Ireland – Page 13 – Slugger O'Toole

Micheál Martin: In exploiting legacy issues, Sinn Féin is “undermining a fundamental pillar of the peace process”

Mick Fealty on February 22, 2019, 12:23 pm

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So the policing controversy rumbles on. Since 1991 when only 8% of the RUC was Catholic until now when the Irish Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan puts it at 32%. The most salient part of this is that the 50/50 recruitment policy only delivered a 9% increase. The largest part of the change arose from the removal of the threat of death after the official ceasefires. Whilst the SDLP line that the 50/50 recruitment process has merit, the cultural problem with …

The mechanics of a Border Poll

Andrew Gallagher on February 22, 2019, 8:00 am

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Mark Bassett and Colin Harvey have this week produced an important paper, which works through the mechanics of a border poll. Although as the authors point out, this might not be the best choice of words: When people use the term “border poll” they are referring to the question of whether Northern Ireland will remain within the United Kingdom or join a united Ireland. Although it is widely used and adopted, we question how helpful it is in capturing the …

“Fair employment and equal opportunities legislation are built upon open and transparent practices, free from political interference…”

Pete Baker on February 19, 2019, 4:26 pm

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The, at best, ill-considered comments by Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald yesterday, on potential candidates from within the PSNI to succeed George Hamilton as Chief Constable, have prompted a sharp reminder from the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland to the NI Policing Board of its responsibilities under equality legislation to recruit in a non-discriminatory way. The Equality Commission has expressed its concern about the recent comments made by the Sinn Féin President about the appointment of a new Chief …

Picking the things the other cannot ‘thole’ is the politics of failure. It ain’t rocket science.

Mick Fealty on February 18, 2019, 3:10 pm

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This morning I was on Nolan giving my tuppence worth on the political bankruptcy which is leading (or maybe not) the DUP and Sinn Fein into yet another barren set of talks. Key points were: Two years without a democracy in Western Europe is a disgrace. On top of that, it is still not clear what is keeping our politicians voluntarily out of power. RHI magically transformed into an ILA which when it finally materialised (in the so-called draft deal) …

Why do some people have such a problem with the Irish Backstop?

Victoria Hewson on February 16, 2019, 2:02 pm

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It has been widely suggested that the DUP and others are misconceived (or worse) in their opposition to the backstop laid out in a protocol to the Withdrawal Agreement agreed by negotiators in November last year. What’s the big problem with “extra checks at Northern Ireland’s seaports and airports” asked David Green in a Spectator blog. In the Times, Northern Irish businessman Mark O’Connell noted that “With so many existing differences already in the law between Northern Ireland and the …

Borders and boundaries

Andrew Gallagher on February 15, 2019, 6:20 pm

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Last Monday, the Irish Times published a fascinating article (for map geeks and alternative history fans, at least) describing the various unused options for the route of the Border. The Robinson and Bailey schemes attempted to draw a slightly more sympathetic line for the border than Dougherty’s crude six-county one. It is notable that the Robinson scheme (pictured above), despite explicitly considering transport links, severed the Portadown-Enniskillen railway line, whereas the Bailey scheme did not (it severed the Derry Road …

National Children’s Hospital: Ructions in the Dáil, ripples in Strabane…

Mick Fealty on February 13, 2019, 10:31 am

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Former Fianna Fáil Minister Brian Cowen once described his time in charge of Health in the Republic as being like Angola “just when you’ve cleared one land mine another goes off”. The name has stuck to that department and for good reason. For a few weeks now the National Children’s Hospital story has been rumbling. It is one of escalating costs in a project that was first mooted in the early 60s but which government has been actively considering since the early naughties. The …

UK Media Must Up Its Game

Chris McKee on February 13, 2019, 9:52 am

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Here’s a question for future historians: will the UK media be blamed as much as its politicians, should Brexit really hit the skids in just a few weeks’ time? If not, it really should. Take one story as an example from the weekend: Jacob Rees-Mogg’s fanciful suggestion that a £13.8m shipping contract awarded by the UK Government as part of its emergency No Deal preparations may have collapsed from political pressure from notoriously anti-business Leo Varadkar. The premise? Arklow Shipping Limited, the …

Jeffrey Donaldson: “Now is not a time for brinkmanship but for leadership.”

Mick Fealty on February 11, 2019, 8:45 am

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Good to see the DUP deploy Jeffrey Donaldson to the southern space. His oped in the Sunday Independent is probably the most upbeat note to come out of the DUP in some time. He acknowledges that the last few years have damaged relations on the island: The absence of the political institutions, including the Assembly and the North South Ministerial Council, has been to the detriment of all of us. Just think how differently we might have handled this very …

By An Means Necessary – a review of RTE’s Michael Collins era drama ‘Resistance’

Dan McGinn on February 11, 2019, 8:17 am

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After ‘Rebellion’ comes ‘Resistance’. Irish TV dramatist Colin Teevan has returned with a five part showpiece follow-up to his 1916 RTE Easter Rising drama, ‘Rebellion’ which reached international audiences in the United States on the Sundance Channel and other parts of the globe through Netflix. For the Dubliner, ‘Resistance’ is another chance to prove he can craft a gripping, multi-layered period drama in a prime time slot after the rather underwhelming 2015 RTE mini series ‘Charlie’ about Charlie Haughey and …

SDLP endorse partnership with Fianna Fail

David McCann on February 9, 2019, 4:51 pm

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SDLP delegates gathered in Newry today to debate the proposed partnership with Fianna Fail. After spending the afternoon debating the proposal, members have voted in favour of the partnership. The result of the ballot was 121 delegates in favour of partnership with Fianna Fail (70%). The support in favour of the alternative proposal of partnership with Fine Gael, Labour and Fianna Fail was 53 (30%). Follow the vote the SDLP Leadership issued this message; Today SDLP members have voted in …

“Given your own position of being a commentator and a bystander in Northern Ireland…”

Mick Fealty on February 8, 2019, 9:28 pm

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Good piece from Gareth Gordon on where Sinn Féin sits a year after Mary Lou brought her own shoes to the role that Gerry Adams defined. One of the affordances of the border [#Partitionist! – Ed], is the ability to say one thing in Northern Ireland and another in the south. But Gordon deftly removes that diaphanous screen to allow the political facts of the last year to speak for themselves. One, Sinn Féin rather than taking power in Northern Ireland …

Bringing the SDLP and Fianna Fáil together is like adding 1 + 1 and getting 5.

Soapbox on February 8, 2019, 10:12 am

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Gareth Brown is a third generation SDLP member, former staffer, and a political consultant/commentator based in Edinburgh. SDLP members will vote on a proposed new partnership with Fianna Fáil at a Special Conference this weekend in Newry. The fundamental questions though are whether it’s good for Irish politics, North and South, and whether it will actually work electorally. For the SDLP, the rationale for the proposal comprises two categories of thought: firstly, that the party’s nationalist credentials are weakened by …

Long past time the SDLP tried a different approach to Northern Ireland?

Mick Fealty on February 8, 2019, 7:03 am

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There will be many objections to Colum Eastwood’s policy arrangement with Fianna Fáil. Much of it genuine and heartfelt, some of it with more than a kernel of wise caution about where things could lead in four or five years time. But, for my money, the greatest enemy going forward is the SDLP itself. Its founding members asked no permission from anyone to go their own way or to go out of their way make trouble for the greater good …

Biscuits and gravy

Andrew Gallagher on February 6, 2019, 6:30 pm

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Plenty has been written already about Owen Polley’s article in the Newsletter last week. I have no wish to reopen the debate over his support for the Irish rugby team, which is entirely his business. But I must pull him up for making one the most basic schoolboy errors that Unionists normally accuse others of. He has conflated Englishness with Britishness. Or rather, he has conflated anti-Englishness with anti-Britishness. Brexit has of course dredged up a lot of feeling south …

Almost everyone that I’ve ever trusted in politics has got something momentously wrong on Brexit

Mick Fealty on February 4, 2019, 11:16 am

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Brexit has been messy from the start. It was a messy campaign, and it could still have a messy end. Somewhere along the line Northern Ireland lost its democracy, and the sad laugh is that hardly anyone noticed. If there’s a lesson in it is that those who turn out, generally win. Despite the closeness of the general election year before last, Mrs May got the numbers she needed. No amount of petitions to the contrary changes that fact. She’s …

Squaring the backstop circle

Andrew Gallagher on February 3, 2019, 9:11 pm

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It is just under eight weeks until Brexit, and a deal still has not been done – or rather it has been done and then swiftly undone. Eight weeks is surely not enough to pass both the Withdrawal Agreement itself (scheduled for 14th February) and the subsequent, still top secret, six ton elephant that is the Withdrawal Agreement Implementation Bill (see Paul Daly’s Twitter thread). If we are to avoid No Deal, extra time is now inevitable. Complaints that the …

“Media that care more about spectacle than clarity only encourage the culture of bullshit.”

Pete Baker on February 3, 2019, 5:21 pm

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I have mentioned this before, but it’s a point worth repeating every now and again. [Any particular reason this time? – Ed] Oh, one or two… From Kenan Malik in the Guardian Media that care more about spectacle than clarity only encourage the culture of bullshit. We live in an age obsessed by fake news and politicians’ lies. These are issues important to tackle. We should not ignore, however, the more insidious culture of bullshit. A liar, observed Frankfurt, knows …

Future Ireland / Breaking waves – Considering a New Ireland in 2019

Chris McKee on February 3, 2019, 10:00 am

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As the drama in Westminster continues, it’s fair to say that in 2019 and beyond, Northern Ireland’s often petty and tedious politics will be interesting, as an international spotlight passes over old scars and immense change looms once again. At times, it feels like we are back on a familiar shore, where the waves grow bigger and the very sand is moving below our feet. Brexit, now, is like a meteor landing in the distant sea. Suddenly, many of the …

“Such pressure as is on Ireland (and it will be significant) will come from the reality of the situation…”

Pete Baker on February 2, 2019, 3:03 pm

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Worth quoting at length from Pat Leahy in the Irish Times on the Irish Government’s role in the ongoing Brexit negotiations. It’s a welcome, un-hysterical look at a key player in what will unfold. [And all too rare here! – Ed] Indeed. From the Irish Times By and large, Leo Varadkar, Simon Coveney and the Government apparatus as a whole have handled the Brexit crisis well – just as the Opposition, in the main, has been pretty responsible. Contrast our …