Category Archives: General

Why does economics matter so little in Northern Ireland?

Posted on Friday, 26 June, 2015 by andypollak

Why does economics seem to matter so little in Northern Ireland?  The biggest political debate in the UK’s contemporary history – whether or not to pull out of the European Union – is now taking centre stage in British politics … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Ireland, Europe and the world, Northern Ireland | 2 Comments

Will the future be British and/or Irish federalism?

Posted on Tuesday, 26 May, 2015 by andypollak

The big story about the British general election – alongside the surprise overall majority for the Tories – was the extraordinary spectacle of all but three seats in Scotland being won by the Scottish National Party. If anybody thought after … Continue reading →

Posted in British-Irish relations, General, Northern Ireland | 1 Comment

A constructive Sinn Fein proposal to begin healing and reconciliation?

Posted on Monday, 27 April, 2015 by andypollak

I have been reading Uncomfortable Conversations, an interesting little book on reconciliation published by Sinn Fein earlier this month. It contains one rather good idea, but is also notable for what it leaves out. The booklet is largely based on a … Continue reading →

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

Why Northern loyalists are running scared of a shared future

Posted on Thursday, 26 March, 2015 by andypollak

Returning to the fearfulness and narrowness of loyalist Belfast after a trip through the magnificent landscapes and massive social contradictions of South America is to come back to earth with a bump. But I had promised myself back in January … Continue reading →

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

Writers, ranchers and revolutionaries: tales of the Irish in Argentina

Posted on Sunday, 22 February, 2015 by andypollak

How many people know that the man who raised the Irish flag over the GPO at Easter 1916 was from Argentina?  I didn’t know this until I was told it earlier this month in Buenos Aires by Guillermo MacLoughlin, one … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Ireland, Europe and the world, Views from abroad | 2 Comments

Notes from another great little country

Posted on Thursday, 29 January, 2015 by andypollak

We in Ireland (or rather the Republic of Ireland) have a lazy, solipsistic tendency to think we are the greatest little country in the world (and not just to do business in). I have spent most of the past fortnight … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Ireland, Europe and the world, Views from abroad | 2 Comments

To the Christmas miracle workers of the Stormont House Agreement – thank you

Posted on Friday, 26 December, 2014 by andypollak

Those of us who still believe that the Northern Ireland peace process, for all its faults and frustrations, is an extraordinary work in progress, received a surprise present two days before Christmas: another last minute, crisis-defusing, expert-defying, all-night final session … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Northern Ireland | 4 Comments

Give us more women in politics, North and South

Posted on Thursday, 27 November, 2014 by andypollak

In preparation for this blog, I carried out a totally unscientific straw poll of the Irish people on my email address list, asking them who was the person in politics they most admired on the island, North and South, over … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 2 Comments

I prefer good art and archaeology to bad politics

Posted on Thursday, 23 October, 2014 by andypollak

Sometimes the sheer badness of politics in Northern Ireland takes my breath away (badness=bad faith, lying, incompetence, being mired in the past). Take the third week of October, for example. Peter Robinson boycotted the opening meetings of the British government initiated … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 3 Comments

Why Sinn Fein preferred a No vote in the Scottish referendum

Posted on Thursday, 25 September, 2014 by andypollak

One of the most thought-provoking (and to an Irish audience, most relevant) articles on the Scottish independence referendum appeared on an inside page of the Irish Times two days before the vote (i). It was an interview by Northern editor … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Sinn Fein | 1 Comment