Monthly Archives: September 2015

Miliband, Corbyn And Bonnie Prince Charlie

Posted on September 13, 2015 by fitzjameshorse

I have to admit I barely watched TV in the aftermath of the the British Labour Party’s disaster at the British General Election in May. Indeed I was in the Kings Hall in Belfast until 4am and had hardly any … Continue reading →

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Stormont….Not The End?

Posted on September 11, 2015 by fitzjameshorse

Confused?  You will be. So the great Adjourn or Not Adjourn. So the DUP voted to Adjourn….and Sinn Féin, UUP and SDLP voted No. So….according to Robinson the whole sham would collapse because the DUP Ministers would resign. But Robbo … Continue reading →

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Stormont: The End?

Posted on September 10, 2015 by fitzjameshorse

It is 9am and I am on the Dublin train. When I return this afternoon, Stormont might have fallen. “Fallen” is a dramatic word that conjures up the Fall of Saigon in the 1970s but when the word “drama” and … Continue reading →

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GAWD Bless You Mrs Windsor

Posted on September 9, 2015 by fitzjameshorse

It would be churlish not to mention that “Queen Elizabeth of England” is now the longest reigning monarch in English History. I doff my cap in admiration. Some might say she is a “welfare scrounger” but she seems harmless enough … Continue reading →

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Quintin And The Kurds

Posted on September 9, 2015 by fitzjameshorse

Nearly interesting article by Quintin Oliuver (sic) in today’s Daily Mirror about his “experiences in a refugee camp”. REading the headline. I wondered if Baby Quintin had been smuggled out of Hungary in a wicker basket. Or maybe a Teenage … Continue reading →

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Vichy Norn Iron

Posted on September 8, 2015 by fitzjameshorse

If the Executive does collapse…if Stormont does collapse….what exactly is the next stage? Direct Rule from Westminster….but I think there might well be a local dimension. Perhaps a ten-person Commission to oversee things and give a veneer of respectability to … Continue reading →

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The Executive “At The Brink”…Again

Posted on September 7, 2015 by fitzjameshorse

So the DUP has decided there will be no more meetings of the Stormont Executive until the problem of IRA “does it exist?” And Welfare Reform is solved. It looks like an arbitary decision by the DUP but it is … Continue reading →

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Michael Copeland Resigns From Assembly

Posted on September 7, 2015 by fitzjameshorse

Michael Copeland MLA (UUP) resigning from Assembly is interesting. The replacement will be more interestting as Copeland is unlikely to have jumped without having a good idea who his replacement might be. His wife, Sonia is an East Belfast councillor … Continue reading →

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Tales Around The Fireside

Posted on September 4, 2015 by fitzjameshorse

We lived in West Belfast. My father worked in the Grosvenor Road area. One day he brought me into a street called Burnaby Street near Distillery Football Club. And he told me that he used to live there. Back in … Continue reading →

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Pre-Conflict, Conflict and Post-Conflict

Posted on September 4, 2015 by fitzjameshorse

As I have said before, there are only three stages to the Irish (now Northern) “Problem”. There is Pre-Conflict, Conflict and Post Conflict. In terms of a “Problem”….Ireland has always been “A Problem” for England and England has always been … Continue reading →

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