Ireland – Page 49 – Slugger O'Toole

The political parties should not deceive themselves that the lessons from demographic change are simple and obvious

Brian Walker on April 1, 2017, 11:26 am | Readers 2825

“ The morning after the Brexit vote, the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party said that “the constitutional question has been reopened, and we now have people who were content in Northern Ireland thinking again about a united Ireland” Has this development become the new driver of politics or is it still in the background? At this moment the answer cannot be known. Yet it has set the climate for the interparty talks which resume on Monday. The words come from …

Trading Partners Wanted: Looking at Georgia…

Neale Richmond on April 1, 2017, 8:55 am | Readers 810

As it stands, Ireland’s largest trading partner is the United Kingdom. This has been the case since Independence although the balance has shifted greatly since Ireland entered the EEC in 1973 with the UK no longer wholly dominate although our reliance on the UK in certain sectors such as beef, timber, pork and much more. As Ireland’s reliance on the UK as a trading partner has diminished, it has been able to look to a wider market largely thanks to …

Brexit to force Tayto Northern Ireland to stop selling their popular Cheese & Onion Crisps?

Brian O'Neill on April 1, 2017, 7:00 am | Readers 19372

Another casualty of Brexit is likely to be Tayto Cheese & Onion. The crisp is a popular delicacy locally and tops the list of things ex-pats miss about Northern Ireland (soda bread and potato bread take the number 2 and 3 positions). Tayto (Northern Ireland) was formed in 1956 by the Hutchinson family and licensed the name and recipes of Tayto Crisps in the Republic of Ireland. As part of the agreement only Tayto Northern Ireland could sell in the …

“But what if this is just more terrible negotiating?”

Mick Fealty on March 31, 2017, 7:05 pm | Readers 2811

Newton Emerson has clearly been doing some thinking about the future beyond the Hokey Cokey of the last few months. In yesterday’s Irish News column he makes two seminal points about SF’s strategy (or lack of it). Firstly, SF as a good negotiator. It seems to have escaped the notice of the press (but not I suspect of some of their former SpAds), that SF has a tendency to come up empty handed from encounters with the DUP. [What, not …

Special Status for the ROI in the EU?

Nat O'Connor on March 31, 2017, 11:09 am | Readers 1760

In my post on whether Northern Ireland could stay in or have “special status” in the EU, I concluded that at the very least Northern Ireland does already have special status because everyone has the option of taking up an EU (Irish) passport. I’m now considering whether Brexit may also result in EU “special status” for the Republic. To be clear, this is a think-piece, not a proposal. I’m ruling out the Republic of Ireland actually leaving the EU, as its economy is …

Brexit has predictably dire effects for Northern Ireland

Soapbox on March 31, 2017, 10:29 am | Readers 4968

Forget Theresa May’s boilerplate encomium in the Commons the other day about never being ‘neutral’ about the Union. (Hardly as emphatic as Margaret Thatcher’s claim Northern Ireland was ‘as British as Finchley’). The Prime Minister is leading you up the garden path. She surely knows by now that Brexit has big implications – dire and far-reaching ones – for Northern Ireland. Here’s eight of them: A funding black hole. All in, Northern Ireland draws down about €600m euro of funding …

Slugger’s video round up of views from around the UK regions and Ireland…

Mick Fealty on March 30, 2017, 5:26 pm | Readers 693

Lots to take in the day after Article 50 was triggered. I’ve been busy trying to roster up videos which contain various viewpoints from within the UK and Ireland. The first being a very useful interview of Theresa May by Andrew Neil: The David Davin Power on maneuvers with the Taoiseach in Malta where Enda Kenny was attending an EPP conference… Then here’s our local guys kicking things around in two separate rounds… The Newsline report from last night has …

Do tell please DUP. What’s this about a “Culture Act”?

Brian Walker on March 30, 2017, 2:32 pm | Readers 1990

It would be good to hear more from the DUP about the “Culture Act” Gerry Adams told the Dail yesterday was “meaningless” He’s not necessarily the best conduit for the proposal. May we decide for ourselves please DUP? . Most of his speech was an uncanny repetition of Michelle O’Neill’s latest. From Dail Eireann debates Regrettably, the DUP’s approach throughout the talks was to engage in a minimalist way on all of these key issues. There was no substantive progress on …

Should the other Dublin parties denounce Sinn Fein if they’re gaming the Stormont talks?

Brian Walker on March 30, 2017, 9:40 am | Readers 1953

The Irish Times political editor Stephens Collins enjoys an unusual dual role of senior political reporter and opinionated commentator. It’s not always clear if he’s getting a bead on emerging trends of opinion in politics or simply speaking for himself. Perhaps what Stephen thinks today, many of the guys in Leinster House think tomorrow? Today, he asks the blunt questions about Sinn Fein’s real intentions towards the Assembly. While most of us were struggling with conflicting feelings, he writes off …

Theresa May’s warm words for Ireland do little to calm Irish fears about the implications of Brexit

Brian Walker on March 30, 2017, 8:49 am | Readers 1196

A special version for Ireland of Theresa May’s letter to the EU president triggering Art 50 has appeared above her name in the Irish Times. It extends the same tone of friendly conciliation to Ireland as to the whole of the EU. We are leaving the European Union, but we are not leaving Europe – and we want to remain committed partners and allies of Ireland and all our friends across the continent. The United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland have …

Revealing interview with Gerry Adams on Stormont talks (includes that ‘complete tube’ comment)…

Mick Fealty on March 29, 2017, 10:12 pm | Readers 4534

This is well worth paying attention to. It’s Gerry Adams getting a grilling from an exceptionally well informed Cormac O’hEadhra of RTE on Northern Irish matters (here), the Stormont collapse and the lack of a senior voice for Irish nationalism in Stormont. misrepresents the RHI losses from, at the very worst, a projected £500m over 20 years to £5billion (!!!!) “down the drain”. Given RHI is cited as the reason for SF collapsing the Executive, shouldn’t the President know the …

RTE Prime Time: UK’s invocation of Article 50 puts Ireland in a double bind…

Mick Fealty on March 29, 2017, 5:41 pm | Readers 1988

Last night Prime Time on RTE ran this little piece on Brexit and what it might mean for Ireland (ie, the Republic). The found two former Irish diplomats to take opposing views of how it should be played. But in truth Ireland is in a tough place, either way. If the British cannot control the outcomes, it’s even more difficult for the Irish government who although they will be inputting into the EU are only one out of 27. They …

Time to stop talking, start doing. Leaving the EU could be a good time to reshape the NI economy.

thedissenter on March 29, 2017, 11:33 am | Readers 907

Jeff Peel has already made the case for welcoming the opportunities that Brexit offers Northern Ireland business. Elsewhere on Slugger, the implications of Brexit and decisions to be made by the Republic have been outlined. Following the decision of the UK electorate on 23 June 2016 to leave the EU, the Government of the United Kingdom has undertaken a great deal of work to prepare the country for triggering Article 50 on 29 March 2017. Not so much our own …

Irish Government must be Enforcers, not Co-guarantors

Patricia MacBride on March 28, 2017, 10:45 am | Readers 2021

The Irish government are fond of reminding us that that they and the British government are co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement. I’ve always understood a guarantor in financial terms as the person responsible for ponying up if the debt isn’t paid. Well, the north is going further and further into the red financially as well as dearg le fearg (red with anger) at lack of any meaningful progress and the guarantors don’t seem to be fulfilling their responsibilities. Secretary …

Theresa May misconstrues the Union as an English commonwealth. Instead, the best hope for “these islands” is to weather the storms of Brexit together

Brian Walker on March 28, 2017, 9:44 am | Readers 2302

Theresa May’s tour of the devolved territories ( I wish we had a better collective noun) turned out to be a jaw- droppingly empty gesture, quite apart from the inevitable omission of Belfast. Her semi-clandestine meeting with Nicola Sturgeon in a Glasgow hotel yesterday was a stiff little ritual to confirm that Article 50 was being triggered today on behalf of the whole UK, Scotland naturally included. There was no pretence at accommodating the SNP. Indeed there may even be …

32 counties of Ireland in 32 days: Armagh

Brian Spencer on March 24, 2017, 7:55 am | Readers 1473

‘In this difficult moment we have seen something special arise. And as Eamonn Mallie tweeted: “How does one harness forever the extraordinary ecumenical spirit of hope emanating from St Columba’s during Martin McGuinness’s Requiem Mass?” I reflected on the meaning of yesterday and felt that drawing the landscape of Armagh City would be fitting. I focused on the two Cathedrals, each breaking the skyline. On the left, the Catholic place of worship, and on the right, the Protestant house of …

Gerry Adams invokes the fresh memory of Martin McGuinness and issues an ultimatum on the talks

Brian Walker on March 23, 2017, 1:04 am | Readers 3568

“Sinn Fein opposed to any extension of Stormont talks ahead of Monday’s deadline – ‘We will bury our friend tomorrow and move directly from his graveside to do our utmost to get Assembly restored’ Speaking in Newry on the eve of Martin McGuinness’s funeral, the Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has been talking the talk of ultimatums. Lest anyone thinks Sinn Fein has been distracted this week, he disabuses them of the idea that the immediate period of mourning for …

32 counties of Ireland in 32 days: Fermanagh

Brian Spencer on March 22, 2017, 9:49 pm | Readers 569

WATERSCAPE: Brian continues his odyessy around the 32 counties of Ireland. Today he’s in Enniskillen far from the madness of the rest of the world, pinting rather than punting his way round Ireland’s peerless Lakeland as he goes.

McGuinness’s transformation from violent brigand to civic leader will be a hard act to follow

Mick Fealty on March 22, 2017, 6:42 am | Readers 3397

By way of a quick round up on reactions yesterday, I’ll start with my own thoughts on the Irish Times Inside Politics podcast above. Personally, I liked what I encountered of him, but then the only Martin McGuinness I knew was the public peacemaker. The accounts we’ve been hearing describe two different people, each as seemingly authentic as the other: a Janus-faced soldier-cum-broker of peace. But Mary Lou is right to suggest he hadn’t changed much: he always moved in …

32 counties of Ireland in 32 days: Days 1-4

Brian Spencer on March 21, 2017, 10:08 pm | Readers 979

#irelandin32, the project is simple – one day and one night in each county of Ireland.

I want to challenge myself and others, follow in the footsteps of Jack Yeats and John Millington Synge who wrote and drew about their travels around Ireland, and finally I hope to provide a window into modern Ireland by looking at the major issues affecting us such as Brexit, the economy, the centenaries and the future of the island north and south.