Ireland – Page 28 – Slugger O'Toole

New backstop plan ties the whole UK to the customs union to buy time for solving the border problem

Brian Walker on May 17, 2018, 8:11 am

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The rumour has now become fact (almost) Britain will tell Brussels it is prepared to stay tied to the customs union beyond 2021 as ministers remain deadlocked over a future deal with the EU, the Telegraph has learned. The Prime Minister’s Brexit war Cabinet earlier this week agreed on a new “backstop” as a last resort to avoid a hard Irish border, having rejected earlier proposals from the European Union. Ministers signed off the plans on Tuesday despite objections from Boris Johnson, the …

Much to dislike about the 8th referendum campaign

Larry Donnelly on May 17, 2018, 6:57 am

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As the campaigns to repeal or retain the 8th Amendment forge ahead, the first major television debate is now in the history books. The “three on three” format, on RTÉ’s Claire Byrne Live with audience contributions and boisterous applause throughout, has been criticised for shedding more heat than light. Meanwhile, Google’s late stage decision to call a halt to all online referendum advertisements, no matter who pays for them, has sparked outrage from backers of a No vote, who are …

Brexit: what the hell happens now? And Brexit and Ireland – Two interesting books on Brexit…

Robert Campbell on May 16, 2018, 3:45 pm

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Let me be clear from the outset: I am a Remainer. I’ve not seen or read anything that would materially change my opinion. The European Union (EU) may have its problems, but overall I see it as a force for good. I live in N Ireland; here, we voted to remain in the EU. But the vote of the English outweighed this, and the vote in Scotland. The ‘will of the people’ is to Leave. The government triggered the Article …

A Yes Vote is the Only Way to Legislate for FFA and Rape Cases

Soapbox on May 16, 2018, 12:42 pm

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Ivana Bacik is leader of the Labour Party in the Senead. In a recent essay on this site, high-profile No campaigner John McGuirk wrote about the difficulties of having to make a Yes or No choice in the forthcoming referendum. While I disagree with how McGuirk represented the nature of that choice, with less than a fortnight to go until 25th May, he was certainly correct in saying that many voters remain undecided. Over recent weeks, I have been out canvassing …

Nationalists need to have an honest conversation about a New Ireland

David McCann on May 15, 2018, 5:07 pm

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Brian has already outlined the story in The Times that has been talked about today. Theresa May has been quoted as believing that a Border Poll could be winnable for the Nationalist side and I agree with her that in one attempt, Northern Ireland could be taken out of the United Kingdom via a referendum. Over the past year, Nationalism has made many gains in terms of vote share and the ability for the first time to construct an economic …

May tells Rees Mogg: with a hard border I’d not be confident of winning a border poll

Brian Walker on May 15, 2018, 10:40 am

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Times report Theresa May confronted Jacob Rees-Mogg at a meeting with Tory MPs designed to break the deadlock over Britain’s future customs arrangements with the EU, The Times has learnt. The pair clashed yesterday over the impact of rival plans on the Irish border, in what witnesses described as the prime minister “sending a tough signal” to hardline Brexiteers that she was not prepared to jeopardise the Union. It came after Mrs May went over the heads of her squabbling cabinet with a personal …

On Brexit we’re about to enter the eye of the storm before the relative calm

Brian Walker on May 11, 2018, 12:00 pm

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It’s the solemn duty of all professional commentators always to be interesting, even at the expense of consistency with writers in their own paper or even with themselves. And this is a terrific time for fascinating chaos and confusion. Where official “lines to take” are not banal they are tangled up and inconsistent, reflecting the fact that over Brexit, a chronically divided cabinet are singing like birds. Tension is ramped up before yet another deadline to be missed whether it’s …

Head of the HSE resigns over a catastrophic failure of empathy…

Mick Fealty on May 10, 2018, 11:40 pm

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I’m slowly coming to the view that in our complex world, most of the problems we face are rooted in poor or inadequate forms of governance. Tonight, the head of Ireland’s HSE (a still embryonic form of the NHS) has resigned. It comes after a couple of weeks of constant pressure, and more importantly, heartbreaking stories of women who having been given an all clear with their cervical smear tests were only told after it became inoperable that their original test …

“To change the riverflow of history”: Constitutional pasts and futures @UCDdublin #GFA20

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on May 10, 2018, 2:54 pm

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“To change the riverflow of history”: Constitutional pasts and futures @UCDdublin #GFA20
by Allan LEONARD for Shared Future News
8 May 2018

Political and legal scholars, peacemakers and peacebuilders convened at the Royal Irish Academy to review and discuss potential constitutional relationships between Ireland and the United Kingdom, especially vis-a-vis Northern Ireland and the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and the import of Brexit.

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster)

PhD Researcher @UlsterUni | Managing Editor @SharedFuture | Board Member @FactCheckNI | Photographer 📸 | Runner 🏃‍♂️ | Genealogist 🌳 | https://mrulster.info

So G’wan Leinster – but can we have a different Irish ‘winner’ next year please?

ItwasSammyMcNally on May 9, 2018, 10:16 pm

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As another hugely successful season draws to a close, with a grand slam in the bag, Ireland ranked 2nd in the world and 2nd favourites to win next year’s world cup – we can still look forward to Leinster winning the European Champions Cup. Leinster play Racing 92 of Paris in Bilbao (Spain) on Saturday 12th May. Kick off 16.45, Irish time. Whilst Ulster failed to get to the knockout stages of the Champions Cup, Connacht got to the quarterfinals of …

“Sat nav and a mobile phone in the cab.” One of two answers to two problems?

Brian Walker on May 9, 2018, 3:00 pm

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David Trimble gets breezier by the day as he dismisses with a “ no problem” problems that may seem to him small beer compared to those that won him a share in the Nobel peace prize twenty years ago. “ Sat Nav and a mobile phone in the cab “ sorts the border problem out he claims. ( But what then, David? Do they never have to stop for spot checks? Or if they do so, where)? His remarks …

Those ready for a modest change to Ireland’s abortion laws are confronted with a more radical proposition

Soapbox on May 9, 2018, 2:59 pm

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John McGuirk is the Communications Director of the Save the 8th Campaign. In the first of a series of essays on the upcoming referendum on the 8th amendment to the Irish Constitution John shares his experience of the campaign and what’s at stake. Nothing has struck me more in this referendum debate than the comment made by a man on RTE Radio One’s “Joe Duffy” show last week. Joe had decided to find out what was happening out there beyond the …

Brexit outcome will likely be moderated by a highly cautious GB electorate…

Mick Fealty on May 8, 2018, 2:29 pm

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Boats with EU, UK flags sailing in opposite directions

Lots of speculation on what kind of Brexit is in the offing. One Bel Tel writer reckons Arlene was softening on a Customs Union, but it was clear from her appearance on the Andrew Marr Show she’ll do nothing to upstage the UK PM’s negotiations with the EU. But it’s worth considering this note from Janan Ganesh in the FT… For a country that demands rupture with a “failed” liberalism, Britain keeps returning parliaments that guarantee — at most — …

“The third lesson of this episode stretches far beyond Israel-Palestine…”

Pete Baker on May 5, 2018, 3:02 pm

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The Palestinian leader, President Mahmoud Abbas, has been widely condemned for his anti-Semitic remarks in a televised speech addressing a meeting of the Palestinian National Council on Monday 30th April. Among his critics, as the Belfast Telegraph notes, former US Secretary of State John Kerry Former US Secretary of State John Kerry wrote on Twitter: “These comments are wrong, ugly, and unacceptable – anywhere from anyone – but particularly from anyone who says he wants to be a peacemaker. No …

Guardian exclusive. A home grown plan for checks at NI ports, rejected by the DUP but still in play

Brian Walker on May 4, 2018, 6:49 pm

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A backup plan to impose border checks on trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK at ports and airports to avoid a hard border with the Republic of Ireland after Brexit has been drafted by senior civil servants. Despite the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) angrily rejecting any suggestion of a border “in the Irish Sea”, a leaked paper reveals that officials have been working on a blueprint “to be deployed as necessary in the negotiation process” While acknowledging these …

Fears of joint authority surface as the Lords approve no border checks without Dublin consent

Brian Walker on May 3, 2018, 3:48 pm

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Sometimes –only sometimes – debates in Parliament tell us a lot more than a dozen columnists or a week of Nolan. And with much greater courtesy than the latter, needless to say. One such took place yesterday when the House of Lords supported moves to prevent a hard border after Brexit under which no new checks or controls could be imposed without the agreement of the Irish Government. If you think this would be innocuous enough you’d be wrong. Approval for Patten’s amendment …

New revelations about the Ballymurphy massacre require urgent action by the British government

Brian Walker on May 2, 2018, 2:24 pm

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The report Mick highlights of a UVF sniper firing into Ballymurphy at the time of the massacre in 1971 for which up to now 1 Para was believed to be mainly responsible, underlines the paramount importance of finding out basic facts in dealing with the past. As I argued the other day, it is not only unacceptable but self-defeating for armchair soldiers in today’s battle of the narratives to thwart the rule of law, whether they are unionists defending the …

“And we come back to the fundamental absurdity of having a referendum in the parliamentary state….”

Mick Fealty on May 2, 2018, 12:22 am

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Pulling back a wee bit from the madness that is local Republicans quoting the Northern Ireland Office as though it was some kind of Holy Writ, someone shared this on my FB stream tonight… Britain faces a simple and inescapable choice – stability and strong Government with me, or chaos with Ed Miliband: https://t.co/fmhcfTunbm — David Cameron (@David_Cameron) May 4, 2015 Then there’s this from Peter Hitchens on why despite being a dedicated Eurosceptic, he refused to take part in …

If you were the EU’s chief negotiator, what would you say to Arlene Foster to make her happier?

Brian Walker on May 1, 2018, 1:11 pm

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Not exactly an unbiased report in the Daily Telegraph Michel Barnier has denied trying to split up the United Kingdom after strongly backing plans that would create a new border between Britain and Northern Ireland after Brexit. In an inflammatory address in Dundalk, Ireland on Monday, Mr Barnier denied there was a secret EU plan to pressure Britain into reversing Brexit by insisting on a backstop clause that would keep Northern Ireland in the EU’s Single Market and Customs Union. Arlene …

DUP takes aim at Leo Varadkar

David McCann on April 30, 2018, 7:45 pm

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The Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar was in Northern Ireland today much to the consternation of the DUP’s Jeffrey Donaldson who said; Leo Varadkar’s visit is another demonstration of the poor manners and disrespect which appears to be the Irish Government’s Brexit strategy. Having told unionists just over a month ago that he recognised statements and actions by the Irish government were unhelpful or intrusive, he follows this up with a visit which no local representative is informed about and none of …