Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast)

WATCH: Can Ireland Be One? Malachi O’Doherty in conversation with Duncan Morrow #looknorth23

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For Malachi O’Doherty, the question of Irish unity is less about when there might be a border poll or what the result of a plebiscite would be, but whether this deeply divided island can actually ever be truly united. It’s …

Frank Schnittger

It’s all over bar the shouting?

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The political agenda in the UK seems to be moving on. The verdicts are in. Sunak is being praised for his political adroitness. Boris has been wrong-footed and even the perennially churlish Lord Frost has been muttering about aspects of …

Terry Wright

Is the DUP’s NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER Unionism about to be de-commissioned?

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There may not be demonstrations outside the Waterfront Hall or numerous meetings in the Ulster Hall, Stormont Hotel, the Ramada and elsewhere but this does seem like a ‘Good Friday Agreement’ moment for the DUP and its leader, Sir Jeffrey …

Soapbox

“There comes a time to seal the deal”: a DUP member’s take on the Windsor Framework…

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Matthew Allen is a DUP member from Lagan Valley ‘THIS AGREEMENT IS ABOUT YOUR FUTURE.’ That was the message on the 1998 Belfast Agreement – delivered en masse to Northern Ireland homes, my parents’ and grandparents’ included, that Spring. I …

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast)

The Rise and Fall of Belfast’s own ‘Fleet Street’ #looknorth23

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Last Friday evening, four journalists gathered top discuss the rise and fall of the print media presence on Donegall Street, once Belfast’s very own ‘Fleet Street’. Jim McDowell was joined by Gary McDonald, Allison Morris and Ivan Little. Memories of …

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast)

Previewing the ninth annual Imagine! Belfast Festival of Ideas and Politics #imaginebelfast

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The Imagine! Belfast Festival of Ideas and Politics is seeking to provide ‘brain food’ to all and sundry over seven days in March. The packed programme is a veritable feast of ‘ideas for a better world’. Now in its ninth …

Mick Fealty

Brexit deal designed to ‘unf*ck’ the UK’s economy not to just serve the vital needs of unionism…

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Brian has a point when he argues that the DUP may struggle to oversell the complications of this Brexit deal. Of course they should be given time to look over the car and kick the tyres.  Sammy Wilson and others …

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast)

WATCH: Slugger TV – a vision for North Belfast #looknorth23

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This month’s edition of Slugger TV was filmed in front of a live audience as part of the Look North! The North Belfast Festival last Saturday 25 February. You can catch it here, or sit back, kick your slippers off …

Brian Walker

The claim that Sunak is overselling is oversold

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If you object to any trace of the EU in Northern Ireland future affairs, look away now. Even Lord Frost who delivered the discredited Protocol isn’t quite with you. Sunak’s deal will help he admits “but it’s a bitter pill …

Brian Walker

The DUP are struggling to find reasons of principle for continuing their Assembly boycott

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Photo; The Irish Sea  Many unionists are doing what unionists do, poring over a legal text. Not all of them may be clear in their own minds why they’re doing so. Looking for fresh evidence of betrayal or points that …