Northern Ireland Office

The present state of Northern Ireland’s governance can no longer be ignored as October deadline looms, says the Institute for Government

Brian Walker on September 26, 2019, 1:55 pm | Readers 4957

The think tank closest to Whitehall the Institute for Government has published the most comprehensive report on the state of government in Northern Ireland since the breakdown of Stormont. Here is its executive summary. It deserves to be read in full. Here is the launch video. Not before time the IfG reminds the UK government of the perils of ignorance and neglect. Rather generously, it attributes blame for failures as much to the persistent and puzzling ignorance of our affairs …

Go, Prime Minister and take Karen Bradley with you

Sarah Creighton on May 24, 2019, 1:50 pm | Readers 2464

Theresa May’s voice broke as she reached the end of her resignation speech. Known as the ‘Maybot’ throughout her premiership her exterior finally cracked. She sounded close to tears as she said it had, ‘been the honour of her life’ to ‘serve the country that I love.’ She wasn’t this emotional during the Windrush scandal, a horrifying disaster of her own making. May’s resignation starts the bell ringing for the Conservative Party leadership contest. Boris Johnson, Andrea Leadsom, Jeremy Hunt …

What on earth is James Brokenshire up to? Does he even realise he’s attacking the judiciary?

Brian Walker on February 1, 2017, 11:47 am | Readers 1948

The recently retired and very steady SDLP veteran MLA Alban Maginness who is also a qualified barrister has been given space to mount a measured criticism against secretary of state James Brokenshire in the Belfast Telegraph for his disastrous article in the Sunday Telegraph complaining that an apparent “imbalance” that has led to a “disproportionate” focus on criminal inquiries involving former soldiers.“I am clear the current system is not working and we are in danger of seeing the past rewritten,” …

The record needs correcting. Britain deserves the main credit for ending the Troubles

Brian Walker on August 27, 2013, 1:34 pm | Readers 64

Keeping up the legacy of history theme, The Newsletter has asked Paul Bew to develop his idea for the release of government papers on Northern Ireland earlier than the new 20 year rule. The QUB historian and peer believes that the spate of detailed inquiry reports on what went wrong during the Troubles should be better balanced by what went right. For that he gives more credit than has perhaps been acknowledged to the Northern Ireland Office. It’s played the …

“Shaun Woodward ordered his recall on the basis of what his legal team have described as ‘closed material’.”

Pete Baker on December 19, 2011, 5:16 pm | Readers 14

The BBC reports that Martin Corey has been “granted leave to seek a judicial review of the decision to revoke his licence over unspecified allegations that he was involved with dissident republicans.” The 61-year-old from Lurgan, County Armagh had been released on licence in 1992, having served 19 years of a life sentence for the murder of two RUC officers. In April last year, then Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Shaun Woodward, as the BBC report notes, “ordered his recall on the …