sinn fein – Page 7 – Slugger O'Toole

#LE19 Battlegrounds: Erne West

Victoria Johnston on April 27, 2019, 10:16 pm

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As well as sharing a border with the other wards in the Fermanagh Omagh District Council, Erne West shares a border with the Republic of Ireland. A border that has been much discussed in recent months as Brexit has unfolded. Indeed, some of the major villages within this ward have been frequently visited by politicians during the Brexit negotiations includin leading Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg who visited Belcoo in June 2018. The ward is heavily associated with agriculture and according to NISRA …

UK government under new pressure from MPs to move on NI abortion law reform

Brian Walker on April 25, 2019, 6:14 pm

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Photograph: Niall Carson/PA The all –party Women and Equalities committee of MPs is demanding that the UK government puts pressure on the Assembly –if it resumes – to reform the province’s uniquely restrictive abortion laws by supporting an appeal to the Human Rights Court at Strasbourg. The government must inform Parliament within six months when it intends to allow the NI Human Rights commission to make the appeal to the Strasbourg court rather than requiring a woman with an …

Why I [Almost] Stand With Squinter

Gerry Lynch on April 25, 2019, 6:16 am

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The Andersonstown News’ Robin Livingstone-aka-Squinter put the cat among the pigeons with a tweet attacking Fr Martin Magill for his piercing criticism of the DUP and Sinn Féin leaders at Lyra McKee’s funeral. His claim that the leaders of our two largest political parties are “unwitting women” was ridiculous, but I agree that Magill’s intervention was problematic; in particular, it obscures the key role Loyalist paramilitaries played in collapsing the January 2018 agreement between Sinn Féin and the DUP. Ironically …

Ticket Splitters

Niall Kelly on April 22, 2019, 7:37 pm

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The 2014 European and Local Government elections were held on the same day, unlike this time around when the Council election will be held three weeks before the European election. Some might think that the local government election results will be a sure-fire way to predict the results of the European election but there are a number of reasons why this might not be the case. As I have mentioned before, no party is standing in every DEA in the …

Slugger Verdict: ranking the PEBs of #LE19

David McCann on April 22, 2019, 12:00 pm

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Our crack panel sat down and reviewed the party election broadcasts hitting your screens for #LE19. Listen to our musings – frivolous and more serious – about messaging, target audiences, music and aesthetics as well as politics in our podcast with Allison Morris, Chris Brown, Alan Meban and David McCann.

The Unity Genie is Out of the Bottle: What do Unionism and Southern Parties do Next?

Soapbox on April 16, 2019, 1:49 pm

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As we fast approach the local council elections, it’s important to assess what the results might tell us about the future of Stormont and power-sharing as a whole. Will the council elections show a growth in the Nationalist vote? And/or will we finally see a breakthrough in middle ground voters, against the vacuum and groundhog day of our local politics? I do not need to inform all where we’re at and why. We all have slightly different takes on this, …

Poster Wars

Niall Kelly on April 15, 2019, 11:28 am

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Before the local government election notice of election was published on Tuesday 26th March we started to see the familiar sight of election posters appearing on lampposts across Northern Ireland. Love them or loathe them, posters are a mainstay of elections in Northern Ireland and in the Republic in a way that they are not in GB. Parties compete to be the first to get their posters up to ensure they get the best positions; at busy junctions and outside …

Council elections 2019 – all you need to know Part I

Niall Kelly on April 9, 2019, 3:47 pm

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The nominations for the 2019 local government election are in and a total of 819 candidates are running for 462 council seats across eleven different council areas – a decrease from the 893 candidates who sought election in 2014. The DUP was the largest party in 2014 and this remains but the total number of candidates they are running has decreased, from 189 to 172. There has been a slight increase in the number of candidates that Sinn Féin are …

Looking back at the 2014 Local Government election

Niall Kelly on March 24, 2019, 8:49 pm

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With the list of candidates for the 2019 local government election scheduled to be released after 6pm on Monday 8th April, now is a good time to look back at the runners and riders from the last council elections back in 2014. The 2014 election was the first to be fought on the new eleven ‘super council’ basis and saw a total of 974 candidates running for 462 seats, a reduction from the 582 seats prior to 2014. The results …

The banner is one thing but the New York parade has always raised eyebrows

Sarah Creighton on March 18, 2019, 10:53 am

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The St Patrick’s Day parade in New York has always been controversial. In the 1980s and 1990s, while Northern Ireland was in the middle of the Troubles, NORAID would walk in the New York parade and collect money for the IRA. In 1983 Michael Flannery, who organised NORAID, was chosen as grand marshal. The decision lead to a number of politicians boycotting the event that year. The New York parade has a long history of being anti LGBT. It was …

“we need to remove legacy policing from contemporary policing…”

Pete Baker on March 17, 2019, 3:00 pm

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A timely reminder, should one be needed, from Newton Emerson in the Irish Times this week, that when Sinn Féin talk about ‘agreement’ on the “need to remove legacy policing from contemporary policing” what they mean is “No prosecutions, please.” From Newton Emerson in the Irish Times It is all or nothing on dealing with the legacy of the Troubles. Either all sides must face the same prospect of prosecutions and convictions, or all sides must be given an amnesty …

Give us the softest Brexit and a plague on all your houses! In Northern Ireland, the gap between people and politicians is wider than ever – latest North-South poll

Brian Walker on March 8, 2019, 11:26 am

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It’s a snap shot in a febrile atmosphere I know, but who can be surprised? A new poll from the Irish Times and Ipsos/MRBI – in fact parallel polls north and south – find that 59 per cent of Northern Ireland voters want a special arrangement for Northern Ireland for no checks on the border – even if that means some checks on goods travelling between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The poll also found that 67 per cent of voters …

The Casually Vacant Council Seats

Niall Kelly on March 3, 2019, 8:45 pm

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When the DUP’s Peter Johnston became a member of Mid and East Antrim Council, representing the Carrick Castle DEA, on 19th October 2018 he did so by winning a by-election[1], the first time since May 2010 that a by-election for a council seat had been fought. Figures provided by the Electoral Office show that since the last local government election in May 2014 there have been 86 co-options to councils (including five to the old legacy councils), meaning that 19% …

“Fair employment and equal opportunities legislation are built upon open and transparent practices, free from political interference…”

Pete Baker on February 19, 2019, 4:26 pm

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The, at best, ill-considered comments by Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald yesterday, on potential candidates from within the PSNI to succeed George Hamilton as Chief Constable, have prompted a sharp reminder from the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland to the NI Policing Board of its responsibilities under equality legislation to recruit in a non-discriminatory way. The Equality Commission has expressed its concern about the recent comments made by the Sinn Féin President about the appointment of a new Chief …

Pro-Remain Parties “We urge the EU to remain firm in that position and call on the British Government to reconsider the reckless path that they have adopted”

David McCann on January 31, 2019, 4:21 pm

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“With only eight weeks until the UK exits the EU, the four pro-Remain Assembly parties – SDLP, Sinn Féin, Alliance and Greens – are united in our support for the backstop negotiated by both the European Union and the British Government. “We continue to believe that there is no such thing as a good or sensible Brexit, and any opportunity to reconsider Brexit should be taken. “We believe that while the Withdrawal Agreement is imperfect, it will mitigate against a …

“the big message from Saturday was that the Northern nationalist mood of resentment, annoyance and frustration needs to be heeded.”

Pete Baker on January 28, 2019, 2:54 pm

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[Having thrown their toys out of the pram two years ago… – Ed] ANYhoo… In the Irish Times, Gerry Moriarty reports from the nationalist “gurn-fest” in Belfast at the weekend. From the Irish Times report Essentially this was nationalism speaking to nationalism although there were few people in the hall from a unionist or Protestant background. Unionist politicians weren’t invited but they will have heard the message nonetheless, and will have been alarmed by it. Southern politicians including Minister for Education …

McDonald: there is no contradiction in seeking the establishment of a functioning Assembly and an Executive, and calling for a unity referendum

David McCann on January 27, 2019, 1:43 pm

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Sinn Fein President, Mary Lou McDonald spoke at the Brexit conference organised at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast yesterday; It is our job as leaders – each and every one of us – to now manage the evolving process of change with care, patience and generosity. To those that say, ‘now is not the time for unity’, I say otherwise. History is unfolding. The next chapter is being written. Now is the time. The biggest mistake – and most reckless …

O’Neill “government is clearly still not listening to fears of the public who are aghast at the pantomime currently playing out in the Westminster parliament”

David McCann on January 17, 2019, 7:28 pm

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Sinn Fein Vice President, Michelle O’Neill held a phone conversation with the Secretary of State to discuss the impasse over the Withdrawal Agreement; “I had a frank discussion with the British Secretary of State and I told her that her government is clearly still not listening to fears of the public who are aghast at the pantomime currently playing out in the Westminster parliament. “With each passing day, our business community, our farmers, our community and voluntary sector are growing …

Nothing new to offer as Theresa May misfires the last shot in her locker in support of her deal

Brian Walker on January 14, 2019, 12:38 pm

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With her back to the wall Theresa May exposes her own and her speech writers’ monumental ignorance of UK devolution by bizarrely invoking the creation of the Welsh Assembly based on a squeakingly narrow referendum result. as a killer argument against calling a second referendum on Brexit. What a pity that that she is such a poor advocate of what would otherwise be a viable proposal. Extracts from May’s speech released by Downing Street last night show she will invoke …

“Sinn Fein’s Arder Carson said that it was his democratic right to choose not to be painted…”

Pete Baker on January 13, 2019, 3:09 pm

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Or, indeed, not to wear clothes… ANYhoo… On Thursday The Belfast Telegraph reported Sinn Féin’s ‘farcical’ attempt to prevent Belfast City Council granting permission for local artist and political cartoonist Brian John Spencer to “sketch the Council Chamber and the Council meeting in January”. At a Council Strategic Policy and Resources Committee meeting in December 2018 a Sinn Féin motion rejecting the request – which “would involve Mr Spencer being allowed access to the Chamber for a couple of hours …