James Nesbitt is explaining why his work with the families of the Disappeared means so much to him when he is overtaken by emotion; his voice cracks, he breaks off his sentence, he apologises. “Even now, I find it – I get very moved, sorry.” He turns it into a joke. “I cry more than … Read more
Loyalist paramilitaries were often behaving as “community workers by day and terrorists by night”, former Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) chief constable George Hamilton has told a Westminster committee. Mr Hamilton, who led the PSNI from 2014 to 2019, said loyalist communities must be empowered to resist the influence of paramilitaries in their neighbourhoods … Read more
Blocking a BBC audio streaming service to listeners outside the UK has been branded a “slap in the face” for audiences in the Republic of Ireland. The move is set to take place within weeks and will lead to the removal of BBC Sounds, the app which allows free access to the corporation’s radio stations … Read more
Looking around the Lodge Hotel in Coleraine, Co Derry, shortly before the “Safeguarding The Union” meeting began, most in attendance appeared surprised that so many others turned up on a grey February night. Extra chairs had to be brought in. However much they disagree, be they evangelical Christians or the more socially-liberal, all want the … Read more
There is broad agreement among voters in Northern Ireland and in the Republic that east-west links between Ireland the UK should continue even if the North votes to join a united Ireland in any future referendum. Asked whether the principal east-west institution of the Belfast Agreement, the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference (BIIC), should continue if there … Read more
Ted Howell: A Quiet Force Behind the Belfast Agreement – Remembering Sinn Féin’s Stalwart The world of Irish politics mourns the loss of Ted Howell, a key architect of the historic Belfast Agreement, who has passed away at the age of 78. Howell, a longtime strategist and trusted advisor to Gerry Adams, played a crucial, … Read more
As taoiseach from 1994 to 1997 with responsibilities for Anglo-Irish relations and the incipient peace process, John Bruton gets a poor press. Much of it may have been his own fault. He was a man who had taken a keen interest in Irish history throughout his life and was stubbornly “his own man”. Why else … Read more