A defence of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement’s legacy, arguing that while most unionists have embraced its principles, Sinn Féin has systematically undermined the consent framework — leaving centrist unionism stranded and the Agreement itself surplus to republican politics.
A new survey reveals that 55 per cent of Northern Irish voters would refuse to back any party that collapses Stormont — and that support for institutional reform now cuts across the unionist-nationalist divide. But as public opinion shifts, are the politicians listening?
The border poll arithmetic is simple: nationalism cannot win it alone. The votes needed sit with people who want competent government, not constitutional drama. So why, after twenty-five years in power, is there so little evidence of the former and so much of the latter?
Mick looks at Claire Hanna’s direct if deliberately modest assault on the St Andrews settlement with three targeted institutional reforms — and she has done so at precisely the moment Sinn Féin can least afford the scrutiny.
My previous post has helped spark an interesting debate elsewhere. What seems to have piqued that interest was my view that since 2016 (the last time there was an actual three year budget) there’s been a loss of seriousness within the two senior parties about doing government particularly in comparison to administrations led by those same parties prior to 2016. The fiscal black hole both now face didn’t come from nowhere. Although there is a case to argue that austerity …
Tim Cairns is a Senior Policy Manager for CARE Northern Ireland has a gambling problem. Around 3% of people here, roughly 47,000 adults, are experiencing gambling harm. To put that in perspective, there are more people in gambling harm in Northern Ireland’s six counties than in the whole of the twenty-six counties that comprise the rest of the island. The prevalence of gambling harm here is five times higher than England. The question that is not easy to answer is …
With the morning mist still lingering over east Belfast, the Northern Ireland Assembly met at noon. The first item of business was – as always in this long series of recalls – the election of the Speaker and (at least two) Deputy Speakers. Letters from Speaker Alex Maskey ahead of the sitting had reminded MLAs that their order, language and debate should be constructive and that Points of Order should not be abused. Many MLAs walked down the steps into …
As Jayne McCormack reports for the BBC, the legal obligation to call another Assembly election if no Executive is formed will be put back for another year. But he will still have the power to call one earlier if he chooses. Stormont election deadline delayed by a year – BBC News With the opinion polling telling us that a new election now would achieve nothing – leaving the parties in a broadly similar position to now – it was obvious …
It shouldn’t actually surprise us in the slightest, and for once I can’t entirely blame the DUP’s collapse of the Assembly. On 25th October, John O’Dowd announced as Infrastructure Minister that Translink fares would “remain frozen for another year”, but today it was announced that they would rise by an average of 7% from 6 March. The Secretary of State made a statement to the House of Commons on 24 November 2022 saying he recognised “that steps will also need …
Regardless of the reasons behind the current deadlock at Stormont, I’ve been thinking since the Assembly elections in May about some of the more… uh, interesting results from that contest – like how the TUV vote went from over 20,000 in 2017 to nearly 66,000 in 2022 yet still returned only one seat – how is that either proportional or representative? I would consider myself a natural UUP supporter on the conservative-but-not-headbanger wing of unionism, but even I would have …
The local think tank Pivotal has released a new report: Governing Northern Ireland Without An Executive. From the press release: No Executive means inadequate government for Northern Ireland Northern Ireland has caretaker ministers but no government. A new report from Pivotal, the independent think tank focused on Northern Ireland, examines what Stormont ministers have been able to do since the Executive collapsed in February – and asks if this has addressed the problems facing local people. In the absence of …
The Politics-Pausing Protocol The third attempt to restore Stormont was unsurprisingly unsuccessful. The same arguments on both sides of the protocol debate were played out as they have been over the months. However, as we know in politics, events take over. The cost of living crisis is one that affects us all. The protocol is undoubtedly an important issue within unionism that evokes much emotion. But we also have to eat, pay bills and have access to a healthcare system …
Following a very weak performance at the recent Assembly Elections, the SDLP have decided to do something dramatic to reverse their ailing fortunes. Today I have written to the Speaker of the Assembly to confirm that the SDLP will now be the Official Opposition to the deadlock and division of the Stormont administration. People were promised change in May’s election. As an Opposition, that’s what our team will deliver. pic.twitter.com/EOZs2JKpaj — Colum Eastwood 🇺🇦 (@columeastwood) July 25, 2022 From the …
Stephen Stewart is a Faulknerite unionist currently living in exile from Norn Iron and proudly an analogue person in a digital age. I read with interest Mick’s recent article on possible reform of Stormont, and while it was rather short on possible ideas and suggestions over how to overhaul our clearly-dysfunctional political institutions whilst simultaneously staying within the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement, it nonetheless echoed much of what I’ve been thinking about for a while… and to it’s …
To use a well known term from political science, we seem to be in a right bugger’s muddle. Brinkmanship is the order of the day. Wobbling on the cliff edge is Liz Truss the foreign secretary, threatening to bring in legislation to allow business to disregard EU rules on GB-NI trade as early as next week. She argues that existing EU concessions would “ make things worse.” It focuses on the fact that grace periods mean the protocol is not …
We thought we had learned them in 1998 but we hadn’t really, or not enough. To find out why, we have to go back in time. Just over 50 years ago, Brian Faulkner the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland rang WD Flackes BBC NI’s political correspondent from an outer office in 10 Downing Street to inform him that the game was up for the Stormont Parliament. Billy’s scoop led the national 9 O’clock News. Ted Heath had made Faulkner an …
Northern Ireland's First Minister Paul Givan intends to announce his resignation later today, BBC News NI understands https://t.co/3vqN2Wa2og — BBC News NI (@BBCNewsNI) February 3, 2022 Hot off the tail of DEARA minister Edwin Poots issuing a ministerial directive to halt all Irish sea checks, it is being widely reported that the First Minister, Paul Givan, is to resign today. Under the rules of our mandatory coalition this means that deputy First Minister, Michelle O’Neill, will also lose her post. …
Selecting an Assembly candidate can be a fraught and tense business for many local associations but what does it feel like to be an unsuccessful contender? On Tuesday last I had the pleasure of putting my name forward to be the next Alliance Party candidate for the forthcoming Assembly elections. It turned out to be a hugely rewarding experience even though the result did not necessarily go my way. More generally, I believe that we should explore how unsuccessful candidates …
Jeffrey Donaldson is only into the job of DUP leader for a few hours and already his unruly colleagues are giving him trouble. Alex Easton said he will stand as an independent in the next election. He said: “I’ve given 21 years of my life to the DUP, sometimes to the detriment of my health & well-being. It has been extremely lonely at times for me, & few have cared how I have felt.” I have had to stand back …
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) …
