Republic
Cross border education: lay out all the facts please
Is this form of cross border cooperation actually divisive? Contrast two stories about the SF led Education department’s plan for a survey of 50,000 “border families “ (i.e. families on both sides of the border) on the takeup of school places by children from the other side. Liam Clarke’s story records the objections of DUP’s Mervyn [...] more »
‘New facts’ in abortion debate
In recent years I’ve tried to track the long slow path to easing the bans on abortion in both parts of Ireland. And while I support it, I know full well it is no magic bullet so to speak. And so in the cause of disinterested debate and acknowledging the existence of many awkward facts, I [...] more »
Boomers’ memories of the Great
Ian Jack has a fine nostalgia piece in the Guardian – no, better than that, a piece about the collective memory of passing generations – linking the not altogether compatible elements of the Dickens bicentenary to the monarchy. The link he made was not with Empire or English images of national virtue so often disputed [...] more »
What is Britishness anyway? – latest
Stephen Moss in the Guardian adopts the least analytical approach imaginable to the identity thing, a random journey. It’s like an intro to a report that that doesn’t actually appear. A bit like Britishness itself maybe? Quite unlike our own passions. Might uncertainty and toleration be its saving graces? As I stood in freezing temperatures [...] more »
So what’s the formula for a referendum, Owen?
Jamie Smyth the new (to me ) correspondent of the Financial Times has managed to win some space for an interview with Owen Paterson (£ sadly) who takes whatever wind there might have been out of Martin McGuinness’s kite for a united Ireland referendum. Part of the draught perhaps from the Scottish referendum campaign Graham Walker [...] more »
Look out for the (un?) intended consequences
Daniel Hannan, Daily Telegraph blogger, staunch Eurosceptic MEP and romantic unionist warms to his theme. Like most British people, I love Ireland. It’s a separate country, but it’s not really foreign. The Irish talk as we talk, dress as we dress, eat as we eat (and, tragically, drink as we drink). We watch the same [...] more »
Referendum demands may be catching
In that interview trailed by Pete below, the Examiner itself highlights the DPM’s soft voiced approach to an early referendum on unity. Have Alex Salmond’s tactics found their Irish imitator? The deputy first minister believes the Democratic Unionist Party can be persuaded to agree to such a dramatic move. more »
The Scottish independence debate: the complexities start to emerge
Professor John Curtice explains the complexities surrounding the referendum questions on the Today programme. Assume two ballot papers, one on devo max, the other on independence. If you look at some opinion polls, as many as 75% -80% might vote for devo max. Let’s say fewer, say, 51% vote for independence. Which would win? The Nats [...] more »
Irish emigration – most to go Britain
I’m probably lagging behind on this so apologies if you’re au fait but I’ve just caught up with the Irish( republic) emigrant figures for the last year - 76, 400 to end of April 2011, up 17%, according to the Irish Times report. I decided to search for them as most of the news stories [...] more »
Martin McGuinness: “the past is a very, very dark place for everybody.”
In response to a challenge to appear in front of the Smithwick Tribunal, Sinn Féin’s candidate in the Irish Presidential election, Martin McGuinness, MP, MLA, has said that he has “no problem at all attending the tribunal”. But he added that he has “no direct knowledge of the circumstances surrounding” the murder of Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and [...] more »
“Let’s raise a single eyebrow to our next president.”
In the Irish Times, Ann Marie Hourihane identifies the best candidate for the job – Sir Roger Moore. Roger Moore is handsome; he looks great in a blazer, which is not as easy as you might think. He is good humoured and has charidee experience as a Unicef goodwill ambassador, a role which he has [...] more »
Norris inching closer to Áras starting line
Independent Senator David Norris may be leading in the opinion polls, but he has not actually secured a place on the ballot paper to contest the Irish Presidential election – yet. He has now got an 18th signature, albeit from a reluctant Shane Ross, TD. Others remain undecided. And Senator Martin McAleese has repeated his refusal to support [...] more »
Norris edges back towards Áras starting line
Having abandoned his Irish presidential bid previously, independent Senator David Norris has now secured the support of 17 TDs and Senators (including himself) in his renewed bid to get on the ballot paper. That’s still 3 short of the 20 required. His only other hope would be to get nominated by 4 county councils. more »
Bold words from Enda, but should they mark the end of the confessional?
Enda Kenny’s quiet bombshell of a speech on the Cloyne report leaves more questions open than answered. This point may be written off as the opinion of implacable enemies of the Church who will never be satisfied. That would be a mistake. The taoiseach may have attacked the gimlet eyed legalism of the Vatican’s provisional response [...] more »
Taoiseach’s speech: This is not Rome… this is a republic of laws
A sea-change in Irish government-Catholic Church relations took place yesterday. In the government’s official response to the Cloyne Report, Taoiseach Enda Kenny gave an unprecedented speech to the Dáil, excoriating the Vatican for its efforts to block co-operation with the investigation by civil authorities of clerical child abuse: … for the first time in Ireland, [...] more »
There are some lessons for Catholics in the unionist tradition
The time is overdue to review the historic reputation of opposition to Home Rule as Rome Rule in the light of the latest report on the Catholic Church’s continuing saga of abuse, on events in the diocese of Cloyne. Can we admit to the uncomfortable thought that some of what the early Paisley said was true? [...] more »
“The Resurrection of Hungary: A Parallel for Ireland”? No, fortunately not.
Within the restraints of 140 characters, he somehow manages to deliver a full range of cod fireside homilies; GAA-related similes stretched well beyond their natural snapping point and (naturally) playground stylee anti-Brit insults… but nevertheless for his myriad of Unionist followers on Twitter Barry McElduff is a must-read, the gift which simply refuses point-blank to [...] more »
Mainstream media should not abandon their independent judgement before the Grow NI campaign
The debate on the future of corporation tax tests the area where NI journalism and comment is at its weakest – business and economics. It also tests of the robustness of editorial independence when commercial judgment is decisively on one side. Naturally business is rampantly in favour – how can turkeys do otherwise than vote [...] more »
Scotland is the latest complication for a lower Northern Ireland corporation tax rate
Westminster is in a terrible muddle over devolving corporation tax. The right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing. The UK government gives nominal support to lower corporation tax for Northern Ireland but slaps it down for Scotland. Naturally Alex Salmond was among the first to point out the illogicality of that position and [...] more »
On Obama in Dublin and London and special relationships
What do you suppose “equality” means in relations between States? Last week much was made of the newfound equality between the UK and Ireland. But this week, if anybody claimed equality between the UK and US, they’d be laughed out of court. Is this a case of double standards? Part of the answer lies in [...] more »
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Books
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Hearing the Other Voice from the Grave: Why Should we Listen to David Ervine’s Stories?
Ed Moloney’s Voices from the Grave: Two Men’s War in Ireland has received considerable attention in the press and in the public realm since its publication earlier this year. Although the book relates the experiences of the Provisional IRA’s Brendan Hughes and the PUP/UVF’s David Ervine, much of the discussion has focused on Hughes’ stories [...] read our review » -
Help me with the West Wing: Essential viewing or Party Political Broadcast?
Having somehow managed to avoid watching a single episode of the widely praised West Wing TV series I was delighted to discover the entire Box set in my Christmas stocking – and with enough spare time over the holidays to give it a good lash. But with 10 episodes of the first series under my [...] read our review »
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Of the Old North and other Vanished Kingdoms..
I’m currently trawling through Norman Davies’s fabulous new tome – “Vanished Kingdoms” – Five stars in the (London) Telegraph’s review from Ben Wilson: All the nations that have ever lived have left their footsteps in the sand,” writes Norman Davies. “The traces fade with every tide, the echoes grow faint, the images are fractured, the human [...] read our review »
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