Dec
22
Since David Cameron became Conservative leader in 2005, he’s done a lot of backtracking. Yet one project he’s stuck with through thick and thin: breaking the Conservatives into Northern Irish politics. From employing full-time party staff to negotiating a fragile alliance with the Ulster Unionists, the party has put a lot of work into a …
Oct
15
The first in what we hope will be a series on each of the pro-union (plus Liberal Democrat, it seems) youth movements in Northern Ireland. Liberal Youth Northern Ireland is the official youth and student wing of the Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats, the local party of the Liberal Democrats in Northern Ireland. We were formed …
Oct
06
The Guardian has announced an inquiry into the ‘state of the union’. Its first consultation is asking readers to state whether they identify primarily with Britain or their respective Home Nation. I imagine this poll will start doing the rounds on various Nationalist websites soon. Readers can participate here.
Feb
26
Here’s a great post on digital engagement from Helpful Technology. Taking Obama’s State of the Union address as a case study, this provides neat, succinct and comprehensive advice. Yes, there is a huge White House team available to deliver all of this stuff. But Helpful Technology notes that the key to success is not volume, …
Feb
19
From Jim Fitzpatrick’s Politics Show newsletter this week: PS – Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin got into hot water over an impression of a Chinese speaker that was judged to be in bad taste. Just as well commentators in the Republic haven’t noticed the impressions of Irish speaking we see each week in the Assembly. What …
Feb
13
turgonni examines the possibility of a Unionist pact where defence of the Education system, as opposed to defence of the constitutional link, provides common cause.
A couple of weeks ago Sam McBride had a very interesting piece in the News Letter about the possibility of removing Catriona Ruane as Education minister (link unavailable).
Sam’s main focus was the possibility that a unionist pact might be a mechanism by which she could be ousted. With a positive message: vote unionist not only for the union and the economy but to fix the education system it is just possible that a pact might yield results…
Feb
08
On Hearts & Minds this evening, Noel Thompson asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland: “The election of Martin McGuinness as First Minister should mean no difference [to unionists] and is in no way a setback?” The Secretary of State’s response: “I think the election of Martin McGuinness would be an extraordinary endorsement of …
Jan
27
O’Neill takes a look at Sir Reg Empey’s recent elevation and questions whether this supercedes his previous desire to stand at the upcoming Assembly elections.
While I’m sure most of the readers here have been enjoying the recent constitutional trials and tribulations of West Belfast’s very own Green Baron, there have been interesting developments on the other side of the city regarding the status of (a real) Lord.
Lord Empey a Conservative, Cross-Bencher or UUP peer?
According to the appointment list, a Conservative.
Jan
24
Three weeks ago, myself and another pro-Union blogger contacted Owen Paterson’s office. To date, we have had no reply from Mr. Paterson or his staff to our email and we are sending it this morning in the form of an open letter in hope of some kind of response: Dear Mr. Paterson, We are writing …
Jan
22
That’s the main part of the conference completed. I’m leaving now and will post up later. I’ve been tweeting and twitpic-ing away. Check out the timeline of the @openunionism twitterstream – you can click through from the widget on the right. My initial impression was that this conference provided surprisingly little content. The celebratory mood …
Twitter: @openunionism