Category Archives: General

Lovely people, close neighbours, parallel universes

Posted on Monday, 24 July, 2017 by andypollak

A year ago I walked along back roads, hill paths and beaches from Belfast to Dublin to raise money for homeless charities in the two cities. I then sat down and tried to write a book about my experiences. By … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Northern Ireland, Protestantism, unionism and loyalism, The island environment | 3 Comments

The DUP may be paranoid, but we still have to befriend them

Posted on Thursday, 29 June, 2017 by andypollak

It should come as no surprise that beleaguered identity appears to have once again trumped economic well-being in Northern Ireland (for the moment, anyway), as inter-party talks meant to agree a return to power-sharing missed their British government-imposed deadline this … Continue reading →

Posted in Cross-border cooperation, General, Northern Ireland, Protestantism, unionism and loyalism | 1 Comment

A cautionary tale: could this be the next phase in our island’s history?

Posted on Saturday, 27 May, 2017 by andypollak

Just over a century ago there was a northern province of a small western island off the coast of Europe which threatened to cause mayhem for the powerful and far-flung empire of which it was an insignificant (although then economically … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland | 2 Comments

Whatever happened to Northern working class Protestant radicalism?

Posted on Thursday, 4 May, 2017 by andypollak

There is an interesting conference taking place in Dublin this weekend (Saturday 6th May, 11 am-5.15 pm) entitled ‘The radical working class Protestant tradition in Northern Ireland’, which I am involved in organising, along with veteran inner-city Dublin community workers … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Northern Ireland, Protestantism, unionism and loyalism | Leave a comment

Are there really 150,000 unionists who are persuadable for a united Ireland?

Posted on Tuesday, 25 April, 2017 by andypollak

Last month’s blog was based on a most interesting conversation with the widely-read unionist commentator Alex Kane, in which he estimated that there were now 150,000 ‘soft’ unionists who were persuadable of the merits of Irish unity,and that he expected … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland, Protestantism, unionism and loyalism | Leave a comment

The most interesting conversation I have had about Irish unity for a very long time

Posted on Sunday, 26 March, 2017 by andypollak

Last week I had the most interesting conversation about Irish unity that I have had for many long years. It was with Alex Kane, the North’s most widely-read unionist-minded columnist: he has opinion columns in both the Belfast Newsletter and the Irish … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland, Protestantism, unionism and loyalism, Republic of Ireland, Sinn Fein | 2 Comments

Getting ready to be governed by Sinn Fein in the Republic

Posted on Thursday, 23 February, 2017 by andypollak

Politics is a strange business. One word and one man’s name that were almost entirely unknown a few years ago now look as if they are going to change modern Irish politics and history: they are ‘Brexit’ and ‘Maurice McCabe’. … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Sinn Fein | 1 Comment

The DUP’s bigotry and incompetence bring the house down

Posted on Wednesday, 25 January, 2017 by andypollak

In last month’s blog I wrote that Northern Ireland was now “a modern region with a power-sharing government in which nationalists enjoy a new equality and confidence.” I was wrong. A fortnight later the Stormont Executive collapsed when Martin McGuinness … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Northern Ireland, Protestantism, unionism and loyalism | 1 Comment

A Presbyterian republican Ulsterwoman and the ‘sister states’ of Ireland

Posted on Sunday, 25 December, 2016 by andypollak

For the second year running my politician of the year is a Protestant Ulsterwoman. This year it is Heather Humphreys, Irish Minister for Arts, Culture, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, a Monaghan Presbyterian whose grandfather signed the 1912 Ulster Covenant and … Continue reading →

Posted in Cross-border cooperation, General, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland | Leave a comment

What the North can teach the South about welcoming refugees

Posted on Thursday, 24 November, 2016 by andypollak

The Irish government seems to be finally and belatedly moving to make its small contribution to tackling the worst humanitarian crisis faced by Europe since the Second World War: the influx of millions of refugees from war-torn countries in the … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Ireland, Europe and the world, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland | Leave a comment