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Category Archives: Northern Ireland
Lovely people, close neighbours, parallel universes
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
The DUP may be paranoid, but we still have to befriend them
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
A cautionary tale: could this be the next phase in our island’s history?
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, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland
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Whatever happened to Northern working class Protestant radicalism?
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
Are there really 150,000 unionists who are persuadable for a united Ireland?
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
The most interesting conversation I have had about Irish unity for a very long time
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
Getting ready to be governed by Sinn Fein in the Republic
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
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