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Recent Posts
- The tragic breakdown of relations between Dublin and London and a 1998 Agreement that was not the last word
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- Sinn Fein’s stunning victory does not signal any kind of unlocking of the Northern deadlock
- Poverty in Northern Ireland is not an election issue: society just ‘shrugs’
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Category Archives: Protestantism, unionism and loyalism
Is this the kind of ‘new conversation’ Northern Nationalists want?
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
Now they’re going to be on the losing side again, is it time to be nice to the Unionists?
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
Letter from Virginia: a time is coming when Ulster Protestants will have to be brave and smart
I have just returned from a stay in the US state of Virginia, mostly in the town of Lexington in the county of Rockbridge. Rockbridge is one of the two American counties which claim the highest proportion of inhabitants descended … Continue reading
Mutual contempt and ignorance are no way to build relations between peoples (especially in Ireland)
As the crisis deepens in Britain, the old negative stereotypes are back. The right-wing British press is full of fury at the treacherous role of the Irish in the ‘backstop’ to keep the UK hobbled and handcuffed indefinitely to the … Continue reading
Why demography is no way to solve the Northern Ireland problem
We need to talk about demography. In an Irish Times article last month the economist David McWilliams reminded us of some basic facts.¹ As we all know, the Protestant population of Northern Ireland is falling while the Catholic population is rising. But … Continue reading
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
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