menu_open Columnists
Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson

The Irish News

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

The solution to the next Stormont collapse? Keep calm and carry on

The solution to the next Stormont collapse? Keep calm and carry on

THE Drumcree dispute “brings into question how this whole peace process works”, Michelle O’Neill said on Sunday, while standing on the Garvaghy...

yesterday 10

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Drumcree standoff puts a significant achievement of the peace process at risk

Drumcree standoff puts a significant achievement of the peace process at risk

Political leadership on all sides means supporting talks that are open to the possibility of a walk

tuesday 10

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Students aren’t leaving – they’re just not coming

Students aren’t leaving – they’re just not coming

THE myth of the Northern Ireland brain drain has been debunked by a report for the Department for the Economy, which regulates our universities. The...

26.09.2026 20

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

As controversy grows over Leaving Cert reform, Northern Ireland is going the other way

As controversy grows over Leaving Cert reform, Northern Ireland is going the other way

It should be possible to learn fascinating lessons by comparing outcomes either side of the Border

24.09.2026 20

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Efforts to speed up justice are moving far too slowly

Efforts to speed up justice are moving far too slowly

IN Northern Ireland, uniquely in the UK, everyone facing a criminal prosecution is put on trial twice. Their first trial is in a magistrates’ court,...

24.09.2026 20

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Trump leaves DUP trapped in an awkward embrace

DONALD Trump’s comments on a united Ireland are embarrassing for the DUP, despite the denials of leader Gavin Robinson. Senior party figures have...

19.09.2026 20

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Sinn Féin’s immigration policy will need to be tougher than everyone else’s to stand out

Nationalists may be more liberal by conviction but they have less immediate experience of immigration, which tends to be concentrated in unionist...

17.09.2026 30

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Nationalists can’t leave London while living off London

THERE is always a chance the UK could break up by accident, but any plan to leave requires ending dependence on its money. Taxes in Northern Ireland...

17.09.2026 100

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Good marks for Paul Givan, but must do better on selection

THE latest PISA international education results put England in the top 10 countries worldwide, with the other three parts of the UK falling steadily...

12.09.2026 20

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Britain fools itself that even British declinism is the best declinism in the world

Some of the complaints heard from Israel this week have been of British colonial arrogance. This tired cliche misses the point

10.09.2026 30

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Conversion therapy ban risks criminalising conversations

UNDER a proposed law from Alliance, parents could face up to two years in jail for having “ordinary” conversations with their children about...

10.09.2026 30

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

This is no time for unionists to stir the pot over Drumcree

PORTADOWN District Orange Lodge is to apply for a parade along the Garvaghy Road on September 27, not a traditional date for this traditional route....

05.09.2026 20

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Sinn Féin should forget its absurd timescale for a Border poll and focus on the now

Dissident republicans have seized on Burnham’s statement as proof Sinn Féin has been naive

03.09.2026 30

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

The public sector problem Stormont refuses to confront

THE main reason Stormont keeps running out of money is its policy of pay parity – matching England’s public sector pay rises. This is “the...

03.09.2026 30

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson: What bearing could Drumcree ruling have at the ballot box?

How many voters will thank unionist parties for stirring the Drumcree dispute back up again? The DUP and the TUV must think it is a decisive number,...

31.08.2026 20

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Progress that appears solid can be all too easily undone

If parading regulation unravels, Drumcree would not be the only reawakened flashpoint

27.08.2026 30

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Causeway Hospital row represents a moment of truth for Stormont

SOME politicians and journalists have portrayed the row over the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine as an argument over who should decide where health...

27.08.2026 30

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

The real story behind the resignation of Mike Nesbitt

There are two stories behind the resignation of UUP health minister Mike Nesbitt: the decades-old one about Stormont parties backing health reforms in...

22.08.2026 30

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

A strict approach to citizenship would be a policy of inclusion

Citizenship is mocked by near-identical forms of non-citizenship for non-citizens

20.08.2026 30

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

North’s bloated benefits system could could lose nationalism a border poll

DARRYL Wilson, a DUP councillor in north Antrim, has raised an important and rarely considered problem with disability benefits – the burden...

20.08.2026 40

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

How to stop Sinn Fein’s little wobble becoming a big wobble

SINN Féin is back-pedalling from its hints two weeks ago of walking out of the Executive in frustration at the DUP. Michelle O’Neill and finance...

15.08.2026 40

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Government must stop enabling Sinn Féin’s threats to Stormont

Annoying the party when it threatens devolution would be a far more helpful contribution

13.08.2026 30

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Farmers have turned on Andrew Muir — but he’s not the problem

RELATIONS have finally broken down between Northern Ireland’s farmers and Andrew Muir, the Alliance agriculture and environment minister. An angry...

13.08.2026 40

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

If Belfast can be clean during the Fleadh, why is it filthy the rest of the time?

IF Belfast can be kept clean during the Fleadh, with huge crowds in the city centre, why is it filthy the rest of the time? In a social media post,...

08.08.2026 40

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Belfast Fleadh is not too political for unionists – unlike the Twelfth for nationalists

Some on social media ask why the July 12th celebrations cannot generate atmosphere more like the Fleadh

06.08.2026 40

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

The Fleadh proves pedestrianisation can work in Belfast city centre

PART of a legacy of hosting the all-Ireland Fleadh in Belfast should be debunking the excuses normally used against pedestrianising even small areas...

05.08.2026 40

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

DUP and Sinn Féin’s electoral fortunes may be tied together

THE latest LucidTalk poll has major implications for unionism, with the DUP falling three points to 15%, one point behind the UUP. Sinn Féin is also...

01.08.2026 40

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Striking lawyers don’t tend to evoke much public sympathy

Reform should not be treated as the alternative to controlling costs. We should have both

30.07.2026 30

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Would you like to be the next UUP leader? Here’s how

ONE hundred people could take over the Ulster Unionist Party. I always marvel at this when I notice Northern Ireland’s far left setting up or...

30.07.2026 40

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson: Parental responsibility, utility bills and a rotating cast at the NIO

Police, politicians and community workers have called for parents to take responsibility for their children following serious disorder in west...

25.07.2026 50

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Andy Burnham likes to be liked. There could hardly be a worse qualification for the job

Is the new Labour Party government just as doomed as Keir Starmer’s?

23.07.2026 40

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Andy Burnham’s German thinking raises as many questions as answers

Andy Burnham has caused some confusion by saying he wants the UK to have both a written constitution and a German-type “Basic Law”. Germany’s...

23.07.2026 60

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson: Inquiries, bonfires and the continuing bilingual debate - the week that was

JIM Gamble, the safeguarding expert reviewing what the DUP knew about Jeffrey Donaldson, has said any evidence of potential crimes he uncovers “will...

18.07.2026 40

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Common Travel Area can’t become an excuse for hard borders on land or sea

Mainstream parties of government should be able to sell the CTA as a way to regulate immigration while minimising internal borders

16.07.2026 40

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson: Graduation charge would be direct challenge to Stormont

ULSTER University is testing the limits of the law. In a briefing to staff, it has warned it may introduce new charges for graduation to help plug a...

16.07.2026 40

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Sinn Féin Irish unity Bill was a misjudgment, not a masterstroke

A DÁIL Bill on preparing for a united Ireland must have seemed like a win-win for Sinn Féin. The government parties would either be embarrassed into...

11.07.2026 40

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Banned in Dublin, booming in Manchester: is co-living the answer for Belfast?

CO-LIVING developments – essentially, student housing blocks for grown-ups – were banned in the Republic in 2020 after only a handful had been...

09.07.2026 40

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

There’s a thread that runs from Jeffrey Donaldson’s downfall to a Border poll

Unhappy voters stay at home, so unionism could cease to be Stormont’s largest designation next May

09.07.2026 40

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

The last thing Northern Ireland needs is more mayors

Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales need powerful, directly-elected ‘metro mayors’, as in England. Baroness Sue Gray, a former senior civil...

02.07.2026 40

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

One takeaway from the Jeffrey Donaldson scandal is the value of a scurrilous press

Some of the people now demanding to know why the press did not expose Donaldson earlier can be the sniffiest about the tabloid tactics that would have...

02.07.2026 30

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Political impact of Donaldson downfall is just beginning

THE downfall of Jeffrey Donaldson is first and foremost a story about justice for his victims, but as they hopefully move on with their lives, the...

27.06.2026 50

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Jeffrey Donaldson’s downfall leaves the DUP battling a conspiracy theory

Party has two good people in its two top roles, yet neither quite belong and there is nowhere else for either to go

25.06.2026 60

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

The lessons Stormont can learn from Starmer’s winter fuel allowance fiasco

THE one decision that did more than any other to drive Keir Starmer from office was means-testing the winter fuel allowance. It caused a disaster in...

25.06.2026 50

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson: The petition of concern at Stormont is back! It’s like it never really left...

UUP leader Jon Burrows can now claim – just about – to have the support of a majority of his party’s assembly members. There are eight UUP MLAs,...

20.06.2026 60

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Unionists have begun to think of themselves as a minority

A plan to raise the age of criminal responsibility in Northern Ireland to 14 fell apart when all three unionist parties blocked it

18.06.2026 40

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Time for Caoimhe Archibald to call DUP’s bluff on Good Job Bill

AN industrial dispute in Newry is more bad news for Sinn Féin’s Good Jobs Bill, currently held up in the Executive by the DUP. Forty staff at...

18.06.2026 40

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson: The lesson from this week’s violence in Northern Ireland is that the British government will give in

THE lesson of violence in Northern Ireland is that the British government will give in to it, and so it has proved with the latest wave of racist...

13.06.2026 40

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Northern Ireland’s politicians have no power over immigration. London controls it all

Racism has been associated with unionist areas because that is where immigrants have been able to find housing. Republican communities take pride in...

11.06.2026 50

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Andy Burnham’s Labour could fill growing electoral gap in Northern Ireland

ANDY Burnham has said it again. The Manchester mayor has told Westminster’s The House magazine that he wants to scrap Labour’s ban on running...

11.06.2026 50

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Sinn Féin and DUP say you wreck my bill, I wreck yours

SINN Féin and the DUP have begun openly sabotaging each other’s legislation. The DUP denies it is trying to sink Sinn Féin’s Good Jobs Bill by...

06.06.2026 60

The Irish News

Newton Emerson