The election results are more about DUP failure than Sinn Fein success…

Stephen Stewart is a Faulknerite unionist currently living in exile from Norn Iron and proudly an analogue person in a digital age. With the dust starting to settle on the [*checks notes*] “seismic” Assembly election, and with Connolly House no doubt in a jubilant mood, it’s worth taking a breath and analyzing just how it came to be that Sinn Fein finds itself with the most seats at the (formerly) unionist bastion of Parliament Buildings. “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route …

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UTV Leaders Debate-Low key campaigns don’t drop their guards

The leaders of the five main parties gathered in South Belfast today for the UTV Leaders Debate, which is the first of two of these debates in the 2022 Assembly Election campaign. Marc Mallett as usual was the moderator and there were two new faces with Doug Beattie and Jeffrey Donaldson taking part for the first time. The experienced debaters returning from 2017 were Colum Eastwood, Naomi Long and Michelle O’Neill. The debate was divided into three main themes, Executive …

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And the winner is … ranking the PEBs: Slugger’s verdict on the party broadcasts of #AE22

It’s back! The Slugger review of the Party Election Broadcasts. Starting all the way back in 2014, we are returning to award the best party election broadcast of the 2022 Assembly campaign. This year we are assembling the same judges as in 2019 to help us decide who won the battle on TV. We have our own Alan Meban, the Belfast Telegraph Crime Correspondent, Allison Morris and Director of Brown O’Connor Communications, Chris Brown. How does it work? Each of …

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SDLP meet for the first time in four years with opportunities and battles ahead.

The SDLP met in Bellaghy for their first conference since 2018. The small crowd of around one hundred delegates gathered at the Seamus Heaney homeplace. This is the first time since 2018 that delegates have gathered together in person. Last time the conference was something akin to a wake as they reeled from a disastrous General Election in 2017. This time they meet with two MPs and a minister in government, but the party has challenges going into this election. …

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Slugger TV looks at what it’s like to be an MLA

In this episode, we are two former MLAs and Junior Ministers, Megan Fearon and Emma Little Pengelly who talk to us about what it is like to be an MLA and run an election campaign. David McCannDavid McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs

Unionism cannot expect Sinn Féin to keep saving the Union…

giant's causeway, northern ireland, rocks

Phelim Grant and Charles McCann were members of the IRA who died when a bomb they were placing exploded prematurely. At the beginning of February, some Republicans, including members of Sinn Féin marked their death by holding a commemorative event. During the commemoration, Sinn Féin’s ‘Unionist Outreach Officer’, Declan Kearney, gave a speech talking about the inevitability of a United Ireland, part of the speech was aimed at “Protestants and Unionists”, Kearney’s message to them was that “we want you …

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What sort of Assembly do we want?

What sort of people keep holding elections to a body they aren’t sure they even want to survive?  We’ve been doing it for ever. Since 1973 at least, as long in politics as Joe Biden.  That’s without taking account of old time Sinn Fein’s northern abstention.  As they contemplate the embarrassing cycle of abandoned fresh starts since 1998, who could blame the voters of Northern Ireland if they finally lost confidence in the very idea of the Assembly?  However the …

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Slugger TV looks at the polls and strategy for #AE22

This month Slugger TV talks to two former party strategists about what the parties will be thinking about going into the next election. We have Brendan Mulgrew (For SDLP advisor and Partner in MW Advocate) and Lee Reynolds (Former Director of Policy for the DUP and SPAD). NVTV and local broadcasting lost a very special person last week. Marilyn Hyndman very sadly passed away. She was someone who edited, checked over and supported Slugger TV. We hope you enjoy this …

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Scores on the doors: 2022 Assembly Election lay of the land

We are 104 days away from the Assembly Election. Set for Thursday 5th May, we will be able to decide who we want to take Northern Ireland forward for the next few years. Where will the parties be targeting and defending? I have put together a list of where is under threat for each of the main parties and where could they make some gains. These things are moveable feasts and dynamics can change throughout the campaign. Sinn Fein-Currently holds …

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The DUP and Sinn Fein block hunting with dogs ban…

fox, nature, animals

Thanks to the DUP and Sinn Fein the private member’s bill to ban hunting with dogs was defeated by 45 votes to 38 in the Assembly on Monday. Animal welfare charity, the USPCA, had backed the bill. It said it was “very disappointed” with the outcome. “This result is contrary to the views of the public, as outlined in the consultation response and in previous public opinion polls,” said USPCA chief executive Brendan Mullan. “Hunting wild mammals with dogs is …

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McDonald tells her party this is their moment but will they seize it?

Sinn Fein President, Mary Lou McDonald addressed her party in Dublin this evening. The Opposition Leader free from the 2019 electoral setbacks and is now a leader who could look with optimism about where the party stands in the polls and make a bid for the position of Taoiseach. The party is pitching itself as the main vehicle for change, but falls short of ruling out a potential coalition with her main rivals. For the talk about Sinn Fein being …

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Slugger TV looks at UUP, Sinn Fein and Brandon Lewis

Slugger TV : 29th October 2021 from Northern Visions NvTv on Vimeo. We’re back! For the first time since February 2020, we have returned to our home studio. This month Belfast Live Political Reporter, Brendan Hughes and Commentator, Chris Donnelly look at the recent UUP conference, Sinn Fein’s rise in the polls and how Brandon Lewis is getting on delivering on the New Decade, New Approach proposals. David McCannDavid McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. …

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A decade of opportunity? Sinn Fein meet for their first pandemic Ard Fheis

At the Helix in North Dublin, Sinn Fein delegates gathered for the first time in a COVID 19 context. The party has much to be happy about they are doing well in the polls in the South and are being touted to become the largest party in the North after the next election. The leadership team of Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O’Neill is now nearly four years in post and has not been without challenges. From the disastrous elections …

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Time to demand more for Derry?

Chris Donnelly was writing in Monday’s Irish News about the need to address the economic situation in the city of Derry. He  outlined the major issues. Derry needs an injection not just of cash but of people. It should be the Galway of the north, itself a city in which 1 in 5 residents are students. Derry has the lowest Higher Education provision of the fifteen largest towns and cities with degree-granting institutions across the island. Sligo has a similar …

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The legacy of the past can still be felt in today’s political relationships, warns O’Neill

Legacy is being discussed at length at present, following the British government’s proposals to abandon prosecutions and investigations related to Troubles’ events. But there is another toxic legacy – the impact of past events on current political relationships. That aspect of legacy is discussed with Sinn Féin Vice President and Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill in the latest Holywell Trust Forward Together podcast.  Michelle argues that political leaders must work hard to build trust, to enable the political system here to …

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Don’t gloat; the DUP’s emotional spasms could spell trouble for all of us

Bogeyman Brendan Gloating over the chaos in the DUP may be understandable and even enjoyable. But it is not a sufficient response to what seems to be going on.  The full gamut of resentment at the state of politics has come to the surface of the DUP and there are dangers in it for everybody. In the present circumstances their cup runneth over. The British government are as much to blame as republicans.   First their betrayal over the protocol , …

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Stormont crisis averted. Until the next crisis…

So to no great surprise to anyone, Sinn Fein and the DUP have agreed to fudge the issue of the Irish Language Act. They have run to colonial daddy to implement the legislation for them at Westminster. BBC News: NI ministerial nominations due as Stormont stand-off ends BBC News – NI ministerial nominations due as Stormont stand-off endshttps://t.co/ybxWhPftU5 A Secretary of State intervenes to save the Assembly at Sinn Fein's behest. Now we've seen it all. — Brian Walker (@bwalker347) …

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

   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 …

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Why Conor Murphy’s Budget is failing our people

Sinéad McLaughlin is an SDLP MLA for Foyle and is the SDLP spokesperson for the economy For the last 14 years, Northern Ireland has been led by joint first ministers from Sinn Fein and the DUP. This leadership was supposed to deliver prosperity after the peace that was delivered by the leadership of John Hume and the SDLP. But instead of prosperity, the North continues to have some of the worst economic outcomes anywhere in Western Europe. My city of Derry …

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

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 …

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