Bigotry in Britain and Northern Ireland

There is a lot of  political news at the moment and I am trying to catch my breath – the resignation of Alan Johnson, Shadow Chancellor and the announcement of a General Election in the Republic of Ireland.   As I write, Tony Blair is giving evidence to the Iraq enquiry.  Posts on those subjects will [...]

A very French slip of the tongue

If Martin McGuinness made a speech about his home city which began with the words “It is great to be back in Londonderry,” what would his supporters think? OK, you all know the answer. A Nationalist or Republican would usually only say “Derry.” A unionist would usually say “Londonderry.” If Martin McGuinness made that gaffe, [...]

A large ray of light about to be shone on the Iraq war?

Tony Blair is under fire, yet again, over the Iraq war. This time, the focus is on the legality of the war. In the course of the Iraq Inquiry headed by Sir John Chilcott, currently taking place, Lord Goldsmith, the former Attorney General, has given evidence that he was uncomfortable about the statements made by [...]

Munster crash out of the Heineken Cup – Ulster go marching on

The weekend’s news sent shockwaves across Ireland. No, it was not Brian Cowan’s meeting with his parliamentary party, although that story is still rather spicy.  It was the demise of Munster and the rise of Ulster.  For the first time in 13 years, Munster failed to reach the quarter-final of the Heineken Cup, losing 32 [...]

Opinion polls – ignore them until 2013 if you can

I don’t like talking about opinion polls just after a general election. Unfortunately, the media stuffs them into one’s face. This has been particularly so during the recent Oldham and Saddleworth by-election, which Labour won. I treated that result with bored unconcern. The Coalition has lost popularity since it came to power. There is no [...]

Sein Fein parades itself

In the Newsletter and in my local papers, it was reported that a parade, which took place in Fermanagh on New Years Day, was illegal. The parade was said to be illegal because no request had been made to the Parades Commission to hold it. Last year, as the Policing and Justice devolution wrangle was [...]

Conservatives entitled to be proud of the Anglo-Irish Agreement

A little over two months ago marked the passing of the 25th Anniversary of the Anglo-Irish Agreement. The anniversary resulted in posts by Brian Walker of Slugger O’Toole and by and other articles by Newspaper journalists across Ireland. One of the curiosities of the Agreement is that the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, James [...]

The future is bright but it certainly isn’t Orange

The Orange Order is back in the news again, following the announcement that it has a new Grand Master, Mr. Edward Stevenson. A typical Nationalist reaction to such news was “there goes the new head-honcho bigot” We all need to be careful about our choice of words. All of us are imprinted with varying degrees [...]

CCHQ continue to leave Northern Ireland Conservatives out in the cold

Firstly, I would like to wish everybody who follows this blog a warm and happy new year. I have noticed that political bloggers, from time to time, write posts about sport without there being any political context. I am a lover of cricket so I’m going to have a one-off crow. I have been hooked [...]