Opinion: The Wisdom of Clare Short
Clare Short, in her book, An Honourable Deception?, talks about religious fanaticism. She makes the point that the Iraqi body count website calculates that between the 9/11 bombings and February 2004,...
View ArticleNorthern Ireland residents back ending donations secrecy
From the BBC: “Most people” are in favour of ending the confidentiality surrounding donations to political parties in NI, focus group research has suggested. It was conducted by the Electoral...
View ArticlePeter Robinson’s other problem
In amongst all the political trouble for the DUP’s Peter Robinson, one other problem has been largely overlooked – an Electoral Commission investigation into donations. The problem? In public he’s...
View ArticleCongratulations to David Ford
Congratulations go from all at the Voice to David Ford, the leader of Alliance, the Northern Ireland sister party of the Liberal Democrats. The Northern Irish Assembly has voted David in as Justice...
View ArticleElectoral administration isn’t going quite as well as it should…
First, the good news: all the reports so far indicated a strong surge in people registering just before the deadline earlier this month. The Independent has some further figures to add to earlier...
View ArticleOpinion: Is Northern Ireland the elephant in the coalition’s room?
On the surface, David Cameron is the first Prime Minister in generations for whom ‘The Ireland Question” is down the list of priorities. The Good Friday Agreement has been a glorious success, with the...
View ArticleNorthern Ireland’s Liberal Democrats start up a new blog
Excellent to see this new initiative, which is over at http://libdemsni.wordpress.com. Reading through the posts there so far I’m struck by how streaks of similarity poke through the many differences...
View ArticleOpinion: We need a proper inquiry into Patrick Finucane’s murder
In the midst of an economic crisis, a climate crisis and a Secretary of State for Defence who seems determined to turn his life from an uplifting drama into a crisis, it’s easy to forget the sins of...
View ArticleOpinion: A New Approach to our Union
The current approach to the United Kingdom doesn’t work. The current approach treats each home nation as an individual, yet this approach leads to everyone pulling the centre in every direction. It...
View ArticleOpinion: The forgotten family member and what Nick said…
Many people think of the Liberal Democrats as a family. I know that I have often felt part of a huge family when I have been across on ‘the other off-shore island’ whether it’s at conferences – Federal...
View ArticleOpinion: Concern over Northern Ireland Equal Marriage Petition of Concern
There is a mechanism in the Northern Ireland Assembly that is designed to protect minority interests. It is called a petition of concern. Any 30 MLAs can call for one on any issue up for debate. What...
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Individual electoral registration: Northern Ireland shows that the annual...
One of the key disputes over how individual electoral registration should be introduced in England, Scotland and Wales is whether having people join and leave the register regularly through the year,...
View ArticleOpinion: Bringing modernity to local government
‘What is the matter with these people?’ is probably the reaction of many in Great Britain when observing the escalating violence in Northern Ireland in relation to – well – just a flag. Although it is...
View ArticleOpinion: Alliance holds firm against intimidation
We are now just over a week on from the infamous flag vote at Belfast City Council and whilst it is now clear that the Alliance Party will emerge from this with its credibility and reputation greatly...
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Opinion: Should the Queen speak out on the Belfast flag issue?
The pictures of the Queen joining the Cabinet meeting were charming. They conveyed a reassuring image of a stable democracy with a historic back-stop. Almost always we want the democratic element to...
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Nick stands with Anna
When a politician says that he might trust a whole specific group of people only to go to the shops for him, you would think that would be a one way ticket to the door marked Ignominious Exit from...
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Opinion: What’s that you say, Mr Robinson?
This weekend, Northern Ireland’s First Minister Peter Robinson addressed his party conference for the last time before the General Election and launched his ire at losing his seat in Westminster last...
View ArticleOpinion: Northern Ireland and marriage equality
On Friday the people of Ireland voted on marriage equality in their referendum. The results on Saturday showed that 1,201,607 people voted Yes/Tá to 734,300 voting No/Níl making the result 62.1% to...
View ArticleOpinion: Human Rights Act – when rights clash
View image | gettyimages.com As one of the many who have recently joined the Liberal Democrats, my attention has been drawn to the fight to make sure that the Human Rights Act is not scrapped by the...
View ArticleBearder calls on Theresa Villiers to quit if she backs Brexit
Lib Dem MEP Catherine Bearder has said that Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers should resign if she wants to campaign for Britain to leave the EU. She joined Northern Irish politicians who...
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