By Cormac Campbell, 29 April 2016
Graphic by Chris Scott
PARAMILITARY groups continue to have thousands of members, with organisations involved in hundreds of acts of violence and intimidation each year in Northern Ireland, according to new figures compiled by Detail Data. Read more
Posted in Current Affairs
Posted in Current Affairs
Some observations from South Belfast.
The snow – it’s almost May!!! – is falling quite heavily outside and I’ve just heard a rumour that the Syrian refugees who are arriving today to start a new life, refused to get off the bus taking them to their new homes. Apparently the combination of snow and seeing the frightful pictures of Jim Allister adorning the lamp-posts was just too much. It must have been quite a shock and the war ravaged land they left behind doesn’t seem so bad now. Read more
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By Dr John Coulter
Author and Journalist
26/4/2016
It’s time for the ‘Twinkles’ to shine on 5 May! Who, you ask?
The Stormont Assembly poll that day will be the first major opportunity for teenage voters who were born after the signing of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement to have their say in the electoral process. Read more
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The race for the six seats in South Belfast has been, and promises to be, one of the most exciting constituencies across the whole of Northern Ireland.
It is a brutal battle within Unionism- there is no point pretending otherwise- and ironically it could be Nationalist transfers that ultimately decide the fate of the final Unionist seat.
The very basis of the DUP election campaign has been ‘vote for us to stop Martin McGuinness becoming first minister’. I don’t buy this because, as I have previously written, Martin McGuinness- legally and practically- already is the first minister. Read more
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Negotiation now is crucialWill the real republicans please stand up? That may sound flippant in the aftermath of the recent commemorations to mark the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin. But given the splits which have occurred in republicanism since that failed rebellion, the question needs to be seriously addressed as to which group really can claim to be the genuine political successor of the Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizens Army. Read more
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Hillsborough & Patten- Policing and Justice surrendered!
Events over the Easter period have once again demonstrated the clear pro-Nationalist tilt in policing within Northern Ireland. Masked Republican dissidents had the run of the place to parade triumphantly at various locations, as the PSNI kept a low profile. Contrast this with the heavy handed policing deployed against Unionists. One need only look at Easter Monday morning when Unionist residents of North Belfast were hemmed in like cattle. We also had the outrageous image of a PSNI officer actively assisting those erecting a tri-colour by holding the ladder. This comes, of course, only weeks after those who claim allegiance to such a flag murdered a prison officer in a cowardly bomb attack. Read more
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By Dr John Coulter
Political commentator.
14/3/2016
My academic analysis concerning the need for an Irish Christian Party because of the secular drift in Irish society on both sides of the Irish border certainly had social media in hyper drive and resulted in a very positive live debate with myself, fellow commentator Jude Collins, and North Belfast Ulster Unionist Party Assembly candidate Rev Lesley Carroll on the BBC’s Sunday Sequence. Read more
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Dr. William Mitchell is the Project Director for the ACT Initiative. This article will appear in the March edition of An Phoblact under the title of Uncomfortable Conversations.
Uncomfortable actions would speak much louder than words
It is four years since Declan Kearney called on Republicans to be courageous “and embrace the discomfort of moving outside our political and historic comfort zones.’ In his article ‘Uncomfortable conversations are key to reconciliation’ the conciliatory undertone of listening unconditionally, consideration for being apologetic and making new compromises, being willing to be persuaded and exploring how to heal divisions in our society, encouraged those of us within Unionism intent on moving our faltering process forward, to sit up and take notice. Since then, a number of engagements whereby Loyalists and Republicans have participated in uncomfortable conversations with each other have taken place. Whilst this is to be welcomed, and in fact crucial, to communities seeking to reconcile after conflict, the key element missing in Kearney’s article, the one which may engender greater confidence within Unionism and “define engagement in terms beyond what suits” Republicans, is action. Read more
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By Dr John Coulter
Political Commentator
25/2/2016
The Christian Church in Ireland, north and south, is facing a theological relevance problem as it loses society’s support on core Biblical issues, such as abortion, homosexuality, divorce, assisted suicide and relations with Islam. Read more
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