Peace Processing

Irish Language Act: “Dr Paisley had been intensely displeased by the Blair administration’s trickery.”

Mick Fealty on June 28, 2017, 7:49 am | Readers 2595

To those still buying into the Major/Powell idea that the British government is always a neutral player in negotiations, try this account from Peter Robinson on how Blair set Sinn Fein up with a promise for an Irish Language Act he had no intention of asking the DUP to deliver: “It was Ian’s assessment – and in my view an accurate one – that if the government was prepared to con Sinn Féin in the way it did, they would …

Sisyphus and the diaphanous rewards of NI’s ‘peace process’?

Mick Fealty on February 6, 2014, 12:16 pm | Readers 115

Original copy is at SMBC Comics… “Keep pushing lads/lasses… let’s take it to the next level?” Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty

#Mandela: “The role of the leader is to understand the anxieties of his people and do something about it.”

Mick Fealty on December 10, 2013, 4:52 pm | Readers 61

David McWilliams on how the Mandela deal worked for South Africa… When I asked him how the whole thing was working and whether there was any truth in the whites’ suggestion that the blacks were particularly tolerant even after everything that had occurred during white rule, he grinned and said: “They pretend it never happened and we pretend to forgive them.” These sentiments could have come directly from that other brilliant hero to South Africans, Mahatma Gandhi, who memorably said …

Stormont’s inaction driving the handcart back towards the brink of the past?

Mick Fealty on January 3, 2013, 7:52 am | Readers 69

Or predictions thread for the year to come is still a work in progress, but you don’t need a crystal ball to tell you the shenanigans at the year end suggest that already Stormont’s institutions are having some difficulty staying in touch with where the politics of the street is moving. Alan Murray notes in yesterday’s Tele: …many of our politicians on both sides are out of touch with reality. Political current affairs programmes on our local television and radio channels …

Bored with the blather…

Belfast Gonzo on August 2, 2012, 12:57 am | Readers 43

IF you’ve ever sighed with exasperation or clenched your teeth with frustration every time you heard someone say “we are all to blame” for the Troubles, you may find Malachi O’Doherty’s latest column somewhat cathartic. The peace process patter that has evolved in our political discourse may be natural and second nature to those who wish to absolve themselves, but for the vast majority who got on with life and our neighbours, it can be uncomfortably Orwellian. For the majority …

The End of the Northern Ireland Model of Peace Processing?

Pete Baker on April 29, 2012, 6:12 pm | Readers 71

Even with the recent apparent spike in terrorist activity, including a large car bomb abandoned near Newry, and public paramilitary displays, it’s probably premature to talk of “the IRA’s resurgence”. But that’s the reference used in this article by Michael Rubin Perhaps the most important fact I learned was that British security officials believe that their pact with the Irish Republican Army (IRA) may be unraveling. British intelligence and counter terror officials are now tracking and interrupting more IRA terror planning that at …