-
Recent Posts
- Is the UK exit from the EU an opportunity to turn Northern Unionists towards Europe (and Ireland)?
- Don’t the DUP realise they are hanging on to the Union by their fingertips?
- Sometimes I despair about the lack of fresh thinking in the Republic about moves towards unity
- Sinn Fein are getting ready for government. But are they ready for unity?
- My tribute to the late, great Eugene McCabe
Recent Comments
Philip Mc Garry on Is the UK exit from the EU an… Frank Dolaghan on Is the UK exit from the EU an… John Butler on Don’t the DUP realise th… Agnes Cogan on Don’t the DUP realise th… Sean O'Sullivan on Sometimes I despair about the… Links
Archives
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- June 2013
Categories
Meta
Category Archives: Northern Ireland
Is the UK exit from the EU an opportunity to turn Northern Unionists towards Europe (and Ireland)?
So, four and a half years after the fateful Brexit vote the United Kingdom finally left the European Union on New Year’s Eve with a trade deal in place. The sometimes unfathomable Northern Ireland protocol (which is separate from this … Continue reading
Don’t the DUP realise they are hanging on to the Union by their fingertips?
22 years ago, in the months after the Good Friday Agreement, there was a real feeling of hope in Northern Ireland. Seamus Mallon had sensed it when he talked to people in the streets of Omagh, Ballymoney and Poyntzpass after … Continue reading
Sometimes I despair about the lack of fresh thinking in the Republic about moves towards unity
On 23rd October, the day after the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, launched his ‘Shared Island’ initiative, I wrote the following letter to the Irish Times: The Taoiseach’s comments at the launch of the Government’s new ‘Shared Island’ initiative, prioritising sharing the … Continue reading
Sinn Fein are getting ready for government. But are they ready for unity?
An Irish Times opinion poll on 8th October showed support for Fine Gael at 35% and Sinn Fein at 29%, with Fianna Fail a distant third at 17% and the Greens an even more distant fourth at 4%. Public anxiety … Continue reading
My tribute to the late, great Eugene McCabe
The great Monaghan writer Eugene McCabe died a month ago, aged 90. This is a tribute I wrote to him nearly nine years ago in my former blog: ‘A Note from the Next Door Neighbours’. Does being a border writer … Continue reading
Posted in General, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland
1 Comment
Unionists – listen to the Professor of Consociation and Confederation
Brendan O’Leary is an extraordinary man. Born in Cork and brought up in Nigeria and unionist County Antrim, he was a professor of politics at the London School of Economics and for the past 18 years has been Professor of … Continue reading
Posted in General, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland
Leave a comment
An Open Letter to Micheál Martin
Dear Taoiseach Congratulations on your election last Saturday. We have known each other for 23 years, since you were the rookie Fianna Fail education spokesman (soon to become Minister for Education) and I was the rookie Irish Times education correspondent. I … Continue reading
How Covid-19 brought solidarity and kindness to Northern Ireland
This latest blog consists largely of a letter from my good friend Paul Nolan, the prominent Belfast social researcher, who portrays a Northern Ireland working hard to overcome its divisions in order to defeat the Corona virus, a picture one … Continue reading
Posted in General, Northern Ireland
Leave a comment
Could the Irish language be a tool for reconciliation in Northern Ireland?
Tá beagán Gaeilge agam. Tá me ag foghlaim. Is teanga an-deachair í ach tá rún daingean agam leanúint ar aghaidh. I have been learning Irish for two and a half years, and finding it tough going at my relatively advanced … Continue reading
Why we need to fight the Corona virus on an all-island basis
This is an updated and expanded version of an article published in the ‘Belfast Telegraph’ on 2 April. I find I have a little more to add to the Covid-19 reflections of my last blog: specifically about North-South cooperation in … Continue reading