Watch back the launch of Dr Marisa McGlinchey’s new book – Unfinished Business: The Politics of ‘Dissident’ Irish Republicanism – which assesses the politics, ideology, tactics and motivations of the non-mainstream republican movement.
Is this the calm at the centre of the hurricane? The eerie, robotic, delusional calm of Brexiters as they respond with condescension to the exasperated questioning of journalists that of course there are digital and technological ways of monitoring the border, and of course the EU needs the UK more than vice versa, and it is bound to cave in “when they see the whites of our eyes”; the “calm bewilderment” of the EU as they survey the unfolding horror in …
The odd thing about the Brexit stuff is how almost every side of the whole debate seems to have lost track of reality some way back up the road. What we have here is a transcontextual failure to communicate. The English are a funny lot. And I mean funny in both senses of the word. They are by instinct both class-ridden and deeply non-conformist. Almost every radical idea that’s hit Ireland in the last Millenium first passed through England before it hit …
There is an increasing desire amongst many in the north to participate more in southern politics – especially in recent times when the island feels more interconnected and many feel personally involved in, if disenfranchised from, southern politics. While we await the outcome of the planned referendum on extending the franchise for the Irish Presidential elections, there is a way that some can get involved right now. If you’re a NUI or TCD graduate, and an Irish citizen, you’re eligible to …
On Saturday I attended the ‘Beyond Brexit: Ireland’s Future’ conference in Belfast. My immediate observations were firstly the sheer number of people that were in one room; a rarity for a political event in Northern Ireland. The broad representation of speakers undermined the myth that Irish Nationalists are a homogenous group. Despite the conglomeration of those present – they were all unified under the one realisation- that Brexit has shifted politics indefinitely. And that that shift has unearthed centuries old …
In their renegotiation campaign the UK government are offering belated assurances that the proposals they’re about to make to replace or qualify their backstop involve no weakening of their commitment to the Good Friday Agreement. The attention-grabbing part of foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt’s BBC interview was his hint – subsequently denied by No 10 – that withdrawal might have to be delayed to after 29 March. While he declined to give details, the “ alternative arrangements include: a “trusted …
One of the problems with setting the kind of veil of secrecy around a big political deal like the one recently concluded by Colum Eastwood and Micheál Martin is that you leave a lot of people out of the loop. Some of those are the Irish Labour-leaning folk we know about. But in fact, even Alban Maguinness who is readily identified on the socially conservative wing of the party has written a highly critical Op-Ed in the Belfast Telegraph. In Maguinness’ …
He was the unlikely hero of the hour. In the Commons last night with his voice shaking, Tory MP Oliver Letwin, the backroom politician who was the chief policy coordinator of the Cameron coalition, made the most striking statement of the day. “I’ve actually got to the point where I am past caring what the deal is we have. I will vote for it to get a smooth exit.” On the face of it, a very irresponsible statement indeed from …
Quite a coup, to turn a defeat by 230 votes into a victory by 15 votes in a fortnight – a victory courtesy of the DUP by the way. Rather sadly, the big losers of the day were the supporters of a second referendum. But what sort of victory? It required turning 180 degrees from insisting hers was the only deal, to agreeing to renegotiate the “significant and legally binding change to the withdrawal agreement” she insisted was impossible only …
There’s growing criticism in Dublin of the government’s strategy of putting all its eggs in one backstop basket (of which more anon). Government and opposition spokesmen alike respond that actually, the backstop was one of Theresa May’s clever ideas. However, Paul Bew has an interesting line on the matter: The Withdrawal Agreement, alas, places key areas of such co-operation entirely under the operation of a new EU-led regime – a regime which begins from day one of the implementation of …
So where are we? On Monday morning, things were looking up for the prospects of Theresa May at least getting through the latest most momentous week in British politics since King Billy landed at Brixham ( I made the last bit up). By the afternoon, the rot had set in. On Monday evening, Mrs May took even cabinet ministers by surprise and laid her authority on the line at eleventh hour . Rather than risk fatal rejection directly, she did …
Podcasts are a useful medium, even though listener numbers are not always massive. But if considered as an alternative to a series of public meetings, their value is significant. They can be cheaper and gain more listeners than would be attracted to a meeting. They can be a way of collecting together different voices, without the need to bring them all together in one place, on one date. And, we can guess, they attract a very different audience. Since early 2018, the Holywell Trust …
[Having thrown their toys out of the pram two years ago… – Ed] ANYhoo… In the Irish Times, Gerry Moriarty reports from the nationalist “gurn-fest” in Belfast at the weekend. From the Irish Times report Essentially this was nationalism speaking to nationalism although there were few people in the hall from a unionist or Protestant background. Unionist politicians weren’t invited but they will have heard the message nonetheless, and will have been alarmed by it. Southern politicians including Minister for Education …
At the weekend, Alex Kane predicted that the partnership announced last Thursday between the SDLP and Fianna Fáil would lead to a further consolidation of unionism under the DUP banner: …if the SDLP were to take their seats in a rebooted Executive it puts Fianna Fáil influence at the very heart of Northern Ireland’s government, too. In other words, in the next executive unionists could find themselves facing nothing but all-island nationalism and the distinct possibility that either Sinn Féin …
I shared the scepticism of others about the #IrelandsFuture event, that it seemed a bit pointless having an event were everyone agreed with each other. But I went along to check it out and I was glad I did. The turnout was astonishing. The hall in the Waterfront conference centre has a capacity of 2000, and it was full. We are happy when we get 100 in the Dark Horse for our Slugger events so to see so many people …
Sinn Fein President, Mary Lou McDonald spoke at the Brexit conference organised at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast yesterday; It is our job as leaders – each and every one of us – to now manage the evolving process of change with care, patience and generosity. To those that say, ‘now is not the time for unity’, I say otherwise. History is unfolding. The next chapter is being written. Now is the time. The biggest mistake – and most reckless …
The SDLP Leader, Colum Eastwood addressed yesterdays Ireland’s Future conference at the Waterfront Hall. Here is what I thought was a key part of his speech. There’s no point in offering a challenge to others if we don’t first challenge ourselves. Those of us who believe in a New Ireland need to offer a credible and positive vision – we will not protest our way into one. Those who have deliberately enflamed the narrative that unionism as whole is unchanging, …
Ah the old, old days! With so much concentration on the Westminster bubble, it’s easy to forget that the pressures of Brexit operate in several directions. Cracks in the facade of unity among EU 27 are appearing on the surface as the prospect of No Deal by default refuses to go away. Irish alarm is by no means unique. As everybody always knew, solidarity with EU 26 leaves the Republic uniquely exposed to a particularly inelegant game of political poker …
Good edition of The View last night. This was the second of two excellent sections, the first on the future of the UUP and this part with Tom Kelly and Andree Murphy slugging it out over tomorrow’s Beyond Brexit event at the Waterfront. “Brexit: ‘The DUP’s hardline policies could be the quickest road to a united Ireland’” by “Brexit: ‘The DUP’s hardline policies could be the quickest road to a united Ireland’” is licensed under “Brexit: ‘The DUP’s hardline policies …
So, finally, it has arrived. What did we learn from yesterday’s launch? Well, it’s to be a civil partnership, not a marriage. Although Micheál Martin refused to be drawn on the matter of elections, the focus seems to be more about policy, than candidates per se. Policy, as I’ve remarked before, would be nice. But it would also be an oddity in Northern Irish politics. As one political insider remarked yesterday, “Northern Ireland voters don’t give a damn about policy”. …
