Kevin Meagher
@KevinPMeagher
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Opinionist. Commentary and snippets on British and Irish politics. Author: 'What A Bloody Awful Country…’ and ‘A United Ireland…’
Up North
Joined November 2011
Election results+Changing demography+Economics +Scottish indy+Changing southern Ireland+Brexit+ British indifference = A United Ireland
bitebackpublishing.com
For over two centuries, the ‘Irish question’ has dogged UK politics. Though the Good Friday Agreement carved a fragile peace from the bloodshed of the Troubles, the Brexit process has shown a largely...
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This is how you deal with loyalist terrorists. Jail.
A man who placed two crude pipe bombs on the bonnets of cars at the east Belfast GAA training grounds in 2020 has been given a three-year sentence.
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To a younger generation who may not have known him - Martin was an absolute Gentleman, tireless activist and brilliant campaigner for Irish Unity. Rest in Peace Martin. https://t.co/q5AMcBsuBU
theguardian.com
Other lives: Political activist and organiser with a focus on Ireland who worked to help secure the Good Friday agreement
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So long overdue. Massive savings available from pointless duplication.
🚨 NEW: Shabana Mahmood is considering cutting the number of police forces in England and Wales from 43 to 12 to make policing more consistent [@thetimes]
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65 years ago tonight the country sat down in front of the TV to watch the new soap “from the North”…. On Coronation Street, Elsie Tanner worried whether her son would ever go out and find a job Happy Birthday Corrie 🎂
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A coded defence of Scappaticci. Which is insane. Unless the DUP strategy is to alienate everyone not as right wing as the DUP/TUV. Yet further choreography before the inevitable DUP walk-out from power-sharing.
"Does he recognise the important role that our intelligence services played in securing peace?" @GRobinsonDUP
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'All told, those leaving amount to under 0.5% of the British population, and most of them eventually return. Hardly a flood, more like a trickle.' https://t.co/ryun9EMU1U
economist.com
No. We estimate that emigration is lower now than it was five years ago
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Of course they are. Southern Ireland’s high skill, high wage, high productivity economy is superior to NI’s heavily subsidised, low-wage, low-skill, low productivity basket-case economy.
Living standards in the Republic are higher than in Northern Ireland, a new report by the Economic and Social Research Institute has found https://t.co/AqxKXXxkWJ
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Is this early choreography for Givan and the DUP flouncing out of the executive?
The Education Minister last month forecast an overspend of almost £290m. An exchange of letters between Mr Givan and Finance Minister John O'Dowd, reported by @BBCJayneMcC, reveals the pressures to make ends meet. On Sunday Politics @DianeForsytheNI explains the pressures
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This is tricky for Reform. Records kept for 2 years. But all parties do exactly the same and none would sustain any real scrutiny - especially returns submitted after by-elections. Farage’s woes might spread to other parties…
🚨 NEW: Nigel Farage has been reported to the police over an alleged breach of electoral law His former campaign member claims he went over the local spending limit in Clacton by around £9K and listed the extra campaign costs as national spending [@Telegraph]
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'Ireland only just misses out on top spot.' https://t.co/NrVGyu4qYW
economist.com
Our annual ranking returns
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Well, would you look at that. The Economist assessed 36 national economies - across a range of variables - for its ‘Economy of the Year.’ Read it and weep @PhilipIngMBE
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'He [Gaston] claimed the PSNI wrongly categorised the disorder as “racist thuggery” and “far-right”, saying only a small minority...were intent on causing trouble. “It helped ensure the violence continued for several nights.” The sheer indecency of him. https://t.co/wW8dY5mbvY
irishnews.com
TUV’s Timothy Gaston criticised for suggesting policing decisions ‘contributed to the situation’
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This letter from former Cabinet Secretaries and others is straightforwardly wrong regarding the constitutional role of the House of Lords relative to the role of the Commons. /1
NEW: In a joint letter, senior peers including 3 former cabinet secretaries and 3 former Lords speakers have warned peers not to use procedural manoeuvres to thwart the assisted dying bill. With 1,100+ amendments tabled, they warn the reputation of Parliament is on the line.
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Wow, 76%. As low as that…
POLL/POBALBHREITH: Q. Should the Government adopt a tougher approach to immigration? Yes: 76% No: 16% Not sure: 8% Source: @Ireland_Thinks/@TheSundayIndo
#Ireland #Poll
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Written up as ‘tensions,’ but this is the best NI has ever been governed. Will never get any better than this. The place is simply too small and rejects the rational approach - shared services and functional integration with the rest of Ireland.
Tensions in Northern Ireland Executive over funding pressures laid bare in exchange of letters https://t.co/nF9cgf9vAG
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"Procedural manoeuvres"? What a cheek. Actually, Lords tabling amendments ARE following the procedure, for a Private Members' Bill, and it's the procedure itself that creates time limits for discussion. Maybe letter signatories can tell us WHICH AMENDMENTS they think are
NEW: In a joint letter, senior peers including 3 former cabinet secretaries and 3 former Lords speakers have warned peers not to use procedural manoeuvres to thwart the assisted dying bill. With 1,100+ amendments tabled, they warn the reputation of Parliament is on the line.
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As a Northern Irishman I can see this different. Ireland doesn’t have a problem with Antisemitism. Ireland has a problem with genocide. Ireland leads where GB fails. Tim utterly fails to see how genocide is bad and supporting the genocide is anything otherwise
On the podcast a few weeks ago I said Ireland and Irish nationalism has a problem with antisemitism. If anyone doubted the truth of that statement this last week has only served to prove the point.
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Bet this story doesn’t appear in a single British newspaper.
Freddie Scappaticci & his employers literally got away with murder. The £40m, 9-year Op Kenova ends without a single prosecution. Stakeknife earned a fortune. Crime paid for this state-sponsored serial killer & the faceless securocrats who enabled him. https://t.co/nUkhsVa0y2
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Translated as Unionist supremacism gone, Belfast changed, most of its voters want Irish Unity, oppose slaughter in Gaza. Angry unreconstructed Unionism trapped in straight jacket of Identity Politics, Victimhood, bigotry - gone forever. @KevinPMeagher
https://t.co/8vD9iDvtfu
thecritic.co.uk
Last Tuesday, in Belfast, there were skirmishes in front of the City Hall and a heavy police presence, as republican youths goaded unionists and pro-Israel protesters. Shoppers and revellers at the…
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Binlid: 'If it transpires Belfast City Council hoisted a flag that was in fact provided by Sinn Fein, this would be a very serious matter.' https://t.co/PhSfkhySno No it wouldn't. Who cares? If it didn't cost taxpayers anything, even better. Move along.
belfasttelegraph.co.uk
Unionists are demanding to know where the Palestinian flag which flew from Belfast City Hall came from.
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