Ireland – Page 11 – Slugger O'Toole

How to solve a problem like election posters

Niall Kelly on April 24, 2019, 11:51 am

| Readers 2522

five posters, four parties, one lamppost

A discussion has broken out in the South about the erection of election posters in Dalkey, after Dalkey Tidy Towns had declared a no go area for them and warned that any such posters put up in the area would be “removed and destroyed.” This seems to be part of the wider Poster Free campaign which claims to have signed up over 160 “towns/areas” to having no plastic election posters through campaigns run by a number of TidyTowns organisations, but …

The Cult of Death

Andrew Gallagher on April 22, 2019, 9:14 am

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The late Horseman wrote that the Irish language is the First National Hypocrisy. But Ireland does not lack for hypocrisies. The Irish state is founded on the greatest hypocrisy of them all. On Saturday a republican splinter group with no electoral mandate marched down O’Connell Street, to the outrage of the entire country. Not 24 hours later that same entire country commemorated and celebrated the armed rebellion of a republican splinter group with no electoral mandate. Dissident republicans commit murder …

‘A threat to the union’

Paul Gosling on April 22, 2019, 7:00 am

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“Unionism needs to look and recognise that the environment around us is changing,” says former Ulster Unionist Party leader Mike Nesbitt MLA. He adds: “I would like to see civic unionism becoming more active… Perhaps we need to build civic society that goes beyond the division and the politics of unionism and nationalism”. The call for a strong civic society was made in the second interview in the series of more than 30 Forward Together podcasts. These were recorded with …

‘Christians should lead in healing Northern Ireland’

Paul Gosling on April 19, 2019, 7:00 am

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Christians should take a leading role in healing Northern Ireland, says Bishop Ken Good, the Church of Ireland bishop for the cross-border diocese of Derry and Raphoe. He also says that politicians should speak less and that civil society should find its voice. Bishop Ken Good was interviewed in the first of a series of more than 30 Forward Together podcasts recorded with leading figures across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to mark 21 years since the signing …

Children of the Ceasefire: Reflections on the Border I

Soapbox on April 17, 2019, 11:57 am

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As we head into the home stretch of Brexit, the issue of a hard border in Ireland seems to be the main issue. The question of how to regulate the flow of goods and trade has no clear answer. Much has been made by the DUP of there being no need for a border, as trade has always been free-flowing. If that where the case one wonders why the military felt it necessary to ever establish check-points, outposts and look-out …

Children of the Ceasefire: Reflections on the Border II

Soapbox on April 17, 2019, 11:56 am

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Irish. Northern Irish. A global citizen. Three ways in which I described myself in my previous blog post. In describing this, I highlighted my concerns to being constrained to one certain identity. However, as discussions on Brexit intensify, so does the issue of the border and these constraints of identity. I am a holder of an Irish passport. I play and follow Irish sports. I have studied at an Irish university. I have been christened with an Irish name. I …

Children of the Ceasefire: Reflections on the Border III

Soapbox on April 17, 2019, 11:55 am

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The Issue of the Border in Ireland is a debate caught between two fronts. The border, as it exists currently, is representative of a physical and symbolic/metaphysical indicator of relative peace and stability in Ireland. The openness of the physical border has consequentially allowed for civil debate and meaningful reconciliation between Northern and Southern communities to flourish. The absence of a physical manifestation of the border solidified by investment through the PEACE I-IV, and EDF schemes in Northern Ireland and …

The catastrophic fire of Notre Dame gives us a poignant message for Easter, that our heritage is as much about renewal and rebirth as death and destruction

Brian Walker on April 16, 2019, 1:50 pm

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Michael Kimmelman of the New York Times brings an American perspective to the catastrophic fire at Notre Dame. Like him I immediately thought of the place accorded to the great cathedral by Kenneth Clark in his monumental BBC series Civilisation I saw when broadcast in the 1970s, and then kept in an old fashioned box set of VHSs for viewing by children as an essential part of their education. Like Kimmelman, I think of other fires and destruction of the …

The Unity Genie is Out of the Bottle: What do Unionism and Southern Parties do Next?

Soapbox on April 16, 2019, 1:49 pm

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As we fast approach the local council elections, it’s important to assess what the results might tell us about the future of Stormont and power-sharing as a whole. Will the council elections show a growth in the Nationalist vote? And/or will we finally see a breakthrough in middle ground voters, against the vacuum and groundhog day of our local politics? I do not need to inform all where we’re at and why. We all have slightly different takes on this, …

How do we create a better society? Announcing the ‘Forward Together’ podcasts

Paul Gosling on April 16, 2019, 10:00 am

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To mark 21 years since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, an important new initiative begins on Good Friday, 19th April, 2019. A series of podcasts will be broadcast twice a week, seeking answers to questions about the future of Northern Ireland and the border counties. The objective is to promote a wider, more inclusive and engaged conversation about how we make progress, further solidify peace and create a genuinely shared and integrated society. We want that discussion to …

Holocaust survivor Tomi Reichental: the boy from Belsen brings urgent lessons to Belfast…

William Matchett on April 15, 2019, 10:54 am

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“IT starts with whispers” Tomi explained. Good people say and do nothing because they think what is happening has nothing to do with them. But they are wrong. It has everything to do with them. Prejudice-laden rumours unite as much as they divide. They get louder when good people do not to stand up and speak out. By the time they catch on, it is too late. What was at a neighbour’s door is now at their door. The bullies …

Book Review: Neither Here nor There – The Many Voices of Liminality, featuring Pádraig Ó Tuama

Gladys Ganiel on April 8, 2019, 11:04 am

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Liminality. It’s not necessarily a word that pops up in everyday conversation – unless you are an anthropologist. A new book, Neither Here nor There – The Many Voices of Liminality (The Lutterworth Press, 2019), edited by Timothy Carson, offers an impressive range of accessible, eclectic, entertaining, and informative meditations on liminality. Among its 17 contributing authors is poet and theologian Pádraig Ó Tuama, leader of the Corrymeela Community since 2014. Liminality is the disorientation or unsettling that takes place …

Does Political Violence Work? #imaginebelfast

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on April 7, 2019, 8:30 am

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QUB pro-vice-chancellor Professor Richard English delivered a 40-minute talk on the topic of Does Political Violence Work? during the recent Imagine! Belfast festival, looking at terrorism by non-state and potentially state actors as well as drawing some conclusions about the disjunction between why campaigns start, why people join up, what is achieved and how we post hoc rationalise what happens.

Emma DeSouza: None of us benefit from the Home Office’s position

Sarah Creighton on April 5, 2019, 6:23 pm

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In 2015, Emma DeSouza married her American husband, Jake, in a ceremony in Belfast. Later that year, the couple applied for an EEA residence card. Their application relied on the 2006 EEA Regulations and was grounded in Mrs DeSouza’s Irish citizenship. In September 2016, to the couple’s surprise, their application was declined. In giving its reasons for refusing Mr DeSouza’s residence card, the Home Office referred to Mrs DeSouza’s citizenship. She was born in Northern Ireland and, in the Home …

We Are Irish Too – Fact Checked

Emma DeSouza on April 4, 2019, 10:49 pm

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I somewhat accidentally uncovered a change to the UK immigration rules recently that will have a serious impact on the people of Northern Ireland. On March 7th the UK Government changed the definition of an EEA national. The new definition states that EU citizens that also hold British citizenship will not meet the definition of an EEA national under the UK’s immigration rules, and will be unable to apply under the EU settlement scheme. In essence, they will be regarded …

Questions Over Latest Claims on Irish Citizenship Rights

Willow on April 2, 2019, 12:57 pm

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On Sunday 31 March, Emma de Souza tweeted a two-page excerpt from an unidentified 294-page document and stated: ‘On March 7th the UKG changed the definition of an EEA citizen to exclude those who are also British. They have also stated that ‘”as a matter of law” the people of Northern Ireland are British by birth. NI born Irish citizens will not be considered EU citizens.’ Within the two pages was a definition of ‘EEA citizen’ as a person who …

What’s happening with Brexit: Sharing some thoughts with RTE Radio 2…

Mick Fealty on April 1, 2019, 8:30 am

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As of right now, the executive has lost control to Parliament. But Parliament has neither the tools nor the mandate for governing. Mrs May’s cabinet is divided and leaking unsavouring briefings to the British Media. Despite talk of a no deal, the Commons has clearly indicated to the government it does not want one. Technically there is nothing stopping Mrs May from doing it, but politically she is so weak it would be hard to defend the potential damage. An …

Bill Clinton and George Mitchell some of the big names backing an ambitious plan to finance the cost of Irish reunification…

Brian O'Neill on April 1, 2019, 7:30 am

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The FT is reporting on an ambitious plan by billionaire Irish American hedge fund manager Ronan O’Shaughnessy to finance the cost of Irish reunification. With Brexit there have been increasing demands for a border poll on reunification. One of the major issues for debate is how the Republic will pay for an all Ireland. But Mr O’Shaughnessy believes he has a solution: Our economic appraisal of the situation is that reunification will cost in the region of 6billion euro per …

Brexit at a Belfast School Gate

Claire Mitchell on March 30, 2019, 10:56 am

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Brexit staggers forward like a whiskey laced fever, and nobody at the school gate says its name. It’s 30th March. There’s no exit, no plan. The mums are stockpiling cans of beans. Not because of apocalypse. But because they expect the price of food to increase. They’re a practical lot. One friend had no money this week. Off to the food-bank. Straining to make polite conversation while trying, and failing, to hold back tears after pick-up. Over 30,000 food parcels were …

Brexit stalemate and our increasing clumsiness in the handling our democratic lives…

Mick Fealty on March 29, 2019, 11:38 am

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The problem with referendums is how they throw people (even the best of us) back upon too easily formulated binaries that take no account of outcomes. The most depressing thing about the Brexit referendum is not just how it has split the host country but its international repercussions. I voted remain and I’d do so again. Not because I can’t see what irritates Leavers (just see how getting rid of daylight saving time is being dealt with by simple majority …