New Unionism
Most Recent Blog Posts
We need to turn the focus onto Housing.
I was at an event last week organised by the University of Ulster - it was a small conference on housing in Northern Ireland. I was there to do a very quick Q&A panel session but got there nice and early and managed to catch a presentation on the effects on housing the financial collapse has had. The chap presenting was Richard Ramsey, the Chief Economist for NI at Ulster Bank. It was, shall we
Why Pride is still essential.
When I was a little younger and first learned about Pride my first thought was one of genuine confusion. As a straight man, I didn't understand why gay men felt the need to parade their sexuality because I most certainly didn't. However, this conclusion was formed because of my genuine indifference to sexuality. Some people were indeed Gay but I didn't need to get over it; it was never an issue
Darren Clarke. A role model?
During the last round of the Open, Darren Clarke was seen quite clearly to be enjoying a cigarette while out on the course. Unsurprisingly a few people took issue with this. One of them, Eamonn Mallie tweeted his displeasure and disappointment and was, perhaps even less surprisingly, admonished by fans of Darren Clarke. The thing is, Mallie was correct and they, I'm afraid, were wrong. It wasn't
Why the Left has to stop defending Islam.
Perhaps it wasn't all that surprising that within a few minutes of hearing about the awful attacks in Norway, many people assumed it to be the work of Islamic terrorists. Of course, it has now transpired to be no such thing - indeed the culprit appears to be Islamophobic. What was interesting though was the response to those who had voiced such suspicions. There seemed to be a clamour to condemn
Why Pride is still essential.
When I was a little younger and first learned about Pride my first thought was one of genuine confusion. As a straight man, I didn't understand why gay men felt the need to parade their sexuality because I most certainly didn't. However, this conclusion was formed because of my genuine indifference to sexuality. Some people were indeed Gay but I didn't need to get over it; it was never an issue
Flags & Identity.
It would seem there is unrest amongst the Loyalist communities. All the talk is of a section of society that feels abandoned, left behind, marginalised. I think, to some extent, that feeling is valid. My problem is that this community is the same community that right now insists everyone else be subjected to their celebrations and traditions. To put it another way, a minority is inflicting it's
A few notes about the Phone Hacking scandal.
I could have, had I been inclined, written 1000 words a day about this particular topic in the last week, such was the amount of information coming out, each time giving us a new angle at which to see the whole affair. I thought it was probably wise to hold my fire until we got the whole picture. It became clear after a couple of days, that could be a while and so, I thought I would just write a
Darren Clarke. A role model?
During the last round of the Open, Darren Clarke was seen quite clearly to be enjoying a cigarette while out on the course. Unsurprisingly a few people took issue with this. One of them, Eamonn Mallie tweeted his displeasure and disappointment and was, perhaps even less surprisingly, admonished by fans of Darren Clarke. The thing is, Mallie was correct and they, I'm afraid, were wrong. It wasn't
Why the Left has to stop defending Islam.
Perhaps it wasn't all that surprising that within a few minutes of hearing about the awful attacks in Norway, many people assumed it to be the work of Islamic terrorists. Of course, it has now transpired to be no such thing - indeed the culprit appears to be Islamophobic. What was interesting though was the response to those who had voiced such suspicions. There seemed to be a clamour to condemn
Why we must not move on from #hackgate until we know everything.
First of all, I'm sorry to use the term 'hackgate' but it's an easy term of reference for this whole sorry saga so I shall continue to do so even though I generally detest any form of 'gate'.
There is another reason for using that term and that is the similarity in scale, if not detail, of what was easily the biggest political scandal of the last century - Watergate. The only thing that keeps
