|
Patrick MurphyThe Irish News |
It is good to see foreign policy agreement between Britain and Ireland, particularly over Russia. David Cameron has accused the Russian government of...
Is it worth fighting wars for the prospect of a united Ireland? No, not a war like the one the IRA lost. Is it worth fighting for the USA and the EU...
“Events, dear boy, events.” That, according to former prime minister Harold Macmillan, was the most likely influence on political careers and...
How relevant is the 1916 Proclamation today? Seen as the foundation stone of modern Irish nationalism, it will be read aloud at commemorative...
Dear First and Deputy First Ministers. Congratulations on your appointments. We wish you well in your new jobs. While we realise that you consider it...
The presence of Sinn Féin in the White House this weekend highlights a point which most commentary about the Kenova Report failed to recognise. The...
For the first time in modern Irish history, Fianna Fáil’s (FF) campaign for a 26-county general election was launched at Stormont (Well, in the...
Dear Conor Murphy, Congratulations on your appointment as Minister for the Economy. We wish you well in your new job. You have identified education as...
If timing is everything in politics, the SDLP has picked a bad time to become Stormont’s official opposition. The deluge of promises (again) from...
In view of the epidemic of symbolism currently sweeping Stormont, is it time to remove Edward Carson’s statue? Yes, you say, and perhaps you had in...
Eureka! Twenty-six years after the Good Friday Agreement, Stormont’s main parties have made an amazing discovery. They have realised that the...
So farewell then, unionism. You were once a colossus bestriding the north’s political landscape, electorally almighty and administratively all...
In his famous 1968 television address, Captain Terence O’Neill said “Ulster stands at the crossroads”. Although we no longer have a unionist...
Oh good, the secretary of state is going to make a decision. Yes, Chris Heaton-Harris (HH) has promised he will decide what to do if the DUP does not...
It is generally agreed that we should speak only good of the dead, but in the case of General Frank Kitson who died last week, some might be prepared...
If Jeffrey Donaldson did not exist, nationalism would have to invent him. Attacking the DUP is a useful distraction not only from the failure of the...
Do you remember when Joe Biden visited Belfast in April? How could we forget that day (well, half a day actually) when everyone cheered and said he...
If Mary and Joseph were to arrive in Ireland tomorrow night, they would probably be even less welcome than they were in Bethlehem over 2,000 years...
The British are not as good at bribery as they used to be. To achieve the 1801 Act of Union, they bribed individual Irish MPs, using a secret slush...
MICHEÁL Martin’s Shared Island Initiative has taken a new twist.
MICHEÁL Martin’s Shared Island Initiative has taken a new twist.
IT appears that we are not all equal before the law.
IT appears that we are not all equal before the law.
IF there is one thing we do not need right now, it is another report on education.
IF there is one thing we do not need right now, it is another report on education.
DEAR President Putin THE US claims that Russia is trying to influence the outcome of elections around the world by using mainstream and social media...
DEAR President Putin THE US claims that Russia is trying to influence the outcome of elections around the world by using mainstream and social media...
THIS is the weekend when Britain honours its war dead and those who went to war with them.
WHEN Tánaiste Micheál Martin was asked recently if Fianna Fáil would enter a coalition with Sinn Féin, he rejected the...
WHEN Tánaiste Micheál Martin was asked recently if Fianna Fáil would enter a coalition with Sinn Féin, he rejected the...
AS our politicians continue to wrestle in the sectarian mud and our waiting lists for health and housing grow longer, you may have noticed how the...
AS our politicians continue to wrestle in the sectarian mud and our waiting lists for health and housing grow longer, you may have noticed how the...
Dear Joe Kennedy, As US Special Envoy to the north you will be coming to Belfast next week with a high-powered delegation of US business leaders to...
Dear Joe Kennedy, As US Special Envoy to the north you will be coming to Belfast next week with a high-powered delegation of US business leaders to...
Whatever your opinion on the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict, you have presumably based it on facts.
Whatever your opinion on the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict, you have presumably based it on facts.
Those of you who lived through the Troubles will remember the British government’s use of the north as a research laboratory.
Those of you who lived through the Troubles will remember the British government's use of the north as a research laboratory.
Great news! All our problems have been solved.
Great news! All our problems have been solved.
Although most commentary compares Lough Neagh’s pollution to a disease, the real problem is that it is just a symptom of a much wider ailment.
Although most commentary compares Lough Neagh’s pollution to a disease, the real problem is that it is just a symptom of a much wider ailment.
How long do you think Leo Varadkar will live? I don't mean that he is looking unwell these days.
How long do you think Leo Varadkar will live? I don't mean that he is looking unwell these days.
Sack the board. That’s the solution to the policing mess – and when the board has gone, we need a new system of governance to keep...
Sack the board. That’s the solution to the policing mess – and when the board has gone, we need a new system of governance to keep...