UK – Page 31 – Slugger O'Toole

The case for the Union is far broader than the DUP’s. But is it compatible with a good deal?

Brian Walker on October 16, 2018, 1:14 pm

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Nobody can doubt that Brexit has challenged the stability of the Union, not only in Scotland and Northern Ireland but in England too. In a lecture in London last night he entitled “The Nightmare of History, Brexit, Ireland and the English Revolution,” Fintan O’Toole warmed to his theme, familiar to Irish Times readers, of pouring scathing contempt over the Brexit case, which he dismissed as post imperial “imaginings.” If he’s right and Brexit is creating a revolution at least in …

What it feels like as a small business owner staring into the face of Brexit

Soapbox on October 15, 2018, 4:10 pm

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Jonny McCormick is the Director of Rosseau Ltd and runs a podcast called Spoke. I’m an eternal optimist. I always think things are going to go my way – that the chips will fall in my favour. The few times I’ve played the lottery I’ve been convinced I’m going to win. Every time I’m boarding an international flight I think I’m going to be bumped up to First Class. I remember the day before the 2016 Presidential election saying that …

It’s neither breakthrough nor breakdown

Brian Walker on October 14, 2018, 11:15 pm

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I think we may safely say the point of crisis has arrived at last. It may last for some time. After the false optimism of Saturday, the backstop, the entire Brexit negotiation, the future of the government and the stability of the Union are all in play, as Theresa May “ branded the draft deal a non-starter”. The FT sums up the general gloomy view of the correspondents on Sunday night.. Brexit talks reached a dramatic stand-off in Brussels on …

Ruth Davidson’s threat to quit changes the odds for the DUP

Brian Walker on October 14, 2018, 4:50 pm

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When the history of these fraught days comes to be written, the backing of Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson for the DUP position may be seen as the single most significant move. Her message is potent; if Northern Ireland is differentiated from GB , why not Scotland from England and Wales? And that’s a gift to the SNP and the cause of Scottish independence. Details emerged this afternoon of the letter she and Scottish secretary David Mundell sent to Theresa May. …

May at bay and kamikaze tactics from Foster, with three days to go to the EU summit

Brian Walker on October 14, 2018, 12:36 am

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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

Double Cross – a timely revival of a play about truth and power (Lyric Theatre until 27 October) #belfest2018

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on October 13, 2018, 1:30 pm

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While grounded in the 1940s, the production ambitiously and successfully combines sound and video content with emotionally-charged live performances to broadcast Double Cross with hi-fi clarity into a 21st century western society conscious of its own poor relationship with truth.

Future Ireland / Irish Unification: An Evangelical View

David Millen on October 13, 2018, 8:34 am

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The Unification Agenda At the time of writing, questions about unification are more topical than ever. Brexit has polarised our population, and this in its turn has added significant impetus to the unity debate. Supporters of unification have rightly read this as an opportunity, and proposals for border polls abound. Emotions across the population run high, with most people seeming to sit on either extreme of a continuum that runs between elation and dread. So how do we pick our …

Fresh concessions to DUP reported as negotiations near climax

Brian Walker on October 12, 2018, 5:26 pm

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Plans to make the backstop redundant and more time to devise a permanent substitute to help keep the DUP on side, are among the ideas being touted, as the Brexit negotiations on EU withdrawal reach a climax. The FT reports on ” the tunnel phase” when no new proposals will be published by either side until the deal is done – or not Before the weekend is out, negotiators want to agree a complete draft treaty, defining the terms …

“The ministerial code says all kinds of things about what should happen…”

Pete Baker on October 11, 2018, 1:49 pm

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A couple of quick points to note from the Renewal Heat Inquiry today, where senior civil servant Andrew McCormick has been giving evidence about the lack of minute taking within Northern Ireland Executive departments. From the BBC report On Thursday, the inquiry was told that a key meeting in August 2015, where a decision was taken to delay cost controls to the RHI scheme, had not been formally minuted. Mr McCormick said that was not unusual, as part of the …

Can we manage the challenge to our identities created by Brexit?

Brian Walker on October 11, 2018, 12:55 pm

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There’s no doubt Brexit is creating fresh and unsought tensions over how to manage as well as express national identities. Two pieces today are vivid examples of the problems created by Brexit on these islands. Newton Emerson develops a theme raised here several times, but has yet to reach the top of the political agenda. How do Northern residents born and bred assert their continuing rights as EU and Irish citizens? Sinn Fein naturally want voting rights for Northerners in …

IS DUP threat to abandon pact trick or treat?

Brian Walker on October 10, 2018, 3:40 pm

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Newnight’s Nick Watt broke the story just after the regular morning lobby briefing in Downing St Just minutes before this story broke, a Downing Street source was asked whether the PM felt she could rely on DUP votes. “The confidence and supply arrangement we have with the DUP is a matter of record,” he said. “Is that a yes?” “It’s an answer? Yes The story.. Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party is planning to vote against the Budget if Theresa May …

We shouldn’t let another attempt to deal with the Troubles legacy slip by

Brian Walker on October 10, 2018, 1:54 pm

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The submission of five former secretaries of state of both parties to the UK government’s consultation on their draft Legacy Bill gives significant backing to the idea of an amnesty or statute of limitations. It amplifies the call some of them and retired security chiefs made in the House of Lords last month. If the decision was to rest with the British establishment alone, an amnesty by whatever name would have featured as a formal option for dealing with the …

The backstop with a good deal for GB can give Northern Ireland the best of both worlds

Brian Walker on October 10, 2018, 12:48 am

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While Arlene is stuck in the grove of her blood red hard line, the local business community has found their own voice independent of politicians and have talked to Peter Foster, Europe editor of the Daily Telegraph 700 miles away in Belfast, where the business community is trying to prepare the best it can for Brexit, despite all the uncertainty, the tone was markedly less apocalyptic ( than Arlene’s, stuck in a grove of red lines) . Declan Billington, …

Earning trust “story by story”

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on October 9, 2018, 10:15 am

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Earning trust “story by story”: Can we believe the media? The role of journalism in the digital age by Allan LEONARD 4 October 2018 Ulster University — along with the UK press regulatory body, Impress, and the Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association (MeCCSA) — jointly hosted a symposium event at its Belfast campus: “Can we believe the media? The role of journalism in the digital age”. Keynote speakers were Jonathan Heawood (Chief Executive Officer, Impress) and Peter Feeney (Press …

C’mon Arlene – Be a stateswoman. Let’s all jump together

Brian Walker on October 8, 2018, 10:55 pm

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As the Brexit negotiations approach some sort of climax it’s unwise to take any public statement entirely at face value. Indeed any statement may have the opposite significance to the words usually mean. Thus when Juncker imitates the Dancing Queen and tells the world: “The rapprochement potential between both sides has increased in recent days, the Dancing Queen interprets the optimism as pressure on her to give more concessions on the backstop. So she threatens to refuse to sign a …

DUP threaten to break the Confidence and Supply Agreement

Brendan Heading on October 7, 2018, 5:02 pm

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On Friday, on Twitter, DUP East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson referred to a News Letter article concerning the ongoing state of brexit negotiations and said the following : If [Theresa May] is rolling back on her pledge that there will be no barriers between NI and GB, then the Prime Minister should be under no illusions; we will vote against her deal and it will go nowhere. This prompted me to check the Confidence and Supply Agreement, the text of …

Future Ireland / Economic Inequality: An emerging challenge for a New Ireland

John Lavery on October 6, 2018, 8:00 am

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In October last year, I attended a keynote speech delivered by President of Ireland Michael D Higgins to a packed auditorium at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. The speech was anchored around Michael Davitt’s 1896 visit to New Zealand, a visit where Davitt was impressed by the then Crown Colony’s progressive policies on land, tax, pensions and the economy. Subsequently, the founder of the Irish National Land League brought a number of these innovative ideas back to Ireland, to …

The UK and Ireland are closing in on a border solution

Brian Walker on October 4, 2018, 10:49 am

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The FT hopefully leads: “Ireland backs Theresa May’s plan for all-UK customs union with the UK”. The story is jointly by-lined by their political editor at Conservative party conference in Birmingham and their Ireland correspondent. She will offer to meet the EU half way on the vexed issue of the Irish backstop, agreeing to Brussels’ demands that Northern Ireland stay part of the single market regulatory area of the bloc. But, in return, she wants the EU to concede to …

The Agreement can only be amended with cross-community support

Sarah Creighton on October 4, 2018, 8:14 am

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20130410 GFA 15

Eyebrows were raised on the 2nd October when Arlene Foster commented that the Good Friday Agreement wasn’t sacrosanct, hinting that she would like to amend it to accommodate Brexit. Her words been praised but also widely condemned. Leo Varadkar responded by saying that “the Good Friday Agreement is not up for renegotiation” in the Dail. Anyone paying close attention will notice that Foster’s comments are very similar to statements made by her party colleagues, Jim Allister and Jamie Bryson over the …

Don’t let Arlene cause panic. The GFA isn’t dead, only sleeping and will acquire new life

Brian Walker on October 3, 2018, 10:57 pm

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When Arlene Foster said the GFA wasn’t “sacrosanct” was she deliberately provoking a fit of the jitters? What did she mean? The Irish Times had no doubts: The apparent attempt by Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Arlene Foster to undermine the Belfast Agreement in pursuit of a hardline strategy on Brexit is ill-considered and dangerous. It would appear that the DUP is actively pursuing a policy designed to ensure the restoration of the hardest possible border on the island regardless of the consequences for living …