Bell suspended as RHI scandal engulfs Stormont
Serious questions have been posed as to who really runs Northern Ireland as a result of the multi-million pound Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme scandal. Sounds daft, but that’s what many...
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Who will blink first and provoke a snap Stormont poll? That’s the key question which could be decided on Manic Monday – 16 January – when the Northern Ireland Assembly returns from its festive break....
View ArticleO’Neill could be catalyst for Stormont upheaval
Unionist unity, not Irish unity, could be the long-term consequence of the appointment of Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill as Martin McGuinness’s replacement as the party’s Stormont leader last week. With...
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Northern Ireland is not simply facing yet another crossroads election, to coin a phrase once used by a former Ulster Prime Minister – it is now entrenched in its own political version of the Alamo....
View ArticleHold your breath for the election no-one wants
The Stormont poll which no one wants will be the most crucial crossroads election in Northern Ireland’s history since the first Assembly election in 1998. No matter who wins the blame game as to who...
View ArticleNorthern Ireland faces fraught fortnight
Northern Ireland’s second Stormont poll within a year has produced Sinn Fein’s best election result since the 1918 Westminster General Election since it scooped up most of Ireland’s seats when the...
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Compassion, not taunting, must be the ethos of the Irish talks process leading to a new, stronger Ulster agreement and the return of the Stormont institutions. The Assembly poll which no one wanted,...
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And what part of County Antrim are you from?” Okay, I know a golden rule of journalism writing is don’t begin with a quote, but I’m breaking that rule as these were the first words which former IRA...
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What a shambles! Next year I clock up 40 years in Irish journalism, yet never have I witnessed a bigger political mess on the Emerald Isle – and, ironically, democratic elections are making the...
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If the republican movement is to have a meaningful voice in the UK’s Brexit negotiations, it must exorcise the demon of abstentionism from Sinn Fein. Since its formation in 1905, Sinn Fein has...
View ArticleDUP now the king (or queen) makers
Never say never again! The spectre of Hollywood heart throb Sean Connery’s 1983 James Bond could well be the theme of forming the next Westminster Government after the snap General Election dumped a...
View ArticleTime to stay calm
Don’t panic! Don’t panic! The iconic chant of Corporal Jones from the historic BBC sitcom, Dad’s Army, should apply to the British mainland at the looming prospect of the Tory/DUP coalition deal. My...
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The Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn should take careful note of the DUP/Tory body language during the signing of the supposedly historic £1 billion deal which keeps Theresa May’s minority...
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Bring back the Saggers to save Stormont! Saggers? What, I hear you say. Is this some secret neo-Masonic cult dreampt up under the Tory/DUP deal? Actually, The Saggers was a nickname given to a group of...
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We’re doomed! The immortal words from the deep celtic accent of Private Frazer from the hit sitcom, Dad’s Army, could well summarise the impending gloom hanging over the Ulster peace process. Stormont...
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A large dose of Direct Rule is just the tonic to get the Ulster peace process back on track! Sounds like very bitter medicine to swallow, but it suits Sinn Fein, the Democratic Unionists, and even the...
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Ireland may about to be hit by a disaster similar to the 19th century one which forced tens of thousands to flee the island – only this time instead of a potato blight, it will be a Brexit blight....
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As Gerry Adams steps down this weekend as party president of Sinn Fein – a post he has held for more than 30 years – the crucial question of his legacy will sparks hours of debate. As he hands over the...
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It’s Valentine’s Day this week, and the stalled Northern Ireland peace process will either witness a political ‘love-in’ and a return to a devolved Stormont Executive, or a political massacre, which...
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Can a St Valentine’s Day Agreement be signed to get the collapsed Stormont power-sharing Executive up and running again after more than a year’s stalemate? That’s the key question which emerged after...
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Unionist hawks within Arlene Foster’s Democratic Unionists have won the day over Sinn Fein’s demand for an Irish Language Act – but the price is to bring Northern Ireland back to 1972 when the original...
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With a stroke of tactical genius, Jeremy Corbyn may have single-handedly solved both the impasse over Brexit and the Irish peace process. The Labour leader has suggested the creation of a new Customs...
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The first potential, tentative steps in forming a future Labour/Democratic Unionist coalition in the House of Commons were taken this week in Brussels. Following a no-punches-pulled, face-to-face...
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