manley; I’m an honest person…I think it is such a small place…To divide it up and the corner of Ireland to be part of the United Kingdom… it’s very artificial. Lo stated her belief that …

Ukraine: impotent activism and the limits of US power

Turgon on March 15, 2014, 7:30 pm

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Tomorrow will bring the referendum on Crimea leaving Ukraine and joining Russia. Most people are aware of the sequence of events: the Ukrainian president turning down a deal with the EU in favour of one with Russia; mass protests in Kiev leading to the fall of the government; the new government being unacceptable in Crimea and then the entry of the Russian army. This sequence of events can be argued over at great length with arguments for and against each …

Milliband removes EU referendum from Labour’s agenda…

Mick Fealty on March 13, 2014, 10:26 am

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Shrewd argument from Lord Ashcroft on Milliband’s speech on not calling an EU referendum: My polling has found that Tory voters are twice as likely as Labour voters, and UKIP voters three times as likely, to say that defending Britain’s interests in Europe is one of the most important issues facing the country. Among the reservations that potential Labour voters have about the party – economic competence, opposition to welfare reform, the leader himself – opposition to an EU referendum …

McCann meets… Alex Attwood MLA

David McCann on March 11, 2014, 12:18 am

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I met with the SDLP’s candidate for the upcoming European elections, Alex Attwood up at Stormont to discuss his views on Europe, Nationalism, SDLP and the Executive. When we began, Alex told me about the impact that his parents, particularly his mother had on his politics of looking after others and standing up for the democratic way of doing things. These values that he was taught as a child informed his later choices as a student when he joined …

David Cameron’s bid to go it alone could open up the debate on the UK’s future on the EU

Mick Fealty on February 25, 2014, 7:45 am

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NOW this is interesting. James Kirkup at the Telegraph broke the news last night that as well as having its manifesto writen by five old Etonians (and one former pupil of St Pauls, and I don’t mean the one in Beechmount!), the Tories will be going into the next election determined not go into coalition. Bold move by the Cameroons. Though as Mike from Political Betting notes, it is one that could swing both ways. It would certainly clear the …

McCann meets…Anna Lo MLA #AimHighVoteLo

David McCann on February 21, 2014, 9:46 pm

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On Thursday evening I met the Alliance party’s European candidate, Anna Lo MLA for an interview about her experiences as a politician in Northern Ireland, the upcoming European elections and her future. I began by asking her about her experience in being elected in 2007 and the support she garnered from the Chinese community in South Belfast; I was very grateful for the support and really felt very emotional as some of them (Chinese community) had never voted ever in …

“Scary or liberating, that is the meaning of independence…”

Mick Fealty on February 21, 2014, 12:06 pm

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Talking to an English mate the other day he was waxing lyrical about how he’d be glad to get rid Scotland, until I pointed out that that’s a song you could keep singing until there was only London, Kent and the home counties left, at which point you’d be left with a valueless lump of the managerial classes. No lumpenproletariat to fight your wars, for instance? It was just a bit of banter, but there’s a reason loping stuff off …

Lord Chief Justice Morgan: “this is a case about political failure”

Pete Baker on December 28, 2013, 4:02 pm

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Not the Haass talks. You can keep your nose pressed against the windowpane with David if you’re hoping for a scrap of comfort from that. No, this is about the continued dysfunctional approach of the two main parties of the Northern Ireland Executive semi-detached polit-bureau to the process of government – as defined under the current administration. Sinn Féin’s pre-Christmas (23 Dec) defence of the Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill’s unilateral decision to re-allocate €137 million of EU funding over the next six …

Kenny addresses the nation as Ireland exits its bailout.

David McCann on December 15, 2013, 10:42 pm

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Only five times in Irish history has a Taoiseach taken to the airwaves to address the nation and Kenny went for his second go tonight as Ireland exits its bailout programme. Full text of the speech is available here Overall I found it a bit of a dull speech without any real coherent message or point. At many times it just seemed like Kenny was giving the address simply to tell us everything that we already knew. He did take …

On Ireland’s strange romance with ‘Euronationalism’….

Mick Fealty on November 29, 2013, 2:58 pm

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Ever wondered why nearly all our Northern Ireland MEPs have been Eurosceptic (with the exception of the SDLP) whilst those in the south have been almost universally Europhile? John Coakley on the remarkably protean nature of Irish identity, and it’s willingness to engage with wider notions of European identity… It may well be the case that the pillars on which Irish nationalism has relied in the past – such as its ancestral language, a perceived link to the Catholic tradition, …

Taoiseach promises to ‘look into it’ just as the eleventh hour passes on Narrow Water bridge…

Mick Fealty on November 16, 2013, 9:56 am

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So the EU money is gone, withdrawn as Wesley Johnston notes on the grounds “that the project’s instigators (Louth County Council) have not been able to secure sufficient funding to complete it in time for the deadline of June 2015”. Locally Paul Malone of the Newry Times seems fairly sanguine about a project that’s been mouldering in the local imagination for forty years… The Interreg IVA fund pulled out in the end because of a shortfall of just £5m, which …