Brian O’Neill

St Patricks Day. Getting better, but more work to do…

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St Patrick’s Day in Belfast used to have a reputation for being a damp squib. Festivities were normally confined to the West; even then, the parades were small affairs. I can’t remember when parades first started entering the city centre—maybe …

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast)

The Art of Political Speechmaking – a dying art or still a vital talent? #imaginebelfast

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Has the art of writing and delivering a political speech fallen by the wayside of a media landscape that vacuums up soundbites rather than valuing passionate prose? Next Thursday evening, some local politicians will recite elements of other people’s speeches …

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast)

From Wisconsin to Belfast and Armagh: the beat of The Sullivan Squad’s drums and the Ojibwe language will feel familiar #imaginebelfast

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Next week at Imagine! Festival there’s a chance to step outside the usual local context of the Irish language and Ulster Scots to look at an indigenous culture from northern Wisconsin. Imagine this: not everything that looks like a bodhrán …

Brian O’Neill

Open sunday – politics free zone…

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In addition to our normal open Sunday, we have a politics-free post to give you all a break. So discuss what you like here, but no politics.

Brian O’Neill

Open Sunday – discuss what you like…

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The idea for Open Sunday is to let you discuss what you like. Just two rules. Keep it civil and no man/woman playing.

Frank Schnittger

Ireland defend their Six Nations Rugby Crown successfully.

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Six Nations Super Saturday Italy 24 Wales 21 Italy recorded a well deserved victory over a callow Wales side in Cardiff and condemned Wales to the wooden spoon. In truth the score line flattered Wales who scored two late converted …

Felicity Graham

Memories of Belfast Department Stores…

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I have just been listening to Radio 4 and a girl describing the department store which has just closed in her hometown of Hull. It all sounded so familiar to me, and then I realised that I had lived through …

Andy Pollak

despite the begrudgers, Ireland in 2024 is a rather good country…

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Maybe because St Patrick’s Day is coming up and we’re in the middle of Seachtain na Gaeilge, I’m feeling a bit patriotic – so am going to write about why I think the Republic of Ireland is a rather good …

Philip McGuinness

Making Sense of the NI Subvention and the Economics of Reunification…

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An excellent podcast on the NI subvention and the economics of reunification has just been made available by RIA/ARINS (Royal Irish Academy / Analysing and Researching Ireland North and South). The participants are: Host Rory Montgomery (former Irish Ambassador to …

Brian O’Neill

It looks like a Trump Biden rematch for the American Presidency…

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If you think our politics are bleak in the land of the free, (terms and conditions apply). Out of over 300 million, the best they could come up with is these two. Over in the red corner, we have the …

Frank Schnittger

What would a united Ireland look like?

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Terry Wright asks the quite reasonable question: “What will a united Ireland look like?” and unionists often feel frustrated when they get what appears to them to be an unclear answer. But there is also a problem with the question …