Northern Ireland – Page 7 – Slugger O'Toole

Straws in the Protocol wind

Brian Walker on November 18, 2021, 2:08 pm

| Readers 5088

From the FT Rishi Sunak, chancellor of the exchequer, warned that provoking the EU into a trade dispute in the row over the so-called Northern Ireland protocol would hardly help. “Empty shelves this Christmas would be a disaster,” says one senior British official. “Nobody wants to be the person who screws up Christmas.” Rather than force a confrontation with Brussels, Johnson ordered his chief negotiator, Lord David Frost, to return to the table with renewed vigour to try to resolve …

Professional historians will be wary of terms like these for writing an official History of the Troubles

Brian Walker on November 15, 2021, 5:43 pm

| Readers 4380

The Daily Telegraph reports… An official history of The Troubles will be commissioned under government plans, amid fears the narrative of the conflict is being distorted by republicans. It would also focus on the role of the British Government and Armed Forces in the 30-year sectarian conflict, including the Bloody Sunday massacre of 1972, when 13 civilians were shot dead by troops. If signed off, the official history project would sit alongside a package of measures announced earlier this year to …

Johnson and Frost can afford another turn of the screw before retreat. The rachet is in their hands

Brian Walker on November 10, 2021, 8:40 pm

| Readers 5863

Using the old mantra of Michel Barnier, the clock is ticking on the Protocol negotiations. Even so, picking up from Mick’s references to Irish Times commentator Ronan McCrea, it isn’t obvious to me why at this point the EU should “play hardball.” Granted that he fears the damage done in a lengthy arbitration period under the terms of the withdrawal agreement. ..during the lengthy period during which all of these procedures were being worked through, the EU would be faced …

Austin Currie suffered politically and personally for his unrelenting opposition to violence

Brian Walker on November 10, 2021, 12:33 pm

| Readers 3775

Not the most successful – the palm goes to John Hume – but in some ways Austin Currie was the best of them all. He was certainly the last of them, the six elected under different banners in the last election to the old Stormont in February 1969 to form the SDLP within a year. They formed the generally progressive, moderately nationalist and unambiguously democratic potential partner with which the bulk of unionism refused to deal before the relentless rise …

Are Protocol wars about to go beyond posturing?

Brian Walker on November 8, 2021, 1:56 pm

| Readers 6772

Is this for real? The Daily Telegraph, the FT and the Irish Times are all agreed on a significant hardening of positions on the Protocol. Using their own debased form of signalling, loyalist paramilitaries are piling on pressure that Lord Frost for the UK government seems only too willing to accept. Where is this leading? A closer look at the Daily Telegraph closest to UKG sources, suggests a timetable from the end of this month for deciding to invoke Article …

The UK government have a stronger hand in the Protocol dispute than their critics think

Brian Walker on October 15, 2021, 4:00 pm

| Readers 4079

Lord Frost Well, where are we on the Protocol? As talks begin in Brussels which are expected to last for months , Lord Frost says there’s a long way to go. EU vice president Šefčovič insists the EU has reached its limit. Those are the public positions. Even the briefings are somewhat contradictory. The Times hopefully reports that the EU is open to a compromise deal that would limit the role of EU Court of Justice in Northern Ireland, with …

The comprehensive case for rejecting general amnesty without further legal process.

Brian Walker on September 12, 2021, 4:36 pm

| Readers 1523

Scene outside the Law Courts in Belfast during the Ballymurphy Inquest The Model Bill team of NI academics led by Profs Kieran Mc Evoy and Louise Mallinder and the Committee for the Administration of Justice has delivered a scathing analysis of the UK Government’s proposal for an amnesty or statute of limitations, which they’ve entitled “Addressing the Legacy of Northern Ireland’s Past”. The team had previously produced a report for making the Stormont House Agreement work effectively. At its core, …

The outgoing chief justice Declan Morgan calls for progress on the legacy and political reform

Brian Walker on September 2, 2021, 1:13 pm

| Readers 1679

Attention in the legal world will focus today in the swearing in of Lady Chief Justice Siobhan Keegan, the first woman to hold the chief justice post ( and the third Catholic in a row – so perhaps that’s one dragon that’s finally been slain) . Young for the job at 50 and entirely home grown, it may be no coincidence that she presided over the Ballymurphy inquest which although not a trial, provided at the very least ample justification for …

What Northern Ireland Means To Me…

Julia Paul on September 2, 2021, 11:04 am

| Readers 3881

trees, avenue, road

I’ve always been of the view that every birthday is worth a celebration, even if it’s simply to remind people you still exist. But of course marking the centenary of Northern Ireland was always going to tricky. In the Belfast Telegraph, Sam McBride laments the lost opportunity to use the anniversary to find common ground between Unionists and Nationalists, and highlights the fact that recognition of the centenary has been underwhelming to say the least. In the ever present ‘crisis’ …

Belfast Rapid Transit (Glider) Phase 2 announced

Brendan Heading on August 1, 2021, 1:25 pm

| Readers 6305

This week, Minister for Infrastructure Nichola Mallon launched the public consultation for Phase 2 of the Belfast Rapid Transit (Glider) system. I think this is a welcome development and will improve connectivity, access to and uptake of public transport in the city. I remember when Glider was first launched on the east/west route a few years ago. Before it got off the ground, it was fashionable to dump on it (a common pattern for public transport projects on this island). …

The genie of amnesty is out of the bottle. Not the last word, but the beginning of the end.

Brian Walker on July 19, 2021, 3:34 pm

| Readers 2091

The British government’s announcement of a statute of limitations has not only united all parties against them. It has also exposed the weaknesses of everybody’s positions including their own. All other parties are insisting on a role for justice while admitting there’s very little hope left of achieving it. As justice for victims and relatives is unobtainable in most cases, what is the point of holding out for years for the remote chance of a trial? After decades of deadlock …

Legacy: Who are we moving on for?

Sarah Creighton on July 19, 2021, 9:29 am

| Readers 3082

Northern Ireland, it seems, has a problem with moving on. Decades (centuries) of strife and conflict. The pain, the trauma, all of it passed down from generation to generation. In the year of our lord 2021, we’re still angry about it all. Still hurt, still frustrated and in pain. Step forward the Prime Minister and his Secretary of State, Brandon Lewis. They have seen the light and taken a bold, brave step to help us move forward. The government has …

This time, it’s the Troubles legacy. Northern Ireland opinion on a key issue, even when substantially in agreement, is being overruled by Johnson’s Conservatives

Brian Walker on July 14, 2021, 11:31 am

| Readers 5560

The devil will be in the detail but as a example of news management in advance, the UK Government’s plans for a Troubles amnesty could hardly be worse for opinion in Northern Ireland Veterans who served in Northern Ireland are finally set to be freed from the threat of prosecution. In a victory for the Daily Mail, a planned statute of limitations will today be announced covering all incidents during the Troubles. The move by Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis is …

The Northern Ireland Protocol: The High Court has its say

Sarah Creighton on July 1, 2021, 9:27 am

| Readers 2512

Who knew constitutional law could be so dramatic? The High Court has dismissed a legal challenge to the Northern Ireland Protocol by several unionist politicians. The political ramifications are likely to carry us through July, a traditionally calm month in Northern Ireland. As always when there’s a high-profile judgment, people will take what they can and use it for political capital. You wouldn’t think the unionist claimants had lost. Others seem to think the matter is settled and we should …

How the NI Protocol protects the Agreement

Brendan Heading on June 26, 2021, 8:04 pm

| Readers 5726

To the chagrin of Unionist politicians, it’s often emphasised by the four governments (UK, Ireland, EU, and US) that the Northern Ireland Protocol exists to protect the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement. For reasons which are understandable when examined in isolation, Unionism feels let down by the promise of the Agreement. I can see where they are coming from. The Agreement is based on cross community consent; the Protocol does not recognise this. British citizens are asked to …

Arlene Foster, yes but spare us the revisionism.

Ian Clarke on June 18, 2021, 1:05 pm

| Readers 4360

Although by now it seems that the four days since Arlene Foster resignation as First Minister seems like ancient history, given all that’s subsequently occurred, it remains important that the appalling revisionism over her tenure is addressed – from a unionist perspective. In common with most ousted unionist leaders since O’Neill, Arlene is already being presented as a progressive moderniser undermined by the hardcore. Her own allies are peddling this notion, as are nationalist commentators, both for their own ends. …

The media’s role in peacebuilding: none of its business?

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on June 10, 2021, 10:27 am

| Readers 1664

So is peacebuilding none of the media’s business? That was a conclusion that broadcaster and journalist, Declan Harvey, posed to a panel of fellow journalists and writers at an online webinar delivered through Belfast City Council’s PEACE IV Programme, which is funded through the EU and managed by the Special EU Programmes Body. Panellists Alex Kane, Amanda Ferguson, and Leona O’Neill shared their perspectives and experiences of reporting in Northern Ireland, answering questions from Declan Harvey and those submitted by …

In the final report on unification referendums on the island of Ireland, the unionist case goes by default.

Brian Walker on June 6, 2021, 6:18 pm

| Readers 6991

First a critical assessment of the Report on Referendums within the island of Ireland by an old colleague with definitive cross border credentials, Andy Pollak, A brilliantly reasoned but not balanced exploration of future Irish unity referendums…. If a majority opts for unification, then the transfer of sovereignty must occur, whether governing arrangements [for a new united Ireland] can be agreed consensually or not.” This is the report’s central contradiction (as it may be in the 1998 Agreement itself)… This …

UK Secretary of State Brandon Lewis champions liberal reform to save the Union and throws down the gauntlet to the DUP

Brian Walker on June 6, 2021, 11:32 am

| Readers 4131

This just could be significant. In the Sunday Times, the emergence of a pro Union liberal reform strategy acceptable across the community from the British government. It appears to remove the last vestige of the UK government dancing to the DUP’s tune. At the most sensitive moment imaginable, just before Edwin Poots nominates a still unknown First Minister, Brandon Lewis presents a frontal challenge to the DUP. This has been simmering for some time but I never thought it would …

Well, well, well-#AE2022 and that Lucid Talk poll

Sarah Creighton on May 22, 2021, 11:06 am

| Readers 11293

It’s early days, minds could change later, but the Belfast Telegraph’s latest poll will send shivers down the DUP’s spine. According to Lucid Talk, support for the DUP has dropped to 16%, the same as Alliance. Sinn Fein sits at 25%. Doug Beattie will take comfort from the figure for the UUP, up two points to 14%. A Sinn Fein First Minister has been a possibility since the 2017 Assembly election. Based on these figures, Sinn Fein will clinch the …