Ireland

The postwar ID requirement between Northern Ireland and Great Britain

| Readers 1854

Reading through some old Wikipedia articles pointed me to an interesting exchange in the House of Commons, back in 1948. Ulster Unionist MPs Conolly Gage and Major Samuel Gillmor Haughton rose during an adjournment debate to complain about the requirement for a permit or passport to be presented for travel between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. Mr Gage opens by highlighting the inconvenience of this arrangement : As everyone knows, Ulster is as much a part of …

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A plea to Gerry Adams from a Falls Road boy

| Readers 3774

In recent times we often hear the narrative that has been orchestrated so carefully by apologists for Sinn Fein – namely the huge personal risks that Adams and Mc Guinness took for peace. I do not believe that such an argument is credible. The people that really took the risks for peace down the years were those in the northern catholic community (and indeed outside it also) who defied the IRA and whose political and moral courage often cost them …

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Three things we know about Brexit..

| Readers 2465

Nicholas Whyte reports on three things we now know about Brexit: According to Barnier the British are talking about a Canada type model, no sector by sector deals and no passporting for the financial sector. The Irish border issue is serious and as yet has no solution (which is why the Taoiseach has been upping the stakes) The emergence of news of a £40 Billion figure emerging from the British side Nicholas suggests this means there’s going to be a …

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Brexit and the border is widening the gap between London and Dublin and depressing further the chances of a return to Stormont

| Readers 2624

It has started to happen. Will it continue?  Can it be reversed? The politics of Brexit  is openly dividing the UK and Irish governments and further polarising the DUP and Sinn Fein,  making a return to the Executive less likely than ever.  Predictably Brexit is increasingly becoming domesticated as the new big theme  in a revived unionist v nationalist struggle. What’s just happened?  The sequence was best described in a cool- headed column in the Indo by Dan O’Brien, chief …

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Gerry Adams and Robert Mugabe have something in common

| Readers 2560

How ironic that the eras of Mugabe and Adams are drawing to a close at roughly the same time. Both are men of blood. Both remained in office for unhealthily long periods of time, reflecting the essentially undemocratic nature of their political machines and their origins in armed insurgency. It now turns out that neither is departing immediately. Of course  there are significant differences. Adams will go with the adulation of his followers and  continuing influence. Mugabe led  the majority …

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A crunch on the border is not in Ireland’s interests

| Readers 3035

“What we want to take off the table, before we even talk about trade, is any idea that there would be a hard Border, a physical Border, or a Border resembling the past . . . Then we’d be happy to move on to phase two.” “The UK insists that the issue cannot be tackled until the EU agrees to move to discussion of phase-two issues. Speaking at Iveagh House on Friday, Boris Johnson echoed Mrs May’s approach. “In order to resolve …

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Fresh start for Sinn Fein, or a case of “meet the new boss, same as the old boss”?

| Readers 1662

And so tonight, Gerry goes. Or does he? Henry McDonald writing yesterday: …sources within the mainstream Irish republican movement and veteran Adams-watchers believe the 69-year-old will still hold the centre of power in Sinn Féin from behind the scenes long after his official successor is elevated to the top post. Having survived as head of his party longer than five British prime ministers, six Irish premiers and five US presidents, Adams will use the televised speech to set out a timetable for …

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Nationalism needs the inspiration so desperately needed in these early days of that better nation.

| Readers 3129

Aaron Murray, political researcher working in London. He is also on Twitter @aaronmurray87 Engraved on the Canongate wall of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood is a phrase Alasdair Gray described as ‘inspiring but not boastful’. ‘Work as if you live in the early days of a better nation’ it reads. Widely attributed to Gray, it is the creation of Canadian poet Dennis Lee from his exploration of citizenship, Civil Eligies. In recent years it became a credo of the Scottish …

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Sinn Féin policy decision has implications for abortion referendum process

| Readers 2041
Gerry Adams takes to the stage at the close of Sinn Fein's Ard Fheis in Belfast 2011

The Sinn Féin Clár for their 2017 Ard Fheis has been released with details of 171 motions for delegates to debate and vote on. Many of the motions will pass uncontested but how Motions 144 to 151 are voted on will decide how the party approaches what will be one of the main political issues for Ireland in 2018 – abortion. Two of the motions call for ‘Sinn Féin elected representatives’ and ‘Sinn Féin members’ respectively to be allowed to …

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Brexit is in a mess, but not irretrievably

| Readers 1638

Want to know where we really are on Brexit? In  three words, in a mess. Can we get out of it?   Possibly at the eleventh hour, 10 pm on Friday 19 March 2019, just like the Good Friday Agreement in fact. Nothing  is agreed until everything is agreed. As so often – like the Stormont standoff – the politics look more difficult than the rational solutions. The Irish and British prime ministers profess themselves in the dark about  each others’ …

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Enniskillen 30 Years On: Geraldine Smyth on Forgiveness and Mercy in the Public Square

| Readers 2679

An article by Joe Humphreys in today’s Irish Times marking the 30th anniversary of the Enniskillen bomb bears the headline: ‘Thirty years after Enniskillen: Can forgiveness transcend terrorist atrocities?’ Humphreys highlights the well-known words of forgiveness offered in the bomb’s immediate aftermath by Gordon Wilson, whose daughter Marie died in the atrocity. He also recognizes the words of forgiveness offered this week by Stephen Ross, who was severely injured in the bomb. Humphreys challenges us by asking: were these men right to forgive? …

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Real work to restore the Executive has yet to begin. For the public to make an impact, proposals and pressure from the governments are essential

| Readers 1224

As a comparative outsider I’m struck by how most commentators are obsessed with speculating about political positioning and identity narratives. This has produced numbing negativism and  despair  rather than the energy needed to approach the daunting but practical problem of trying to restore the Executive.  Being case hardened and calloused, they endlessly refine their own explanations for obvious failure. They accept the parameters set by the DUP and SF too readily. To be fair, this is often the default caused by a …

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“dependent on the goodwill of those in FG headquarters who wield too much power…”

| Readers 748

Some farewell card for Leo from Alan Shatter, as he leaves politics… From my personal experience over the last 3 years I could not in good conscience ask the electorate in Dublin- Rathdown constituency and those who have voted for me in the past to vote for an unreformed Fine Gael in the next Dail. I have reached this conclusion after lengthy reflection with a heavy heart after many years of Fine Gael membership, including over 30 years as a …

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SOAPBOX: Can the economy be Irish? #ESRCfestival

| Readers 1170

SOAPBOX – The OU’s Dr Leslie Budd recalls economist George Shackle’s observation that to be an economist one has to be an anthropologist, political scientist, mathematician, philosopher, and sociologist with an interest in economics. It is these characteristics that are vital in creating a narrative and conversation about Brexit. Irish storytelling could help address the challenge facing us.

“broken promises are – sometimes – necessary for good government.”

| Readers 1532

In Saturday’s Irish Times, Fiach Kelly had some timely advice for Sinn Féin and the DUP – and their supporters. Those who seek to govern will always have to compromise, and those who do not – unless their policies are allowed absolute domination – will always decry whatever deals are made. The electorate is free to choose which type of politician it wants, but if it chooses the former, it should do so in the knowledge that compromises will be …

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Sinn Féin moves towards a change in abortion policy

| Readers 5373

Responding to questioning from journalist Amanda Ferguson yesterday Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has confirmed that he supports women’s right to choose. Sinn Féin’s Vice-President Mary-Lou McDonald has also made it clear that whilst she respects her party’s current policy (Repeal the Eighth Amendment & enact legislation on the grounds of rape, incest, and fatal foetal abnormality) her personal position is very clear : “My politics and my view is decidedly pro-choice” Their colleague in the Dáil Meath TD Peadar Toibin …

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To solve the Catalan crisis, pay homage to Britain

| Readers 2089

The Catalonian campaign for independence is a phenomenon of our times,  like the Scottish. They both claim they are ancient entities enjoying sufficient cohesion to go it alone and find their own balance between globalisation (the great big world now closer to all of us than ever) and self sufficiency ( provided it comes under the safety blanket of the EU).  They seem to think they deserve as of right, easy acquiescence and the blessing of a good deal from …

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This Halloween spare a thought for the forgotten turnip…

| Readers 2875

As we approach Halloween, we should remind ourselves that as a people who have fought and continue to fight to preserve our rich cultural heritage protecting cultural traditions going back hundreds of years, it is with irony that one observes this week a cultural tradition that the Irish exported to the United States, now being exported back to us in a watered down ‘Americanised’ form which we now accept as our own culture without any of the rich cultural heritage …

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