Wales – Page 2 – Slugger O'Toole

Why Brexit is going wrong and how it could be fixed…

Paul Evans on November 27, 2018, 11:10 am

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This is the first of two posts here in which I’m going to look at Brexit through a democratic, rather than a political lens. I’d argue that Representative Democracy is humanity’s single most valuable invention. It has provided government that fosters a level of prosperity and a standard of justice that all of our ancestors could only dream of, and it has hosted history’s greatest period of innovation. Representative Democracy is a robust system. It has an internal logic – …

Future Ireland: Writing Competition

Claire Mitchell on September 16, 2018, 9:00 am

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This is an open call for submissions on our current featured topic – Future Ireland: Alternative Conversations about Unity and the Union You can read a little more about the aims of the project here, and the types of contributions that we’re seeking. Here are some examples. But we suspect that you might have some even better ideas. So we’re putting out an open call for articles on this topic. The best three articles will win a prize (tbc – …

Future Ireland: Alternative Conversations About Unity and the Union

Claire Mitchell on September 15, 2018, 9:00 am

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The future of Northern Ireland is deeply uncertain. Brexit, the rise of English nationalism, Scotland, Stormont deadlock and demographic change make Irish unity a realistic alternative. The polls vary greatly, but some have unity very much within sight, especially if there is a harsh Brexit and a disruptive border. People are talking about this at kitchen tables across the north. But whilst we are highly engaged about if we would like unity or the union, and many of us have …

From the London broadsheets, rare interest in Irish developing positions is to be welcomed

Brian Walker on September 5, 2018, 10:42 am

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The criticism is well made that British interest in Irish positions is generally self serving and fails to recognise their independent validity. Any slight shift in this is to be welcomed. The London broadsheets have paid Sinn Fein the rare compliment of taking seriously the party’s think-in at Cavan. It’s worth noting that they have yet to broach the notion that a Brexit solution would be so much easier if Northern Ireland were to join the Republic. Quite apart from …

The bizarre story of banknotes in the United Kingdom

Brendan Heading on June 13, 2018, 10:18 pm

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Over the past while we’ve been debating a number of things around “special status” for Northern Ireland. Coincident with this debate was the announcement from Ulster Bank of a plan to issue new, verticially-oriented banknotes. I found myself in rare agreement with North Antrim MP Ian Paisley, who suggested on twitter that we could look at a move to Bank of England notes. I noted again this morning that the topic on discussion on the Nolan Show, where the proprietor …

The Future of Referendums: What Role Should They Play and How Should They Be Conducted?

Queen’s Policy Engagement on April 13, 2018, 4:01 pm

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Referendums are now established as part of the UK’s political landscape. They are widely seen as necessary before some fundamental constitutional changes are made. Politicians will continue from time to time to find it useful to manage conflicts by proposing to put certain decisions to the people. Yet, despite their importance, there has been little concerted thinking recently about how referendums should be conducted. Two inquiries conducted in the 1990s – by the Nairne Commission and the Committee on Standards …

Thousands attend #IBelieveHer Rape Trial Rallies Across Ireland

Claire Mitchell on March 29, 2018, 6:54 pmComments Off | Readers 3391

Thousands of people across Ireland came out today to protest after yesterday’s not guilty verdicts in the rugby rape trials. Rallies were held in Belfast, Dublin, Derry, Limerick and Cork. The Belfast rally was at the Laganside Courthouse, with about 1000 people (Talkback estimate) – women and men, young and old – cohering around messages of #IBelieveHer and #Metoo. The rally at O’Connell Street in Dublin was even bigger. It’s been a harrowing 9 week trial, and it’s raised a lot …

BIPA and the ramping up of Anglo-Irish relations

Gary Kent on March 2, 2018, 11:24 am

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This weekend fifty parliamentarians from Ireland, Britain and other parts of the archipelago are meeting in a hotel in Sligo for the 56th plenary of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. The BIPA rarely attracts much media attention except by accident such as when a geographically challenged MP drove to Newcastle, County Down rather than Newcastle upon Tyne for a plenary. But the BIPA is assuming greater importance thanks to Brexit, although the assembly plays no formal role. One of our most …

Now we see who’s ‘red (white and blue) lines’ are holding up the show!

Concubhar on February 13, 2018, 5:24 pm

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It’s becoming increasingly clear that unionist political parties and politicians have set their opposition to an Irish Language Act and, by extension, any form of an Irish identity within ‘British’ NI as a priority ‘red line’ ahead of returning to powersharing or, even, at the most fundamental level aspiring to an equal Union between NI and the rest of the UK. The rhetoric today from Arlene Foster in which she set out what she would not countenance in response to …

Nothing since the referendum has shifted the identities that underpinned the result…

Mick Fealty on January 5, 2018, 11:47 am

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Interesting piece from Professor Wynn Jones of Cardiff University on the role of competing identities unwriting the Brexit result in June 2017, which offers clues as to why attitudes are unlikely to change not least because cultural certainties will likely withstand economic hardship… Nothing since the referendum has shifted the identities that underpinned the result – quite the opposite. Far from seeking to manufacture what political scientists called “loser’s consent” following the close overall result, Theresa May’s administration has simply …

Nationalism 101 with Prof Richard English – local and global #msconversations

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on October 8, 2017, 9:00 am

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Interview with QUB’s Prof Richard English ahead of his sessions on Nationalism and Brexit at next weekend’s Mount Stewart Conversations organised by the National Trust at their lough shore property.

#Brexit: A Revolution Drifting Towards Failure

Gerry Lynch on September 2, 2017, 12:35 am

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It is a matter of historical fact that most attempted revolutions fail. Sometimes the ancient regime reasserts itself in a counter-revolution. In other cases, the revolution clears away a creaking old order only to be itself swept away by a third force. The two most significant revolutions of the 20th Century were of the latter type: the double revolutions in Russia in 1917 and Iran in 1978-9. It is worth giving this preamble as Brexit now looks like a revolution …

“willingness of political leaders to step away at times from the tight chains of their tribe…”

Mick Fealty on July 17, 2017, 3:00 pm

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Emily O’Reilly speaking at the BIPA in Kilkenny this morning with a useful reminder of how the Belfast Agreement came about: As a journalist from the early 1980s until 2003, I covered major events from the 1985 Anglo Irish Agreement through to the 1998 Good Friday or Belfast Agreement and for several years after that as the Agreement became embedded I covered its ebbs and flows. I lived in Belfast for a period in the late 1980s and witnessed too …

Stormont collapse ensures Northern Ireland cannot [further] exploit England’s Brexit difficulties…

Mick Fealty on July 14, 2017, 11:34 am

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It didn’t escape Nigel Farage or Michael Portillo’s notice last night that Michel Barnier was over pouring sweet nothings into the ears of anyone who could remotely cause Theresa May and the Tories a great deal of trouble. It’s an acute move on the part of the EU’s chief operator negotiator to exploit the post referendum splits within the UK and a perfect opportunity for him to take notes from the Leader of the Opposition as well as the First …

Question for the NI Justice Minister…

Pete Baker on July 12, 2017, 3:21 pm

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Here’s something for an incoming Northern Ireland Justice Minister to grapple with… It’s a question that arises following the UK Government’s decision to provide access for women from Northern Ireland to abortion services in England free on the NHS. From yesterday’s written answers in Parliament. Abortion: Northern Ireland Diana Johnson: [2513]To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to her letter of 29 June 2017 on funding for abortions for Northern Irish women in England, what assessment she …

How the Con-DUP deal took the Barnett Bypass…

Mick Fealty on June 30, 2017, 10:00 am

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Hat tip to John Campbell on Good Morning Ulster this morning for a link to this interesting piece on what the Barnett Formula is, and what it is not, and how the DUP-Tory deal stands up to scrutiny: on a technical level, there is nothing in the Northern Ireland agreement that that contradicts any rules or laws. And of course, there are clearly special needs in Northern Ireland that may justify additional spending. However, there are a few reasons why …

Can Warren Gatland see off his tribal critics with an historic Lions NZ win for only the second time in history?

ItwasSammyMcNally on June 23, 2017, 10:53 am

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When Warren Gatland announced his Lions squad for the tour to New Zealand there was considerable disgruntlement in Scotland that only two of their kith and kin and had been selected. Former Scottish internationals lined up to criticise the selection that also saw 16 players from England and 12 players from Wales even though they had finished below Scotland in the 6 Nations. Jim Telfer, himself a former Lions (and Scotland) coach stated: “Scottish Rugby should really feel as if …

Will YouGov’s election model be vindicated when the results are in?

Peter Donaghy (Salmon of Data) on June 5, 2017, 7:35 pm

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Opinion polling firm YouGov have raised eyebrows in the run up to Thursday’s poll with the results of their forecast model, which at the time of writing is forecasting that the Conservatives will only win 307 seats. This would deprive them of their parliamentary majority, and leaves open the possibility that Jeremy Corbyn could become Prime Minister if Labour could secure support from the smaller parties in the Commons. The YouGov model is out of line with other election forecasts, …

Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland should have a say in the Brexit negotiations- Labour

Brian Walker on June 3, 2017, 12:07 am

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Keir Starmer the former English director of public prosecutions who is Labour’s shadow Brexit secretary has written an “ exclusive “ for the New European paper headlined, “We’ll give Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales their say on Brexit’ says Keir Starmer. It sounded great when I heard about it but it took me took me a couple of reads to find what turned out to be an anticlimax. ..we will have the confidence to bring Parliament into the Brexit process, …

Over the cliff edge – what would happen if exports to the EU were subject to tariffs

Peter Donaghy (Salmon of Data) on May 6, 2017, 5:20 pm

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The continuing deterioration of relations between the British Government and the European Union has led to a renewed focus on the possibility of a hard Brexit, where all trade between the UK and the European Union would be subject to tariffs in line with WTO rules. Previously, I had written about how Northern Ireland would bear a disproportionate cost of a hard Brexit, due to cross-border exports of dairy playing a substantial segment of the local economy. Under WTO rules, …