Category: Ireland
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Police chiefs criticise legacy proposals
A number of senior police officers criticised the government's proposals for dealing with the legacy of the past in testimony to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee this week. PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne told the committee that many people still favour implementation of the Stormont House Agreement, rather than the plan announced in March…
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Tributes paid to John Hume
Former SDLP leader John Hume died in the early hours of this morning, his family has announced. Here are some of the tributes to the architect of the Good Friday Agreement. "John Hume, through his words, his astute diplomacy and willingness to listen… transformed and remodeled politics in Ireland and the search for peace, with…
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Sinn Féin tops poll in the Irish general election
If you're following the Irish general election count today, I recommend Newstalk for discussion and RTE for results. Sinn Féin look to have won the popular vote, but a lack of candidates means they may not overtake Fianna Fail and Fine Gael on seats. It's too early to say whether they will end up…
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Johnson’s Brexit victory leaves huge uncertainty for Northern Ireland and Scotland
After a massively consequential election on 12 December, the UK is now pretty certain to leave the EU within two months. Yet huge uncertainty remains about the UK's future outside the bloc. The lack of debate over Brexit during the election leaves Johnson with freedom to go far a hard Brexit or pivot to a…
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Jeremy Corbyn – The DUP connection
The DUP could talk to Labour in a hung Parliament, but only if it was led by someone other than Jeremy Corbyn, Arlene Foster suggested at the weekend. However, there are signs that some in the DUP take a more nuanced view. The Belfast Telegraph's political editor Suzanne Breen noted that East Antrim MP Sammy…
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Labour’s manifesto on Northern Ireland could pose a dilemma for the DUP
Below is the key Northern Ireland passage from the constitutional section of Labour's newly-published manifesto. What's most interesting is the commitment to avoid a regulatory border in the Irish Sea as well as at the land frontier. This is in sharp contrast to the Conservatives' Brexit deal, which would create a sea border, something which…
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Willie Carlin, MI5 agent-running and clandestine diplomacy in Northern Ireland
An intriguing new source on intelligence operations in Northern Ireland emerged this month with the publication of Thatcher's Spy by Willie Carlin, an MI5 agent who was active in Sinn Féin in Derry in the 1980s. I haven't yet read the book, but Carlin's interview with Sam McBride of the News Letter provoked some thoughts…
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Brexit round-up: Northern Ireland deal comes back into focus
In a deep political crisis, all possible solutions come under scrutiny until a way out emerges. After months in which the British government has rejected the EU’s demand for a Northern Ireland backstop, it’s clear that negotiations are moving towards detailed consideration of Northern Ireland specific arrangements. Here are a few of the latest developments:
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Supreme Court strikes down Finucane inquiry
The UK Supreme Court has today ruled that the British Government has failed to meet its obligation to hold a human rights compliant inquiry into the 1989 murder of solicitor Pat Finucane. The court ruled that the De Silva review, which established substantial state collusion in the killing, did not meet this test because it…
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The women picking up the pieces of Northern Ireland politics
Picture by Adam Jogee. The men have left Northern Ireland politics in a mess, with Brexit and a stalled assembly, and it’s the women who have been left to sort it out. That was the response of leading women politicians from the North to a cheeky audience member at Hammersmith Irish Centre on Friday, who…