Stakeholder

The New Year is about letting go of the old and ringing in the new but the thirty-rule, which sees the release of official files from the Government archive, is akin to an annual political time bomb.  We learn what we would prefer not to. We read the thinking of our generation in our generation. [...]

I remember reading a story about a father not being able to provide for his family one Christmas. He became quite angry and frustrated. His youngest daughter however brought very expensive gold wrapping paper to cover a shoebox and placed it under the Christmas tree with ‘Dad’ written on the top. The father thought the [...]

Next year in a small region of Switzerland called St Gallen, they will mark the 1400th anniversary of the founding of their city by a Bangor man. Yes, that’s right a bloke from Bangor. Gallus got fed up with Ireland’s Gold Coast and headed off to Switzerland in 612AD and did not stop until he [...]

Last week while the Euro tittered on the brink of collapse and Iran upped political tensions in the Middle East, here in Northern Ireland it was business as usual as Belfast Lord Mayor, Niall O’ Donnaghaile was castigated for opting not to give a Duke of Edinburgh Award to a teenage Army cadet. Unionist’s feigned outrage [...]

Joe Hughes, husband to one, father to three, brother to eight and ‘uncle’ to thousands was laid to rest on Tuesday 15th November 2011.  His route to his final resting place passed by his first home with his beloved wife, Eileen, his place of work at Newry Credit Union, his family home in Boat Street [...]

Why, when one stands on a pinnacle, must one throw oneself down? No one knows, but things are so.’ So wrote Oscar Wilde and his thoughts must be shared by Irish Presidential runner-up, Sean Gallagher.  A week ago the Irish Presidential race seemed to be in his back pocket.  Hours later the prize was about [...]

The sense of outrage by Mrs Finucane and her family is palpable.  It was hard not to sympathise with their obvious deflation. Something went seriously wrong here and the British Government must shoulder the responsibility for misleading the family. Clearly having been asked to attend Number Ten and meet with the Prime Minister, not unexpectedly, [...]

The Irish Presidential Campaign has overshadowed the Sunday league tussle for Leadership of the SDLP. Or should that be the race to be SDLP Leader as the other half of the Leadership team, Dolores Kelly is now Deputy Leader elect- having no opposition following the withdrawal of the young but talented Derry based Colum Eastwood? [...]

So Martin McGuinness, erstwhile Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, sometime former member of the IRA, one time prisoner and senior figure in Sinn Fein wants to be President of Ireland. Frankly, so what? I have long felt that what was political sauce for the Northern goose was fair game too for the Southern gander.  [...]

Watching Seamus Mallon return to our television screens on Hearts and Minds was a welcome reminder of what life used to be like under the SDLP. The septuagenarian showed there was still some bite in the old dog. It was refreshing to hear that old fashioned, hectoring honesty peppered with humour. Being filleted by an [...]

It was simple, dignified and characteristically to the point.  In twenty eight words Margaret Ritchie, the much maligned Leader of the SDLP ended her stewardship of that party.  A mere ten months ago she was the toast of her annual conference.  Back then members applauded her facing down of the UDA and standing up to [...]

Churchill once said that ‘Eating words never gave him indigestion’. One suspects that he was speaking for the entire political class.  On Saturday, the very long and considered response of the Holy See to the Cloyne Report was finally released. It was as Tánaiste, Eamon Gilmore said ‘very legalistic and technical’.  In many ways it [...]

There is an old Gaelic proverb- ‘Ar scath a cheile a mhairmid’; it roughly translates into- ‘we all live in each other’s shadow’.  It could almost be a Buddhist mantra for peaceful co-existence.  Unfortunately, the shadows cast here in Northern Ireland tend to be separate rather than shared. There has been much debate recently as [...]