bobby storey

Occasionally political decisions give observers a glimpse into the heart of a political party…

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George Osborne’s decision to cut the higher rate of tax while cutting welfare benefits in a time of austerity betrayed a heartlessness that the Tory party has struggled to disown. Sinn Fein’s decision to turn Bobby Storey’s funeral into a mass celebration of Republicanism in a time of global pandemic lockdown was very revealing. The party which lead the way in calling for lockdown and was most opposed to relaxing restrictions; the party which opposed the opening of cemeteries to …

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Spinners and Losers: Sinn Fein cool the heat…

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As ‘crematorium-[side]gate’ moves into its second week, and the legislature bit its gums into a non-legally binding motion, it appears as though the heat is shifting. The media are now fixating on two Belfast city council big hitters (BBC): The Belfast Telegraph is reporting the council’s chief executive Suzanne Wylie and director Nigel Grimshaw have lodged a formal grievance with a solicitor. They are said to have warned they may resign if “concerns are not resolved”. What I find remarkable …

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“This decision is directly, but not solely, related to the issues which arose around the Bobby Storey cremation.”

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As BBC NI political editor Mark Devenport said a few days ago, there is “No prospect of Stormont falling.”  That doesn’t mean there might not be casualties elsewhere… Having apologised in public for “operational decisions” around the Bobby Storey cremation at Roselawn Cemetery, the Belfast Telegraph reports that Belfast City Council Chief Executive, Suzanne Wylie, and director of city and neighbourhood services, Nigel Grimshaw, have lodged a formal grievance with the city solicitor, and have threatened to resign “if [their] …

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Social Distancing Hasn’t Gone Away, You Know…

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The Health Minister comes across as an extremely likeable fellow. Standing atop his podium, like an experienced but weary plumber, the civil and utterly decent Robin Swann is ever ready to plug any leaks in the flow of public compliance and adherence to Covid-19 guidelines. Despite having his feathers ruffled at the beginning of April, Swann took a dignified stance yesterday and opted not to weigh in with his own personal criticism of a certain someone’s attendance at a certain …

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Schrödinger’s Ireland – The current state of Unity, is it alive or dead?

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“A United Ireland is Inevitable: Discuss” I went to a debate in Omagh on this topic, hosted by Sinn Féin’s Barry McElduff, with an open mind, willing to be challenged and frankly, looking for a way to understand the rationale behind the United Ireland cause. Most of what I know about partition, the Easter Rising and that era came from a trip to Kilmainham Jail a couple of years ago.  What I do know though is that this happened a long …

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Cartoon – ‘Larv-IRA’

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CARTOON: On Bobby Storey’s strange (and self serving) anthropomorphic metaphor describing the transformation of the IRA, from a caterpillar into a butterfly: “They’ve flown away, you know?”