Category: North of Ireland
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Winter is coming
The heads of almost every Emergency Department (ED) are “very” or “extremely” concerned over the additional pressure winter will put on the North’s healthcare system. Those who run our hospitals day in and day out are blaring the warning sirens. Stormont’s response? To sail merrily along straight towards the iceberg ahead! But fear not, “the…
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Drumcree, Stormont and the DUP
After a two-week-long stand off in Drumcree, Secretary of State Chris Bryant was forced to reverse the Parades Commission’s decision and ban the Orange Order from marching down the Garvaghy Road. An important victory for the nationalist residents of the area was won not through political manoeuvring at Stormont, not through clever arguments in the…
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Unionist establishment draw line at Good Jobs Bill
True to form, Sinn Féin and the DUP have found themselves at loggerheads in Stormont. This time over SF’s proposed ‘Good Jobs Bill’, which seeks to improve workers’ rights in the North of Ireland. Predictably, the DUP are digging their heels in, cynically claiming the bill “risks costing NI jobs”. Though the exact legal text…
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No money for schools, but plenty for Stormont MLAs
The new school year should bring a fresh start. New teachers, new classmates, new ambitions. Instead, thousands of children across the North are returning to the same crumbling buildings. Why? Apparently, there is no money for repairs. Stormont’s Department of Education has decided to scrap thousands of outstanding minor works applications. These are not luxuries,…
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The ghosts of Drumcree
On the morning of Sunday 27 September, it seemed the North stood on the brink of the abyss. As the Orange Order was gearing up for a march down the Garvaghy Road, loyalists gathered in Portadown city centre to welcome them. Thousands of residents from the mainly nationalist area, meanwhile, linked arms to blockade the…
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Donald Trump’s contribution to the discussion on a United Ireland summed up
Donald Trump has some choice words on Irish unification when he took a detour from his golf trip last week to visit the Taoiseach. At their meeting he unexpectedly announced: “They’re Irish people. How can they be bad, right? I’d love to see it unified,” adding later that it would be “a very cool thing”.…
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Donaldson’s fall and the DUP’s crisis
The unprecedented scandal surrounding former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson, who has been convicted of 18 counts of sexual abuse against children – including one count of rape – has shaken the DUP to its very core. For the first time in five years, the latest opinion polls have failed to place the DUP as the…
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Opinion polls, ballot boxes and Sinn Féin
The latest LucidTalk poll has sent shockwaves through the political establishment in the North. The three parties that came out on top in the last Stormont elections are now all but bleeding support. Jeffrey Donaldson’s conviction for child rape and abuse has plunged the DUP into crisis. Alliance is now polling at its lowest in…
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NHS: pay rises for the bosses, austerity for us!
The bigwigs lording over the NHS in the North of Ireland have put it upon themselves to increase their salaries by 50 percent in the past three years. The result? The top brass in Stormont’s Department of Health now commands more than a staggering £2 million in annual salaries! At the best of times, this…
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The case of Pat Finucane and the role of the British State
The newly established public inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane is set to shine further light onto the bloody role of the British state in Ireland. The murder stands as one of the most notorious killings of the Troubles – not because it was unique, but because of the level of state collusion involved.…