Scotland – Page 7 – Slugger O'Toole

Is the Catholic Church Losing the Irish People? Reflections on Tony Flannery & the Church of England

Gladys Ganiel on January 26, 2017, 8:43 am

| Readers 1367

On Sunday, Redemptorist priest Fr Tony Flannery celebrated mass publicly for the first time in five years, defying a Vatican ban on public ministry dating from 2012. Fr Flannery is being disciplined by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for expressing views contrary to official church teachings on matters like clerical celibacy and the ordination of women. Fr Flannery insisted the public mass was a one-off event, to celebrate his 70th birthday and the 40th anniversary of his …

The Supreme Court rules that devolved assembly consent is not legally required for Brexit. But the political battle is only just beginning

Brian Walker on January 24, 2017, 11:26 am

| Readers 1218

. So the Westminster Parliament must vote on triggering Article 50 – but on what exactly and how often until Brexit is achieved? The battle has only just begun. It’s bad news for nationalists everywhere. The Court ruled that the consent of the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly of Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly is not legally required. The argument put forward by Sinn Fein, the SDLP and in the courts by Raymond McCord that under the GFA the …

SNP pressure to stay in the single market boosts the UK case. Why not champion these ideas for Northern Ireland?

Brian Walker on December 21, 2016, 11:36 am

| Readers 1298

Nicola Sturgeon herself admits there are challenges in the SNP’s proposals to keep Scotland within the single market if the rest of the UK is without. The generous view of the paper Scotland’s Place in Europe is that at least it sets out a position, which is more than the than the UK government has done so far. Witness Theresa May’s stonewalling performance before the Commons Liaison Committee yesterday and the Guardian’s sketch of it. Furthermore the Scottish case could …

Old-fashioned confession might have served DUP better than this RHI runaround…

Mick Fealty on December 16, 2016, 3:27 pm

| Readers 2763

An Evening with the Borgias was how one Facebook friend put it. Well, perhaps not quite that bad but since DUP on DUP action is such an uncommon sight on NI television, last night’s Nolan Special was revealing in parts. One of the things it revealed is that former Minster Bell has been Stephen Nolan’s ‘Deep Throat’ for some of this story. Most of his revelations centre around his own brief tenure in the department at the core of the …

UK exports have boomed since the Brexit referendum, but mostly to the EU

Peter Donaghy (Salmon of Data) on December 15, 2016, 9:18 am

| Readers 1069

In the immediate aftermath of the referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union on the 23rd of June 2016, the pound fell sharply against other major currencies. At the time of writing, £1 will buy €1.19 or 1.25 US dollars, down 8.5% and 14.7% respectively $1.47 and €1.30 on the eve of the referendum. It has been claimed by various sources that a fall in the pound, whilst obviously bad news for importers and holidaymakers, will prove a …

Brexit requires a special deal for Ireland say the Lords, and the Executive cannot stay aloof. That means you, Arlene

Brian Walker on December 12, 2016, 3:51 pm

| Readers 854

In the first of six reports on Brexit the House of Lords committee on the EU recommend that the British and Irish governments should negotiate a new bilateral agreement to minimise the impact of Brexit on British-Irish and North-South relations. This will be welcomed as the first serious attempt by British legislators to cut through the thicket of thorny problems particular to both parts of Ireland. As the Guardian reports, the Lords EU Committee “touches lightly” on the Good Friday agreement. It …

The gap between politics and the law is further exposed. But ruling on the clash between the Scots and Irish nationalists with the UK government will be the more momentous decision for the Supreme Court.

Brian Walker on December 7, 2016, 5:24 pm

| Readers 1242

Brian WalkerFormer BBC journalist and manager in Belfast, Manchester and London, Editor Spolight; Political Editor BBC NI; Current Affairs Commissioning editor BBC Radio 4; Editor Political and Parliamentary Programmes, BBC Westminster; former London Editor Belfast Telegraph. Hon Senior Research Fellow, The Constitution Unit, Univ Coll. London

Where now for Scotland?

Neale Richmond on December 2, 2016, 12:14 pm

| Readers 1010

In an historic and stirring address to Seanad Éireann this week, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon refused to set out a timeline for when she might ask the Scottish people to vote once again on Independence. She repeated her view that the Scottish people had not voted to stay within a United Kingdon outside of the European Union and that the Scottish people’s decision to overwhelming vote in favour of remaining in the EU could not be ignored. Immediately after …

Martina Anderson joins the European Parliament’s #Brexit monitoring team…

Mick Fealty on December 1, 2016, 10:02 am

| Readers 516

Along with a Catalan separatist MEP, according to the Glasgow Herald… Mr Terricabras – who represents the SNP’s main Catalan allies Republicana Esquerra in the parliament – made clear his support for a deal with Scotland. He said: “To me it seems extraordinarily important for Catalans to see the possibilities that there are for an agreement with Scotland, for Scotland to have a new relationship with Europe.” Never waste a crisis. Except, the French, have confirmed there are no negotiations with …

New life in an auld relationship? The Scottish government may pay for Northern Ireland abortions

Brian Walker on November 18, 2016, 1:38 pm

| Readers 799

A tentative move to erode the prohibitive position over abortion in Northern Ireland may become a landmark shift, now that the issue has been raised. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is open to the suggestion as reported by the Guardian, that woman from Northern Ireland could have abortions performed free in Scotland under NHS devolution. I am happy to explore with the NHS what the situation is now in terms of the ability of women from Northern Ireland to access …

Brexit or Flexit, for a time UK politics will take sole control of the stage

Mick Fealty on October 26, 2016, 12:32 pm

| Readers 1132

There’s a plethora of speculation around Brexit and how it might affect Northern Ireland. For all the heartfelt nature of Brian Feeney’s attack on Arlene Foster highlightly the fact that she doesn’t represent majority opinion in NI – her Euroscepticism is aligned with majority opinion in the UK. And for the foreseeable future, so far as internal politics are concerned, it’s the only opinion that counts. UK Labour under their ingenue and (if news from their last regional bastion is …

Has Theresa May assessed the risks of toughing it out with Nicola Sturgeon?

Brian Walker on October 25, 2016, 10:56 am

| Readers 1528

So Flexit -a flexible Brexit or separate deals with the EU for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – are ruled out – for now at least. “We have been very clear that we should be working together to secure the best possible deal for the whole country,” the prime minister’s official spokeswoman said on Monday. “We expect representatives of the devolved administrations to act in that way and to in no way undermine the UK’s position.” “The devolved administrations” …

So the DUP are leaving it all up to Theresa May to sort out our Brexit deal are they?

Brian Walker on October 18, 2016, 1:58 pm

| Readers 1722

At last! Only two months later, a reply from Theresa May to the joint concerns of FM and DFM on the impact of Brexit. Searching for detail in the Nolan “scoop” I can only find this on the BBC website. In her letter, Mrs May says the future of the border is “an important priority for the UK as a whole.” She also says she recognises the “unique issues” raised by the Single Electricity Market and that resolving these will …

The Irish Times and the Guardian combine to ramp up pressure on May and in support of the “all-island Civic Dialogue”

Brian Walker on October 16, 2016, 11:21 pm

| Readers 1191

“At this delicate moment, the Guardian and the Irish Times are collaborating on a week-long series exploring the predicament facing Ireland and the UK. Kenny told the Irish Times that he would summon all political players to an unprecedented All Island Civic Dialogue on 2 November. “ In support of the Guardian’s announcement the Irish Times has published a gloomy analysis of the effects of Brexit on both countries. The rough guide is that every 1 per cut in UK growth …

May’s Brexit War Cabinet has no permanent places for the NI, Scottish or Welsh Secretaries.

David McCann on October 15, 2016, 6:28 pm

| Readers 1205

From POLITICO, the Prime Minister, Theresa May has put together her Brexit war cabinet which is essentially cabinet sub committee with the remit of “overseeing Britain’s negotiations with the EU and formulating wider trade policy.” The report notes that this committee will be the ultimate decision making body over the UK’s exit from the European Union. The committee includes mostly Leavers but also has some members who voted Remain. Yet, the committee has no permanent posts for the Northern Ireland …

SNP leader says she will only press for an #IndyRef2, if the UK leaves the Single Market…

Mick Fealty on October 13, 2016, 2:58 pm

| Readers 1496

The biggest problem in tracking the progress of Brexit (and corollaries) is the fact we know so little about its shape, size and weight. Nicola Sturgeon has just announced her condition for seeking to trigger a second referendum is an exit from the single market. So, it should be noted, the SNP leader is not going to have her party die in a ditch for membership of the EU alone. The single market is a good retrenchment, not simply because …

Theresa May is risking the future of the British Union if she fails to recognise that Westminster is no longer “in control”

Brian Walker on October 11, 2016, 9:16 am

| Readers 1982

Scottish nationalism is on the defensive for the first time in over a decade. On the other hand, English nationalism could give it second wind if it thinks it can a score an easy victory without acknowledging its enduring power. At this juncture, it’s true that one early outcome of the Brexit confusion leaning towards a hard Brexit is that Nicola Sturgeon’s calculations have become more complicated. On the eve of the SNP annual conference former Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill …

English nationalism drove Brexit and now supercharges the Tories. What about the UK?

Mick Fealty on October 5, 2016, 2:41 pm

| Readers 1121

Interesting presentation from Richard Wynne Jones at an event in Birmingham yesterday on how English nationalism is driving UK politics… He said: “We are entering a new era in UK politics in which the traditional textbook understanding of the nature of the UK is basically wrong – and actually England [and] Englishness is coming into play in ways which we haven’t seen before.” Prof Jones said there is now a “great deal of unhappiness as to how England is treated within …

“Divisive nationalists” may have to wait for Article 50 to play any new cards.

Mick Fealty on October 3, 2016, 2:55 pm

| Readers 1039

UK constitutional politics right now is pretty counterintuitive. Brexiteers stole the Yes campaign’s best tunes from IndyRefI and used them, provisionally at least, to jailbreak the UK from the EU. Can Scotland in turn break out of the UK deal? As Brian says that’s extremely unlikely when he notes that “the cardinal point [is] that EU membership is a matter reserved to Westminster“. In NI much is made of EU associations to the Belfast Agreement, but it’s more political belief than fact. Whilst Martin protests of …

Scotland and Northern Ireland’s legal consent for Brexit is not required – Theresa May

Brian Walker on October 3, 2016, 11:44 am

| Readers 1492

“There is no opt-out from Brexit. And I will never allow divisive nationalists to undermine the precious Union between the four nations of our United Kingdom.” Theresa May has Scotland in mind here of course but the uncompromising “no opt out” applies equally to Northern Ireland. The “consultation” that is promised is therefore to be by grace and favour of the UK government. But there is still no word on what form that consultation may take. We know now that …