sinn fein – Page 2 – Slugger O'Toole

What sort of Assembly do we want?

Brian Walker on February 18, 2022, 9:20 am | Readers 3632

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 …

Slugger TV looks at the polls and strategy for #AE22

David McCann on January 28, 2022, 2:16 pm | Readers 2789

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 …

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

David McCann on January 21, 2022, 6:12 pm | Readers 8649

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 …

The DUP and Sinn Fein block hunting with dogs ban…

Brian O'Neill on December 7, 2021, 10:26 am | Readers 3901

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 …

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

David McCann on October 30, 2021, 5:39 pm | Readers 4730

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 …

Slugger TV looks at UUP, Sinn Fein and Brandon Lewis

David McCann on October 30, 2021, 12:37 pm | Readers 1665

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. …

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

David McCann on October 30, 2021, 12:26 pm | Readers 1902

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 …

Time to demand more for Derry?

David McCann on August 20, 2021, 12:27 pm | Readers 2436

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 …

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

Paul Gosling on July 30, 2021, 9:05 am | Readers 1724

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 …

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

Brian Walker on June 20, 2021, 4:17 pm | Readers 8543

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 , …

Stormont crisis averted. Until the next crisis…

Brian O'Neill on June 17, 2021, 10:32 am | Readers 3545

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) …

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 6969

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 …

Why Conor Murphy’s Budget is failing our people

Soapbox on May 26, 2021, 9:54 am | Readers 5396

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 …

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

Sarah Creighton on May 22, 2021, 11:06 am | Readers 11273

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 …

Martina Anderson and Karen Mullan to step down at the next election.

David McCann on May 4, 2021, 7:04 pm | Readers 4584

Empty Waterfront Hall for Sinn Fein Ard Fheis

Confirmation that I do not intend to stand at the next Assembly Election. There is a privilege in being a public representative standing up for people. I will miss not doing that #LoveDerry pic.twitter.com/anRPIAhzod — Martina Anderson MLA (@M_AndersonSF) May 4, 2021 And followed by Karen Mullan just a few minutes later I confirm that I will not be seeking a nomination to stand for @sinnfeinireland at the next Assembly Election. It has been a great privilege to represent and …

If Edwin Poots tried to crash the Assembly it would open the door to a border poll

Brian Walker on May 1, 2021, 2:42 pm | Readers 8165

Let’s assume Edwin Poots is a shoo-in for the DUP leadership. Comfortable in his minor elder statesman role at Westminster, Jeffrey Donaldson hasn’t the stomach for a contest. He might be willing to accept it on a plate but that’s not going to happen. With more than a hint of desperation, some of us have been foisting the Nixon goes to China model onto Poots, meaning that the hardliner in politics may be better placed to compromise than the liberal. …

Sinn Fein continue their Derry shake up

David McCann on April 28, 2021, 7:25 pm | Readers 6841

The Irish Examiners political correspondent, Aoife Moore has another scoop on the latest developments in Derry Sinn Fein as she reveals the two sitting MLAs have been asked to consider their positions. Moore reports: Martina Anderson and Karen Mullan were told last week that as part of a long investigation into the Derry Comhairle Ceantair launched before Christmas, that they should reconsider their positions as elected representatives, as the party attempted to “rebuild” in the city. It’s understood both women …

Behind the Paddy’s Day rituals, how deep is the Stormont crisis?

Brian Walker on March 18, 2021, 7:26 am | Readers 2522

With so much guff, bluff and ritual about it, St Patrick’s Day is a poor bellwether for judging the state of affairs in Ireland remotely – and perhaps no better on the spot either. One glance at privileged youff crowding Botanic Gardens in defiance of lockdown, you might have groaned with me: “ Not the Holylands again. “ However BBCNI’s news story was encouraging. St Patrick's Day: Police clear crowds at Belfast's Botanic Gardens https://t.co/Fp6LvjTOC8 — Darran Marshall (@DarranMarshall) March …

“As explained in detail to Sinn Féin and previously…”

Pete Baker on February 12, 2021, 3:22 pm | Readers 2104

News that the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland is to canvass all households this summer, for the first time since 2013 and a year later than planned, in order to update the electoral register – unlike the rest of the UK which has an annual canvass process – has the Sinn Féin MP for West Belfast, Paul Maskey, reaching for a page from the Donald Trump electioneering playbook. From the BBC report The canvass is legally required by the UK …

Real world pressures are complicating neat arguments over unification

Brian Walker on January 21, 2021, 11:49 am | Readers 2075

I begin with more inexplicable partitionism from Dublin, as discussed by Newton who has a hawkeye for this subject “Genuine mystery surrounds the Irish Government’s lengthy refusal to share Covid passenger data with Northern Ireland. The Government will not explain it and nobody else can see what the issue might be. There is increasing urgency for a solution as Britain, Ireland and Northern Ireland introduce negative Covid test requirements for travellers, with varying sets of self-isolation periods that cannot be …