Politics happens not only between Ireland, Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom, but across them as well. There is a British-Irish and an Irish-British politics, along with growing relationships between state and political actors in Scotland, Wales and parts of England with their counterparts in Ireland North and South. Such relations are built into the three-stranded … [Read more...] about Political change across Britain and Ireland (2)
Ireland
Reclaim the Enlightenment
On the face of it ‘These are the Times that Try Men’s Souls’ may seem an entirely apt title for an address in times when there are so many reasons why we might despair. It was a phrase famously used by Thomas Paine in his pamphlet The American Crisis published in 1776 when the colonists were indeed facing defeat in their struggle for independence, but the pamphlet helped … [Read more...] about Reclaim the Enlightenment
Making sense of politics in “these islands”
At one time it was common to write about the United Kingdom as the fruit of a steady expansion of the English Crown into the neighbouring territories. The subsequent politics of the resulting state was a matter of centre and periphery with all roads leading to London. Distinct histories of the smaller nations existed but strictly for local consumption. From the 1970s … [Read more...] about Making sense of politics in “these islands”
Devolution returns to Northern Ireland
Two years after the Democratic Unionist Party put the institutions of the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement into suspension by withdrawing from them, those institutions returned, and devolved government exists in Northern Ireland again, headed by a Sinn Féin First Minister. The history of the dispute has been set out on this blog and a recent Constitution Unit podcast. … [Read more...] about Devolution returns to Northern Ireland
Bias, politics and the need for serious debate on independence
Things are looking up for independence when the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, says: ‘The government will always give full and equal respect to constitutional nationalism and the desire for an independent Scotland, pursued through peaceful and democratic means.’ Except, of course, he didn’t – he was talking about a united Ireland. Meanwhile, in Scotland, we learn, apparently … [Read more...] about Bias, politics and the need for serious debate on independence