Republic – Page 3 – Slugger O'Toole

The stand off over the Ireland/NI protocol is a model of cooperation compared to Covid planning

Brian Walker on May 7, 2020, 11:35 am

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A few days ago, naively perhaps, I wondered why north and south weren’t cooperating actively over Covid 19, especially when a memo of understanding had been signed between the two public health authorities at the end of March . After all ” North –South” is one of those pillars of the GFA that are almost a religion albeit a neglected one. Surely Covid created ideal circumstances for holding a big revival. Across the water, one of the pieties of the …

Normal People depicts an Irish generation to appreciative millions that is at last growing up normally

Brian Walker on May 5, 2020, 4:57 pm

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Irish pornhub or a touching rite of passage? Critics are divided and that may be an age thing. But there’s no doubt that the TV series based on Sally Rooney’s rather minimal novel about the relationship between Sligo teenagers is a smash hit. This boomer old enough to be their grandparent is still getting over the fact that a drama about relationships set in a C21 Irish high school and small town has not a hint of Girl With Green …

Why the wall of silence over north-south Covid cooperation?

Brian Walker on May 5, 2020, 11:15 am

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Whatever the reliability of the figures, it seems possible that the Republic has been managing Covid 19 better – or has been luckier- than Northern Ireland. Whether this can be accounted for by the incubus of UK delay and the complexity of a bigger country with an older average population will emerge from the inevitable spate of inquiries. But north -south coordination and cooperation over phasing out lockdown would seem to be essential. And yet so little has emerged about …

What’s in an app?

Brian Walker on May 4, 2020, 4:48 pm

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In relation to the cross-border use of the app, Mr Harris said inter-operability between EU member states and use of the app across the Border “presents specific challenges which have yet to be addressed”. “The specific challenge of North-South travel in Ireland and across the Irish Sea has been highlighted in EU meetings convened to discuss eHealth and the app.” There in a nutshell is a problem of the moment. How big a problem for the island is the choice …

Emma De Souza: a solution?

Sarah Creighton on April 29, 2020, 9:54 am

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As we drift through another week in lockdown, it’s hard to believe that there’s anything else to discuss apart from Coronavirus. Thankfully, Northern Ireland’s unique brand of identity politics stops for no pandemic. Cast your mind back to last year and the case of Emma De Souza. I wrote about it here. Mrs De Souza’s case concerns Article 1(vi) of the British-Irish Agreement. That section states that the two governments recognise the right of: ‘…..the people of Northern Ireland to …

A coalition pact in the Republic awaits wider approval

Brian Walker on April 15, 2020, 4:41 pm

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So the two traditional parties of government in the Republic have struck their coalition deal. They’ve taken their time. Southern government formation now looks more continental than ever. They’ve had the great excuse of tackling something even more important than creating a new government after an election. Fianna Fail and Fine Gael profess the need for a national coalition in response to Covid 19. But in truth the emergency does no more than give them cover for what would have …

Breakthrough news on the Troubles legacy. Legal critics of the UK government recommend a case by case amnesty

Brian Walker on April 9, 2020, 9:06 pm

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Prof Kieran McEvoy A get out of jail card has been produced by a group of academic lawyers who have spent years wrestling with the intractable problems of the Troubles legacy. The card would not only work for former soldiers facing charges, but also for the British government which is likely to face years in court if it tries to discriminate in their favour. Three weeks ago the government suddenly abandoned the long discussed and much consulted on plans originally …

By all means, hold the UK government’s feet to the fire. But collaboration with the Republic is no magic bullet.

Brian Walker on April 3, 2020, 12:56 pm

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We can hardly be surprised when the fault lines opened during this emergency. As a society still in recovery from a different sort of crisis, let’s admit we all – all – need help to avoid reverting to the old sectarian ding dong. Social media is a virus in itself and social distancing is its incubator. The first thing to hold onto is that we really are all in this together. The second is that things can only get worse …

As pressure mounts over the delay on UK testing, potential solutions seem neglected by the UK government. Peston asks: Why did Michael Gove lie?

Brian Walker on March 31, 2020, 8:52 pm

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This post is lengthy but I make no apologies. Scroll through it if you will. I concentrate on the vexed issue of “test, test test.” First a caveat. We must accept that western countries were much less prepared than eastern countries for another plague because they unlike the east they were barely affected by SARS . Nevertheless this fails to explain the still mystifying reasons why the UK in particular has failed to mobilise the resources that are actually available. …

How are we really doing compared to the south and GB? The public health and economic positions of coronavirus for Northern Ireland need more searching inquiry

Brian Walker on March 31, 2020, 2:14 pm

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North -south differences of approach to Covid 19 are hampering the chances of saving lives, according to an epidemiologist Prof Gabriel Scally. He brings apparent authority to differences which have been aired politically but not as far as I’ve seen among other experts. These differences should surely be resolved at a north-south ministerial meeting today. Scally writes in the Irish News.. The advice to someone in Lifford with symptoms of the disease is to self-isolate for a minimum of 14 …

Varadkar is having a good crisis. This it seems, is not the time to object.

Brian Walker on March 29, 2020, 11:57 am

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The Republic are doing things a little differently: joining an EU initiative to procure much needed ventilators, sending an Aer Lingus plane to China for hospital workers’ PPE; the Gardai Commissioner calling for people in the streets to produce IDs, off licences to stay open in contrast with GB. The North at first followed the GB rules but has now fallen into line with the south. The consequences if the northern ban remained in force if a hard Prohibition border …

Hold it a minute. Who’s actually in charge here?

Brian Walker on March 15, 2020, 12:47 pm

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Who actually is in charge of Covid 19 measures in Northern Ireland? Just asking. The mainstream media don’t seem that interested. Health is devolved but national emergencies are reserved to Westminster. Arlene Foster looks ahead to closing schools for 16 weeks (Why hit on 16? Why not 20 or 25? Are contingency plans for education ready to roll out? ) Michelle O’Neill with her reflexive approach to crisis thinks they should follow Dublin’s example and be closed already. Does this …

There’s more to it than polling. Ireland needs more than one choice of political future.

Brian Walker on March 9, 2020, 6:57 pm

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Although Irish unity has been a common obsession for more a century we can only marvel at how little it has been considered as a realistic proposition. In the Republic Sinn Fein’s surge at the general election has promoted it to a higher but still uncertain place in an agenda preoccupied with economic reform. In the GFA, the issue was from the start insulated from what really mattered at the time, the winning of the peace and the effective operation …

Opinion on a border poll “on a knife edge” – the latest from The Detail

Brian Walker on February 24, 2020, 1:28 pm

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Here we go again. Just a bit of cross posting here to draw attention m to a special edition of The Detail, about a border poll. The comment is based a Lucid Talk opinion poll conducted north and south, showing opinion “ on a knife edge” – 46.8% to stay in the UK and 45.4 % for a United Ireland. The disparity now among three polls in succession can partly be accounted for by different methodology, this one on line, …

Sinn Fein deserve their chance to satisfy the huge expectations their victory has aroused

Brian Walker on February 11, 2020, 12:53 am

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Let’s stand back. With just one seat fewer than Fianna Fail but with quotas to spare, Sinn Fein’s claim to have gained the moral advantage has credibility in spades. Another reading is just possible. The two centrist parties outnumber them by rather less than 2 to 1. Twice in France the right and left united to defeat the far right in the second round of a presidential election, once by joining together and last time by forming a new political …

Martin and Varadkar and playing a game of chicken, with Sinn Fein trying to get inside the coop

Brian Walker on February 3, 2020, 11:49 am

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Now I may have got this wrong because I haven’t been catching Irish TV election coverage here in London. But am the only one thinking that the parties in the election are sleepwalking through the campaign? Varadkar and Martin are playing for margins as if they were German party leaders. Who in GB could imagine a party leader speculating about a grand coalition in the first week of the campaign? Coalitions can be deadly for its members and confidence and …

#BrexitDay-Nothing but damage

Sarah Creighton on January 31, 2020, 8:27 am

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In Jan Carson’s The Fire Starters, there is a quote: “There is never enough silence to contain all our talking…….we continue to believe that across the sea, Europe (and also the world) is holding its breath for the next chapter in our sad story. The world is not waiting.” More than anywhere else in the UK, Brexit shifted the ground beneath Northern Ireland. It threw us down on different sides, sides that were also the battle lines that came before. …

We have a piece of paper… it looks like a Stormont deal, tbc

Brian Walker on January 10, 2020, 12:51 am

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Have we got a deal that the DUP and Sinn Fein sign up to or not? By Thursday midnight, it wasn’t clear. Will all parties turn up to the reconvened Assembly? By the time you read this we should know. In the meantime we have – a document .. But Arlene Foster’s verdict looks favourable.. “On balance we believe there is a basis upon which the Assembly and Executive can re-established in a fair and balanced way… This is not …

The RIC commemoration is off. Was it a bridge too far to unionists?

Brian Walker on January 7, 2020, 8:36 pm

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Newstalk If you’re going to do a U turn, getting it over quick limits the damage (even to bloggers like me). It’s remarkable how long politicians usually take to face up to the inevitable. Wisely not this time. With only 10 days to go, it had to be quick, with only a weasel word “ “deferred” substituted for “ cancelled.” Was holding a commemoration in Dublin Castle for the RIC and the Dublin Metropolitan Police a revisionism of history too …

Whatever you do, don’t handle the debate on a border poll like the politics of Brexit

Brian Walker on January 3, 2020, 3:16 pm

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The decision of the two governments to publish “ the basis of an agreement “ on a return to Stormont next week as recommended here and by others is very welcome. Publication will either expose to your judgement and mine the reasonableness or otherwise of whoever is holding out against agreement, or it will constitute the agreement itself. While an atmosphere of optimism among the parties is being fostered (no pun intended) in the sketchy reporting, there is nothing objective …