Darren Litter

The Ulster Unionist Party are perfectly right to withdraw from the Northern Irish Executive

Darren Litter on August 31, 2015, 1:41 pm

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Irrespective of their motives for doing so, the Ulster Unionist Party are perfectly right to withdraw from the Northern Irish Executive. When the Provisional Republican Movement signed up to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, it agreed that it would no longer use violence as a means of protecting or furthering its interests. The paramilitary operation which killed Kevin McGuigan violated that, because current members of the Provisional IRA took part in it. Many are criticizing the UUP for acting …

A critique of the Chief Constable’s statement on alleged PIRA involvement in the murder of Kevin McGuigan

Darren Litter on August 28, 2015, 5:16 pm

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Before considering my analysis of specific excerpts from George Hamilton’s statement on alleged PIRA activity, readers – if they haven’t already – may want to read the PSNI Chief Constable’s statement in full. Moreover, while I do feel there are a number of issues with what George Hamilton says in his statement, I am conscious that the political sandwich he finds himself in is far from enviable. Few European Police Chiefs are pressured into treading so carefully. The post-power sharing …

If progress is to be made on dangerous bonfires, the political footballs need to be kept firmly in the bag

Darren Litter on July 13, 2015, 12:20 pm

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The bonfire is not, as you would think from all the commentary, an exclusive feature of July Orangeism. In my own Tyrone village for instance – which is predominantly Catholic in population, but broadly quite apolitical in attitude – various housing estates would traditionally compete at Halloween time to see who could build the biggest bonfire. Yes, there were even incarnations of those bonfires that were situated rather recklessly. Fundamentally, the concept of the bonfire is something which working classes …

The DUP and mainstream Unionism: More Christofascist than Unionist?

Darren Litter on July 5, 2015, 6:07 pm

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Christofascism: The observation that in the West (particularly in the United States), there are demagogues who seek to replace the established secular governments with theocracies built on their version of Christianity. I often wonder, do the DUP (and considerable elements of the UUP) seek a continued Union with Britain on the basis that it genuinely prefers its politics and culture; or is the root of its support for the Union to do with maximizing the power exerted by ultra-conservative Protestantism? …

Sean Brady, the HIA, and the all too familiar problem with organized religion

Darren Litter on June 29, 2015, 5:25 pm

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Cardinal Sean Brady’s engagement with the HIA outlines a fundamental problem with organized religion: power and rank too often take precedent over a commitment to personal conscience. While Cardinal Brady has tried to articulate it in a more sugar-coated way, what his conduct in relation to Brendan Smyth shows is that he was prepared to sacrifice his own sense of morality to preserve the power of the Catholic Church in Ireland, and enable himself to climb the Church’s ranking system …