There is a familiar temptation in Northern Ireland politics: to announce what government will not do and allow that to stand as an explanation of what it will do. Water is becoming a particularly expensive example. Protecting households from another bill may be a defensible choice. It is not, by itself, a plan for the … Continue reading No water charges is not a water strategy
Blog
International law cannot depend on who is accused
US sanctions against the International Criminal Court create a six-month test of whether Europe will protect international justice operationally as well as rhetorically.
A red warning is not a flood defence
Spain’s current flood emergency shows why warnings must be backed by planning control, resilient buildings and funded adaptation—including in Northern Ireland.
There is a phrase beloved of unionists: what we have, we hold… but what if what we have is not enough?
No amount of barricades and rallies will deliver change for Northern Ireland. To do so will require vision and a common purpose 26 Feb 2021 7:18 AM Add as a preferred source In a few weeks' time, I will turn 60 and, in my time, I've played a small part in the history of this … Continue reading There is a phrase beloved of unionists: what we have, we hold… but what if what we have is not enough?
Northern Ireland’s brain drain is the wrong diagnosis
New evidence suggests Northern Ireland’s real challenge is not an exceptional student exodus, but weak inward mobility, poor graduate-job matching and a failure to track who returns.
When diplomacy becomes a favour
Trump’s Irish visit showed both the appeal and the danger of personalised diplomacy: small economies and contested societies need durable rules, not temporary favours.
The Haass Process
Originally published: 28 December 2013. As Richard Haass and Megan O’Sullivan work to bring this current process to a conclusion it is clear that there will be no surprises. Many years ago the republican movement ceased to believe in the rapid achievement of its objectives by political or military means and settled instead for a … Continue reading The Haass Process
Peace
Originally published: 5 July 2012. Republished on the Cicero’s Voice Blogger site on 10 December 2013. Posted on July 5, 2012 by stephennicholl Recent events have been promoted as representing continuing progress in what is termed our “peace process” yet the truth is that while a handshake can mean a lot, it can also hide … Continue reading Peace
The tide does not stop at the border
A new Irish coastal-exposure map shows how Northern Ireland could move from fragmented responsibility to evidence-led preparation for flooding and erosion.
Archive Post from October 2020 ‘A border poll is a sign we failed’
Originally published on the previous Blogger site in October 2020.
