Politics – Page 3 – Slugger O'Toole

Changing the conversation with e-petitions in Northern Ireland

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on June 16, 2016, 4:14 pm

| Readers 260

As part of the Xchange Summer School, Mairaid McMahon announced the launch of e-petitions in Northern Ireland, which is scheduled to appear on the Northern Ireland Assembly website in September 2016. She described the shortcomings of the current system of petitioning politicians, which included the need for support from an MLA — making them gatekeepers to what could be submitted. There was also the matter of not know whatever happened to the physical petition documents. Mairaid was motivated by the …

“The bullshitter is indifferent to the truth; he will say anything to suit his purpose…”

Pete Baker on June 4, 2016, 3:13 pm

| Readers 1119

From Friday’s Irish Times, Brian Boyd with a timely reminder [for any number of reasons… – Ed] of a topic noted in the Slugger archive back in February 2005 – “On Bullshit“. From the Irish Times article – “Bullshit can be more dangerous than lies in politics” …as Dr Frankfurt explains himself: “Bullshit is trying to impress the listener and the reader with words that communicate an impression in a way that obscures the fact of the matter.” And it’s …

Start Making Sense … of elections, politics, budgets, photos & change #ImagineBelfast

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on February 11, 2016, 3:28 pm

| Readers 402

IMAGINE BELFAST festival is back from 14-20 March with a huge programme of talks, discussions, comedy, quizzes and theatre to help #StartMakingSense of the world we live in and are governed by.

Ireland – The Politics of Consensus and Spoof

Johnny Fallon on December 2, 2015, 12:38 pm

| Readers 672

Is consensus politics choking the Irish system? Freelance journalist Feidhlim ó Broin makes the case Much has been written recently about the steady rise of Fine Gael in the polls, about the nascent economic recovery and the construction of a new, progressive, modern Republic. Indeed, Ireland’s political parties illustrate this new order. Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, Sinn Fein and the Labour Party agree on practically everything from European Policy, the need for a more liberal abortion regime, to crime and …

Paisley: Relic of the Past or Harbinger of the Future?

Gerry Lynch on October 26, 2015, 9:56 pm

| Readers 1937

I recently chanced upon this 1987 review by Charles Townshend in the LRB of Steve Bruce’s God Save Ulster: The Religion and Politics of Paisleyism. It now reads as a fascinating period piece. Just the previous month, Paisley had performed the first of his major protests at the European Parliament, heckling Margaret Thatcher. She was congratulating the EEC on its expansion to Spain and Portugal when he stood up, brandishing an ‘Ulster Says No’ poster, and shouted, “I would like …

The 10 most annoying political phrases in Northern Ireland

David McCann on August 28, 2015, 10:37 am

| Readers 6918

Nice wee Friday thread for you all to get your head showered from the madness of Northern Ireland politics. One thing that really bugs me is the platitudes that pass for talking points in our political system. These annoying phrases can be heard on Nolan, Talkback and the Sunday Politics most weeks and if you watch politics as much as me they can become tiresome very quickly. So, in that spirit I thought I would compile a list of the …

Blogging: Why I bother doing it.

David McCann on June 29, 2015, 7:35 am

| Readers 703

Blogging, why the hell do you bother? This is the question that bloggers of all stripes get asked A LOT and in the past week I have been getting this question more often than I usually do. It’s a fair enough question I suppose. There is no secure income from it, it is generally looked down upon from the main stream media and when most people think of a blogger a tin foil hat or a techie geek image comes …

Why Enda must aim for a 2016 Election Date

Johnny Fallon on June 3, 2015, 1:06 pm

| Readers 825

Predicting elections is a tricky business. The pressure of government sees events overtake plans very quickly. Deciding when to go to the country has always been a holy grail of strategy for serving Taoisigh. There are many examples of getting it wrong and still many more of where a government collapse takes the decision away from a Taoiseach. Enda Kenny will have to try plan things though. All things going well the ultimate decision lies with him. There is one …

Losing the armour after decades of hurt

Johnny Fallon on May 27, 2015, 4:12 pm

| Readers 1420

Paul Francis Quinn is a singer and in this heartfelt piece he describes exactly what the recent marriage referendum result meant for him and many others. In 1986, near the end of a long, balmy and sleepless summer, a heterosexual male friend and I took the DART from the suburbs of Bray. Into the city we went and once there he promptly deposited me in a dingy, beer stained bar called “The George”. A third of the size it is …

Take a position or face irrelevance – The FF choice?

Johnny Fallon on May 25, 2015, 3:32 pm

| Readers 2397

Fianna Fail needs to decide on its path for the future. Most of all it needs to decide who it represents according to Communications Consultant John McGuirk. A year ago today, two of Fianna Fáil’s biggest stars were its young, attractive, articulate Senator for North Dublin, Averil Power, and it’s poll-topping, gravity-defying MEP for Munster, Brian Crowley. In the most barren era for the party since its foundation, members could point to both as examples of the party’s continued …

The right side of truth – Saying No to Same Sex Marriage

Soapbox on May 21, 2015, 9:06 am

| Readers 1969

James D. is well known to many people on Twitter as @jdtips . Apart from reading odds and giving many betting tips he is also an advocate of a No vote in the upcoming referendum on same sex marriage. Having heard the case for the ‘Yes’ vote he now lays out his case for people to hear. I believe that a vast majority of people who support same-sex marriage are well intentioned and people of good will. They are upstanding …

Electors, Prisoners and the ECHR

Robert Campbell on May 17, 2015, 3:34 pm

| Readers 460

There are complicated rules about who can and can’t vote, and who can and can’t be a candidate in UK elections. It also depends on the type of election, local, for Westminster or for the EU. I’ve put up a short and incomplete summary here—it’s already quite turgid enough, and I’m not going to repeat it. There are a couple of problematic areas. EU nationals who are resident in UK can vote, as a rule, in local and EU elections, …

Slugger O’Toole – New Horizons in the Republic

Johnny Fallon on May 13, 2015, 1:48 pm

| Readers 902

I am delighted to take up the role of Southern Editor here at Slugger O’Toole. It is the perfect time for ‘Slugger’ to expand. Over the next year we want to bring that unique approach to the Irish political scene. In the past I was deeply involved in grass root politics. Ireland has a great tradition of this across all parties and none. There are many people who possess a deep understanding of the political game and how it works. …

GE2015: The Autopsy

Robert Campbell on May 9, 2015, 5:16 pm

| Readers 823

When there’s something puzzling or suspicious or unnatural about a death, there’s an autopsy. Sometimes it’s obvious what happened, sometimes it takes time and tests to discover the truth; just very occasionally it’s not possible to determine with certainty the sequence of events. Before 10 pm on Thursday night, we were all wrong; and immediately afterwards, only John Curtice was right. He was so very right that Paddy Ashdown said he’d eat his hat, and Alastair Campbell said he’d eat …

A hung Parliament? What then?

Robert Campbell on May 5, 2015, 4:22 pm

| Readers 847

Opinion polls over the last few weeks suggest that no parliamentary party will have an overall majority in the Westminster parliament; we will have a ‘hung parliament’. What then are the consequences? Who will govern, and how? It’s useful to go back a few steps in the process. Each constituency votes for a member to represent them in parliament using the first past the post system; there is only one MP per constituency. The MP may be a member of …

Manifestos and how to avoid dealing in meaningless small minded political tropes?

Mick Fealty on April 23, 2015, 12:29 pm

| Readers 453

listen to ‘#SluggerReport Daily: “Manifestos, costed but meaningless?”’ on audioBoom Ah I think I have finally got my workflow right. So here’s an audio copy of this morning’s #SluggerReport Daily (213 LIVE viewers). You can pick up most of them on Audioboom here. The local anchor for today’s report is the apparently bonkers proposal from the DUP manifesto to build a tunnel from Northern Ireland to Scotland, more broadly though it is this excellent piece from academic, former Labour spad …

“Today, I hold fast to all tenets of mistrust…”

Pete Baker on April 19, 2015, 9:37 pm

| Readers 381

The novelist Howard Jacobson on the virtues of art and literature over politics and politicians… It doesn’t follow from what I say that we should hand over the reins of political power to artists. They wouldn’t make a better job of it. But we would all make a better job of thinking about politics – indeed of thinking about anything – if we refused that daisy-chain of affiliation which the ideological hang around our necks, with the promise that we’ll …

Drug Decriminalisation

Robert Campbell on March 6, 2015, 9:48 am

| Readers 701

Channel 4 showed a documentary a couple of days ago about cannabis. One of the commentators was Dr David Nutt, once the government’s chief drugs adviser until he suggested some decriminalisation, when he was very unceremoniously sacked. Cannabis now comes in two varieties, the original ‘hash’ and modern ‘skunk’. Skunk is a hybrid, and is certainly more dangerous than hash. Without criminalisation, skunk probably would not have been developed, according to the Channel 4 programme. Skunk was developed in the …

Purdy to leave the BBC

David McCann on October 10, 2014, 3:11 pm

| Readers 5016

Just in from the BBC; Political Correspondent Martina Purdy is leaving Ormeau Ave for a new vocation in the church. Speaking about her decision she said “I’ve been a journalist now for almost 25 years, 15 of them at the BBC,” Martina said. “It has been an immensely rewarding profession. “I am especially grateful to the BBC for the opportunities I’ve been given.” She added: “The BBC has always been very supportive of my work. “I want to wish all …

“We need a politics of recognition not identities”: Professor Rick Wilford

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on June 25, 2014, 12:06 pm

| Readers 489

“We need a politics of recognition not identities”: Professor Rick Wilford Senate Chamber, Parliament Buildings 17 June 2014 As part of his retirement from Queen’s University Belfast, Professor Rick Wilford was invited to present a lecture: “Two cheers for consociational democracy?” The Senate Chamber of Parliament Buildings provided a most appropriate setting for his review of the structures and operations of Northern Ireland’s government since the return of devolved administration with the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. The Speaker of the …