northern ireland centenary

Why we should not give ourselves easy excuses not to examine the first 100 years of Northern Ireland…

Terry Wright on October 16, 2020, 2:00 pm

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The Irish News on the 13th October published the names of the members of the NI Centenary Forum and reported that Sinn Fein and SDLP politicians, unlike their counterparts from the DUP, UUP and Alliance parties, declined an invitation to join. In addition, the report speculates that academics invited to serve on the Centenary Historical Advisory Committee, headed by Lord Paul Bew, declined the invitation due to ‘concerns that plans would not reflect the full story of partition.’ Apart from …

What is to be the message of Northern Ireland 100?

Brian Walker on August 26, 2020, 2:51 pm

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Ulster 71 (archive) Does anybody out there know how plans to mark Northern Ireland’s centenary are progressing? To try to find answers, I’ve been combing the websites and having a few chats, without much luck. Last month, following a few bumbled sentences from Boris Johnson it seemed that the UK government with due regard to the “sensitivities”, were taking the initiative, thus avoiding the potential for another Stormont deadlock. The SoS Brandon Lewis looked forward to.. Following formal acceptance of …

Northern Ireland Centenary: This country

Sarah Creighton on August 15, 2020, 10:59 am

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This is about the centenary of Northern Ireland. But first, a slight detour. In Lucy Caldwell’s, ‘Multitudes,’ one of her characters describes the heartache of watching her teenage school friend move from Northern Ireland to England. “They’ve had enough is what Susan’s mum says. She just can’t take it anymore. ‘This country,’ she says to my mum. ‘This country,’ my mum says back to her, and neither of them says anything else.” The scene has always stuck with me because …