Category Archives: Northern Ireland

Fear of Irish nationalism is now the main obstacle to a united Ireland

Posted on Friday, 3 January, 2020 by

Fear is the main obstacle to the age-old dream of a peaceful united Ireland becoming a reality: unionists’ fear of Irish nationalism. In the first week of what many nationalists hope will  be a momentous decade, marking major movement towards … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland, Protestantism, unionism and loyalism | 4 Comments

Are the Unionists in the last chance saloon, or will Alliance come to the rescue?

Posted on Tuesday, 17 December, 2019 by

I was delighted to see the centre ground, represented by the SDLP and Alliance, doing so well in last week’s British general election in Northern Ireland: the former giving Sinn Fein and the DUP a drubbing in Foyle and South … Continue reading →

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

Is this the kind of ‘new conversation’ Northern Nationalists want?

Posted on Friday, 15 November, 2019 by

Earlier this month 1,000 nationalists – although their spokesman claimed they are not nationalists – signed an open letter to the Taoiseach calling on the Irish government to set up a ‘citizens assembly’ to discuss reunification. In an advertisement listing … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland, Protestantism, unionism and loyalism | 3 Comments

Now they’re going to be on the losing side again, is it time to be nice to the Unionists?

Posted on Thursday, 24 October, 2019 by

Writing this on 24 October, I forecast that Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal, despite parliamentary delays and perhaps a general election,  will eventually pass through the British parliament (the 30 vote Commons majority for the second reading of the Withdrawal Agreement … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Ireland, Europe and the world, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland, Protestantism, unionism and loyalism, Republic of Ireland | 4 Comments

A pessimistic speech on the 20th anniversary of the Centre for Cross Border Studies

Posted on Friday, 27 September, 2019 by

The Centre for Cross Border Studies celebrated its 20th anniversary in Dundalk last week with a conference reflecting on the Good Friday Agreement and cross-border cooperation. The importance of the Centre’s work was recognised by the keynote speakers, the three … Continue reading →

Posted in British-Irish relations, Cross-border cooperation, General, Northern Ireland | 2 Comments

Two Irish mistakes as we hurtle towards the Brexit cliff edge

Posted on Wednesday, 21 August, 2019 by

Readers of this blog will know that I have been a voice in the wilderness when it comes to querying the wisdom of the Irish government’s ‘backstop’ strategy to avoid a hard border on the island following the UK’s exit … Continue reading →

Posted in British-Irish relations, General, Ireland, Europe and the world, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland | 3 Comments

A bit more complexity in Northern Ireland: the rise of the ‘Neithers’

Posted on Tuesday, 16 July, 2019 by

In last month’s blog I was complaining about the simplistic views of many people in the Republic on the complexity of demographic change in Northern Ireland. Too many of them insist on holding to the ill-informed belief that when Northern … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland | Leave a comment

The simplistic engagement of people in the Republic with the complexity of the North

Posted on Monday, 24 June, 2019 by

Earlier this month I attended a session of the Dalkey Book Festival entitled ‘Who’s afraid of a united Ireland?’ It may be difficult to credit, but in nearly 40 years of living (mainly) in the Republic, this was the first … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland | 1 Comment

The courage and generosity of Seamus Mallon: a book introduction

Posted on Friday, 17 May, 2019 by

This is my abridged introduction to a new book, ‘A Shared Home Place’ by Seamus Mallon (with Andy Pollak) which is published today by Lilliput Press. Courage and generosity: those are the two words that come to mind when I … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland | 3 Comments

On local election day give the DUP and Sinn Fein a bloody nose: vote for someone else

Posted on Thursday, 2 May, 2019 by

This blog is not in the business of telling people how to vote. But after the utterly predictable responses by the DUP and Sinn Fein to the two governments’ announcement of new talks to try to restore Stormont (following priest … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Northern Ireland, The island environment | 3 Comments