Introduction This is the fourth post in the NI GE2019 series. The previous three are on North Belfast and the DUP, Sinn Féin and Foyle and the SDLP and South Belfast. I visited Stormont in May 1968 on a Civics trip from my Dublin school to learn how NI governance operated and of course to… Read more
Category:
Ireland
Covering Ireland both North and South
N. Ireland GE2019 (3) – SDLP and South Belfast
Introduction. This is the third of the GE2019 series. The first two on the DUP and N. Belfast and Sinn Féin and Foyle are available by clicking on the links. Some History When Northern Ireland was founded in 1921 it had many advantages over the Free State, not least because it contained about 80% of… Read more
N. Ireland GE2019 (2) – Sinn Féin and Foyle
Fig. 1. Featured Image Charles Stuart Parnell a Titan of the Home Rule movement. Introduction This is the second of the series on GE2019 NI. The first on the DUP and N. Belfast is available here. The Republican analysis evolved over the approximately 50 year period between 1870 and 1920. It was a time of… Read more
N. Ireland GE2019 – North Belfast and the DUP
Introduction This is the first of a series of six posts on GE2019 in Northern Ireland each of which will highlight one party and one constituency. This post features the DUP and the North Belfast constituency. The second on Sinn Féin and Foyle is available here. Subsequent posts will highlight Sinn Féin (SF), the Social… Read more
Significant Others, the Glorious Twelfth and Northern Ireland
A Historical Introduction Winter General Elections are rare and December ones rarer still. The 2019 one is to be on the (Glorious) 12th of December. In NI the Glorious 12th is a reference to the Battle of the Boyne, rather than the start of the grouse shooting season. The last two December GEs were in… Read more
Backstops and Broomsticks
Introduction Coming up to the Halloween deadline has Boris Johnson (BJ) managed to sweep all before him, pull a fast one on the EU and pull a unicorn out of a pumpkin? Has he finally understood that the Irish border was the wicked problem in the Withdrawal Agreement? The one that couldn’t be finessed or… Read more
NI Politics comes to England but is it a Trick or a Treat?
Introduction Growing up in Dublin, Halloween (Oíche Shamhna – the night before Samhain 1st Nov.) was a significant event, particularly for children. Dressing up in ghoulish costumes, making turnip lanterns, playing particular games, going around neighbour’s houses asking “help the Halloween party” was all part of the fun. Fireworks, in particular, “bangers” were set off…. Read more
Sources, Dead Cats and Probable Outcomes
Introduction It has been a rather frantic week and much of the attention has been on the new proposal to replace the backstop, to much fanfare and apparent optimism in 10 Downing St. It seems the DUP and some of the ERG may be on side. It is possibly it might actually pass in Parliament… Read more
Are there are more Cultural Catholics or Protestants in Northern Ireland?
Introduction On my recent blog on the Lord Ashcroft poll I made a statement that there were now almost certainly more Cultural Catholics than Protestants in Northern Ireland. There have been a number of queries, on Twitter, questioning whether this is true. This blog is not a proper statistical study, a full analysis would use… Read more
Will Virtual Liffey Gunboats Work?
A Historical Prequel A major tipping point in the Turmoil of 1914-1922 as discussed in my recent blog, was the 1916 Easter Rising centred in Dublin. At the time there was a heart and soul struggle between constitutional Nationalists led by John Redmond of the Irish Parliamentary Party, who were still hoping for Home Rule… Read more