Proxy voting an attempt to subvert the Constitution
Watching the procedural trench warfare at Westminster over the last weeks, you cannot fail to be struck by the consequences of not having a written constitution in the United Kingdom. To take a simple example, their hugely problematic Fixed Term Parliament Act simply could not have been enacted in Ireland. Why not? The Constitution provides […]
The North could have the best of both worlds – and both unions – if pesky politicians didn’t keep getting in the way
There clearly is a path to a Brexit deal. But there always has been one. The only problem has been the forest of red lines which the UK planted so as to render the path impassable. There always has been a “landing zone”, to use Boris’s military term, for an agreement that would be satisfactory […]
The sensible majority in the North has no voice in Westminster or Stormont
On Tuesday October 2nd the machine controlled by Dominic Cummings issued a memorandum to Tory MPs on the line they should follow in any public discussion of the Brexit process. The leaked memo informed MPs that Johnson and “key leaders” among the EU 27 would have to “judge whether it is possible to work out […]
Voters have every right to be cynical about a government that appears to be failing in virtually all areas of policy
A slogan urging voters to get Leo Varadkar out of office is being prepared for the next election by opposition strategists. The intention is to exploit weariness with the current government and a growing sense of alienation from ministers who are increasingly considered as a somewhat effete and ineffectual Dublin elite. Whenever the next general […]
The President is not bound to silence on all matters of public interest
The President, Michael D Higgins, raised some eyebrows by making comments recently on the issue of soldiers’ pay and in relation to the beef dispute. It wasn’t the first time he has done so. He had in the past made political comments, including comments on the values and ethics of neo-liberal economics in 2013 and […]
UK voter lightning storing up in the clouds
Extreme Unction – this is my new nick-name for Jacob Rees Mogg, who as a conservative catholic will appreciate being given the old name rather than the post Vatican II label “sacrament of the sick”. As he lay languidly on the government front bench listening to the debate on Brexit, Rees Mogg symbolised all of […]